7.2. Configuring a MACsec connection by using nmcli

Procedure

1. On the first host on which you configure MACsec:

   • Create the connectivity association key (CAK) and connectivity-association key name (CKN) for the pre-shared key:

     1. Create a 16-byte hexadecimal CAK:

        # dd if=/dev/urandom count=16 bs=1 2> /dev/null | hexdump -e '1/2 "%04x"'
        50b71a8ef0bd5751ea76de6d6c98c03a

     2. Create a 32-byte hexadecimal CKN:

        # dd if=/dev/urandom count=32 bs=1 2> /dev/null | hexdump -e '1/2 "%04x"'
        f2b4297d39da7330910a74abc0449feb45b5c0b9fc23df1430e1898fcf1c4550

2. On both hosts you want to connect over a MACsec connection:

3. Create the MACsec connection:

   # nmcli connection add type macsec con-name macsec0 ifname macsec0 connection.autoconnect yes macsec.parent enp1s0 macsec.mode psk macsec.mka-cak 50b71a8ef0bd5751ea76de6d6c98c03a macsec.mka-ckn f2b4297d39da7330910a74abc0449feb45b5c0b9fc23df1430e1898fcf1c4550

   Use the CAK and CKN generated in the previous step in the macsec.mka-cak and macsec.mka-ckn parameters. The values must be the same on every host in the MACsec-protected network.

4. Configure the IP settings on the MACsec connection.

   1. Configure the IPv4 settings. For example, to set a static IPv4 address, network mask, default gateway, and DNS server to the macsec0 connection, enter:

      # nmcli connection modify macsec0 ipv4.method manual ipv4.addresses '192.0.2.1/24' ipv4.gateway '192.0.2.254' ipv4.dns '192.0.2.253'

   2. Configure the IPv6 settings. For example, to set a static IPv6 address, network mask, default gateway, and DNS server to the macsec0 connection, enter:

      # nmcli connection modify macsec0 ipv6.method manual ipv6.addresses '2001:db8:1::1/32' ipv6.gateway '2001:db8:1::fffe' ipv6.dns '2001:db8:1::fffd'

5. Activate the connection:

   # nmcli connection up macsec0

Verification

1. Verify that the traffic is encrypted:

   # tcpdump -nn -i enp1s0

2. Optional: Display the unencrypted traffic:

   # tcpdump -nn -i macsec0

3. Display MACsec statistics:

   # ip macsec show

4. Display individual counters for each type of protection: integrity-only (encrypt off) and encryption (encrypt on)

   # ip -s macsec show