30.2. Configuring an IPsec host-to-host VPN with PSK authentication and separate data and control planes by using the vpn RHEL system role

Procedure

1. Create a playbook file, for example, ~/playbook.yml, with the following content:

   ---
   - name: Configuring VPN
     hosts: managed-node-01.example.com, managed-node-02.example.com
     tasks:
       - name: IPsec VPN with PSK authentication
         ansible.builtin.include_role:
           name: redhat.rhel_system_roles.vpn
         vars:
           vpn_connections:
             - name: control_plane_vpn
               hosts:
                 managed-node-01.example.com:
                   hostname: 203.0.113.1  # IP address for the control plane
                 managed-node-02.example.com:
                   hostname: 198.51.100.2 # IP address for the control plane
               auth_method: psk
               auto: start
             - name: data_plane_vpn
               hosts:
                 managed-node-01.example.com:
                   hostname: 10.0.0.1   # IP address for the data plane
                 managed-node-02.example.com:
                   hostname: 172.16.0.2 # IP address for the data plane
               auth_method: psk
               auto: start
           vpn_manage_firewall: true
           vpn_manage_selinux: true

   The settings specified in the example playbook include the following:

   hosts: <list>

   Defines a YAML dictionary with the hosts between which you want to configure a VPN. The connections are named <name>-<IP_address_A>-to-<IP_address_B>, for example control_plane_vpn-203.0.113.1-to-198.51.100.2.

   The role configures the VPN connection on each managed node. Note that the role cannot configure Libreswan on external (unmanaged) nodes. You must manually create the configuration on these hosts.

   auth_method: psk

   Enables PSK authentication between the hosts. The role uses openssl on the control node to create the pre-shared key.

   auto: <startup_method>

   Specifies the startup method of the connection. Valid values are add, ondemand, start, and ignore. For details, see the ipsec.conf(5) man page on a system with Libreswan installed. The default value of this variable is null, which means no automatic startup operation.

   vpn_manage_firewall: true

   Defines that the role opens the required ports in the firewalld service on the managed nodes.

   vpn_manage_selinux: true

   Defines that the role sets the required SELinux port type on the IPsec ports.

   For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.vpn/README.md file on the control node.

2. Validate the playbook syntax:

   $ ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml

   Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration.

3. Run the playbook:

   $ ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml