VPN Gateway is an Internet-based service that allows you to connect enterprise data centers, office networks, or Internet-facing terminals to Alibaba Cloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks through encrypted tunnels. This topic describes how to connect an on-premises data center to a VPC by using the IPsec-VPN function.

Prerequisites

  • The gateway device of the on-premises data center operates as expected.

    Alibaba Cloud VPN Gateway supports the standard IKEv1 and IKEv2 protocols. In this example, IKEv2 must be supported because multiple CIDR blocks are configured. The gateway device can be manufactured by Huawei, H3C, Hillstone, Sangfor, Cisco ASA, Juniper, SonicWall, Nokia, IBM, or Ixia.

  • A static public IP address is configured for the gateway device of the on-premises data center.
  • The CIDR block of the on-premises data center does not overlap the CIDR block of the VPC.

Background information

After the on-premises data center is connected to Alibaba Cloud VPC through IPsec-VPN, you can have a secure, fast, and stable network environment. You can specify a database that is deployed in the on-premises data center as a user-created database connected over Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway. This is applicable when you use DTS for data migration, data synchronization, or change tracking.

Precautions

If the on-premises data center is already connected to Alibaba Cloud VPC, you can perform the following steps:

  1. Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the IPsec-VPN connection. For more information, see Modify an IPsec-VPN connection.
    Notice Click + Add CIDR Block and enter the CIDR blocks of DTS servers that reside in the corresponding region. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases.
  2. Configure an IPsec-VPN connection and a static route on the on-premises gateway.

Billing

You are charged for creating a VPN gateway. For more information, see Billing.

Step 1: Create a VPN gateway

  1. Log on to the VPC console.
  2. In the upper-left corner of the page, select a region.
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose VPN > VPN Gateways.
  4. On the VPN Gateways page, click Create VPN Gateway.
  5. Configure the VPN gateway based on your business requirements.
    Parameter Description
    Region Select the region to which the VPN gateway belongs.
    Notice The VPN gateway must belong to the same region as the VPC.
    VPC Select the VPC to be connected.
    Assign VSwitch If assign the VSwitch to create the VPN gateway, not necessary.
    Peak Bandwidth Select the peak Internet bandwidth of the VPN gateway.
    IPsec-VPN

    Select Enable.

    Note The IPsec-VPN function provides site-to-site connections. You can create an IPsec tunnel to connect an on-premises data center to a VPC, or connect two VPCs.
    SSL-VPN

    Select Disable.

    Note The SSL-VPN function provides point-to-site connections. You can use the client to access the VPN without configuring a gateway for the client.
    Billing Cycle

    The value of this parameter is set to By Hour and cannot be changed.

  6. Click Buy Now and follow the instructions to complete the payment.

Step 2: Create a customer gateway

  1. Log on to the VPC console.
  2. In the upper-left corner of the page, select the region to which the VPN gateway belongs.
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose VPN > Customer Gateways.
  4. Click Create Customer Gateway.
  5. In the Create Customer Gateway pane, set the parameters described in the following table.
    Create a customer gateway
    Parameter Description
    Name Enter a name for the customer gateway. We recommend that you specify an informative name for easy identification.
    Notice
    • The name must start with a letter and can contain letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-).
    • The name must be 2 to 128 characters in length.
    IP Address Enter the static public IP address of the gateway device of the on-premises data center.
    Description The description must be 2 to 256 characters in length and cannot start with http:// or https://.
  6. Click OK.

Step 3: Create an IPsec-VPN connection and configure a route

  1. Log on to the VPC console.
  2. In the upper-left corner of the page, select the region to which the VPN gateway belongs.
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose VPN > IPsec Connections.
  4. Click Create IPsec Connection.
  5. In the Create IPsec Connection pane, set the parameters described in the following table.
    Create an IPsec-VPN connection
    Parameter Description
    Name Enter a name for the IPsec-VPN connection.
    Note The name must be 2 to 128 characters in length and can contain letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-). It must start with a letter.
    VPN Gateway Select the VPN gateway to be connected through the IPsec-VPN connection. In this example, select the VPN gateway that is created in step 1.
    Customer Gateway Select the customer gateway to be connected through the IPsec-VPN connection. In this example, select the customer gateway that is created in step 2.
    Local Network Enter the CIDR block of the VPC that is connected to the on-premises data center. This parameter is used for phase two negotiations.
    Notice
    • You can enter the CIDR block of the VPC or a VSwitch in the VPC based on your business requirements. In this example, 172.16.88.0/24 is the CIDR block of a VSwitch in the VPC.
    • The CIDR block of the VPC cannot overlap the CIDR block of the on-premises data center.
    + Add Local Network Enter multiple CIDR blocks of the VPC that is connected to the on-premises data center. In this example, enter the CIDR blocks of DTS servers. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases.
    Notice When you add multiple CIDR blocks, set the version to ikev2 in Advanced Configuration.
    Remote Network Enter the CIDR block of the on-premises data center that is connected to the VPC. This parameter is used for phase two negotiations.
    Notice The CIDR block of the on-premises data center cannot overlap the CIDR block of the VPC.
    + Add Remote Network Enter multiple CIDR blocks of the on-premises data center that is connected to the VPC.
    Notice When you add multiple CIDR blocks, set the version to ikev2 in Advanced Configuration.
    Effective Immediately Specify whether to allow the settings to immediately take effect.
    • Yes: immediately negotiate after the configuration is complete.
    • No: negotiate when traffic is detected in the IPsec-VPN tunnel.
    Advanced Configuration For more information about the parameters, see Create an IPsec-VPN connection.
    Health Check
  6. Click OK.
  7. In the Created message that appears, click OK to configure routing information for the VPN gateway.
  8. The VPN Gateway page appears. On the Destination-based Routing tab, click Add Route Entry.
  9. In the Add Route Entry pane, set the parameters described in the following table.
    Add a route entry
    Parameter Description
    Destination CIDR block Enter the private CIDR block of the on-premises data center. In this example, enter 192.168.10.0/24.
    Next Hop Type Select IPsec Connection.
    Next Hop Select the IPsec-VPN connection that you create.
    Publish to VPC Specify whether to publish the new route entry to the VPC routing table.
    • Yes(Recommended): publish the new route entry to the VPC routing table.
    • No: do not publish the new route entry to the VPC routing table.
      Notice If you select No, you must publish the route entry to the destination-based routing table after you add the destination-based route entry.
    Weight Select a weight:
    • 100: The priority is high.
    • 0: The priority is low.
    Notice If two destination-based route entries have the same destination CIDR block, you cannot set the weight of both route entries to 100.

Step 4: Configure an IPsec-VPN connection and a static route on the on-premises gateway

  1. Log on to the VPC console.
  2. In the upper-left corner of the page, select the region to which the VPN gateway belongs.
  3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose VPN > IPsec Connections.
  4. Find the target IPsec-VPN connection and click More > Download Configuration in the Actions column.
    Download peer configuration
  5. In the IPsec Connection Configuration pane, the peer configuration is displayed.
    Peer configuration
  6. Add the peer configuration to the on-premises gateway device. For more information, see Configure an on-premises gateway.
  7. Add a static route entry to the on-premises gateway device. The destination addresses are the CIDR blocks of DTS servers. For more information, see Add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the security settings of on-premises databases. The next hop is the new IPsec-VPN tunnel interface.