Configuring symmetric keys

Use the Symmetric Keys tab to add key file content so that the appliance can authenticate to your NTP servers that use symmetric key authentication.

About this task

Navigating in IPS Local Management Interface: Manage System Settings > Appliance > NTP Configuration

Navigating in SiteProtector™ Management: select the NTP Configuration policy

Symmetric key: The server and the client use a common secret key for authentication. The advantages of symmetric key exchanges include minimal computing power usage, a relatively quick processing time, and the ability for both the sender and receiver to encrypt or decrypt. To configure symmetric key exchange, you need the key identifiers (key IDs), key types, and key values for your NTP servers. This option is available for only NTP versions 3 and 4.

The appliance uses the configurations on this tab for all your NTP servers using symmetric key exchanges.

FIPS mode: To be FIPS-compliant, use only the cryptographic hash function SHA-1 in your symmetric key content. MD5 is not FIPS-compliant.

Procedure
  1. Click the Symmetric Keys tab.
  2. Add symmetric key content. Type or copy and paste over the example to add the symmetric key IDs, types, and values for your NTP servers.