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On the recordRead 11 Oct 202618 facts
LibreSwan
LibreSwan · founded 1997
Plans and prices
LibreSwan
Free
Free software implementation of IPsec/IKE VPN · GPLv2
Read 11 Oct 2026 · libreswan.org
On the record
- Access model
- vpnlibreswan.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Authentication and crypto
- LibreSwan uses NSS for cryptographic storage and supports X.509 certificates, raw private keys, and preshared secrets.libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Cloud and interoperability
- Project configuration guides cover AWS, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, OpenStack, and Cisco ASA or VPN3000 connections.libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Commercial support
- The project lists commercial support from core developers and notes that users of commercial Linux vendors may already have support coverage.github.com · read 11 Oct 2026
- Community support
- Free volunteer support is available through mailing lists, the Libera.Chat #libreswan channel, and the GitHub bug database, and response times may vary.github.com · read 11 Oct 2026
- Core features
- The project documentation lists support for X.509 certificates and NAT traversal among its IPsec extensions.libreswan.github.io · read 11 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- LibreSwan runs on Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD; the project says OpenBSD users need to build it from source.libreswan.github.io · read 11 Oct 2026
- Distribution packages
- The documentation lists prebuilt packages for Alpine, Arch, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, Mint, Oracle Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Ubuntu.libreswan.github.io · read 11 Oct 2026
- License
- The project says the bulk of LibreSwan is licensed under GNU General Public License version 2, with some smaller parts under different licenses.libreswan.github.io · read 11 Oct 2026
- Linux integration
- On Linux, LibreSwan uses the built-in XFRM IPsec stack and integrates with the operating system's init system.libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Project history
- The project says it has been under active development for over 20 years and traces its history to The FreeS/WAN Project, founded in 1997.libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Protocols
- It supports IKE versions 1 and 2, with IKEv1 described in its manual as deprecated and migration to IKEv2 strongly recommended.libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- LibreSwan is free software that implements the standardized IPsec VPN protocol using Internet Key Exchange (IKE).libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Security reporting
- Security issues can be reported to the project by email, including encrypted email using its OpenPGP key, and the team typically responds within a few days.libreswan.org · read 11 Oct 2026
- Site-to-site networking
- Yeslibreswan.org · read 22 Sep 2026
- Supported platforms
- Linux,FreeBSD,NetBSD,OpenBSDlibreswan.org · read 22 Sep 2026
