How to setup IKEv2 IPSec PSK VPN on Android?

How do I setup my IKEv2 IPSec VPN?

The only way you can get your IPSec VPN working, is to configure OpenVPN.

I am not going to tell you what to do here. Just follow the instructions.

When using Microsoft's IPSec VPN Client from 7th July onwards, the client does not accept the certificate of the OpenVPN host. It tells me it cannot access the certificates directory. This has NOT been addressed in the July update; Microsoft are simply asking for the VPN host to change its certificate - which the OpenVPN server would not allow anyway! So what we need is an IPSec provider where you can set the Certificate Authority for authentication. Unfortunately in all the reviews I found and checked, none worked - only tested by me, so it might work by now. I tried them over different links such as direct ip address, proxy etc.

UPDATE. In the new IKEv2 client update released at the beginning of October 2025, (after the update was already in beta testing), the same issue exists - the client accepts the certificate only for Windows but will say it cannot access the keys of my windows IPSec VPN host. So if you use that one you will have to wait for MS to fix this until you can continue using that one.

So for now, if your IPSec connection fails to log into my website, you might try these providers to get it working - but make sure they will work with your setup: This is where the big problem is, that most reviews I've seen and talked with people about have problems with IKEv2 client connection using any of these providers. It seems all the IKEv2 clients can connect to each other on all these providers - it just does not log into my ISP VPN service.

Now that Microsoft allows logging in, it could be easier since you can set what I call "the gateway" for my connection. Basically that is where your end-users start getting online and I want you to connect them to my network instead of going through the internet first to your network.

It is actually very simple but requires a bit of work and planning ahead of time. You basically have to choose your gateway and set the options for the IKEv2 client. Most probably you will not want to connect any user to the internet directly, but connect them from the outside world through your internal network, hence it makes sense to give them a static IP.

How to setup IKEv2 IPSec PSK VPN on Android?

You can use IKEv2 for both IPv4 and IPv6 IPSec VPN with Android.

You can setup an IPv4 or IPv6 IPSec VPN. I'll be using the example of IKEv2 PSK VPN. If you are new to IKEv2, please refer this article first.

If you already have set up an IPSec PSK VPN on your server, you can also directly port the IKEv2 PSK configuration to your mobile device. In this article, I will show you how to set up an IPSec PSK VPN on a mobile device. We will install IKEv2 on the Raspberry Pi, setup an application on the Android device that is able to connect to the Raspberry Pi over VPN and use IKEv2 PSK authentication method. Finally, you will connect to the server over VPN to login. You can select the image according to your model or download directly from Raspberry Pi official website. For example, I selected the Raspberry Pi 3 version and flashed it to the micro SD card using this method. Grep net.ipv4

Step 3: Enable IKEv2 on the Raspberry Pi.e. To enable IKEv2 for your Raspberry Pi, we need to create the following files in /etc/network/if-up.d directory.

What is IKEv2 IPSec PSK?

Many companies use IPSec encryption to ensure that their communications between people are private and secure.

The security of IPSec relies on the use of a key, which is usually called an IPSec key.

With IKEv2 PSK, you don't need to use a special PSK, but a generic IKEv2 Key Exchange (KE) process is used to exchange keys for secure communications. The exchange of keys is then encapsulated with IPsec Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP). This means that your traffic goes through two encryption and decryption processes, and two exchanges of keys.

IPSec, IKEv2, and the Generic Key Exchange (GKE) process. The IKEv2 Generic Key Exchange (GKE) process is a secure and convenient way to establish a secure connection over a non-secure network. It uses a public key exchange based on Diffie-Hellman key exchange with certificates to perform the key exchange. The GKE process is more secure than conventional IPSec security protocols because it encrypts the exchange of keys and does not require the use of a key called a PSK. The GKE process is used for connecting two computers or devices. It also allows the exchange of public keys in a trustful and confidential manner, as well as the ability to set up a tunnel, meaning that it can be used to send data over a non-secure network. The GKE process can also be used to establish connections between two unsecure networks.

What is IPSec, IKEv2, and PSK? IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is a protocol that creates secure communications between two computers, devices, or networks. It is used to encrypt the contents of the traffic, and secure the traffic itself. The protocol can be used with the Diffie-Hellman key exchange process, which is a method of establishing a secure key between two parties who know each other.

IKEv2 is an updated version of IPSec that includes improvements that make it easier to use, and is backwards compatible with IPSec. PSK stands for pre-shared key. It is a secret that you choose and store so that you can use it with a client device. The idea is that your secret key never leaves your device.

Why use IKEv2 IPSec PSK?