In GRE/IPSec or DVMRP/IPSec connections, E-series routers can act as source and destination endpoints of the secure tunnel. Both sides of the connection run IPSec in transport mode with Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) encryption and authentication.
In a GRE/IPSec or DVMRP/IPSec connection, the E-series router initiates an IPSec connection with a remote router. After establishing the IPSec connection, the E-series router establishes a GRE or DVMRP tunnel to the remote router. The tunnel is completely protected by the IPSec connection.
In Figure 29, a secure GRE/IPSec connection is set up between two E-series routers. To set up the secure connection:
Two unidirectional SAs are established to secure data traffic.
The GRE tunnel now runs over the SAs that IKE established.
Figure 29: GRE/IPSec Connection

The main configuration tasks for setting up GRE or DVMRP over IPSec on E-series routers are:
To create GRE/IPSec and DVMRP/IPSec tunnels, use the ipsec-transport keyword with the interface tunnel command.
interface tunnel dvmrp
interface tunnel gre
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Note: After you create a clear GRE or DVMRP tunnel, you cannot convert it to an IPSec-secured tunnel, or vice versa. You must delete the tunnel configuration, then reconfigure the tunnel as the new type. |
- host1(config)#interface tunnel gre:denver-tunnel-5
transport-virtual-router denver ipsec-transport
- host1(config-if)#