After configuring an IPSec tunnel, how should a firewall administrator initiate the IKE phase 1 to see if it will come up?

The command test vpn ike-sa gateway is the correct operational command used to manually initiate and test the IKE Phase 1 negotiation for a specific IKE Gateway. This allows an administrator to proactively verify the Phase 1 Security Association (SA) establishment without needing to send "interesting traffic" through the tunnel. It is a direct method to trigger the initial key exchange process.

A. debug ike stat: This is a debugging command used to view IKE statistics and troubleshoot issues; it does not initiate the connection.
B. test vpn ipsec-sa tunnel: This command tests an existing IKE Phase 2 (IPSec SA) tunnel, not the initial Phase 1 (IKE SA) negotiation.
C. show vpn ipsec-sa tunnel: This is a passive show command that displays the status of existing IKE Phase 2 SAs; it does not trigger any action.

1. Palo Alto Networks Documentation

PAN-OS® CLI Quick Start: The test vpn ike-sa command is documented as the method to test an IKE security association. The description states it is used to "Test IKE SA negotiation." This directly corresponds to initiating Phase 1.

2. Palo Alto Networks Documentation

Troubleshoot an IKE Gateway: In the troubleshooting workflow

the test vpn ike-sa gateway command is explicitly recommended to "initiate the IKE-SA negotiation" to verify if the IKE Phase-1 tunnel comes up.

3. Palo Alto Networks Documentation

PAN-OS® Administrator's Guide

Set Up an IPSec Tunnel: The guide explains that after configuration

verification can be performed. The test command family is used for active verification

distinguishing it from passive show commands. The test vpn ike-sa command specifically targets the IKE (Phase 1) component.