An IPSec policy consists of:

• General IPSec Policy Settings
  
  Settings that apply regardless of which rules are configured. These settings determine the name of the policy, its description for administrative purposes, key exchange settings, and key exchange methods.
  
  
• IPSec Policy Rules
  
  One or more IPSec rules that determine which types of traffic IPSec must examine, how traffic is treated, how to authenticate an IPSec peer, and other settings.
  
  

After the policies are created, they can be assigned and applied at the domain, site, organizational unit, and local level. For more information, see Creating, modifying, and assigning IPSec policies.