Configure SSL action to forward client traffic

Last published : Sep 22, 2026
When parsing the client hello message, a NetScaler appliance can forward the client traffic using an SSL forward action associated with an SSL policy. The policy is bound to the virtual server at client hello request bind point. Some use cases where forwarding can be used are discussed in the following sections. For information about configuring an SSL forward action if a cipher is not supported on a NetScaler appliance, see Configure SSL action to forward client traffic if a cipher is not supported on the ADC.
The following illustration explains the traffic flow. The forward virtual server is of type SSL_TCP in this illustration.
SSL forward action traffic flow
  1. A client initiates the SSL handshake and sends the client hello message to the ADC appliance.
  2. The appliance evaluates the configured policy by using the parameters in the client hello message.
  3. If the policy evaluates to false, the decrypted traffic is forwarded to the HTTP service and then to the back-end server.
  4. If the policy evaluates to true, the traffic is forwarded to the forward virtual server defined in the action.
  5. The forward virtual server completes the handshake with the client.
  6. All the traffic meeting the policy rule is forwarded to the back-end service through the service bound to the forward virtual server.
Related information

Configure an SSL action to forward client traffic if the appliance does not have a domain specific (SNI) certificate

Note: This feature is available in release 12.1 build 49.x and later.
In the client hello message, you might receive a request for a domain for which the certificate is not available on the appliance. In this case, you can configure an SSL action to forward the client traffic to a different virtual server. In the following example, we have configured an SSL virtual server as the forward virtual server. This setting ensures that all the connections that fail because of a missing SNI certificate on the original virtual server are successful on the forward virtual server.
Perform the following steps:
  1. Add a load balancing virtual server of type SSL (For example, vMain). Client traffic is received on this virtual server.
  2. Add server and CA certificates and bind them to the SSL virtual server.
  3. Add an SSL service with port 443.
  4. Bind this service to the SSL virtual server.
  5. Add another load balancing virtual server of type SSL/SSL_TCP/TCP/SSL_BRIDGE to forward the traffic to. (For example, fwd-vserver).
  6. Add a service and bind it to this virtual server.
  7. Add an SSL forward action specifying the SSL virtual server fwd-vserver in the ‘forward’ parameter.
  8. Add an SSL policy (for example, pol-ssl-sni) specifying the preceding action if a specific domain name (SNI) is received in the client hello message.
  9. Bind this policy to the SSL virtual server at CLIENTHELLO_REQ.
  10. Save the configuration.

Configuration using the CLI

Configuration for the SSL virtual server to which to forward the traffic:
add lb vserver fwd-vserver SSL 198.51.100.20 443
add ssl certkey sv -cert complete/server/server_rsa_2048.pem -key complete/server/server_rsa_2048.ky
add ssl certkey cacert -cert SHA256-RSA-PEM_512.pem -key SHA256-RSA-PEM_512.ky
bind ssl vserver fwd-vserver -certkeyName sv
bind ssl vserver fwd-vserver -certkeyName cacert -CA
add service ssl-service2 198.51.100.18 SSL 443
bind lb vserver fwd-vserver ssl-service2
Configuration for the SSL virtual server that originally receives the client traffic:
add service ssl-service 198.51.100.5 SSL 443
add lb vserver vMain SSL 198.51.100.25 443
bind ssl vserver vMain -certkeyName sv
bind lb vserver vMain ssl-service
set ssl vserver vMain -sni ENABLED
add ssl certKey snicert2 -cert /nsconfig/ssl/complete/SNI/server/serverabc.pem -key /nsconfig/ssl/complete/SNI/server/serverabc.ky
add ssl certKey snicert -cert /nsconfig/ssl/complete/SNI/server/serverabcnetscaler.pem -key /nsconfig/ssl/complete/SNI/server/serverabcnetscaler.ky
bind ssl vserver vMain -certkeyName snicert -sniCert
bind ssl vserver vMain -certkeyName snicert2 -sniCert
Policy configuration for the SSL virtual server vMain:
add ssl action act_ssl_fwd -forward fwd-vserver
add ssl policy pol-ssl-sni -rule client.ssl.client_hello.sni.contains("xyz") -action act_ssl_fwd
bind ssl vserver vMain -policyName pol-ssl-sni -type CLIENTHELLO_REQ -priority 1sh ssl vserver vMain

    Advanced SSL configuration for VServer vMain:
    DH: DISABLED
    DH Private-Key Exponent Size Limit: DISABLED    Ephemeral RSA: ENABLED  Refresh Count: 0
    Session Reuse: ENABLED  Timeout: 120 seconds
    Cipher Redirect: DISABLED
    SSLfwd-vserver Redirect: DISABLED
    ClearText Port: 0
    Client Auth: DISABLED
    SSL Redirect: DISABLED
    Non FIPS Ciphers: DISABLED
    SNI: ENABLED
    OCSP Stapling: DISABLED
    HSTS: DISABLED
    HSTS IncludeSubDomains: NO
    HSTS Max-Age: 0
    SSLfwd-vserver: DISABLED  SSLv3: ENABLED  TLSv1.0: ENABLED  TLSv1.1: ENABLED  TLSv1.2: ENABLED  TLSv1.3: DISABLED
    Push Encryption Trigger: Always
    Send Close-Notify: YES
    Strict Sig-Digest Check: DISABLED
    Zero RTT Early Data: DISABLED
    DHE Key Exchange With PSK: NO
    Tickets Per Authentication Context: 1

ECC Curve: P_256, P_384, P_224, P_521

1)  CertKey Name: sv    Server Certificate
2)  CertKey Name: snicert2  Server Certificate for SNI
3)  CertKey Name: snicert   Server Certificate for SNI


Data policy
1) Policy Name: pol-ssl-sni    Priority: 1



1) Cipher Name: DEFAULT
Description: Default cipher list with encryption strength >= 128bit
Donesh ssl policy pol-ssl-sni
    Name: pol-ssl-sni
    Rule: client.ssl.client_hello.sni.contains("xyz")
    Action: act_ssl_fwd
    UndefAction: Use Global
    Hits: 0
    Undef Hits: 0


    Policy is bound to following entities
1)  Bound to: CLIENTHELLO_REQ VSERVER v1
    Priority: 1

Donesh ssl action act_ssl_fwd
1)  Name: act_ssl_fwd
    Type: Data Insertion
    Forward to: fwd-vserver
    Hits: 0
    Undef Hits: 0
    Action Reference Count: 1
Donesh ssl vserver fwd-vserver

    Advanced SSL configuration for VServer fwd-vserver:
    DH: DISABLED
    DH Private-Key Exponent Size Limit: DISABLED    Ephemeral RSA: ENABLED  Refresh Count: 0
    Session Reuse: ENABLED  Timeout: 120 seconds
    Cipher Redirect: DISABLED
    SSLfwd-vserver Redirect: DISABLED
    ClearText Port: 0
    Client Auth: DISABLED
    SSL Redirect: DISABLED
    Non FIPS Ciphers: DISABLED
    SNI: DISABLED
    OCSP Stapling: DISABLED
    HSTS: DISABLED
    HSTS IncludeSubDomains: NO
    HSTS Max-Age: 0
    SSLfwd-vserver: DISABLED  SSLv3: ENABLED  TLSv1.0: ENABLED  TLSv1.1: ENABLED  TLSv1.2: ENABLED  TLSv1.3: DISABLED
    Push Encryption Trigger: Always
    Send Close-Notify: YES
    Strict Sig-Digest Check: DISABLED
    Zero RTT Early Data: DISABLED
    DHE Key Exchange With PSK: NO
    Tickets Per Authentication Context: 1

    ECC Curve: P_256, P_384, P_224, P_521

1)  CertKey Name: sv    Server Certificate



1)  Cipher Name: DEFAULT
    Description: Default cipher list with encryption strength >= 128bit
Done

Configure an SSL action to forward client traffic based on the application protocol in the ALPN extension of the client hello message

Note: This feature is supported in release 13.0 build 61.x and later.
A NetScaler appliance can identify the protocols coming in the ALPN extension of the client hello message while parsing the message for policy evaluation. The rule to identify the protocol in the ALPN extension of the client hello message is client.ssl.client_hello.alpn.has_nextprotocol<protocol_name>. Associate a “forward” type SSL action with the policy to forward the packets to the forward virtual server. The forward virtual server can be of type SSL, SSL_TCP, SSL_BRIDGE, or TCP.
To negotiate the application protocol in the ALPN extension for the connections handled by the SSL_TCP virtual server, a parameter alpnProtocol is added to the front-end SSL profiles. Supported values for the parameter are HTTP1.1, HTTP2, or NONE (default value). Only the protocol specified in the SSL profile is negotiated, if the same protocol is received in the ALPN extension of the client hello message. The maximum supported length of the ALPN extension for policy evaluation is 4096 bytes.

Sample configuration to forward all requests containing HTTP2 protocol in the ALPN extension to an SSL_TCP virtual server

The SSL_TCP virtual server to forward the traffic to is fwd-vserver-1.
Configuration for the SSL virtual server to which to forward the traffic:
add lb vserver fwd-vserver-1 SSL_TCP 198.51.100.20 443
add ssl certkey sv -cert complete/server/server_rsa_2048.pem -key complete/server/server_rsa_2048.ky
add ssl certkey rootCA -cert SHA256-RSA-PEM_512.pem -key SHA256-RSA-PEM_512.ky
bind ssl vserver fwd-vserver-1 -certkeyName sv
bind ssl vserver fwd-vserver-1 -certkeyName rootCA -CA
add service ssl-tcp-service 198.51.100.14 SSL_TCP 443
bind lb vserver fwd-vserver-1 ssl-tcp-service
Configuration for the SSL virtual server that originally receives the client traffic:
add service ssl-service 198.51.100.5 SSL 443
add lb vserver vMain-alpn SSL 198.51.100.25 443
bind ssl vserver vMain-alpn -certkeyName sv
bind lb vserver vMain-alpn ssl-service
Policy configuration for the SSL virtual server vMain-alpn:
add ssl action forward-action-alpn -forward fwd-vserver-1
add ssl policy pol-ssl-alpn -rule "client.ssl.client_hello.alpn.has_nextprotocol(\"h2\")" -action forward-action-alpn
bind ssl vserver VMain-alpn -policyName pol-ssl-alpn -priority 2 -type CLIENTHELLO_REQsh ssl vserver vMain-alpn

    Advanced SSL configuration for VServer vMain-alpn:
    DH: DISABLED
    DH Private-Key Exponent Size Limit: DISABLED    Ephemeral RSA: ENABLED  Refresh Count: 0
    Session Reuse: ENABLED  Timeout: 120 seconds
    Cipher Redirect: DISABLED
    ClearText Port: 0
    Client Auth: DISABLED
    SSL Redirect: DISABLED
    Non FIPS Ciphers: DISABLED
    SNI: DISABLED
    OCSP Stapling: DISABLED
    HSTS: DISABLED
    HSTS IncludeSubDomains: NO
    HSTS Max-Age: 0
    HSTS Preload: NO
    SSLv3: ENABLED  TLSv1.0: ENABLED  TLSv1.1: ENABLED  TLSv1.2: ENABLED  TLSv1.3: DISABLED
    Push Encryption Trigger: Always
    Send Close-Notify: YES
    Strict Sig-Digest Check: DISABLED
    Zero RTT Early Data: DISABLED
    DHE Key Exchange With PSK: NO
    Tickets Per Authentication Context: 1

    ECC Curve: P_256, P_384, P_224, P_521

1)  CertKey Name: sv    Server Certificate


    Data policy
1)  Policy Name: pol-ssl-alpn   Priority: 2



1)  Cipher Name: DEFAULT
    Description: Default cipher list with encryption strength >= 128bit
 Donesh ssl policy pol-ssl-alpn
    Name: pol-ssl-alpn
    Rule: client.ssl.client_hello.alpn.has_nextprotocol("h2")
    Action: forward-action-alpn
    UndefAction: Use Global
    Hits: 0
    Undef Hits: 0


    Policy is bound to following entities
1)  Bound to: CLIENTHELLO_REQ VSERVER VMain-alpn
    Priority: 2

 Donesh ssl action forward-action-alpn
1)  Name: forward-action-alpn
    Type: Data Insertion
    Forward to: fwd-vserver-1
    Hits: 0
    Undef Hits: 0
    Action Reference Count: 1
 Donesh ssl vserver fwd-vserver-1
    Advanced SSL configuration for VServer fwd-vserver-1:
    DH: DISABLED
    DH Private-Key Exponent Size Limit: DISABLED    Ephemeral RSA: ENABLED  Refresh Count: 0
    Session Reuse: ENABLED  Timeout: 120 seconds
    Cipher Redirect: DISABLED
    ClearText Port: 0
    Client Auth: DISABLED
    SSL Redirect: DISABLED
    Non FIPS Ciphers: DISABLED
    SNI: DISABLED
    OCSP Stapling: DISABLED
    HSTS: DISABLED
    HSTS IncludeSubDomains: NO
    HSTS Max-Age: 0
    HSTS Preload: NO
    SSLv3: ENABLED  TLSv1.0: ENABLED  TLSv1.1: ENABLED  TLSv1.2: ENABLED  TLSv1.3: DISABLED
    Push Encryption Trigger: Always
    Send Close-Notify: YES
    Strict Sig-Digest Check: DISABLED
    Zero RTT Early Data: DISABLED
    DHE Key Exchange With PSK: NO
    Tickets Per Authentication Context: 1

    ECC Curve: P_256, P_384, P_224, P_521

1)  CertKey Name: sv    Server Certificate
2)  CertKey Name: rootCA    CA Certificate  OCSPCheck: Optional CA_Name Sent



1)  Cipher Name: DEFAULT
    Description: Default cipher list with encryption strength >= 128bit
 Done