Error - The report server cannot decrypt the symmetric key?

Job Lot

SSRS had been working fine on my comp till the time i insatlled VS 2005. I have started getting following error since VS2005 install

The report server cannot decrypt the symmetric key used to access sensitive or encrypted data in a report server database. You must either restore a backup key or delete all encrypted content and then restart the service. Check the documentation for more information. (rsReportServerDisabled) Get Online Help
Bad Data.

Why does this error cropped and how can i fix it I am using SQL Server 2000.

Thanks

Teo Lachev

It cropped because VS.NET 2005 did aspnet_regiis.exe. Assuming that you have backed up your encryption key (you did right ), you can use the Reporting Services Configuration utility to restore it. If no backup, do:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Binn\RsKeyMgmt.exe" -d

Then, go to the Report Manager and reset the connection string in all data sources.

ChitownDotNet

if the above command is executed, it seems like it will delete all the reporting data also.
is that correct

Teo Lachev

Incorrect. Only the ecrypted information will be nuked, i.e. connection credentials, connection strings, and any secure information stored in subscriptions ¨C by default this is only username & password in File Share delivery extension.

ChitownDotNet

So the actual data is never encrypted in the Reporting Services db Then in case I never made a backup of the encryption keys, and I have to delete it now, I wouldn't be losing any data; just
connection strings etc. Where do I go about changing these connection strings Again a newbie question for you, what is the File Share delivery extension

Thanks

Teo Lachev

Excluding snapshots, the actual data is not stored in the report catalog. Yes, you will loose only the data source credentials. You can go to the Report Manager to change them. FSE is about delivering subsribed reports (users can subscribe to reports believe it or not) to a network file share.