I have a development XP (SP2) SQL 2008 box being actively used by developers. When this computer is restarted, the SSRS encryption keys become deactivated and the only way to get SSRS working again is to restore the encryption key with a current backup.
I am unsure why the encryption keys are being reset/removed after a reboot. Has anyone seen this before, or can help me determine the root cause?
Thanks!
Do the keys become unnaccessible after a reboot, or after a restart of the Reporting service, or after a restart of the support SQL Server service?
As a generic guideline, see this article to troubleshoot the issue: Troubleshooting Initialization and Encryption Key Errors. Then use rsconfig and/or rskeymgmt.exe to fix the problem, once you identify the cause following the troubleshooting steps.
The problem could have been caused by changing the 'log on as' account used in the SQL Server Agent Windows service.
I think that the SQL Server Agent no longer had permissions to access the encryption keys (used for subscriptions?), and generated the failure message and requiring a restore of the encryption keys. Additional information found here.