Dell EMC Unity, VNX: How to Backup D@RE (Data at Rest Encryption Key) Keystore File (User Correctable)

Summary: Backing up Keystore file (Encryption key) in Unity and VNX2.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Instructions

How to backup the D@RE Keystore File (Encryption Key)

Unity arrays

From Unisphere
  1. Open and log into Unisphere.
  2. Click on the gear icon (top right corner) to enter the Settings page.
  3. Ensure Data at Rest Encryption is enabled on your system in the License Management list. (Ensure it has a check mark)
  4. Once D@RE is confirmed select Management (left side) then click Encryption.
  5. Under Keystore select "Backup Keystore File"
Note: Dell EMC recommends that you retrieve and save the Keystore file to an external location. The backed up keystore can be used to restore the system in an unlikely case the original Keystore file gets corrupted.
kA5j0000000PBeXCAW_1_0
kA5j0000000PBeXCAW_1_1

From CLI
Note: UEMCLI needs to be installed on the local machine

Syntax:
uemcli -no -d <UNITY IP> -u admin -p <PASSWORD> -download encryption -type backupKeys

Example:
C:\>uemcli -no -d xx.xx.xx.xx -u admin -p xxxxxxx -download encryption -type backupKeys
Downloaded 81.65 KB of 81.65 KB [ 100.0% ] at 7.10 KB/s
Operation completed successfully.

Default location of the file on the local PC should be in the folder the Command Prompt window is using, when the command is issued.

However when doing testing, it was noticed that when using the <USER> directory the file may save to:
C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore

File name is based on the serial number of the array, with date and time in the name, similar to:
CKM00XXXX_2018_11_01_15_39_35_000000000000000E.lbb
 

VNX2 Arrays

From Unisphere
  1. Open and log into Unisphere.
  2. Navigate to System and select "Backup Keystore File"
  3. Select "Choose Location To Save" and save the Keystore file to your desired location and Click OK.
kA5j0000000PBeXCAW_1_2


From CLI
 
Note: naviseccli needs to be installed on the local machine

Syntax:
naviseccli  h <SP IP> securedata  backupkeys  retrieve  path <path>

Note: by default naviseccli will save a file in the folder the command is run from if no path is specified.
If another folder location is not desired, the " -path <path> " parameter is not needed.
 
kA5j0000000PBeXCAW_1_3

Additional Information

  • Once encryption is licensed and applied you cannot apply license at a later time to enable/disable encryption. 
  • Changing the encryption sate requires a destructive reinitialization.
  • Any time a change is made to the keystore (pool creations, drive replacements, etc), a new backup should be initiated since the previous backup no longer includes all the keys.

Affected Products

Dell EMC Unity Family

Products

Dell EMC Unity Family, VNX2 Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000022651
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 20 Sep 2024
Version:  5
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