Enhanced cryptography troubleshooting

After you use the nzconfigcrypto command to enable enhanced cryptography support on your Netezza Performance Server system, you could encounter errors when starting the NPS software.

Table 1. Troubleshooting nzstart errors
Message Problem Corrective Action
nzstart: Error: Hostkey is not set. Cannot start the system in SP800-131a mode An administrator might have changed the host key to one that is not compliant with the enhanced crypto support before stopping the NPS software. If you know the correct host key to use, use the nzconfigcrypto -HK keystore.keyname -enable command to set the host key and then re-run the nzstart command. Otherwise, you can use this process:
  1. Use the nzconfigcrypto -disable command to disable crypto support.
  2. Restart NPS by using the nzstart command.
  3. Connect to a Performance Server database and use the SHOW SYSTEM DEFAULT HOSTKEY command to see the current host key. You can also view the current keystores and keys to locate the host key, or you can create a new AES-256 host key for the crypto support.
  4. Close the database connection and as the nz user, use the nzconfigcrypto -HK keystore.keyname -enable command to enable crypto support with the correct host key.
  5. Stop and restart the NPS software using the nzstop and nzstart commands.
nzstart: Error: Connection Authentication types MD5 and CRYPT are not allowed in SP800-131a mode. Starting NPS in crypto mode with MD5/CRYPT authentication type. MD5/CRYPT authentication type is not allowed in crypto mode. See Updating connections for crypto support.
nzstart: Error: Please drop the current LDAP configuration and restart NPS with a new LDAP configuration. Starting NPS in crypto mode without dropping old LDAP connection. Old LDAP connection/configuration is not compatible with crypto mode and must be dropped and recreated.
  1. Use the nzconfigcrypto -disable command to disable crypto support.
  2. Restart NPS by using the nzstart command.
  3. Connect to a Performance Server database and drop the current LDAP authentication by using the SET AUTHENTICATION LOCAL command.
  4. Use the nzconfigcrypto -enable command to enable crypto support.
  5. Stop and restart the NPS software using the nzstop and nzstart commands.
  6. Connect to a Performance Server database and restore the LDAP configuration by using the SET AUTHENTICATION LDAP command
nzstart: Error: The DSA key used for audit signing must be of type DSA_KEYPAIR_2048 in SP800-131a mode. Starting NPS in crypto mode but the current audit history configuration is not digitally signed and compatible with crypto mode. An administrator could have changed the history configuration to one that is not digitally signed with a key of type DSA_KEYPAIR_2048. After stopping the NPS software, the NPS software could not be restarted with the new audit configuration.
  1. Use the nzconfigcrypto -disable command to disable crypto support.
  2. Restart NPS by using the nzstart command.
  3. Connect to a Performance Server database and use the SHOW HISTORY CONFIGURATION command to review the current configuration. Look for values in the KEYSTORE_NAME and KEY_ALIAS fields, and use the SHOW KEYSTORE <keystore_name> VERBOSE command to determine whether the host key is of type DSA_KEYPAIR_2048.
  4. If the key is of a different type, you can change the audit history configuration to specify a different DSA_KEYPAIR_2048 key. To alter the current history configuration, you must set the history configuration to another value, stop and restart the NPS software, then re-connect to a database and use the ALTER HISTORY CONFIGURATION <name> KEY <keystore.keyname> command. You can then set the history configuration to the altered audit configuration.
  5. Close the database connection and as the nz user, use the nzconfigcrypto -HK keystore.keyname -enable command to enable crypto support.
  6. Stop and restart the NPS software using the nzstop and nzstart commands.