Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Backing Up TDE Certificates and Keys

The most important issue to consider when using TDE is that you must back up and retain the certificate and private key associated with the encryption. If these things are lost or unavailable, you are not able to restore or attach the encrypted database files on another server. The following warning message displayed after creating a certificate drives home this point:

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Warning: The certificate used for encrypting the databaseencryption key has not been backed up. You should immediatelyback up the certificate and the private key associated with thecertificate. If the certificate ever becomes unavailable or if youmust restore or attach the database on another server, you must have ...