EKM provider enabled Server Configuration Option
The EKM provider enabled option controls Extensible Key Management device support in SQL Server. By default this option is off.
To enable or disable the feature, issue one of the following sp_configure commands:
/* Enable the external encryption provider option */
sp_configure 'EKM provider enabled', 1
/* Disable the external encryption provider option */
sp_configure 'EKM provider enabled', 0
Note
This option is not enabled in every edition of Microsoft SQL Server. For a list of features that are supported by the editions of SQL Server, see Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2012.