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ServiceMasterKey Class

The ServiceMasterKey object represents a Microsoft SQL Server service master key.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
  Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.SmoObjectBase
    Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.SqlSmoObject
      Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.ServiceMasterKey

Namespace:  Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo
Assembly:  Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo (in Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<SfcElementTypeAttribute("MasterKey")> _
Public NotInheritable Class ServiceMasterKey _
    Inherits SqlSmoObject
'Usage
Dim instance As ServiceMasterKey
[SfcElementTypeAttribute("MasterKey")]
public sealed class ServiceMasterKey : SqlSmoObject
[SfcElementTypeAttribute(L"MasterKey")]
public ref class ServiceMasterKey sealed : public SqlSmoObject
[<SealedAttribute>]
[<SfcElementTypeAttribute("MasterKey")>]
type ServiceMasterKey =  
    class 
        inherit SqlSmoObject 
    end
public final class ServiceMasterKey extends SqlSmoObject

The ServiceMasterKey type exposes the following members.

Properties

  Name Description
Public property Parent Gets the Server object that is the parent of the ServiceMasterKey object.
Public property Properties Gets a collection of Property objects that represent the object properties. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public property State Gets the state of the referenced object. (Inherited from SmoObjectBase.)
Public property Urn Gets the Uniform Resource Name (URN) address value that uniquely identifies the object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public property UserData Gets or sets user-defined data associated with the referenced object. (Inherited from SmoObjectBase.)

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Methods

  Name Description
Public method ChangeAccount Encrypts the service master key with the new, specified credentials.
Public method Discover Discovers a list of type Object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method Equals (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Export Saves the service master key to the specified system path location with the specified password.
Protected method FormatSqlVariant Formats an object as SqlVariant type. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method GetContextDB Gets the context database that is associated with this object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method GetDBName Gets the database name that is associated with the object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method GetHashCode (Inherited from Object.)
Protected method GetPropValue Gets a property value of the SqlSmoObject object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method GetPropValueOptional Gets a property value of the SqlSmoObject object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method GetPropValueOptionalAllowNull Gets a property value of the SqlSmoObject object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method GetServerObject Gets the server of the SqlSmoObject object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method GetType (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Import Loads the service master key from the file located at the specified system path by using the specified password.
Public method Initialize() Initializes the object and forces the properties be loaded. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method Initialize(Boolean) Initializes the object and forces the properties be loaded. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method IsObjectInitialized Verifies whether the object has been initialized. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Protected method IsObjectInSpace Verifies whether the object is isolated or connected to the instance of SQL Server. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method Recover Recovers a service master key, in case the service master key has been changed external to SQL Server.
Public method Refresh Refreshes the object and retrieves properties when the object is next accessed. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method Regenerate() Regenerates the database master key by using the specified new password.
Public method Regenerate(Boolean) Regenerates the service master key with the option to force the regeneration, and removes all items that cannot be successfully decrypted.
Protected method SetParentImpl Sets the parent of the SqlSmoObject to the newParent parameter. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method ToString Returns a String that represents the referenced object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public method Validate Validates the state of an object. (Inherited from SmoObjectBase.)

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Events

  Name Description
Public event PropertyChanged Represents the event that occurs when a property is changed. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Public event PropertyMetadataChanged Represents the event that occurs when property metadata changes. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)

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Explicit Interface Implementations

  Name Description
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.Discover Discovers any dependencies. Do not reference this member directly in your code. It supports the SQL Server infrastructure. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.GetDomainRoot Returns the root of the domain. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.GetParent Gets the parent of this object. Do not reference this member directly in your code. It supports the SQL Server infrastructure. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.GetPropertyType Gets the type of the specified property. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.GetPropertyValue Gets the value of the specified property. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.GetUrn Gets the Unified Resource Name (URN) of the object. Do not reference this member directly in your code. It supports the SQL Server infrastructure. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.Resolve Gets the instance that contains the information about the object from the Unified Resource Name (URN) of the object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.SetObjectState Sets the object state to the specified SfcObjectState value. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method IAlienObject.SetPropertyValue Sets the property value. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)
Explicit interface implemetationPrivate method ISfcPropertyProvider.GetPropertySet Gets the interface reference to the set of properties of this object. (Inherited from SqlSmoObject.)

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Remarks

A service master key is the lop layer in the encryption hierarchy. It is used to encrypt all the lower layers of the encryption hierarchy, such as database master keys, certificates, asymmetric and symmetric keys. The service master key is generated by Windows and secured by the Windows data protection API. It can only be opened by the Windows service account under which it was created, or by a user who knows both the service account name and its password.

To get the ServiceMasterKey object properties, users can be a member of the public fixed server role.

To set the ServiceMasterKey object properties, users must have CONTROL SERVER permission on the server or be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role.

To back up or restore the service master key, users must have CONTROL SERVER permission on the server or be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role.

Examples

Using Encryption

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

See Also

Reference

Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo Namespace

Other Resources

Encryption Hierarchy

ALTER SERVICE MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)