SQL Server Agent - Encrypted Connections

Peter Schmitz

Administrator
Staff member
When you attempt to enlist a new Job Server in a multi-server administration, the SQL Server Agent from the Master server by default needs to be able to encrypt its communications with the Target server.

This can be accomplished by installing an SSL certificate, but another option would be specifying that no encryption will be required. This is done by means of a registry key, which can be found in the following location:

Code:
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE'\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\<Instance name>\SQL ServerAgent\MsxEncryptionChannelOptions

The setting has three different options:

ValueDescription
0Disables encryption between the target server and this server.
1Enables encryption only between this target server and the master server without certificate validation requirements
2Full SSL encryption with certificate validation. This is the default setting.

Switching the option to 0 does the trick for me, without having to go through the hassle of installing an SSL certificate. By simply setting the setting to 1, I was still unable to get the communication to properly work.

Attached you will find two files that will set this setting to 0 for you automatically, provided you are running a default instance of SQL Server.

Use of the files is at your own risk! No warranty is given, if this somehow ends up messing up your server.
 

Attachments

  • SQL2008_SqlAgentSolution.reg
    362 bytes · Views: 655
  • SQL2008R2_SqlAgentSolution.reg
    368 bytes · Views: 667
Top