APPX Software Library

Chapter 4: Decrypt PROSPECT

Export before clearing the file key

This exercise reverses the independent file-key example in Chapter 3. It starts with PROSPECT encrypted, no inherited group key, and a working system passphrase.

  1. Stop users and jobs that can access PROSPECT.
  2. Back up the encrypted file pair, matching structure, and current administration configuration.
  3. Select only PROSPECT and export it with Export Files (CSV), without headings.
  4. Check the export count and preserve the CSV before changing the key.
  5. Open File Specifications, File Attributes in Change mode and clear Encryption Key.
PROSPECT's file key cleared after export. The physical file is still encrypted until the replacement import.
Figure 7. PROSPECT's file key cleared after export. The physical file is still encrypted until the replacement import.
  1. Accept File Attributes and save the file specification.

Leave the system passphrase in place. Decrypting one file is not a reason to change the passphrase used by the rest of the system.

If PROSPECT instead inherits a group key, clearing its file-level key is insufficient. After exporting it, move it to an equivalent group without encryption, preserving the effective FMS, path, and other required attributes. Clear a group's key only when every affected member is included in the planned conversion. Chapter 6 uses a dedicated group for that purpose.