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C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys is filling my disk space

Hello,

I notice that this folder is filling my disk space with millions of rsa files. I have more than 2 millions of these files on each poller and more than 5 millions on my web server. I gain about 40k new files each day.

Has someone made the same observation on its configuration ?

How can I safely purge these files ?

I had a first try by deleting files older than 3 months on my web server resulting on losing access to this machine.

Thank you for your help!

  • Hey, most of the time MachineKeys folder stores certificate pair keys for both the computer and users.

    You can clean this folder safely without affecting the Solarwinds application:

    https://forums.iis.net/t/1224708.aspx?C+ProgramData+Microsoft+Crypto+RSA+MachineKeys+is+filling+my+disk+space

  • Hi Littlebee_26,

    Thank you for your reply. I assume deleting these files are safe for the Solarwinds application but obviously not for the environment. As I said, I lose access to my machine by deleting these files.

    Following your link, I found this : https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1683713

    It explicitly says: "If you're running IIS, there is a private key for encrypting the IIS MetaBase stored here. This key will have a name starting with 'c2319'. DON'T DELETE THIS KEY – YOU'LL KILL IIS."

    I think that is why I lose access to my machine. Moreover, I access this machine via a bastion host. Deleting the wrong rsa file results in losing trust relationships and again, losing access.

    That's why I cannot safely delete this directory. Is there a way to delete files in this folder only related to Solarwinds ?

  • We have millions RSA files on web servers/pollers, and it seems to affect polling engine performance ("initial pool in progress" stays for 3 to 5 hours after a unmanage/remanage)

    Guys, can you check C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys folder ? Are we alone with this problem ?

    Even on a freshly installed polling engine with 10 agents, we already have 100k RSA files in less that 2 weeks