encrypted-databases-with-always-on-availability-groups-sql-server.md

title	Add an encrypted database to an availability group
description	Learn the steps to add an encrypted (or recently decrypted) database to an Always On availability group.
ms.custom	seodec18
ms.date	05/17/2016
ms.prod	sql
ms.reviewer
ms.technology	high-availability
ms.topic	how-to
helpviewer_keywords	Transparent Data Encryption, AlwaysOn Availability Groups TDE, AlwaysOn Availability Groups Availability Groups [SQL Server], interoperability
ms.assetid	09eb6ebc-3051-4fff-86a5-93524507b1fc
author	MashaMSFT
ms.author	mathoma

Add an encrypted database to an Always On availability group

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

This topic contains information about the using currently encrypted or recently decrypted databases with [!INCLUDEssHADR] in [!INCLUDEssCurrent].

Limitations and Restrictions

• If a database is encrypted or even contains a Database Encryption Key (DEK), you cannot use the [!INCLUDEssAoNewAgWiz] or [!INCLUDEssAoAddDbWiz] to add the database to an availability group. Even if an encrypted database has been decrypted, its log backups might contain encrypted data. In this case, full initial data synchronization could fail on the database. This is because the restore log operation might require the certificate that was used by the database encryption keys (DEKs), and that certificate might be unavailable.

  To make a decrypted database eligible to add to an availability group using the wizard:

  1. Create a log backup of the primary database.

  2. Create a full database backup of the primary database.

  3. Restore the database backup on the server instance that hosts the secondary replica.

  4. Create a new log backup from primary database.

  5. Restore this log backup on the secondary database.

Related Tasks

• Manually Prepare a Secondary Database for an Availability Group (SQL Server)

• Use the Availability Group Wizard (SQL Server Management Studio)

• Use the Add Database to Availability Group Wizard (SQL Server Management Studio)

See Also

Overview of Always On Availability Groups (SQL Server)
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)