Crypto key has unrecognized type?

Question

After CiviCRM upgrading v5.29 to v5.36, when I run the database update get the following error. I googled "CiviCRM Crypto key has unrecognized type" but did not find anything. Any suggestions what to do next?

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This is what I get with Debugging on:

Civi\Crypto\Exception\CryptoException: Crypto key has unrecognized type in /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/Civi/Crypto/CryptoRegistry.php on line 76

Exception trace
#    Function    Location
0    Civi\Crypto\CryptoRegistry->parseKey('%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%…')    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/Civi/Crypto/CryptoRegistry.php:76
1    Civi\Crypto\CryptoRegistry::createDefaultRegistry()    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Upgrade/Incremental/php/FiveThirtyFour.php:39
2    CRM_Upgrade_Incremental_php_FiveThirtyFour->setPreUpgradeMessage('<br />The defaul…', '5.34.alpha1', '5.29.0')    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Upgrade/Form.php:823
3    CRM_Upgrade_Form->setPreUpgradeMessage('<br />The defaul…', '5.29.0', '5.36.0')    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Upgrade/Page/Upgrade.php:108
4    CRM_Upgrade_Page_Upgrade->runIntro()    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Upgrade/Page/Upgrade.php:57
5    CRM_Upgrade_Page_Upgrade->run(Array, null)    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Invoke.php:313
6    CRM_Core_Invoke::runItem(Array)    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Invoke.php:69
7    CRM_Core_Invoke::_invoke(Array)    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/CRM/Core/Invoke.php:36
8    CRM_Core_Invoke::invoke(Array)    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm.php:121
9    civicrm_invoke()    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm.php:40
10    require_once('/home/customer/w…')    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/libraries/src/Component/ComponentHelper.php:402
11    Joomla\CMS\Component\ComponentHelper::executeComponent('/home/customer/w…')    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/libraries/src/Component/ComponentHelper.php:377
12    Joomla\CMS\Component\ComponentHelper::renderComponent('com_civicrm')    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/libraries/src/Application/AdministratorApplication.php:101
13    Joomla\CMS\Application\AdministratorApplication->dispatch()    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/libraries/src/Application/AdministratorApplication.php:159
14    Joomla\CMS\Application\AdministratorApplication->doExecute()    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/libraries/src/Application/CMSApplication.php:203
15    Joomla\CMS\Application\CMSApplication->execute()    /home/customer/www/%%%%%%.org/public_html/administrator/index.php:51
16    {main}

Answer 1

Did you already set CIVICRM_CRED_KEYS in civicrm.settings.php? If so it probably has the wrong "type". https://docs.civicrm.org/sysadmin/en/latest/setup/secret-keys/#civicrm_cred_keys

Answer 2

While not the OP's issue, another cause for this error is copying a Civi database to a new site. Typically you'll install a fresh Civi, then load your backup. If you do this, in theory you need to match your CIVICRM_CRED_KEYS value to whatever was in the old civicrm.settings.php.

In practice, I found it much easier to delete the entry in the civicrm_setting database table that stored SMTP settings and re-enter them.