# Credentials could not be decrypted after restart

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [10 March 2022 07:56 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638 "2022-03-10T07:56:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![davidg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/davidg/32/58187_2.png) [@davidg](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/davidg)\
**Post date:** [10 March 2022 07:56 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638/1 "2022-03-10T07:56:22Z")

</div>

**How can I remove need to enter credentials after each restart, re-boot or power cycle?**

Scenario:  
Start - I get credential problem

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/6/f/6f3fc229388ebbee541b5fa2fe079b79baf2cc10.png)

Configure token for influx V2 , deploy **FULL**  
connection to influxdb works  
Restart Flows

- shows error above BUT influxDB actually still working

Restart Process (pm2 restart node-red) or reboot

- credential warning as above
- all credentials lost need to re-enter

I have previously had this working just fine.

My config:

```auto
uname -a
Linux e45f013eb289 5.10.92-v8+ #1514 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jan 17 17:39:38 GMT 2022 aarch64 GNU/Linux

cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="11"
VERSION="11 (bullseye)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bullseye
ID=debian

/home/pi/.pm2/logs/node-red-out.log 
Welcome to Node-RED
===================

10 Mar 07:00:56 - [info] Node-RED version: v2.2.2
10 Mar 07:00:56 - [info] Node.js version: v14.19.0
10 Mar 07:00:56 - [info] Linux 5.10.92-v8+ arm64 LE
10 Mar 07:00:57 - [info] Loading palette nodes
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Settings file : /home/pi/.node-red/settings.js
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Context store : 'File' [module=localfilesystem]
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Context store : 'default' [module=memory]
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] User directory : /home/pi/.node-red
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [warn] Projects disabled : editorTheme.projects.enabled=false
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Flows file : /home/pi/.node-red/flows.json
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Server now running at http://127.0.0.1:1880/
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [warn] Error loading credentials: SyntaxError: Unexpected token � in JSON at position 0
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [warn] Error loading flows: Error: Failed to decrypt credentials
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Starting flows
10 Mar 07:00:59 - [info] Started flows
10 Mar 07:00:59 - [info] [mqtt-broker:MosquittoLocal] Connected to broker: nodejsdg@tcp://localhost
10 Mar 07:01:06 - [error] [influxdb out:tiqclient v2] HttpError: unauthorized access
    at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (/home/pi/.node-red/node_modules/@influxdata/influxdb-client/dist/index.js:16:3853)
    at IncomingMessage.emit (events.js:412:35)
    at endReadableNT (internal/streams/readable.js:1334:12)
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:82:21)

node --version
v14.19.0

```

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/6/9/6939e87a90500c72c92e49813108e648ec826093.png)

```auto
settings.js:
    flowFile: 'flows.json',
    credentialSecret: 'my-secret',

```

**flows & credentials**

```auto
flows.json
flows_cred.json

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [10 March 2022 08:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638/2 "2022-03-10T08:14:39Z")

</div>

Hi David, welcome to the forum.

> [@davidg](#):
>
> `10 Mar 07:00:58 - [warn] Error loading credentials: SyntaxError: Unexpected token � in JSON at position 0`

Could you do a test please (need to see if this is repeatable)...

1. Stop node-red
2. Rename `/home/pi/.node-red/flows_cred.json` to `/home/pi/.node-red/flows_cred.json.bad`
3. Start node-red
4. Re-enter credentials
5. Stop / start / test node-red

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![davidg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/davidg/32/58187_2.png) [@davidg](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/davidg)\
**Post date:** [10 March 2022 09:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638/3 "2022-03-10T09:12:14Z")

</div>

Thankyou, since you reply I have been testing multiple similar scenarios.  
Unfortunately no luck.  
I am wondering if the memory based

`4. Re-enter credentials`  
Reentered - no \_cred file  
Deployed FULL  
Hmmm ... no flows\_cred.json  
I am wondering if the following is an issue  
`10 Mar 07:00:58 - [info] Context store : 'default' [module=memory]`

```auto
pi@myhost:~/.node-red $ ls
context flows_cred.json.bad flows.json lib node_modules package.json settings.js

```

`5. Stop / start / test node-red`  
No success.  
Token configuration empty...

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/9/6/960b8cf14882abcbf4abc5de9454d616fc709c73.png)

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/3/1/31bdb00c914204832e87c3b86d81e58a402d5494.png)

at the end I do not have a new flows\_cred.json

```auto
xxxx:~/.node-red $ ls
context flows_cred.json.bad flows.json lib node_modules package.json settings.js

```

I suspect this is the problem (despite the fact I had previously see the contents of flows\_cred.json change???!!!

Deploy FULL again

```auto
xxx:~/.node-red $ ls
context flows_cred.json flows_cred.json.bad flows.json lib node_modules package.json settings.js

```

\_cred exists

```auto
pm2 stop node-red
pm2 start node-red

```

refresh UI

I am sure if I reenter token all will be OK...  
flows\_cred.json

FYI  
I think the following problem is not from the \_cred file but as a result of a failed decription...

```auto
10 Mar 07:00:58 - [warn] Error loading credentials: SyntaxError: Unexpected token � in JSON at position 0
1

```

`{"$":"57db50xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxRjYL7hqLV"}`

... so now I am totally lost!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hardillb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/hardillb/32/12373_2.png) [@hardillb](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/hardillb)\
**Post date:** [10 March 2022 09:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638/4 "2022-03-10T09:29:21Z")

</div>

No, the Context store has nothing to do with the credentials, that is not related.

Lets test the credentials file outside of node-red

This blog post has a short snippet of code that will show the decrypted content.

> **[Viewing Node-RED Credentials](https://www.hardill.me.uk/wordpress/2021/02/17/viewing-node-red-credentials/)**
>
> A question popped up on the Node-RED Slack yesterday asking how to recover an entry from the credentials file. Background The credentials file can normally be found in the Node-RED userDir, which d…

Put that code in a file in `/home/pi/.node-red` and run it with the name of the creds file and the secret on the command line

It should output a JSON object if the secret matches what is being used by Node-RED

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [10 March 2022 20:37 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638/5 "2022-03-10T20:37:18Z")

</div>

Which version of node red (see bottom of menu drop down) and nodejs are you using? The command  
`node -v`  
Will tell you the nodejs version.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![davidg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/davidg/32/58187_2.png) [@davidg](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/davidg)\
**Post date:** [12 March 2022 00:47 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/credentials-could-not-be-decrypted-after-restart/59638/6 "2022-03-12T00:47:19Z")

</div>

> [@davidg](#):
>
> `~/.node-red`

Thankyou @hardillb , apart from run your script I am unaware of any real change I made (probably I did).

It now works!!!

Nice script though. Thanks!