# Sudden repeated "Server crashed on startup"

**URL:** https://forum.duplicati.com/t/sudden-repeated-server-crashed-on-startup/22559
**Category:** Uncategorized
**Created:** [July 18, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://forum.duplicati.com/t/sudden-repeated-server-crashed-on-startup/22559 "2026-07-18T21:33:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![kenkendk](https://forum.duplicati.com/user_avatar/forum.duplicati.com/kenkendk/32/5305_2.png) [@kenkendk](https://forum.duplicati.com/u/kenkendk)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2026, 8:16am UTC](https://forum.duplicati.com/t/sudden-repeated-server-crashed-on-startup/22559/2 "2026-07-20T08:16:46Z")

</div>

> [@chrism](#):
>
> Duplicati.Library.Interface.UserInformationException: Server crashed on startup  
> —\> System.Exception: A serious error occurred in Duplicati: Duplicati.Library.Interface.SettingsEncryptionKeyMismatchException: Encryption key used to encrypt target settings does not match current key.

This message means that Duplicati found an encryption key, but it was not the right one.

Did you by any chance run a “cleaner” program?  
I am aware that some cleaner programs have a setting for “remove intranet credentials” or similar wording, that will actually wipe the Windows Credential Manager for all credentials.

Duplicati prior to 2.3.0.4 had a logic bug where it would create a new key if it could not decrypt the database. While this did not break anything directly, it can be really confusing if the real key was wiped, as you would see a key, but it would not be the right one.

> [@chrism](#):
>
> So I tried launching Duplicati.GUI.TrayIcon.exe with the --disable-db-encryption, but it fails with the exact same output.

Yes, without the key, the database cannot be decrypted.

> [@chrism](#):
>
> Other than doing a fresh install, I’m now at a loss as to what to do next to get it working again.

If you have the backup configurations exported, you can rename the `Duplicati-server.sqlite` file to get a clean slate.

I will try to add a `wipe-encryption` method that will purge the database of encrypted content so you could run that first, and then go and manually enter the things that were wiped (encryption passphrase, destination url, etc).

---

_[View the full topic](https://forum.duplicati.com/t/sudden-repeated-server-crashed-on-startup/22559)._