Patent ID: 8027475

Claim:
A method for recovering encryption keys for an information handing system (“IHS”) data storage media library having a plurality of drives and managed encryption, by restoring the association of storage media with a key server, the method comprising: (a) mounting a first recording medium of a plurality of recording media in a first drive of a plurality of drives; (b) automatically requesting a first key from a primary key manager (PKM) associated with the first drive, wherein the first drive provides a first key identifier (ID) to the PKM; (c) determining if the PKM associated with the first drive provides the first key corresponding to the first key ID; (d) mounting the first recording medium of a plurality of recording media in a next drive of the plurality of drives if the PKM does not provide the first key corresponding to the first key ID; (e) automatically requesting a first key from a primary key manager (PKM) associated with the next drive, wherein the next drive provides the first key identifier (ID) to the PKM associated with the next drive; and (f) determining if the PKM associated with the next drive then provides the first key corresponding to the first key ID; (g) repeating steps (d) through (f) for succeeding drives of the plurality of drives if the PKM associated with the next drive does not provide the first key corresponding to the first key ID; and (h) storing a first identifying information for a PKM associated with a specific drive in a memory for the first recording medium when the PKM associated with the specific drive provides the first key.