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KDS Removal Tool for ADV-2023-003 Failed to Load Configuration File

Symptom​

You're unable to run the NetwrixAuditorKDSRemoval (KDS Removal) tool to delete KDS Root Key data (ADV-2023-003). The following error is prompted showing the tool is unable to reach the Configuration.xml file:

Failed to load configuration file.
Could not find a part of the path

![Error dialog image]./../0-images/ka04u00000117HW_0EM4u000008LwaA.png)

Cause​

The KDS Removal tool is unable to locate the Netwrix Auditor configuration file.

Solution​

  1. Check the location of the configuration file (located by default in C:\ProgramData\Netwrix Auditor\AuditCore\ConfigServer\Configuration.xml). If a Working Folder migration was previously done, check the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Netwrix Auditor\DataPathOverride key for a path.

  2. Open the folder you've extracted the KDS tool to. Open the config.json file using a text editor (e.g., Notepad++). In the "DataPathKey" section of the file, specify the path to your Working Folder in the "DefaultValue" line. Refer to the following code blocks for an example.

Original snippet (uses environment variable):

"DataPathKey": 
    {
        "KeyPath": "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Netwrix Auditor\DataPathOverride",
        "KeyName": "",
        "DefaultValue": "%PROGRAMDATA%\Netwrix Auditor"
    },

Change it to a full path (example):

"DataPathKey": 
    {
        "KeyPath": "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Netwrix Auditor\DataPathOverride",
        "KeyName": "",
        "DefaultValue": "C:\ProgramData\Netwrix Auditor"
    },
  1. Save changes and run the tool again.

In case these steps did not help, contact Netwrix Technical Support: https://www.netwrix.com/open_a_ticket.html.