Hi Andrew,
The Keys.ini file is generated when the Management console is opened for the first time after it is installed.
The Keys.ini file is very important as this is accessed by other componets of IDM to encrypt the data when the components (Identity Management User Interface, the Virtual Directory Server and all runtime engines) communicates with each other.
Hence it has to be distributed to all the different servers where the different components of the system are installed.
"If the Keys.ini file does not exist when you start the Management Console, it will create the file containing a random key" @ <installation folder>\key\keys.ini
In your case,
Case 1: I believe you might have installed / uninstalled management console & run time components to troubleshoot in case of issues, because of which the previous Keys.ini file might be still existing. In this case, I suggest you to
1. Uninstall the management console.
2. Remove the keys.ini file. Re-install.
3. Distribute the new key again to all the servers where the different IDM components are installed.
Case 2: You haven't installed the Management console properly. Keys.ini is generated but you forgot to distribute the Keys.ini file to the systems where the other IDM components are installed. In this case, I suggest you to
1. Distribute the Keys.ini to the respective systems.
All the best !!
~ Krishna.