IOCTL_EHSTOR_BANDMGMT_ACTIVATE IOCTL (ehstorbandmgmt.h)

Article
05/18/2021

This IOCTL_EHSTOR_BANDMGMT_ACTIVATE request is sent to activate the security features and band management on a storage device. The request includes activation options and the authentication key.

Major code

IRP_MJ_DEVICE_CONTROL

Input buffer

The input buffer at Irp->AssociatedIrp.SystemBuffer contains an ACTIVATE_REVERT_PARAMETERS structure. ACTIVATE_REVERT_PARAMETERS is declared in ehstorbandmgmt.h as the following.

typedef struct _ACTIVATE_REVERT_PARAMETERS
{
    ULONG           StructSize;
    ULONG           Flags;
    ULONG           AuthKeyOffset;
} ACTIVATE_REVERT_PARAMETERS;

Following ACTIVATE_REVERT_PARAMETERS in the system buffer is an AUTH_KEY structure. This holds the key data bytes for the authentication key. AUTH_KEY is declared in ehstorbandmgmt.h as the following.

typedef struct _AUTH_KEY
{
    ULONG   KeySize;
    UCHAR   Key[ANYSIZE_ARRAY];
} AUTH_KEY;

Input buffer length

The length of an ACTIVATE_REVERT_PARAMETERS structure.

Output buffer

None.

Output buffer length

None.

Status block

One of the following values can be returned in the Status field.

Status Value	Description
STATUS_SUCCESS	Security features on the storage device were activated.
STATUS_INVALID_DEVICE_REQUEST	The storage device does not support band management.
STATUS_INVALID_BUFFER_SIZE	The input buffer size is invalid.
STATUS_INVALID_PARAMETER	Information in the input buffer is invalid.
STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED	The authentication key is invalid. Activation is denied.
STATUS_DEVICE_CONFIGURATION_ERROR	The system cannot configure the device in a supported mode.
STATUS_IO_DEVICE_ERROR	Communication failed. The storage device might be incompatible with security protocols.
STATUS_INVALID_DEVICE_STATE	The storage device is already activated.
STATUS_NOT_SUPPORTED	Security features on the device were not activated because of a Group Policy setting.

Remarks

If STATUS_SUCCESS is returned from this request, a driver or application can then send an IOCTL_EHSTOR_BANDMGMT_QUERY_CAPABILITIES request to retrieve the enabled band management capabilities of the device.

Before a successful return from IOCTL_EHSTOR_BANDMGMT_ACTIVATE, the device is not activated. Until the device is activated, the only band management IOCTL that will return successfully is IOCTL_EHSTOR_BANDMGMT_QUERY_CAPABILITIES. After activation, the remaining band management IOCTLs are available.

Activation of Enhanced Storage devices is controlled by the Group Policy settings of the system. The registry value at HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\EnhancedStorageDevices\TCGSecurityActivationDisabled determines whether security activation is enabled. A REG_DWORD value of 0 allows security activation on the storage device. Otherwise, a value of 1 disables security activation and the IOCTL_EHSTOR_BANDMGMT_ACTIVATE request will return with STATUS_NOT_SUPPORTED.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Available starting with Windows 8.
Header	ehstorbandmgmt.h (include EhStorBandMgmt.h)

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