Keychain error -25308 while trying to add drive to Time Machine

Question

I am trying to configure my Mac to use a time-capsule for Time Machine. After entering in the Time Capsule password I get the following error:

Keychain error -25308 occurred while creating a System Keychain entry for the username "Bob" and URL "afp://Bob@TimeCapsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/TM"

You can try using the Keychain Access utility to edit or repair your System Keychain

I've tried repairing my keychain, using the Keychain Access utility:

Repair started
Checking keychain configuration for Bob (user ID=501)
Home directory is /Users/Bob
Checked login keychain
Checked password for ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain
Checked settings for ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain
Checked default keychain
Checked contents of ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain
No problems found
Repair completed

I even got desperate enough to wipe the drive and reinstall Mavericks, and it still occurs. I get the same error if I try and set it up to use a NAS instead of the time-capsule.

The time-capsule works for another Mac in my house. I've tried wiping the keychain and starting from scratch. Nothing works.

Does anyone know what I need to do to fix this?

Answer 1

I was having this same problem. According to discussion at this thread on Ars Technica, it’s caused by a bug in iStat Server. Are you running this?

I was, and can confirm that the work-around solution posted there of removing iStat Server and deleting the iStat Server entry in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist has worked for me. The relevant entry looks like this:

<key>DefaultKeychain</key>
<array>
   <dict>
      <key>DbName</key>
      <string>/Library/Application Support/iStat Server/iStatServer.keychain</string>
      <key>GUID</key>
      <string>{87191ca3-0fc9-11d4-849a-000502b52122}</string>
      <key>SubserviceType</key>
      <integer>6</integer>
   </dict>
</array>

Bjango, the developer of iStat Server, has further posted on the Ars Technica thread that a new version of iStat Server is now available. I have not independently verified that this addresses the problem, since the above work-around had already taken care of my issue, but their release notes say simply “Fixed a Keychain issue.” Both the new version and the release notes can easily be found at the iStat Server link above.