During the installation of Agent for IBM WebSphere Application Server on a Windows system, the IBM JVM returns an empty encryption key (6461210)

This issue applies to both Agent for IBM WebSphere Application Server 5.1.1 and Agent for IBM WebSphere Application Server 6.0.

Be aware that this issue only occurs on Windows systems. During the installation of the agent, you are prompted for the encryption key, as such:

Enter a valid Encryption Key.
[ ? : Help, < : Back, ! : Exit ]
Enter the Encryption Key []:

Usually, a default encryption key is provided in the prompt. However, depending upon the configuration of the IBM WebSphere Application Server instance, the IBM Java Virtual Machine (JVM) might return an empty encryption key. In such a case, the agent installer presents the prompt without a default encryption key included, as illustrated by the preceding example prompt.

Workaround: Manually enter a random value in response to this prompt.