Step One: Create the Encryption Key

When you use Data Loader from the command line, there’s no user interface. Therefore, you need to provide the information that you would normally enter in the user interface by using a text file named process-conf.xml. For example, you add the username and password that Data Loader uses to log in to Salesforce. The password must be encrypted before you add it to the process-conf.xml file, and creating the key is the first step in that process.

1. Open a command prompt window by clicking Start | All Programs | Accessories | Command Prompt. Alternatively, you can click Start | Run, enter cmd in the Open field, and click OK.
2. In the command window, enter cd\ to navigate to the root directory of the drive where Data Loader is installed.
3. Navigate to the Data Loader \bin directory by entering this command. Be sure to replace the file path with the path from your system.

   cd C:\Program Files (x86)\salesforce.com\Apex Data Loader 22.0\bin

4. Create an encryption key by entering the following command. Replace <seedtext> with any string.

   encrypt.bat —g <seedtext>

   

   To see a list of command-line options for encrypt.bat, type encrypt.bat from the command line.

   Note

5. Copy the generated key from the command window to a text file named key.txt and make a note of the file path. In this example, the generated key is e8a68b73992a7a54.

   Enabling quick edit mode on a command window can make it easier to copy data to and from the window. To enable quick edit mode, right-click the top of the window and select Properties. On the Options tab, select QuickEdit Mode.

   Note

The encryption utility is used to encrypt passwords, but data that you transmit using Data Loader is not encrypted.