Step One: Create the Encryption Key File

When you use Data Loader from the command line, there’s no user interface. Therefore, you provide the information that you would enter in the user interface in 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 selecting 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. Replace the file path with the path from your system.

   cd C:\Program Files\salesforce.com\Data Loader\bin

   If Data Loader was installed in non-admin mode, the \bin directory is "%APPDATALOCAL%\salesforce.com\Data Loader\bin"

   Note

4. Create an encryption key file by entering the following command. Replace [path to key file] with the key file path.

   encrypt.bat —k [path to key file]

   

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

   Note

5. Note the key file path. In this example, the path is C:\Users\IEUser\.dataloader\dataLoader.key.

The encryption utility encrypts passwords but not data. HTTPS with TLS 1.0 or later encrypts data transmitted by the Apex Data Loader.