# AESKeyFile

The path to the AES key file to use for IDOL data encryption. Setting this parameter turns on encryption for your IDOL Server data index.

CAUTION: If you lose your encryption keys after you enable encryption, you cannot recover your IDOL data.

IDOL Server uses 256-bit AES encryption. Encryption includes:

- document data in the index.
- temporary data in the on-disk index cache.
- value mapping files used by the `parametric`, `match`, and `security` indexes.
- the term dictionary.
- the unstemmed term tree.
- the geospatial index.
- any data sent with index actions that is stored in your index queue before processing.

IDOL Server does not start if the key file that you specify is not valid.

You can determine the encryption status of your index by using the GetStatus action.

You can turn on AES encryption in an index that has existing content. In this case:

- IDOL Server encrypts the value mapping and geospatial index files at startup
- Document data encryption applies only to new data.
- Any unprocessed data in your index queue remains unencrypted.
- IDOL Server does not encrypt the unstemmed term tree unless you regenerate it (see RegenerateUnstemmedIndex).
- IDOL Server encrypts the term dictionary when it next flushes the terms to disk during index, or when you run index compaction.

To ensure that all your data is encrypted, Micro Focus recommends that you reindex your data into an empty index.

After you enable encryption, IDOL Server verifies your encryption key each time you restart the server. The service logs an error and does not start if the key file has changed, or is missing.

Similarly, if you use the DREINITIAL index action with a backup path, IDOL Server checks the encryption settings in the backup directory before attempting to restore the index. If the target index has incompatible encryption settings, the DREINITIAL index action fails with a bad parameter index status.

NOTE: You can also enable encryption by using the `-dataencryptionkey` command line parameter when you start the IDOL Content component. If you use this option, it overrides the `AESKeyFile` setting.

Type: | String
Default: |
Required: | No
Configuration Section: | DataEncryption
Example: | `AESKeyFile=C:\IDOL\data\encryption\AES.ky`
See Also: | TermInfoReadBlockSize

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