[role="xpack"]
[[syskeygen]]
== elasticsearch-syskeygen

The `elasticsearch-syskeygen` command creates a system key file in the
elasticsearch config directory.

[float]
=== Synopsis

[source,shell]
--------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-syskeygen
[-E <KeyValuePair>] [-h, --help]
([-s, --silent] | [-v, --verbose])
--------------------------------------------------

[float]
=== Description

The command generates a `system_key` file, which you can use to symmetrically
encrypt sensitive data. For example, you can use this key to prevent {watcher}
from returning and storing information that contains clear text credentials. See  {xpack-ref}/encrypting-data.html[Encrypting sensitive data in {watcher}]. 

IMPORTANT: The system key is a symmetric key, so the same key must be used on
every node in the cluster.

[float]
=== Parameters

`-E <KeyValuePair>`:: Configures a setting. For example, if you have a custom
installation of {es}, you can use this parameter to specify the `ES_PATH_CONF`
environment variable.

`-h, --help`:: Returns all of the command parameters.

`-s, --silent`:: Shows minimal output.

`-v, --verbose`:: Shows verbose output.


[float]
=== Examples

The following command generates a `system_key` file in the
default `$ES_HOME/config/x-pack` directory:

[source, sh]
--------------------------------------------------
bin/elasticsearch-syskeygen
--------------------------------------------------