When you encrypt an existing, unencrypted database, you can specify whether the database should be encrypted using a boot password or an external encryption key. You can also specify the encryptionProvider attribute and the encryptionAlgorithm attribute on the connection URL. The database is configure with the specified encryption attributes and all of the existing data in the database is encrypted.
Encrypting a database is a time consuming process because it involves encrypting all of the existing data in the database. If the process is interrupted before completion, all the changes are rolled back the next time that the database is booted. If the interruption occurs immediately after the database is encrypted but before the connection is returned to the application, you might not be able to boot the database without the boot password or external encryption key. In these rare circumstances, you should try to boot the database with the boot password or the external encryption key.
To encrypt an existing unencrypted database: