Running Salesforce Data Loader on an M1-based Mac without Rosetta 2

With the release of the new Mac Studio, Apple has completed their transition to ARM-based processors. One of the main selling points of this new architecture is its power efficiency, but not every app has been ported to it. Apple comes to the rescue with their Rosetta 2 binary translation layer, which allows the user to run apps compiled for Intel machines at the cost of performance and power.

Data Loader, however, is a Java app. Remember the old "write once, run anywhere" adage? But, when you download and try to run it, the first thing that springs to the screen is...

"To open Data Loader, you need to install Rosetta. Do you want to install it now?"

Okay. So, is it necessary? Um, not really. Here goes the recipe for running Data Loader natively on an M1-based Mac (also valid for variants M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra):

1. Go to Azul's web page and download the latest Java 17 version for ARM 64-bit v8 architecture, as a .dmg file. Install it as usual, remembering to -- when the installer asks you to do so -- add Java to your PATH environment variable.
2. Download Data Loader, again as usual. Then, unzip it and run "install.command". Follow the instructions presented on the Terminal window, remembering to copy the installation path into a TextEdit window.
3. After the "Process finished" message on Terminal, press Command+T to open up a new tab. Do a "cd" to the installation path, then "ls | grep jar" and copy the exact name of the "dataloader-xx.y.z-uber.jar" file.
4. Back to the TextEdit window, after the installation path, append a "/", then paste the .jar file name. Before the path, type "java -jar" (without quotes) and give a space.
5. Press Command+Shift+T to turn the file into plain text. If a warning appears, confirm it.
6. Save the file to your desktop with the ".command" extension.
7. Double-click it. Voilà, it runs!