snapshot

Take a snapshot of one or more keyspaces, or of a table, to backup data.

Synopsis 

nodetool <options> snapshot ( 
  ( -cf <table> | --column-family <table> ) 
  ( -t <tag> | --tag <tag> )
  -- ( <keyspace> ) | ( <keyspace> ... )
)

• options are:
  • ( -h | --host ) <host name> | <ip address>
  • ( -p | --port ) <port number>
  • ( -pw | --password ) <password >
  • ( -u | --username ) <user name>
• -cf, or --column-family, followed by the name of the table to be backed up.
• -t or --tag, followed by the snapshot name.
• -- Separates an option and argument that could be mistaken for a option.
• keyspace is one keyspace name that is required when using the -cf option, or one or more optional keyspace names, separated by a space.

Description 

• All keyspaces on a node.

  Omit the optional keyspace and table parameters, as shown in the first example.

• One or more keyspaces and all tables in the named keyspaces.

  Include one or more names of the keyspaces, as shown in the second and third examples.

• A single table.

  Include the name of a single keyspace and a table using the -cf option, as shown in the last example.

Cassandra flushes the node before taking a snapshot, takes the snapshot, and stores the data in the snapshots directory of each keyspace in the data directory. If you do not specify the name of a snapshot directory using the -t option, Cassandra names the directory using the timestamp of the snapshot, for example 1391460334889. Follow the procedure for taking a snapshot before upgrading Cassandra. When upgrading, backup all keyspaces. For more information about snapshots, see Apache documentation .

Example: All keyspaces 

Take a snapshot of all keyspaces on the node. On Linux, in the Cassandra bin directory, for example:

$ ./nodetool snapshot

The following message appears:

Requested creating snapshot(s) for [all keyspaces] with snapshot name [1391464041163]
Snapshot directory: 1391464041163

Because you did not specify a snapshot name, Cassandra names snapshot directories using the timestamp of the snapshot. If the keyspace contains no data, empty directories are not created.

Example: Single keyspace snapshot 

Assuming you created the keyspace and tables in the music service example, take a snapshot of the music keyspace and name the snapshot 2014.06.24. On Linux, in the Cassandra bin directory, for example:

$ ./nodetool snapshot -t 2014.06.24 music

The following message appears:

Requested creating snapshot(s) for [music] with snapshot name [2014.06.24]
Snapshot directory: 2014.06.24

$ cd /var/lib/cassandra/data/music/playlists-bf8118508cfd11e3972273ded3cb6170/snapshots/2014.06.24
$ ls
music-playlists-ka-1-CompressionInfo.db  music-playlists-ka-1-Index.db       music-playlists-ka-1-TOC.txt
music-playlists-ka-1-Data.db             music-playlists-ka-1-Statistics.db
music-playlists-ka-1-Filter.db           music-playlists-ka-1-Summary.db
$ cd /var/lib/cassandra/data/music/songs-b8e385a08cfd11e3972273ded3cb6170/2014.06.24/snapshots/2014.06.24
music-songs-ka-1-CompressionInfo.db	music-songs-ka-1-Index.db		music-songs-ka-1-TOC.txt
music-songs-ka-1-Data.db		music-songs-ka-1-Statistics.db
music-songs-ka-1-Filter.db		music-songs-ka-1-Summary.db

Example: Multiple keyspaces snapshot 

Assuming you created a keyspace named mykeyspace in addition to the music keyspace, take a snapshot of both keyspaces. On Linux, in the Cassandra bin directory, for example:

$ ./nodetool snapshot mykeyspace music

The following message appears:

Requested creating snapshot(s) for [mykeyspace, music] with snapshot name [1391460334889]
Snapshot directory: 1391460334889

Example: Single table snapshot 

Take a snapshot of only the playlists table in the music keyspace. On Linux, in the Cassandra bin directory, for example:

$ ./nodetool snapshot -cf playlists music
Requested creating snapshot(s) for [music] with snapshot name [1391461910600]
Snapshot directory: 1391461910600