C# driver quickstart
DataStax recommends the Data API and clients for Serverless (Vector) databases. You can use the Data API to perform CQL operations on your table data in Serverless (Vector) databases. DataStax recommends drivers only for Serverless (Non-Vector) databases, legacy applications that rely on a driver, or for CQL functions that aren’t supported by the Data API. For more information, see Compare connection methods. |
To use the DataStax C# driver, you need to install the driver and its dependencies, and then connect the driver to your Astra DB Serverless database. Once connected, you can write scripts that use the driver to run commands against your database.
This quickstart explains how to install the driver, connect it to your database, and, if necessary, migrate an existing DataStax C# driver to a version that supports Astra DB.
Prerequisites
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Set the following environment variables:
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ASTRA_DB_ID
: The database ID -
ASTRA_DB_REGION
: A region where your database is deployed and where you want to connect to the database, such asus-east-2
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ASTRA_DB_KEYSPACE
: A keyspace in your database, such asdefault_keyspace
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ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN
: An application token with the Database Administrator role.The
token.json
has the following format:json{ "clientId": "CLIENT_ID", "secret": "CLIENT_SECRET", "token": "APPLICATION_TOKEN" }
For driver authentication, you can use either
clientId
andsecret
or the literal stringtoken
and theAstraCS
token value. If you are on an older driver version that doesn’t support thetoken
option, then you might need to useclientId
andsecret
. For more information, see Token details.
-
-
Download your database’s Secure Connect Bundle (SCB).
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Download and install the current version of the Microsoft .NET Core SDK.
Install the C# driver
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Create a new C# project:
shellmkdir csharpproject cd csharpproject dotnet new console
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Add the C# driver dependencies to your project:
shelldotnet add package CassandraCSharpDriver -v VERSION
Make sure you use a driver version that is compatible with Astra DB. For more information, see DataStax driver matrix.
Connect the C# driver
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Replace the code in
Program.cs
with the following connection code, replacingPATH_TO_SCB
with the absolute path to your database’s Secure Connect Bundle (SCB) (secure-connect-DATABASE_NAME.zip
):Program.cscsusing System; using System.Linq; using Cassandra; namespace csharpproject { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { var session = Cluster.Builder() .WithCloudSecureConnectionBundle(@"C:PATH_TO_SCB") .WithCredentials("token", "ASTRA_DB_APPLICATION_TOKEN") .Build() .Connect(); } } }
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After the connection code, add code to the
Main
method inProgram.cs
that runs a CQL query and prints the output to the console:Program.cscsvar rowSet = session.Execute("select * from system.local"); Console.WriteLine(rowSet.First().GetValue<string>("cluster_name"));
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Save
Program.cs
, and then run your C# project with thedotnet
runtime:shelldotnet restore dotnet build dotnet run --no-build
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Extend or modify this script to run other commands against your database or connect to other databases. For more information, see C# driver documentation and Developing applications with DataStax drivers.
Migrate the C# driver
If necessary, you can migrate an earlier DataStax C# driver to a version that supports Astra DB.
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Add the C# driver dependencies to your project:
shelldotnet add package CassandraCSharpDriver -v VERSION
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In your existing DataStax C# driver code, modify the connection code to use the SCB credentials. For more information, see Connect the C# driver.
csvar session = Cluster.Builder() .WithCloudSecureConnectionBundle(@"C:PATH_TO_SCB") .WithCredentials("clientId", "secret") .Build() .Connect();
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Run your application.