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DataStax Astra DB Serverless Documentation

    • Overview
      • Release notes
      • Astra DB FAQs
      • Astra DB Architecture FAQ
      • CQL for Astra
      • Astra DB glossary
      • Get support
    • Getting Started
      • Vector Search Quickstart
      • Create your database
      • Grant a user access
      • Load and retrieve data
        • Use DSBulk to load data
        • Use Data Loader in Astra Portal
      • Connect a driver
      • Build sample apps
    • Vector Search
      • Quickstart
      • Examples
      • Query vector data with CQL
        • Using analyzers
      • Working with embeddings
      • Indexing
      • About Vector Search
    • Planning
      • Plan options
      • Database regions
    • Securing
      • Security highlights
      • Security guidelines
      • Default user permissions
      • Change your password
      • Reset your password
      • Authentication and Authorization
      • Astra DB Plugin for HashiCorp Vault
    • Connecting
      • Connecting private endpoints
        • AWS Private Link
        • Azure Private Link
        • GCP Private Endpoints
        • Connecting custom DNS
      • Connecting Change Data Capture (CDC)
      • Connecting CQL console
      • Connect the Spark Cassandra Connector to Astra
      • Drivers for Astra DB
        • Connecting C++ driver
        • Connecting C# driver
        • Connecting Java driver
        • Connecting Node.js driver
        • Connecting Python driver
        • Connecting Legacy drivers
        • Drivers retry policies
      • Get Secure Connect Bundle
    • Migrating
      • Components
      • FAQs
      • Preliminary steps
        • Feasibility checks
        • Deployment and infrastructure considerations
        • Create target environment for migration
        • Understand rollback options
      • Phase 1: Deploy ZDM Proxy and connect client applications
        • Set up the ZDM Proxy Automation with ZDM Utility
        • Deploy the ZDM Proxy and monitoring
        • Configure Transport Layer Security
        • Connect client applications to ZDM Proxy
        • Leverage metrics provided by ZDM Proxy
        • Manage your ZDM Proxy instances
      • Phase 2: Migrate and validate data
        • Cassandra Data Migrator
        • DSBulk Migrator
      • Phase 3: Enable asynchronous dual reads
      • Phase 4: Change read routing to Target
      • Phase 5: Connect client applications directly to Target
      • Troubleshooting
        • Troubleshooting tips
        • Troubleshooting scenarios
      • Glossary
      • Contribution guidelines
      • Release Notes
    • Managing
      • Managing your organization
        • User permissions
        • Pricing and billing
        • Audit Logs
        • Delete an account
        • Bring Your Own Key
          • BYOK AWS Astra Portal
          • BYOK GCP Astra Portal
          • BYOK AWS DevOps API
          • BYOK GCP DevOps API
        • Configuring SSO
          • Configure SSO for Microsoft Azure AD
          • Configure SSO for Okta
          • Configure SSO for OneLogin
      • Managing your database
        • Create your database
        • View your databases
        • Database statuses
        • Use DSBulk to load data
        • Use Data Loader in Astra Portal
        • Monitor your databases
        • Export metrics to third party
          • Export metrics via Astra Portal
          • Export metrics via DevOps API
        • Manage access lists
        • Manage multiple keyspaces
        • Using multiple regions
        • Terminate your database
      • Managing with DevOps API
        • Managing database lifecycle
        • Managing roles
        • Managing users
        • Managing tokens
        • Managing BYOK AWS
        • Managing BYOK GCP
        • Managing access list
        • Managing multiple regions
        • Get private endpoints
        • AWS PrivateLink
        • Azure PrivateLink
        • GCP Private Service
    • API QuickStarts
      • JSON API QuickStart
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      • GraphQL CQL-first API QuickStart
    • Developing with APIs
      • Developing with JSON API
      • Developing with Document API
      • Developing with REST API
      • Developing with GraphQL API
        • Developing with GraphQL API (CQL-first)
        • Developing with GraphQL API (Schema-first)
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        • gRPC Rust Client
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        • gRPC Node.js Client
        • gRPC Java Client
      • Developing with CQL API
      • Tooling Resources
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      • Node.js REST Client
    • API References
      • Astra DB JSON API v1
      • Astra DB REST API v2
      • Astra DB Document API v2
      • Astra DB DevOps API v2
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      • About NFTs
  • DataStax Astra DB Serverless Documentation
  • Connecting
  • Drivers for Astra DB
  • Connecting C++ driver

DataStax C++ driver

Before using the DataStax driver, review the Best practices for DataStax drivers to understand the rules and recommendations for improving performance and minimizing resource utilization in applications that use a DataStax driver.

If possible, upgrade to the latest native driver.

For more details about supported software, see the DataStax Support Policy.

Prerequisites

  • Create your database and set your environment variables to save time developing on your database. There are four environment variables, three of which are on the Astra dashboard (database id, region, and keyspace), and one that you must create (token). For more, see Create your database.

  • DataStax C++ driver download links

    Download the DataStax C++ driver and dependency packages for your platform using the links in the following table:

    Platform Driver Dependencies

    CentOS 6

    Download

    Download

    CentOS 7

    Download

    Download

    Ubuntu 14.04

    Download

    Download

    Ubuntu 16.04

    Download

    Download

    Ubuntu 18.04

    Download

    Download

    Windows

    Download

    Download

  • Other platforms should build the driver from the source code packages.

  • Using the packages you downloaded, follow the installation instructions for your platform to install the DataStax C++ driver.

  • Client ID and Client Secret by creating your application token for your username and password.

Working with secure connect bundle

Downloading secure connect bundle

To get the necessary security credentials and certificates for connecting drivers to your Astra DB database, you’ll need to download the secure connect bundle from the DataStax Astra Portal.

  1. Open your Astra Portal and select your database.

  2. On the Overview page, select Connect.

  3. In the Database Essentials section, click Get Bundle.

  4. In the Secure Connect Bundle Download dialog box, use the Select a region dropdown menu to select the region for which you want to download the bundle. If you have multiple regions, you can download a bundle for each region.

  5. After selecting a region, various options for downloading the bundle appear. To download the bundle to your local computer, click Download Secure Bundle.

    The secure connect bundle downloads as a ZIP file named secure-connect-<database_name>.zip.

    Expiration of download link

    For added security, the download link for the secure connect bundle expires after five minutes. Once the download link expires, you’ll need to repeat the steps above to regenerate a new download link.

    Note that the secure connect bundle itself never expires.

Sharing secure connect bundle

Although teammates can access your Astra DB database, it doesn’t display in their list of available databases under My Databases in Astra Portal.

After you create an Astra DB database, you can grant access to other members of your team by providing them with the database credentials and connection details for your database.

Be careful when sharing connection details. Providing this information to another user grants them access to your Astra DB database and ownership capabilities, such as making modifications to the database.

For security, delete downloaded connection credentials after sending them to your teammate.

Secure connect bundle contents

The Secure Connect Bundle (SCB) contains the following files:

File Contents

ca.crt

DataStax’s Certificate Authority public certificate

cert

A certificate, unique to the specific SCB

key

A private key, unique to the specific SCB

cert.pfx

A PFX formatted archive containing the certificate and the private key

config.json

A configuration file with information on how to securely connect to the Astra DB instance associated with the SCB

cqlshrc

A CQLSH profile containing CQL shell session settings

identity.jks

A Java keystore file containing the aforementioned cert & key files

trustStore.jks

A Java keystore file containing the aforementioned ca.crt

Connecting C++ driver

  1. Create a connect_database.c file in the main directory for your C++ project.

    cd my_project
    touch connect_database.c
  1. Copy the following connection code into the connect_database.c file. The secure_connect_bundle must include the absolute path to your Astra database credentials (secure-connect-database_name.zip).

    The cass_cluster_set_contact_points() and cass_cluster_set_ssl() methods should not used in conjunction with the cass_cluster_set_cloud_secure_connection_bundle() method.

    #include <cassandra.h>
    #include <stdio.h>
    
    int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
         /* Setup and connect to cluster */
         CassCluster* cluster = cass_cluster_new();
         CassSession* session = cass_session_new();
    
         /* Setup driver to connect to the cloud using the secure connection bundle */
         const char* secure_connect_bundle = "/path/to/secure-connect-database_name.zip";
         if (cass_cluster_set_cloud_secure_connection_bundle(cluster, secure_connect_bundle) != CASS_OK) {
           fprintf(stderr, "Unable to configure cloud using the secure connection bundle: %s\n",
                   secure_connect_bundle);
           return 1;
         }
    
         /* Set credentials provided when creating your database */
         cass_cluster_set_credentials(cluster, "clientID", "clientSecret");
    
         CassFuture* connect_future = cass_session_connect(session, cluster);
    
         if (cass_future_error_code(connect_future) == CASS_OK) {
           /* Use the session to run queries */
         } else {
           /* Handle error */
         }
    
         cass_future_free(connect_future);
         cass_cluster_free(cluster);
         cass_session_free(session);
    
         return 0;
       }
  2. Build and link your application against the DataStax C++ driver.

    • Linux or macOS

      For static linking, use cassandra_static.a.

      cc connect_database.c -I/path/to/cassandra.h -L/path/to/cassandra.so -lcassandra
    • Windows Include these libraries in your Microsoft Visual Studio project by adding them to the project’s properties under Configuration Properties/Linker/Input/Additional Dependencies.

      For static linking, use cassandra_static.lib.

      Link your application against cassandra.lib. Your application will also require `cassandra.dll to be in your runtime path.

  1. After connecting to your database, use the following code to query your database. This code creates a CassStatement object to connect to your Astra DB database, runs a CQL query, and prints the output to the console.

    /* Build statement and execute query */
    const char_ query = "SELECT release_version FROM system.local";
    CassStatement* statement = cass_statement_new(query, 0);
    
    CassFuture* result_future = cass_session_execute(session, statement);
    
    if (cass_future_error_code(result_future) == CASS_OK) {
      /* Retrieve result set and get the first row _/
      const CassResult_ result = cass_future_get_result(result_future);
      const CassRow* row = cass_result_first_row(result);
    
      if (row) {
        const CassValue* value = cass_row_get_column_by_name(row, "release_version");
    
        const char* release_version;
        size_t release_version_length;
        cass_value_get_string(value, &release_version, &release_version_length);
        printf("release_version: '%._s'\n", (int)release_version_length, release_version);
      }
    
        cass_result_free(result);
      } else {
        /_ Handle error _/
        const char_ message;
        size_t message_length;
        cass_future_error_message(result_future, &message, &message_length);
        fprintf(stderr, "Unable to run query: '%.*s'\n", (int)message_length, message);
      }
    
      cass_statement_free(statement);
      cass_future_free(result_future);

Migrating C++ driver

Complete the following procedure to migrate your existing DataStax C++ driver to a version that is capable of connecting to Astra databases created using DataStax Astra DB.

  1. In your existing DataStax C++ driver code, modify the connection code to use the Astra DB API.

    Both the DataStax C driver for Apache Cassandra and the {company} Enterprise (DSE) C driver use the same code to connect and query your Astra database. When using the DSE C++ driver, use the header #include <dse.h>.

    The secure_connect_bundle must include the absolute path to your Astra database credentials (secure-connect-database_name.zip).

    cass_cluster_set_credentials(cluster, "clientId", "clientSecret");
    
      CassFuture* connect_future = cass_session_connect(session, cluster);
      if (cass_future_error_code(connect_future) == CASS_OK) {
        * Use the session to run queries _
        }
      else {
        _ Handle error *
      }
  2. Build and link your application against the DataStax C++ driver for Apache Cassandra.

    • Linux or macOS

      For static linking, use cassandra_static.a or dse_static.a.

      cc connect_database.c -I/path/to/cassandra.h -L/path/to/cassandra.so -lcassandra
    • Windows Include these libraries in your Microsoft Visual Studio project by adding them to the project’s properties under ]Configuration Properties/Linker/Input/Additional Dependencies.

      For static linking, use cassandra_static.lib pass:c[.

    Link your application against cassandra.lib. Your application will also require `cassandra.dll to be in your runtime path.

Drivers for Astra DB Connecting C# driver

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