cqlsh (startup options)

Execute the cqlsh Python script to start the CQL shell. The CQL shell is a Python-based command line interface for running CQL commands interactively. The CQL shell supports tab completion. The cqlsh command runs in either Python 2 or 3.

Synopsis

cqlsh [ <options> ] [ <host_name>[:<port_number>] ]

Syntax legend

Legend
Syntax conventions	Description
UPPERCASE	Literal keyword.
Lowercase	Not literal.
`< >`	Variable value. Replace with a user-defined value.
`[]`	Optional. Square brackets (`[]`) surround optional command arguments. Do not type the square brackets.
`( )`	Group. Parentheses ( `( )` ) identify a group to choose from. Do not type the parentheses.
`\|`	Or. A vertical bar (`\|`) separates alternative elements. Type any one of the elements. Do not type the vertical bar.
`...`	Repeatable. An ellipsis ( `...` ) indicates that you can repeat the syntax element as often as required.
`'<Literal string>'`	Single quotation (`'`) marks must surround literal strings in CQL statements. Use single quotation marks to preserve upper case.
`{ <key> : <value> }`	Map collection. Braces (`{ }`) enclose map collections or key value pairs. A colon separates the key and the value.
`<datatype2`	Set, list, map, or tuple. Angle brackets ( `< >` ) enclose data types in a set, list, map, or tuple. Separate the data types with a comma.
`<cql_statement>;`	End CQL statement. A semicolon (`;`) terminates all CQL statements.
`[--]`	Separate the command line options from the command arguments with two hyphens ( `--` ). This syntax is useful when arguments might be mistaken for command line options.
`' <<schema\> ... </schema\>> '`	Search CQL only: Single quotation marks (`'`) surround an entire XML schema declaration.
`@<xml_entity>='<xml_entity_type>'`	Search CQL only: Identify the entity and literal value to overwrite the XML element in the schema and solrConfig files.

Required parameters

host_name:port: To connect the CQL session to a specified node, specify a hostname or IP address and optional port after the cqlsh command, along with any additional CQL shell options.

By default, the CQL shell launches a session with the local host on address 127.0.0.1. You can connect the CQL shell to remote hosts that have a higher or equal CQL shell version than the local CQL shell version. When no port is specified, the connection uses the default port of 9042.

Options

Several options are available for starting the CQL shell.

Option

Description

--browser="<launch_browser_cmd> %s"

Browser to display the CQL command help. See Web Browser Control for a list of supported browsers. Replace the URL in the command with %s.

-C, --color

Always use color output.

--connect-timeout="<timeout>"

Connection timeout in seconds.

Default: 5

--cqlshrc="/<folder_name>"

Folder that contains the cqlshrc file. Use tilde (~) for paths relative to the user’s home directory.

--cqlversion="<version_number>"

CQL version to use. The CQL version displays after starting cqlsh.

--debug

Show additional debugging information.

--disable-history

Disables saving history to disk for current execution.

--dse-protocol-version=<DSE_PROTOCOL_VERSION>

Specify a specific DSE protocol version; otherwise the client will default and downgrade as necessary. Mutually exclusive with --protocol-version.

--encoding="<output_encoding>"

Output encoding.

Default encoding: utf8

--execute="<cql_statement>"

Execute the CQL statement, then exit. To direct the command output to a file, see saving CQL output.

-f <file_name>, --file=<file_name>

Execute commands from a CQL file, then exit.

After starting cqlsh, use the SOURCE command and the path to the file using the cqlsh command line.

-h, --help

Show help.

-k <keyspace_name>, --keyspace=<keyspace_name>

Automatically use the specified keyspace after starting the CQL shell.

--no-color

Do not display color output.

-p <password>, --password="<password>"

Connect with the specified user’s password.

--protocol-version=<PROTOCOL_VERSION>

Specify a specific protocol version. If omitted, the client will use a default, and possibly lower version protocol, as needed.Mutually exclusive with --dse-protocol-version.

--request-timeout="<timeout>"

CQL request timeout in seconds.

Default: 10

--consistency-level <consistency_level>

Specify the initial consistency level.

Default: ONE

--serial-consistency-level <serial_consistency_level>

Specify the initial serial consistency level.

Default: SERIAL

--ssl

Use SSL.

-t, --tty

Force TTY command prompt mode.

-u <user_name>, --username="<user_name>"

Connect with the specified user account.

--version

Show the cqlsh version number.

Environment variables

You can use environment variables to overwrite default values for cqlsh commands. For example, increase the timeout values of a user running cqlsh on a particular computer.

CQLSH_SEARCH_MANAGEMENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS

Overwrite the default 600 seconds (10 minutes) request timeout for search-specific CQL statements. To prevent timeouts, increase the timeout value. Typical use case is to ensure that no timeouts occur when large indexes are reloaded.

The timeout applies only to these search CQL index management commands:

ALTER SEARCH INDEX
COMMIT SEARCH INDEX
CREATE SEARCH INDEX
DESCRIBE SEARCH INDEX
DROP SEARCH INDEX
RELOAD SEARCH INDEX
REBUILD SEARCH INDEX

The timeout is used only if the cqlsh request timeout is equal to the default value of 10 seconds:

cqlsh --request-timeout 10

To increase the timeout request timeout for search-specific CQL statements to 15 minutes (900 seconds):

export CQLSH_SEARCH_MANAGEMENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=900;

Examples

Starting the CQL shell

On start up, cqlsh shows the name of the cluster, IP address, and connection port. The cqlsh prompt initially is cqlsh>. If you specify a keyspace, it is added after the prompt.

Start the CQL shell:

cqlsh

The cluster and host information appears. For example:

Connected to Test Cluster at 127.0.0.1:9042.
[cqlsh 5.0.1 | Cassandra 3.3.0 | CQL spec 3.4.0 | Native protocol v4]
Use HELP for help.

Use the cycling keyspace:
```
USE cycling;
```
The prompt now includes the keyspace name:
```
cqlsh:cycling>
```

Querying using CQL commands

At the cqlsh prompt, you can enter CQL commands. Use a semicolon to terminate a command. A new line does not terminate a command, and commands can be spread over several lines. For example:

SELECT *
FROM calendar
WHERE race_id = 201;

The returned results are shown in the standard output:

 race_id | race_start_date                 | race_end_date                   | race_name
---------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+-----------------------------
     201 | 2015-02-18 08:00:00.000000+0000 | 2015-02-22 08:00:00.000000+0000 | Women's Tour of New Zealand

Understanding the CQL command syntax describes:

How upper- and lower-case literals are treated in commands.
When to use quotation marks in strings.
How to enter exponential notation.

Saving CQL output in a file

To save output from a CQL statement to a file, use the cqlsh -e option, followed by the CQL statement placed inside quotation marks, and redirect the output to a file.

For example, to save the output of a SELECT statement to myoutput.txt:

cqlsh -e "SELECT * FROM mytable" > myoutput.txt

Connect to a remote node

Specify a remote node IP address:

cqlsh 10.0.0.30

Connected to West CS Cluster at 10.0.0.30:9042.
[cqlsh 5.0.1 | Cassandra 3.3.0 | CQL spec 3.4.0 | Native protocol v4]
Use HELP for help.