Providing credentials on command line

Use switches to provide a username and password from the command line.

DataStax Enterprise (DSE) tools interact directly with the database or use the Java Management Extension MBeans to get metrics and perform operations. Use the command line switch that is relative to the type of operation performed by the command.
CAUTION: Each of the tools listed support prompting for the password when none is provided. Using the option to enter the password on the command line prompt is a security risk because the password appears in plain text in the terminal history.

Credentials for database interactions

When DataStax Enterprise database authentication is enabled, you must provide a username and password to run commands that interact with the DSE database.

DSE utilities

DataStax provided utilities typically have the following command line options for credentials:
dse -u user_name [ -p password] command
Where the command line options for each supported tool are:
  • dse advrep
    dse -u username [-p password] advrep command subcommand
  • dse -u username [-p password] fs 
  • dse -u username [-p password] spark [options]
  • dse spark-class
    dse -u username [-p password] spark-class options
  • dse -u username [-p password] spark-submit options
  • dse -u username [-p password] spark-jobserver options
  • dse -u username [-p password] spark-history-server options
  • dse -u username [-p password] spark-sql-thriftserver options
  • dse -u username [-p password] pyspark options
  • dse -u username [-p password] spark-sql options
  • dse -u username [-p password] sparkR options
  • dse -u username [-p password] client-tool subcommand options
  • dse -u username [-p password] gremlin-console

Native utilities

The native database utilities typically have the following command line options for credentials:
command -u username [-pw password] subcommand
Where the command line options for each supported tool are:
  • nodetool -u username [-pw password] subcommand
  • sstable_command -u username [-pw password] [options]
  • cassandra-stress -mode user=username password=password authprovider=auth-provider=com.datastax.driver.core.AuthProvider options

Credentials for Java Management Extensions (JMX) interactions

When JMX authentication is also enabled, commands that use JMX MBeans to verify status or execute commands require additional credentials. Use the -a username and -b password before the command.
dsetool -a jmx_username [ -b jmx_password] command
Note: When authentication is enabled, set up permission to access MBeans see Controlling access to JMX MBeans.
  • dse advrep
  • dsetool status
The JMX authentication switch for DSE Advanced Replication commands uses:
dse advrep --jmx-user jmx_username [ --jmx-pwd jmx_password] command
CAUTION: Entering the password in plain text from the command line is not secure; the password may be stored in the terminal history. DataStax recommends entering the password at the prompt instead of using the password option from the CLI.