Install DataStax Enterprise 6.8 on Debian-based systems using APT

Use these instructions for installing DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 6.8 on Debian-based systems using APT.

Some things to know about installing DataStax Enterprise

  • These instructions apply to all versions of DSE 6.8. For specific changes, see the DSE 6.8 release notes.

  • When installed from a package (Yum or APT), DSE runs as a service. The service initialization script is located in /etc/init.d/dse. Run levels are not set by the package.

  • This procedure installs DSE 6.8 and the DataStax Agent. It does not install OpsCenter, DataStax Studio, or DataStax Bulk Loader.

  • When connecting to DSE 6.8 from OpsCenter, use version OpsCenter 6.8; earlier versions are not supported.

When DSE is installed, it creates a cassandra user in the database. Do not use the cassandra user in production. Failing to do so is a security risk. See Adding a superuser login.

Prerequisites

  • An IBMid.

    • If you are an existing IBM customer with an IBMid, you can continue to use your established account.

    • If you don’t have an IBMid, you can create one.

    • If your company uses Enterprise Federation (EF) for authentication with corporate credentials, see the EF documentation.

  • Root or sudo access.

  • A supported platform.

  • Aptitude Package Management (APT) application.

  • Configure your operating system to use the latest version of Java 8:

  • Python 3.6 through 3.11, or Python 2.7.x. Each listed version provides support for cqlsh, but DataStax recommends using Python 3.11.

    Install Python 2.7 on older RHEL-based package installations

    If you have an older distribution, such as CentOS 6.5, you must install Python 2.7:

    1. Verify your Python version:

      python -V
    2. If the result isn’t Python version 2.7.x, install it from the Software Collections (SCL) Repository by running the following commands:

      sudo yum update
      sudo yum install scl-utils
      sudo yum install centos-release-scl-rh
      sudo yum install python27
      sudo scl enable python27 bash
    3. Verify the update by checking the Python version again. Make sure the result is Python 2.7.x.

    4. After logging out or restarting, you must enable python 2.7:

      sudo scl enable python27 bash

      Note that enabling Python 2.7 in .bash_profile or .bashrc causes the machine to hang because CentOS 6 relies on Python 2.6 for Yum.

Procedure

In a terminal window:

  1. Verify that a required version of Java is installed:

    java -version

    If OpenJDK, the results should look like:

    openjdk version "1.8.0_242"
    OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_242-b09)
    OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.242-b09, mixed mode)

    If Oracle Java, the results should look like:

    java version "1.8.0_241"
    Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_241-b13)
    Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.241-b13, mixed mode)

    If not OpenJDK 8 or Oracle Java 8, see Install the Java Virtual Machine. DataStax recommends the latest build of a Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) Certified OpenJDK version 8.

  2. Install the libaio package. For example:

    sudo apt-get install libaio1
  3. Download the DSE DEB package from Fix Central:

    1. Sign in to Fix Central.

    2. In the Product selector field, enter DataStax Enterprise with IBM.

    3. Select the DSE version you want to install from the Select from DataStax Enterprise with IBM list.

    4. Select All in the Platform list, and then click Continue.

    5. On the Identify fixes page, click Continue to use the default Browse for fixes option.

    6. Select the fixes (DSE version) you want to install, and then click Continue.

    7. Review the terms and conditions, and then click I agree.

  4. Click the DSE DEB package link to download the file, for example, dse-6.8.60-deb.zip.

  5. Extract the DEB files from the .zip file:

    sudo unzip dse-**VERSION**-deb.zip

    You can use the package signing public key (dse-deb-signing.pub.key) in the file to set up and verify the DEB packages.

  6. Set up a local APT repository to host the downloaded DSE Debian package.

    For more information, see Setting up a local APT repository.

  7. Add a DataStax repository file called /etc/apt/sources.list.d/datastax.sources.list:

    echo "deb [trusted=yes] file:REPOSITORY_DIRECTORY_PATH ./" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/datastax.sources.list

    The [trusted=yes] option allows APT to use the repository without GPG key verification.

  8. Update the packages:

    sudo apt-get update
  9. Install the DSE packages:

    Specify all packages;otherwise, the installation fails.

    • Install the latest version (6.8.x):

      sudo apt-get install dse-full
    • Install an earlier 6.8.x version:

      sudo apt-get install dse=version_number-1 \
          dse-full=version_number-1 \
          dse-libcassandra=version_number-1 \
          dse-libgraph=version_number-1 \
          dse-libhadoop2-client-native=version_number-1 \
          dse-libhadoop2-client=version_number-1 \
          dse-liblog4j=version_number-1 \
          dse-libsolr=version_number-1 \
          dse-libspark=version_number-1 \
          dse-libtomcat=version_number-1

      For example:

      sudo apt-get install dse=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-full=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libcassandra=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libgraph=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libhadoop2-client-native=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libhadoop2-client=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-liblog4j=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libsolr=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libspark=6.8.0-1 \
          dse-libtomcat=6.8.0-1
    • Optional: Install the demos:

      Installing the DSE demos is not recommended for production. Only install the demos in development environments to run tutorials.

      sudo apt-get install dse-demos=version_number-1

DSE is ready for additional configuration:

  • For production, be sure to change the cassandra user. Failing to do so is a security risk. See Adding a superuser login.

  • DSE provides several types of workloads (default is transactional). See startup options for service or stand-alone installations.

  • Next steps below provides links to related tasks and information.

Start DSE

For single-node cluster installations only:

  1. Start DSE:

    sudo service dse start
  2. Verify that DSE is running:

    nodetool status

    Review the output to verify that DSE is running:

    Datacenter: Cassandra
    =====================
    Status=Up/Down
    |/ State=Normal/Leaving/Joining/Moving
    --  Address    Load       Tokens  Owns    Host ID                               Rack
    UN  127.0.0.1  82.43 KB   128     ?       40725dc8-7843-43ae-9c98-7c532b1f517e  rack1

Next steps

Was this helpful?

Give Feedback

How can we improve the documentation?

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2025 | Privacy policy | Terms of use Manage Privacy Choices

Apache, Apache Cassandra, Cassandra, Apache Tomcat, Tomcat, Apache Lucene, Apache Solr, Apache Hadoop, Hadoop, Apache Pulsar, Pulsar, Apache Spark, Spark, Apache TinkerPop, TinkerPop, Apache Kafka and Kafka are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation or its subsidiaries in Canada, the United States and/or other countries. Kubernetes is the registered trademark of the Linux Foundation.

General Inquiries: Contact IBM