Install DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 6.9 on RHEL-based systems with Yum

Use these instructions to install DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 6.9 on RHEL-based systems using Yum. This process also installs the DataStax Agent for use with DSE OpsCenter 6.8. It doesn’t install DSE OpsCenter, DataStax Studio, or DataStax Bulk Loader (DSBulk).

When installed from a package, DSE runs as a service. The service initialization script is located in /etc/init.d/dse. Run levels aren’t set by the package.

To install DataStax Enterprise (DSE) on SUSE, use the binary tarball installation.

For other installation options, see Choose an installation method.

When you install DSE, it creates a cassandra superuser role in the database, and DSE runs as this user. Don’t use the default cassandra role in production because it is a security risk. Instead, create a new superuser role for running DSE.

Prepare the environment

Prepare an environment where you want to install DSE, including sufficient hardware, a supported platform, and root or sudo access.
Install Yum package manager.
For RHEL-compatible platforms, enable Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL).
Install a supported Java 11 runtime: OpenJDK 11 (recommended) or Oracle Java SE 11.0.x (JDK).

If you install multiple Java versions, set your $JAVA_HOME environment variable to Java 11.
Install a supported Python version for CQL shell: Python 3.8 to 3.13.
For production installations and simulated production test environments, review the recommended settings.

Some settings can be applied before installing DSE. For settings that require a running DSE instance, plan to apply them after the installation.
If you plan to use DSE OpsCenter:
- DSE 6.9 requires DSE OpsCenter 6.8. DSE 6.9 doesn’t support earlier versions.
- To use DSE OpsCenter Lifecycle Manager (LCM) to automatically manage the Java runtime for DSE clusters, see Manage Java installs and Choose a Java vendor in LCM.
Install the libaio package:
```
sudo yum install libaio
```
Install GnuPG (GPG), which is used to verify the integrity and authenticity of the downloaded DSE package.

To check if GPG is installed, run sudo yum list gnupg*.

Download the DSE package from IBM Fix Central

Get access to download DSE from IBM Fix Central:

An IBMid account with MFA enabled is required. If you don’t have one, create an IBMid account. If your organization uses Enterprise Federation (EF) for authentication with corporate credentials, see the IBMid EF documentation.
Find DSE 6.9 on IBM Fix Central:
1. Go to Fix Central.
2. In the Product selector field, begin typing IBM DataStax Enterprise, and then select that option from the menu.
3. In the Release field, select the version that you want to install.
4. Click Continue.
5. On the Identify fixes page, click Continue to use the default Browse for fixes option.
6. On the Select fixes page, select the fix pack (DSE version) you want to install, and then click Continue.
  
  Depending on the product and version, more fix packs might be available if you set the Platform filter to All, and then click Submit.
7. If prompted, sign in with your IBMid.
  
  An IBMid account with MFA enabled is required. If you don’t have one, create an IBMid account. If your organization uses Enterprise Federation (EF) for authentication with corporate credentials, see the IBMid EF documentation.
8. On the Download options page, select Download using your browser (HTTPS), and then click Continue.
9. Review the terms and conditions, and then click I agree to activate the download links.
To download the DSE RPM package, click the dse-VERSION-rpm.zip link for the relevant DSE patch release, such as dse-6.9.24-rpm.zip.

For new deployments, DataStax recommends the latest patch release. If you are scaling an existing deployment, install the same patch release as the existing nodes. For a summary of features and changes in each release, see the DSE 6.9 release notes.
Extract the downloaded zip file:
```
sudo unzip dse-VERSION-rpm.zip
```

Verify DSE RPM packages

Optionally, you can validate the package signatures:

Get the package signing public key for your DSE version:
- DSE 6.9.24 or later: Download the dse-package-keys.zip file from the IBM Fix Central fix pack list, and then unzip it.
- DSE 6.9.23 or earlier: Contact IBM Support for assistance with locating the package signing public key.
Import the package signing public key for your DSE version:
- DSE 6.9.24 or later:
  sudo rpm --import dse-package-signing.pub.asc
- DSE 6.9.23 or earlier:
  sudo rpm --import dse-rpm-signing.pub.key
Validate the RPM package signature, replacing VERSION with your DSE version number, such as 6.9.23:
```
rpm -Kv dse-VERSION-1.noarch.rpm
```

Install DSE with Yum

Set up a local Yum repository to host the downloaded DSE RPM files:
In /etc/yum.repos.d create a file named datastax.repo, and then add your local DSE Yum repository to the file:
```
[datastax]
name=DataStax Repo for DSE
baseurl=file://REPOSITORY_DIRECTORY_PATH
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
```

Install the DSE packages:

Install the latest patch release of DSE 6.9:
```
sudo yum install dse-full
```

Install an earlier patch release of DSE 6.9 by specifying the patch number and all packages:

sudo yum install dse-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-full-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-libgraph-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-libcassandra-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-libhadoop2-client-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-libsolr-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-libtomcat-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-liblog4j-6.9.PATCH-1 \
    dse-libspark-6.9.PATCH-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 yum install dse-demos-6.9.PATCH-1
```
Optional: Configure systemd units.

Start DSE

Don’t start DSE if you are upgrading. Return to the upgrade guide to continue reconfiguring your upgraded node before starting DSE:

Start DSE:
```
sudo service dse start
```
For other startup options, see Start and stop DataStax Enterprise (DSE).
Run nodetool status to verify that DSE is running:
```
nodetool status
```
Make sure the node reports UN (Up/Normal) status:
```
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
```
If the node fails to start, make sure the /tmp/dse directory didn’t exist before startup. If /tmp/dse is present before the first startup, the node can fail. Don’t use /tmp/dse to store any startup options or configuration files.

For additional assistance, contact IBM Support.
If you are deploying multiple nodes or datacenters, repeat the installation process on all nodes.

Next steps

Apply recommended production settings

When testing with simulated production workloads, you must also apply these settings to your test nodes to ensure your tests accurately reflect production environments.

For vector search and SAI, pay particular attention to user resource limits and disabling swap.
Change or delete the default cassandra user
Default file locations for package installations
Changing logging locations
Cassandra driver compatibility
Use CQL shell (cqlsh)