Use and configure the Cassandra Query Language (CQL) shell (cqlsh)

The main way that you interact with Hyper-Converged Database (HCD) is through the CQL shell (cqlsh), a Python-based command-line shell for accessing the database and issuing CQL (Cassandra Query Language) commands. This tutorial shows you how to configure and use cqlsh.

Prerequisites

Mission Control is installed and running.

Location and how to run `cqlsh`

The cqlsh command is located in the bin directory of the HCD installation. If you install the standalone cqlsh, the command is located in the bin directory where the download file is extracted, or unzipped.

Run `cqlsh`

To run `cqlsh` locally

No IP address is required when running cqlsh locally.

bin/cqlsh

Result

Connected to Test Cluster at 127.0.0.1:9042
[cqlsh 6.2.0 | Cassandra 5.0 | CQL spec 3.4.7 | Native protocol v5]
Use HELP for help.
cqlsh>

Run `cqlsh` remotely

To run cqlsh, you’ll specify the IP address of a node in the cluster.

bin/cqlsh 10.0.0.1

Result

Connected to Test Cluster at 10.0.0.1:9042
[cqlsh 6.2.0 | Cassandra 5.0 | CQL spec 3.4.7 | Native protocol v5]
Use HELP for help.
cqlsh>

Set a username and password

If you use security features, provide the username and password to authenticate with the database:

bin/cqlsh -u jane -p ScoobiePeanut&!

bin/cqlsh --help

There are a number of options that can be used with cqlsh. For a complete list of options, see the cqlsh reference page.

Configure `cqlsh` with the `cqlshrc` file

bin/cqlsh CQLSHRC="~/<directory_name>"