Cassandra Cheatsheet

Manage databases

List of databases:

DESCRIBE keyspaces;

Detailed list of databases

SELECT * FROM system_schema.keyspaces;

Create database rebar suitable for development:

CREATE KEYSPACE rebar
WITH replication = {
  'class':'SimpleStrategy',
  'replication_factor' : 1
};

Switch to database rebar:

USE rebar;

List of tables:

DESCRIBE tables;

List of columns in a table User in database rebar:

SELECT * FROM system.schema_columns
WHERE keyspace_name = 'rebar'
AND columnfamily_name = 'User';

Manage tables

Create a table:

CREATE TABLE User(
  id uuid PRIMARY KEY,
  username varchar,
  password varchar,
  displayname varchar,
  email varchar,
);

Create an index on a column:

CREATE INDEX User_username_ix
ON User( username );

List details for table rebar:

DESCRIBE TABLE rebar;

Manage data

Insert a record into a table with auto-generated UUID:

insert into User( id, username, password, displayName, email )
values( uuid(), 'jack', 'secret', 'Jack', 'jack@example.com' );

Insert a record into a table with given UUID:

insert into User( id,
  username, password, displayName, email
)
values( d362e1df-1fa8-466b-b311-af90b2a71e8e,
  'jack', 'secret', 'Jack Myuser', 'jack@example.com'
);

Data Types

Type	Description
ascii	ASCII character string
bigint	8-byte long
blob	Arbitrary bytes (no validation)
boolean	true or false
counter	Counter column (8-byte long)
decimal	Variable-precision decimal
double	8-byte floating point
float	4-byte floating point
int	4-byte integer
text	UTF8 encoded string
timestamp	Date plus time, encoded as 8 bytes since epoch
uuid	Type 1, or type 4 UUID
varchar	UTF8 encoded string
varint	Arbitrary-precision integer

Troubleshooting

In order to troubleshoot Cassandra issues check Troubleshooting Cassandra.