Day 1: Cassandra Lab Practice – Introduction & Setup:

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✅ Day 1: Introduction & Setup

🎯 Objective:

Set up the Cassandra environment and get familiar with basic tools and commands.

🛠️ 1. Install Apache Cassandra

Choose any one of the following:

Option 1: Using Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cassandra

Option 2: Using Docker

docker run --name cassandra-lab -p 9042:9042 -d cassandra

To check logs: docker logs -f cassandra-lab

Option 3: Manual Download

🧪 2. Verify Installation

Check Cassandra service status

nodetool status

Expected Output:

Datacenter: datacenter1
=======================
Status=Up/Down
|/ State=Normal/Leaving/Joining/Moving
--  Address    Load       Tokens       Owns (effective)  Host ID
UN  127.0.0.1  123.45 KB  256          100.0%            xxxxxxx

Start the CQL shell

cqlsh

You should see a prompt like:

Connected to Test Cluster at 127.0.0.1:9042.
[cqlsh]>

🧭 3. Explore Basic Commands in cqlsh

HELP;                          -- View available commands
SHOW VERSION;                  -- Check Cassandra and CQL version
DESCRIBE CLUSTER;              -- Show cluster info
DESCRIBE KEYSPACES;            -- Show existing keyspaces

📂 4. Explore Cassandra Directory Structure

If installed manually or with package manager:

  • conf/ – configuration files (cassandra.yaml)
  • data/ – stores actual data
  • logs/ – Cassandra logs
  • bin/ – start/stop scripts

🧑‍💻 Day 1 Lab Tasks

  1. Install Cassandra (via Docker or manually)

  2. Start cqlsh and run:

    • HELP;
    • SHOW VERSION;
    • DESCRIBE KEYSPACES;
  3. Use nodetool status to verify health
  4. Find where the Cassandra config and data directories are

✅ Checklist

Task Done
Installed Cassandra/Docker container ✅
Ran cqlsh and connected successfully ✅
Ran nodetool status ✅
Explored basic commands ✅
Understood directory structure ✅


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