Cassandra on Mac

This guide covers installing Apache Cassandra on macOS, connecting with cqlsh, and basic usage.

Installation

Install Cassandra using Homebrew:

brew install cassandra

Connect to your Cassandra instance:

cqlsh <ip_address> 9042 \
    -u <username> \
    -p <password> \
    --cqlversion="3.4.7"

Switch to your keyspace:

DESCRIBE KEYSPACES;
USE <keyspace_name>;

To enable authentication, follow the official guide.

Create or edit ~/.cassandra/credentials:

[PlainTextAuthProvider]
username = user1
password = pass1

Show all tables in the current keyspace:

DESCRIBE TABLES;
-- or --
DESC TABLES;

Show the schema for a specific table:

DESCRIBE TABLE <table_name>;
-- or --
DESC <table_name>;