Cassandra 3.x

If you are looking to just get started, DataStax Astra Database-as-a-Service can get you started with no install steps.

There are several ways that Stargate can be used with Apache Cassandra.

If you are a developer who just needs a simple platform to test out ideas, starting Stargate as a standalone container with Docker is a good choice.
If you already have Cassandra running in a docker-compose application, or want to start Stargate with multiple nodes of Cassandra, installing with docker-compose is a simple method.
If you need to install Stargate with a running Cassandra cluster in either virtual machines or bare metal, use the method that downloads a zip file of Stargate jar files and install.

Once you have installed Stargate, you are ready to try one of the Stargate QuickStarts.

Stargate Standalone with Docker

This image contains the Cassandra Query Language (CQL), REST, Document, GraphQL APIs, and GraphQL Playground, along with an Apache Cassandra^™ 3.11 backend.

docker pull stargateio/stargate-3_11:v1.0.41

Start the Stargate container in developer mode. Developer mode removes the need to set up a separate Cassandra instance and is meant for development and testing only.

docker run --name stargate \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -p 8081:8081 \
  -p 8082:8082 \
  -p 127.0.0.1:9042:9042 \
  -d \
  -e CLUSTER_NAME=stargate \
  -e CLUSTER_VERSION=3.11 \
  -e DEVELOPER_MODE=true \
  stargateio/stargate-3_11:v1.0.41

The default ports assignments align to the following services and interfaces:

Port	Service/Interface
8080	GraphQL interface for CRUD
8081	REST authorization service for generating tokens
8082	REST interface for CRUD and Document API
8084	Health check (/healthcheck, /checker/liveness, /checker/readiness) and metrics (/metrics)
8090	gRPC interface for CRUD
9042	CQL service

Stargate with Docker compose

This installation method can be used to either:

new installation of both Cassandra and Stargate
add Stargate to a running Cassandra docker-compose network

New Cassandra and Stargate using docker-compose

The docker-compose YAML file contains the configuration for pulling the required docker images and configuration required for installing:

1-3 Apache Cassandra^™ 3.11 nodes as a cluster (backend-1, backend-2, backend-3)
1 Stargate node (stargate)

The Stargate image contains the Cassandra Query Language (CQL), REST, Document, GraphQL APIs, and GraphQL Playground.

Two companion files are helpful: a script to run the docker-compose file with delays between node startup that prevents timing issues, and a text file that has the docker run commands for running a CQLSH Docker container to query against either one of the Cassandra nodes or the Stargate node, respectively.

The files are found at the Stargate docker-images repository.

Run the script after downloading the files:

./start_stargate-cass311.sh

When Stargate is launched within a container on Mac OS X as shown above, it will connect only to Cassandra clusters running within the same Docker environment. To run Stargate so that it can connect to a cluster running outside of a containerized environment, see the Installing on VMs or bare metal documentation.

Adding Stargate to existing Cassandra docker-compose cluster

If a Cassandra cluster already exists that was started with docker-compose, Stargate can be added to the defined network, such as :

docker network create cass-net --driver bridge: value

[Optional] To illustrate, you can start a single Cassandra node using that network:

docker run --name cass1 \
--network cass-net \
-e CASSANDRA_CLUSTER_NAME=stargate-cluster \
-d cassandra:3.11

Note that the Cassandra node is started with a specific cluster name. Additional Cassandra nodes could be added to the cluster, if desired.

Now add Stargate to the existing Cassandra cluster operating on the specified network with the following command:

docker run --name stargate \
  --network cass-net \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -p 8081:8081 \
  -p 8082:8082 \
  -p 9049:9042 \
  -e CLUSTER_NAME=stargate-cluster \
  -e CLUSTER_VERSION=3.11 \
  -e SEED=cass1 \
  -e SIMPLE_SNITCH=true \
  -e ENABLE_AUTH=true \
  -d stargateio/stargate-3_11:v1.0.41

where

cass-net must be replaced with the existing Cassandra cluster network name
the port 9042 should be mapped to an alternative port (example shows 9049)
CLUSTER_NAME identifies the Cassandra cluster name used at cluster creation
CLUSTER_VERSION is set to the version of Cassandra running in the cluster
SEED is set to the IP address or docker name of a running Cassandra seed node (cass1)
SIMPLE_SNITCH sets the snitch on the Stargate node
ENABLE_AUTH enables PasswordAuthenticator in the cluster

Use the SIMPLE_SNITCH option if the endpoint_snitch setting in the cluster is set to SimpleSnitch. If the cluster uses a different endpoint_snitch use the --dc and --rack options to define the topology of the node.

The default ports assignments align to the following services and interfaces:

Port	Service/Interface
8080	GraphQL interface for CRUD
8081	REST authorization service for generating tokens
8082	REST interface for CRUD and Document API
8084	Health check (/healthcheck, /checker/liveness, /checker/readiness) and metrics (/metrics)
8090	gRPC interface for CRUD
9042	CQL service

Specifying the LISTEN_ADDRESS is not required in docker, because the starctl script will determine the correct port on which to listen. The ports do not need to be set if standard ports are used.

Stargate on virtual machine or bare metal

Stargate can be installed alongside an existing Cassandra cluster using a virtual machine or bare metal.

[Optional] Make sure Cassandra is up and running. Stargate requires authentication, so be sure to enable it in the cassandra.yaml file. If you don’t have a cluster running, use these instructions to install Cassandra 3.11.

Next, prepare a virtual machine to install Stargate on. You’ll need to be sure Java 8 is installed.

Once you have a machine ready, download the Stargate zip file. This file will provide the jar files that are required to run Stargate. A typical method is using wget:

wget https://github.com/stargate/stargate/releases/download/v1.0.41/stargate-jars.zip

Unzip the files:

unzip stargate-jars.zip

Make sure that port 7000 is open on the Stargate machine. This port is the default inter-node communication port that Cassandra and Stargate use to pass communications.

Now start Stargate using the starctl command, the main command for starting and configuring Stargate:

./starctl --cluster-name <cluster name> \
--cluster-seed <seed node to connect to> \
--cluster-version <version> \
--listen <ip address for stargate to listen on> \
--dc <data center name> \
--rack <rack name of node to connect to> \
--dse #for DSE only, delete for Cassandra \
--enable-auth

For example:

./starctl
--cluster-name stargate_test_cluster \
--cluster-seed 172.31.29.170 \
--cluster-version 3.11 \
--listen 172.31.29.175 \
--dc DC1 \
--rack RACK1 \
--enable-auth

where

stargate_test_cluster is the name of the Cassandra cluster
172.31.29.170 is the IP address of the Cassandra node
172.31.29.175 is the IP address of the Stargate node (Stargate uses this IP address to broadcast itself, to join a Cassandra cluster as a coordinator node)
DC1 is the name of the data center of the Cassandra node
RACK1 is the name of the data center of the Cassandra node The full set of options are described in the starctl documentation.

If you are unsure of the datacenter and rack, run nodetool status on the Cassandra node you are connected to.

After a few seconds, you should see that Stargate has started. You will see log output in your terminal display. If you get a binding error, then you may have tried to start Stargate incorrectly and the process is still running. Terminate that process and start it again.

That’s it! You are ready to try a Stargate QuickStart.