Cassandra as a Service

Introduction#

This topic describes how to start Apache Cassandra as a service in windows and linux platforms. Remember you also start Cassandra from bin directory by running the batch or shell script.

Windows

1. Download the latest apache commons daemon from Apache Commons Project Distributions.

2. Extract the commons daemon in <Cassandra installed directory>\bin.

3. Rename the extracted folder as daemon.

4. Add <Cassandra installed directory> as CASSANDRA_HOME in windows environment variable.

5. Edit the cassandra.yaml file in <Cassandra installed directory>\conf and uncomment the data_file_directories, commitlog_directory, saved_cache_directory and set the absolute paths.

6. Edit cassandra.bat in <Cassandra installed directory>\bin and replace the value for the PATH_PRUNSRV as follows:

   for 32 bit windows, set PATH_PRUNSRV=%CASSANDRA_HOME%\bin\daemon\
   for 64 bit windows, set PATH_PRUNSRV=%CASSANDRA_HOME%\bin\daemon\amd64\

7. Edit cassandra.bat and configure SERVICE_JVM for required service name.

   SERVICE_JVM="cassandra"

8. With administrator privileges, run cassandra.bat install from command prompt.

Linux

1. Create the /etc/init.d/cassandra startup script.

2. Edit the contents of the file:

   #!/bin/sh
   #
   # chkconfig: - 80 45
   # description: Starts and stops Cassandra
   # update daemon path to point to the cassandra executable
   DAEMON=<Cassandra installed directory>/bin/cassandra
   start() {
           echo -n "Starting Cassandra... "
           $DAEMON -p /var/run/cassandra.pid
           echo "OK"
           return 0
   }
   stop() {
           echo -n "Stopping Cassandra... "
           kill $(cat /var/run/cassandra.pid)
           echo "OK"
           return 0
   }
   case "$1" in
     start)
           start
           ;;
     stop)
           stop
           ;;
     restart)
           stop
           start
           ;;
     *)
           echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart}"
           exit 1
   esac
   exit $?

3. Make the file executable:

   sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/cassandra

4. Add the new service to the list:

   sudo chkconfig —add cassandra

5. Now you can manage the service from the command line:

   sudo /etc/init.d/cassandra start
   sudo /etc/init.d/cassandra stop
   sudo /etc/init.d/cassandra restart