Difficulty: Beginner

Estimated Time: 5

Getting Started with Astra DB

Hello and welcome to getting started with Astra DB!

In this scenario, we will:

Login to Astra
Create a Cassandra database
Take a tour of the Astra UI
Use the Astra DB DevOps API

Here are some common questions you might have about Astra DB (click on the question to see the answer):

What is Astra DB?

Astra DB is DataStax Cassandra-as-a-service offering. This means you can leverage the power of a Cassandra database, with none of the management hassles. Plus, Astra DB gives you tools like

Stargate - you get REST, GraphQL, Document and CQL APIs for your database tables
DataStax Bulk Loader - to conveniently ingest data
Metrics Dashboard - so you can monitor your database

Why do I need Astra DB?

Astra DB is an easy way to have a Cassandra database. Cassandra gives you a database that is scalable, always available and globally distributed - which is what today's apps require.

Where can I find more info about Astra DB?

For more information, check out the Astra DB docs.

How much does Astra DB cost?

Your get a monthly credit of $25, so you can try out Astra DB for free. When you want to use more resources, you can see the pricing here.

This scenario is also available on our datastax.com/dev site, where you can find many more resources to help you succeed with Apache Cassandra™.

Congratulations! You've just completed the first step on the path to becoming an Astra DB database whiz!

In this quick scenario we've covered:

Logging in to Astra
Creating a Cassandra database
A tour of the Astra DB UI
One operation of the Astra DB DevOps API

Visit other scenarios to see how to do more with Astra!

Have questions or more feedback? Send us a message.

Your environment is currently being packaged as a Docker container and the download will begin shortly. To run the image locally, once Docker has been installed, use the commands

cat scrapbook_datastax_astra-core-course/astra-creating-a-database_container.tar | docker load

docker run -it /datastax_astra-core-course/astra-creating-a-database:

Restart Scenario

Next Scenario

Creating a Cassandra as a Service Database with Astra DB

Step 1 of 3

Login and Create the Database

Here's a short two-minute video outlining what we are going to do here.

You can enlarge the video to full-screen by clicking in the bottom-right corner of the video.

The first step is to navigate to astra.datastax.com and login or sign up for an account!

Next, create a database as described in the video (you can also follow along in the Astra DB Docs).

Click on the Create Database button in the top-left corner of the screen
Within the Pay as you go box, click the Get Started button (don't worry - it won't cost anything)
On the Create a Database screen, enter the Database name: betterbotz
Also enter the Keyspace name: betterbotz
Select your favorite cloud provider
Select a region nearest your location
Click the Create Database button on the right.
When you see the Get Ready for Lift Off dialog, click the Continue button

It will take a few minutes for the database to initialize, but once the database is ready, you will receive an email and you will see the database status change to active.

Woot! Your Cassandra database is ready to go!

Use the DevOps API

Let's try an operation on Astra DB just to see what it's like!

We'll use the Astra DB DevOps API to list the available regions for our organization and user.

What is the Astra DB DevOps API?

The Astra DB DevOps API lets you manage the Astra DB database life cycle. You can perform actions like the following:

List, create, and terminate databases
Add a keyspace to a database
Park and unpark a database
Get an organization and user's supported regions

You can find more information in the DevOps docs.

Follow these steps (as seen in the video) to create a new application token.

Step 1. Login to Astra.

Open a tab in the browser for Astra. You can login using a GitHub or Google account, or create a new Astra account.

Step 2. Find the Organization Settings.

From the Current Organization drop-down, select Organization Settings.

Find Organizational Settings

Step 3. Access Token Management.

In the left-navigation list, select Token Management.

Select Token Management

Step 4. Generate a new application token.

From the Select Role drop-down menu, select Database Administrator. Click the Generate Token button.

Generate the Token

Step 5. Copy the application token.

Click on the clipboard icon near the right edge of the token to copy the token to your clipboard. Please note that, as a security precaution, you will only be able to copy this token once. So, please take care not to overwrite the token until you have completed the next step.

Copy the token to the clipboard

Step 6. Copy the export command to the terminal.

Click the following to copy the export command to the terminal. Clicking will not yet execute the command, as we still need to paste the token on the end of the command before executing it.

export APP_TOKEN=

Step 7. Paste the token and execute the command.

Paste the token value from the clipboard on the end of the export command by right-clicking in the terminal and selecting Paste.

Paste the token

If your environment variable is set correctly, the following command displays the token.

echo $APP_TOKEN

With your token set, we can now execute the following cURL command to query the available regions.

curl --request GET \
 --url "https://api.astra.datastax.com/v2/availableRegions" \
 --header "Accept: application/json" \
 --header "Authorization: Bearer $APP_TOKEN" | jq

If you want to clean things up, go back to the Astra UI.

As seen in the video, click the X in the top-right corner of the panel displaying the token. Finally, delete the token by clicking ellipses at the right of the token you just created and selecting Delete.

The Astra DB DevOps API is easy to use and useful!

Terminal

cd <directory>	Change directory
ls	List directory
echo 'contents' > <file>	Write contents to a file
cat <file>	Output contents of file

i	In Command Mode	Change into Insert Mode, you can now insert and edit text in the file
esc	In Insert Mode	Change into Command Mode, you can now execute commands
:wq	In Command Mode	Save and Exit

Welcome!

Creating a Cassandra as a Service Database with Astra DB

Getting Started with Astra DB

Congratulations!

You've completed the scenario!

Scenario Rating

Congratulations! You've just completed the first step on the path to becoming an Astra DB database whiz!

Steps

Creating a Cassandra as a Service Database with Astra DB

Login and Create the Database

Woot! Your Cassandra database is ready to go!

Tour the Astra User Interface

Hey, Astra DB looks pretty easy - want to give it a try?

Use the DevOps API

The Astra DB DevOps API is easy to use and useful!

Welcome!

Creating a Cassandra as a Service Database with Astra DB

Getting Started with Astra DB

Congratulations!

You've completed the scenario!

Scenario Rating

Congratulations! You've just completed the first step on the path to becoming an Astra DB database whiz!

Steps

Creating a Cassandra as a Service Database with Astra DB

Login and Create the Database

Woot! Your Cassandra database is ready to go!

Tour the Astra User Interface

Hey, Astra DB looks pretty easy - want to give it a try?

Use the DevOps API

The Astra DB DevOps API is easy to use and useful!

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