Changing the Apache Cassandra default user password

When you create an Apache Cassandra cluster with authentication enabled on the Instaclustr platform, we’ll create a new super user for you to connect to the database, this is usually referred to as the iccassandra role.

The password for this role is randomly generated when the cluster is created, and is only stored in our system for 5 days from cluster creation, after which it is forgotten by our systems, however, we recommend you change the password as soon as possible after the cluster has been created.

You can do this using the CQLSH tool (please see https://www.instaclustr.com/support/documentation/cassandra/using-cassandra/connect-to-cassandra-with-cqlsh/ for details on how to connect to the cluster).

1 – Login to the cluster as the iccassandra role. You will be promoted for the password by CQLSH, alternatively you can provide it via the -p flag.

2 – Run the following CQL to change the password of the iccassandra role (please remember to change the ‘changeme’ to something more secure).

3 – After this update anything that relies on the iccassandra role to use this updated password. Please ensure you store this new password somewhere secure, we will not be able to recover it for you and will need to reset it if lost.

This same procedure can be used on other roles in a Apache Cassandra deployment, please note roles with a default level of permissions can only change their own password, not the password of other roles.