# Installation

## Supported Platforms

Python 3.8 through 3.12 are supported. Both CPython (the standard Python implementation) and PyPy are supported and tested.

Linux, OSX, and Windows are supported.

## Installation through pip

pip is the suggested tool for installing packages. It will handle installing all Python dependencies for the driver at the same time as the driver itself. To install the driver*:

    pip install cassandra-driver

You can use `pip install --pre cassandra-driver` if you need to install a beta version.

*Note: if intending to use optional extensions, install the dependencies first. The driver may need to be reinstalled if dependencies are added after the initial installation.

## Verifying your Installation

To check if the installation was successful, you can run:

    python -c 'import cassandra; print(cassandra.__version__)'

It should print something like “3.29.2”.

## (Optional) DataStax Graph

The driver provides an optional fluent graph API that depends on Apache TinkerPop (gremlinpython). It is not installed by default. To be able to build Gremlin traversals, you need to install the graph extra:

    pip install cassandra-driver[graph]

See DataStax Graph Fluent API for more details about this API.

## (Optional) Compression Support

Compression can optionally be used for communication between the driver and Cassandra. There are currently two supported compression algorithms: snappy (in Cassandra 1.2+) and LZ4 (only in Cassandra 2.0+). If either is available for the driver and Cassandra also supports it, it will be used automatically.

For lz4 support:

    pip install lz4

For snappy support:

    pip install python-snappy

(If using a Debian Linux derivative such as Ubuntu, it may be easier to just run `apt-get install python-snappy`.)

## (Optional) Metrics Support

The driver has built-in support for capturing `Cluster.metrics` about the queries you run. However, the `scales` library is required to support this:

    pip install scales

## Optional: Column-Level Encryption (CLE) Support

The driver has built-in support for client-side encryption and decryption of data. For more, see Column Encryption.

CLE depends on the Python cryptography module. When installing Python driver 3.27.0. the cryptography module is also downloaded and installed. If you are using Python driver 3.28.0 or later and want to use CLE, you must install the cryptography module.

You can install this module along with the driver by specifying the cle extra:

    pip install cassandra-driver[cle]

Alternatively, you can also install the module directly via pip:

    pip install cryptography

Any version of cryptography >= 35.0 will work for the CLE feature. You can find additional details at PYTHON-1351

### Speeding Up Installation

By default, installing the driver through `pip` uses a pre-compiled, platform-specific wheel when available. If using a source distribution rather than a wheel, Cython is used to compile certain parts of the driver. This makes those hot paths faster at runtime, but the Cython compilation process can take a long time – as long as 10 minutes in some environments.

In environments where performance is less important, it may be worth it to disable Cython as documented below. You can also use `CASS_DRIVER_BUILD_CONCURRENCY` to increase the number of threads used to build the driver and any C extensions:

    $ # installing from source
    $ CASS_DRIVER_BUILD_CONCURRENCY=8 python setup.py install
    $ # installing from pip
    $ CASS_DRIVER_BUILD_CONCURRENCY=8 pip install cassandra-driver

### OSX Installation Error

If you’re installing on OSX and have XCode 5.1 installed, you may see an error like this:

    clang: error: unknown argument: '-mno-fused-madd' [-Wunused-command-line-argument-hard-error-in-future]

To fix this, re-run the installation with an extra compilation flag:

    ARCHFLAGS=-Wno-error=unused-command-line-argument-hard-error-in-future pip install cassandra-driver

## Windows Installation Notes

Installing the driver with extensions in Windows sometimes presents some challenges. A few notes about common hang-ups:

Setup requires a compiler. When using Python 2, this is as simple as installing this package (this link is also emitted during install if setuptools is unable to find the resources it needs). Depending on your system settings, this package may install as a user-specific application. Make sure to install for everyone, or at least as the user that will be building the Python environment.

It is also possible to run the build with your compiler of choice. Just make sure to have your environment setup with the proper paths. Make sure the compiler target architecture matches the bitness of your Python runtime. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to run the build/install from a Visual Studio Command Prompt (a shortcut installed with Visual Studio that sources the appropriate environment and presents a shell).

## Manual Installation

You can always install the driver directly from a source checkout or tarball. When installing manually, ensure the python dependencies are already installed. You can find the list of dependencies in requirements.txt.

Once the dependencies are installed, simply run:

    python setup.py install

## (Optional) Non-python Dependencies

The driver has several optional features that have non-Python dependencies.

### C Extensions

By default, a number of extensions are compiled, providing faster hashing for token-aware routing with the `Murmur3Partitioner`, libev event loop integration, and Cython optimized extensions.

When installing manually through setup.py, you can disable both with the `--no-extensions` option, or selectively disable them with with `--no-murmur3`, `--no-libev`, or `--no-cython`.

To compile the extensions, ensure that GCC and the Python headers are available.

On Ubuntu and Debian, this can be accomplished by running:

    $ sudo apt-get install gcc python-dev

On RedHat and RedHat-based systems like CentOS and Fedora:

    $ sudo yum install gcc python-devel

On OS X, homebrew installations of Python should provide the necessary headers.

See Windows Installation Notes for notes on configuring the build environment on Windows.

#### Cython-based Extensions

By default, this package uses Cython to optimize core modules and build custom extensions. This is not a hard requirement, but is engaged by default to build extensions offering better performance than the pure Python implementation.

This is a costly build phase, especially in clean environments where the Cython compiler must be built This build phase can be avoided using the build switch, or an environment variable:

    python setup.py install --no-cython

Alternatively, an environment variable can be used to switch this option regardless of context:

    CASS_DRIVER_NO_CYTHON=1 <your script here>
    - or, to disable all extensions:
    CASS_DRIVER_NO_EXTENSIONS=1 <your script here>

This method is required when using pip, which provides no other way of injecting user options in a single command:

    CASS_DRIVER_NO_CYTHON=1 pip install cassandra-driver
    CASS_DRIVER_NO_CYTHON=1 sudo -E pip install ~/python-driver

The environment variable is the preferred option because it spans all invocations of setup.py, and will prevent Cython from being materialized as a setup requirement.

If your sudo configuration does not allow SETENV, you must push the option flag down via pip. However, pip applies these options to all dependencies (which break on the custom flag). Therefore, you must first install dependencies, then use install-option:

    sudo pip install futures
    sudo pip install --install-option="--no-cython"

### Supported Event Loops

For Python versions before 3.12 the driver uses the `asyncore` module for its default event loop. Other event loops such as `libev`, `gevent` and `eventlet` are also available via Python modules or C extensions. Python 3.12 has removed `asyncore` entirely so for this platform one of these other event loops must be used.

### libev support

If you’re on Linux, you should be able to install libev through a package manager. For example, on Debian/Ubuntu:

    $ sudo apt-get install libev4 libev-dev

On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora:

    $ sudo yum install libev libev-devel

If you’re on Mac OS X, you should be able to install libev through Homebrew. For example, on Mac OS X:

    $ brew install libev

The libev extension can now be built for Windows as of Python driver version 3.29.2. You can install libev using any Windows package manager. For example, to install using vcpkg:

> $ vcpkg install libev

If successful, you should be able to build and install the extension (just using `setup.py build` or `setup.py install`) and then use the libev event loop by doing the following:

    >>> from cassandra.io.libevreactor import LibevConnection
    >>> from cassandra.cluster import Cluster

    >>> cluster = Cluster()
    >>> cluster.connection_class = LibevConnection
    >>> session = cluster.connect()

## (Optional) Configuring SSL

Andrew Mussey has published a thorough guide on Using SSL with the DataStax Python driver.