Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Generate Self-Signed Certificates
3. Connecting to the Cluster with cqlsh
4. Connecting to the Cluster with Python
5. Additional Security Measures

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Introduction

Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra provides a fully managed service for running Apache Cassandra workloads on Azure. By default, connections to the cluster are secured using SSL certificates signed by a Certificate Authority. This blog post explores how to use self-signed certificates to enhance authentication between the client and the server.

Generate Self-Signed Certificates

1. Create a configuration file like gen_rootCa_cert.conf from DataStax documentation.
2. Use OpenSSL to generate the key and certificate in PEM format.

Connecting to the Cluster with cqlsh

• Configure cqlsh with the path to your client certificate file and key file.
• Validate the cluster's certificate using openssl.

Connecting to the Cluster with Python

• Adjust contact points, port, certificates, key file, and queries based on your cluster setup.
• Use the cluster's node addresses provided by Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra.

Additional Security Measures

• For an additional layer of protection, verify the server's identity to prevent connections to unauthorized servers.
• Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra offers high security by default and can be used safely with minimal configuration.

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