# Create a keyspace in Amazon Keyspaces
<a name="getting-started.keyspaces"></a>

In this section, you create a keyspace using the console, `cqlsh`, or the AWS CLI.

**Note**  
Before you begin, make sure that you have configured all the [tutorial prerequisites](getting-started.before-you-begin.md). 

A *keyspace* groups related tables that are relevant for one or more applications. A keyspace contains one or more tables and defines the replication strategy for all the tables it contains. For more information about keyspaces, see the following topics:
+ Data definition language (DDL) statements in the CQL language reference: [Keyspaces](cql.ddl.keyspace.md)
+ [Quotas for Amazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra)](quotas.md)

In this tutorial we create a single-Region keyspace, and the replication strategy of the keyspace is `SingleRegionStrategy`. Using `SingleRegionStrategy`, Amazon Keyspaces replicates data across three [ Availability Zones](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/regions_az/) in one AWS Region. To learn how to create multi-Region keyspaces, see [Create a multi-Region keyspace in Amazon Keyspaces](keyspaces-mrr-create.md).

## Using the console
<a name="getting-started.keyspaces.con"></a>

**To create a keyspace using the console**

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console, and open the Amazon Keyspaces console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/keyspaces/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/keyspaces/home).

1. In the navigation pane, choose **Keyspaces**.

1. Choose **Create keyspace**.

1. In the **Keyspace name** box, enter **catalog** as the name for your keyspace.

   **Name constraints:**
   + The name can't be empty.
   + Allowed characters: alphanumeric characters and underscore ( `_` ).
   + Maximum length is 48 characters.

1. Under **AWS Regions**, confirm that **Single-Region replication** is the replication strategy for the keyspace.

1. To create the keyspace, choose **Create keyspace**.

1. Verify that the keyspace `catalog` was created by doing the following:

   1. In the navigation pane, choose **Keyspaces**.

   1. Locate your keyspace `catalog` in the list of keyspaces.

## Using CQL
<a name="getting-started.keyspaces.cql"></a>

The following procedure creates a keyspace using CQL.

**To create a keyspace using CQL**

1. Open AWS CloudShell and connect to Amazon Keyspaces using the following command. Make sure to update *us-east-1* with your own Region.

   ```
   cqlsh-expansion cassandra.us-east-1.amazonaws.com 9142 --ssl
   ```

   The output of that command should look like this.

   ```
   Connected to Amazon Keyspaces at cassandra.us-east-1.amazonaws.com:9142
   [cqlsh 6.1.0 | Cassandra 3.11.2 | CQL spec 3.4.4 | Native protocol v4]
   Use HELP for help.
   cqlsh current consistency level is ONE.
   ```

1. Create your keyspace using the following CQL command.

   ```
   CREATE KEYSPACE catalog WITH REPLICATION = {'class': 'SingleRegionStrategy'};
   ```

   `SingleRegionStrategy` uses a replication factor of three and replicates data across three AWS Availability Zones in its Region.
**Note**  
Amazon Keyspaces defaults all input to lowercase unless you enclose it in quotation marks. 

1. Verify that your keyspace was created.

   ```
   SELECT * from system_schema.keyspaces;
   ```

   The output of this command should look similar to this.

   ```
   cqlsh> SELECT * from system_schema.keyspaces;
   
    keyspace_name           | durable_writes | replication
   -------------------------+----------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              system_schema |           True | {'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': '3'}
          system_schema_mcs |           True | {'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': '3'}
                     system |           True | {'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': '3'}
    system_multiregion_info |           True | {'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': '3'}
                    catalog |           True | {'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': '3'}
   
   (5 rows)
   ```

## Using the AWS CLI
<a name="getting-started.keyspaces.cli"></a>

The following procedure creates a keyspace using the AWS CLI.

**To create a keyspace using the AWS CLI**

1. To confirm that your environment is setup, you can run the following command in CloudShell.

   ```
   aws keyspaces help
   ```

1. Create your keyspace using the following AWS CLI statement.

   ```
   aws keyspaces create-keyspace --keyspace-name 'catalog'
   ```

1. Verify that your keyspace was created with the following AWS CLI statement

   ```
   aws keyspaces get-keyspace --keyspace-name 'catalog'
   ```

   The output of this command should look similar to this example.

   ```
   {
       "keyspaceName": "catalog",
       "resourceArn": "arn:aws:cassandra:us-east-1:111122223333:/keyspace/catalog/",
       "replicationStrategy": "SINGLE_REGION"
   }
   ```