# Using a Cassandra Node.js client driver to access Amazon Keyspaces programmatically
<a name="using_nodejs_driver"></a>

 This section shows you how to connect to Amazon Keyspaces by using a Node.js client driver. To provide users and applications with credentials for programmatic access to Amazon Keyspaces resources, you can do either of the following:
+ Create service-specific credentials that are associated with a specific AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user.
+ For enhanced security, we recommend to create IAM access keys for IAM users or roles that are used across all AWS services. The Amazon Keyspaces SigV4 authentication plugin for Cassandra client drivers enables you to authenticate calls to Amazon Keyspaces using IAM access keys instead of user name and password. For more information, see [Create and configure AWS credentials for Amazon Keyspaces](access.credentials.md).

**Topics**
+ [

## Before you begin
](#using_nodejs_driver.BeforeYouBegin)
+ [

## Connect to Amazon Keyspaces using the Node.js DataStax driver for Apache Cassandra and service-specific credentials
](#nodejs_ssc)
+ [

## Connect to Amazon Keyspaces using the DataStax Node.js driver for Apache Cassandra and the SigV4 authentication plugin
](#nodejs_SigV4)

## Before you begin
<a name="using_nodejs_driver.BeforeYouBegin"></a>

You need to complete the following task before you can start.

Amazon Keyspaces requires the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) to help secure connections with clients. To connect to Amazon Keyspaces using TLS, you need to download an Amazon digital certificate and configure the Python driver to use TLS. 

 Download the following digital certificates and save the files locally or in your home directory.

1. AmazonRootCA1

1. AmazonRootCA2

1. AmazonRootCA3

1. AmazonRootCA4

1. Starfield Class 2 Root (optional – for backward compatibility)

To download the certificates, you can use the following commands.

```
curl -O https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA1.pem
curl -O https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA2.pem
curl -O https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA3.pem
curl -O https://www.amazontrust.com/repository/AmazonRootCA4.pem
curl -O https://certs.secureserver.net/repository/sf-class2-root.crt
```

**Note**  
Amazon Keyspaces previously used TLS certificates anchored to the Starfield Class 2 CA. AWS is migrating all AWS Regions to certificates issued under Amazon Trust Services (Amazon Root CAs 1–4). During this transition, configure clients to trust both Amazon Root CAs 1–4 and the Starfield root to ensure compatibility across all Regions.

Combine all downloaded certificates into a single `pem` file with the name *keyspaces-bundle.pem* in our examples. You can do this by running the following command. Take note of the path to the file, you need this later.

```
cat AmazonRootCA1.pem \
 AmazonRootCA2.pem \
 AmazonRootCA3.pem \
 AmazonRootCA4.pem \
 sf-class2-root.crt \
 > keyspaces-bundle.pem
```

## Connect to Amazon Keyspaces using the Node.js DataStax driver for Apache Cassandra and service-specific credentials
<a name="nodejs_ssc"></a>

 Configure your driver to use the combined certificate file `keyspaces-bundle.pem` for TLS and authenticate using service-specific credentials. For example: 

```
const cassandra = require('cassandra-driver');
const fs = require('fs');
const auth = new cassandra.auth.PlainTextAuthProvider('ServiceUserName', 'ServicePassword');
const sslOptions1 = {
         ca: [
                    fs.readFileSync('path_to_file/keyspaces-bundle.pem', 'utf-8')],      
                    host: 'cassandra.us-west-2.amazonaws.com',
                    rejectUnauthorized: true
        };
const client = new cassandra.Client({
                   contactPoints: ['cassandra.us-west-2.amazonaws.com'],
                   localDataCenter: 'us-west-2',
                   authProvider: auth,
                   sslOptions: sslOptions1,
                   protocolOptions: { port: 9142 }
        });
const query = 'SELECT * FROM system_schema.keyspaces';
 
client.execute(query)
                    .then( result => console.log('Row from Keyspaces %s', result.rows[0]))
                    .catch( e=> console.log(`${e}`));
```

Usage notes:

1. Replace `"path_to_file/keyspaces-bundle.pem"` with the path to the combined certificate file saved in the first step.

1. Ensure that the *ServiceUserName* and *ServicePassword* match the user name and password you obtained when you generated the service-specific credentials by following the steps to [Create service-specific credentials for programmatic access to Amazon Keyspaces](programmatic.credentials.ssc.md). 

1. For a list of available endpoints, see [Service endpoints for Amazon Keyspaces](programmatic.endpoints.md).

## Connect to Amazon Keyspaces using the DataStax Node.js driver for Apache Cassandra and the SigV4 authentication plugin
<a name="nodejs_SigV4"></a>

The following section shows how to use the SigV4 authentication plugin for the open-source DataStax Node.js driver for Apache Cassandra to access Amazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra). 

If you haven't already done so, create credentials for your IAM user or role following the steps at [Create and configure AWS credentials for Amazon Keyspaces](access.credentials.md).

Add the Node.js SigV4 authentication plugin to your application from the [GitHub repository](https://github.com/aws/aws-sigv4-auth-cassandra-nodejs-driver-plugin). The plugin supports version 4.x of the DataStax Node.js driver for Cassandra and depends on the AWS SDK for Node.js. It uses `AWSCredentialsProvider` to obtain credentials.

```
$ npm install aws-sigv4-auth-cassandra-plugin --save
```

This code example shows how to set a Region-specific instance of `SigV4AuthProvider` as the authentication provider.

```
const cassandra = require('cassandra-driver');
const fs = require('fs');
const sigV4 = require('aws-sigv4-auth-cassandra-plugin');

const auth = new sigV4.SigV4AuthProvider({
    region: 'us-west-2', 
    accessKeyId:'AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE',
    secretAccessKey: 'wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY'});

const sslOptions1 = {
  ca: [
      fs.readFileSync('path_to_file/keyspaces-bundle.pem', 'utf-8')],
  host: 'cassandra.us-west-2.amazonaws.com',
  rejectUnauthorized: true
};


const client = new cassandra.Client({
  contactPoints: ['cassandra.us-west-2.amazonaws.com'],
  localDataCenter: 'us-west-2',
  authProvider: auth,
  sslOptions: sslOptions1,
  protocolOptions: { port: 9142 }
});


const query = 'SELECT * FROM system_schema.keyspaces';

client.execute(query).then(
    result => console.log('Row from Keyspaces %s', result.rows[0]))
    .catch( e=> console.log(`${e}`));
```

Usage notes:

1. Replace `"path_to_file/keyspaces-bundle.pem"` with the path to the certificate saved in the first step.

1. Ensure that the *accessKeyId* and *secretAccessKey* match the Access Key and Secret Access Key you obtained using `AWSCredentialsProvider`. For more information, see [Setting Credentials in Node.js](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/setting-credentials-node.html) in the *AWS SDK for JavaScript in Node.js*. 

1. To store access keys outside of code, see best practices at [Store access keys for programmatic access](aws.credentials.manage.md).

1. For a list of available endpoints, see [Service endpoints for Amazon Keyspaces](programmatic.endpoints.md).