Generate CockroachDB Resources

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The cockroach gen command can generate command-line interface (CLI) utilities (man pages and abash autocompletion script), example SQL data suitable to populate test databases, and an HAProxy configuration file for load balancing a running cluster.

Subcommands

Subcommand Usage
man Generate man pages for CockroachDB.
autocomplete Generate bash autocompletion script for CockroachDB.
example-data Generate example SQL data.
haproxy Generate an HAProxy config file for a running CockroachDB cluster.

Synopsis

# Generate man pages:
$ cockroach gen man

# Generate bash autocompletion script:
$ cockroach gen autocomplete

# Generate example SQL data:
$ cockroach gen example-data intro | cockroach sql
$ cockroach gen example-data startrek | cockroach sql

# Generate an HAProxy config file for a running cluster:
$ cockroach gen haproxy

# View help:
$ cockroach gen --help
$ cockroach gen man --help
$ cockroach gen autocomplete --help
$ cockroach gen example-data --help
$ cockroach gen haproxy --help

Flags

The gen subcommands supports the following general-use and logging flags.

General

man

Flag Description
--path The path where man pages will be generated.

Default: man/man1 under the current directory

autocomplete

Flag Description
--out The path where the autocomplete file will be generated.

Default: cockroach.bash in the current directory

example-data

No flags are supported. See the Generate Example Data example for guidance.

haproxy

Flag Description
--certs-dir The path to the certificate directory. The directory must contain valid certificates if running in secure mode.

Env Variable: COCKROACH_CERTS_DIR
Default: ${HOME}/.cockroach-certs/
--host The server host to connect to. This can be the address of any node in the cluster.

Env Variable: COCKROACH_HOST
Default: localhost
--insecure Run in insecure mode. If this flag is not set, the --certs-dir flag must point to valid certificates.

Env Variable: COCKROACH_INSECURE
Default: false
--out The path where the haproxy.cfg file will be generated. If an haproxy.cfg file already exists in the directory, it will be overwritten.

Default: haproxy.cfg in the current directory
--port
-p
The server port to connect to.

Env Variable: COCKROACH_PORT
Default: 26257

Logging

By default, the gen command logs errors to stderr.

If you need to troubleshoot this command's behavior, you can change its logging behavior.

Examples

Generate man Pages

# Generate man pages:
$ cockroach gen man

# Move the man pages to the man directory:
$ sudo mv man/man1/* /usr/share/man/man1

# Access man pages:
$ man cockroach

Generate a bash Autocompletion Script

# Generate bash autocompletion script:
$ cockroach gen autocomplete

# Add the script to your .bashrc and .bash_profle:
$ printf "\n\n#cockroach bash autocomplete\nsource '<path to>cockroach.bash'" >> ~/.bashrc
$ printf "\n\n#cockroach bash autocomplete\nsource '<path to>cockroach.bash'" >> ~/.bash_profile

You can now use tab to autocomplete cockroach commands.

Generate Example Data

To test out CockroachDB, you can generate an example startrek database, which contains 2 tables, episodes and quotes.

# Generate example `startrek` database:
$ cockroach gen example-data startrek | cockroach sql --insecure
CREATE DATABASE
SET
DROP TABLE
DROP TABLE
CREATE TABLE
INSERT 79
CREATE TABLE
INSERT 200
# Launch the built-in SQL client to view it:
$ cockroach sql --insecure
> SHOW TABLES FROM startrek;
+----------+
|  Table   |
+----------+
| episodes |
| quotes   |
+----------+
(2 rows)

You can also generate an example intro database, which contains 1 table, mytable, with a hidden message:

# Generate example `intro` database:
$ cockroach gen example-data intro | cockroach sql --insecure
CREATE DATABASE
SET
DROP TABLE
CREATE TABLE
INSERT 1
INSERT 1
INSERT 1
INSERT 1
...
# Launch the built-in SQL client to view it:
$ cockroach sql --insecure
> SHOW TABLES FROM intro;
+---------+
|  Table  |
+---------+
| mytable |
+---------+
(1 row)
> SELECT * FROM intro.mytable WHERE (l % 2) = 0;
+----+------------------------------------------------------+
| l  |                          v                           |
+----+------------------------------------------------------+
|  0 | !__aaawwmqmqmwwwaas,,_        .__aaawwwmqmqmwwaaa,,  |
|  2 | !"VT?!"""^~~^"""??T$Wmqaa,_auqmWBT?!"""^~~^^""??YV^  |
|  4 | !                    "?##mW##?"-                     |
|  6 | !  C O N G R A T S  _am#Z??A#ma,           Y         |
|  8 | !                 _ummY"    "9#ma,       A           |
| 10 | !                vm#Z(        )Xmms    Y             |
| 12 | !              .j####mmm#####mm#m##6.                |
| 14 | !   W O W !    jmm###mm######m#mmm##6                |
| 16 | !             ]#me*Xm#m#mm##m#m##SX##c               |
| 18 | !             dm#||+*$##m#mm#m#Svvn##m               |
| 20 | !            :mmE=|+||S##m##m#1nvnnX##;     A        |
| 22 | !            :m#h+|+++=Xmm#m#1nvnnvdmm;     M        |
| 24 | ! Y           $#m>+|+|||##m#1nvnnnnmm#      A        |
| 26 | !  O          ]##z+|+|+|3#mEnnnnvnd##f      Z        |
| 28 | !   U  D       4##c|+|+|]m#kvnvnno##P       E        |
| 30 | !       I       4#ma+|++]mmhvnnvq##P`       !        |
| 32 | !        D I     ?$#q%+|dmmmvnnm##!                  |
| 34 | !           T     -4##wu#mm#pw##7'                   |
| 36 | !                   -?$##m####Y'                     |
| 38 | !             !!       "Y##Y"-                       |
| 40 | !                                                    |
+----+------------------------------------------------------+
(21 rows)

Generate an HAProxy Configuration File

HAProxy is one of the most popular open-source TCP load balancers, and CockroachDB includes a built-in command for generating a configuration file that is preset to work with your running cluster.

To generate an HAProxy config file for a secure cluster, run the cockroach gen haproxy command, specifying the location of certificate directory and the address of any instance running a CockroachDB node:

$ cockroach gen haproxy \
--certs-dir=<path to certs directory> \
--host=<address of any node in the cluster> \
--port=26257

To generate an HAProxy config file for an insecure cluster, run the cockroach gen haproxy command, specifying the address of any instance running a CockroachDB node:

$ cockroach gen haproxy --insecure \
--host=<address of any node in the cluster> \
--port=26257

By default, the generated configuration file is called haproxy.cfg and looks as follows, with the server addresses pre-populated correctly:

global
  maxconn 4096

defaults
    mode                tcp
    # Timeout values should be configured for your specific use.
    # See: https://cbonte.github.io/haproxy-dconv/1.8/configuration.html#4-timeout%20connect
    timeout connect     10s
    timeout client      1m
    timeout server      1m
    # TCP keep-alive on client side. Server already enables them.
    option              clitcpka

listen psql
    bind :26257
    mode tcp
    balance roundrobin
    option httpchk GET /health?ready=1
    server cockroach1 <node1 address>:26257
    server cockroach2 <node2 address>:26257
    server cockroach3 <node3 address>:26257

The file is preset with the minimal configurations needed to work with your running cluster:

Field Description
timeout connect
timeout client
timeout server
Timeout values that should be suitable for most deployments.
bind The port that HAProxy listens on. This is the port clients will connect to and thus needs to be allowed by your network configuration.

This tutorial assumes HAProxy is running on a separate machine from CockroachDB nodes. If you run HAProxy on the same machine as a node (not recommended), you'll need to change this port, as 26257 is likely already being used by the CockroachDB node.
balance The balancing algorithm. This is set to roundrobin to ensure that connections get rotated amongst nodes (connection 1 on node 1, connection 2 on node 2, etc.). Check the HAProxy Configuration Manual for details about this and other balancing algorithms.
option httpchk The HTTP endpoint that HAProxy uses to check node health. /health?ready=1 ensures that HAProxy doesn't direct traffic to nodes that are live but not ready to receive requests.
server For each node in the cluster, this field specifies the interface that the node listens on, i.e., the address passed in the --host flag on node startup.
Note:
For full details on these and other configuration settings, see the HAProxy Configuration Manual.

See Also


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