docker-library · yosifkit · Oct 1, 2018 · Sep 28, 2018
diff --git a/cassandra/content.md b/cassandra/content.md
@@ -88,49 +88,33 @@ The Cassandra Server log is available through Docker's container log:
 $ docker logs some-%%REPO%%
 ```
 
-## Environment Variables
+## Configuring Cassandra
 
-When you start the `%%REPO%%` image, you can adjust the configuration of the Cassandra instance by passing one or more environment variables on the `docker run` command line.
+The best way to provide configuration to the `%%REPO%%` image is to provide a custom `/etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml` file. There are many ways to provide this file to the container (via short `Dockerfile` with `FROM` + `COPY`, via [Docker Configs](https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/configs/), via runtime bind-mount, etc), the details of which are left as an exercise for the reader.
 
-### `CASSANDRA_LISTEN_ADDRESS`
+To use a different file name (for example, to avoid all image-provided configuration behavior), use `-Dcassandra.config=/path/to/cassandra.yaml` as an argument to the image (as in, `docker run ... %%IMAGE%% -Dcassandra.config=/path/to/cassandra.yaml`).
 
-This variable is for controlling which IP address to listen for incoming connections on. The default value is `auto`, which will set the [`listen_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__listen_address) option in `cassandra.yaml` to the IP address of the container as it starts. This default should work in most use cases.
+There are a small number of environment variables supported by the image which will modify `/etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml` in some way (but the script is modifying YAML, so is naturally fragile):
 
-### `CASSANDRA_BROADCAST_ADDRESS`
+-	`CASSANDRA_LISTEN_ADDRESS`: This variable is for controlling which IP address to listen for incoming connections on. The default value is `auto`, which will set the [`listen_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__listen_address) option in `cassandra.yaml` to the IP address of the container as it starts. This default should work in most use cases.
 
-This variable is for controlling which IP address to advertise to other nodes. The default value is the value of `CASSANDRA_LISTEN_ADDRESS`. It will set the [`broadcast_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__broadcast_address) and [`broadcast_rpc_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__broadcast_rpc_address) options in `cassandra.yaml`.
+-	`CASSANDRA_BROADCAST_ADDRESS`: This variable is for controlling which IP address to advertise to other nodes. The default value is the value of `CASSANDRA_LISTEN_ADDRESS`. It will set the [`broadcast_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__broadcast_address) and [`broadcast_rpc_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__broadcast_rpc_address) options in `cassandra.yaml`.
 
-### `CASSANDRA_RPC_ADDRESS`
+-	`CASSANDRA_RPC_ADDRESS`: This variable is for controlling which address to bind the thrift rpc server to. If you do not specify an address, the wildcard address (`0.0.0.0`) will be used. It will set the [`rpc_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__rpc_address) option in `cassandra.yaml`.
 
-This variable is for controlling which address to bind the thrift rpc server to. If you do not specify an address, the wildcard address (`0.0.0.0`) will be used. It will set the [`rpc_address`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__rpc_address) option in `cassandra.yaml`.
+-	`CASSANDRA_START_RPC`: This variable is for controlling if the thrift rpc server is started. It will set the [`start_rpc`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__start_rpc) option in `cassandra.yaml`.
 
-### `CASSANDRA_START_RPC`
+-	`CASSANDRA_SEEDS`: This variable is the comma-separated list of IP addresses used by gossip for bootstrapping new nodes joining a cluster. It will set the `seeds` value of the [`seed_provider`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__seed_provider) option in `cassandra.yaml`. The `CASSANDRA_BROADCAST_ADDRESS` will be added the the seeds passed in so that the sever will talk to itself as well.
 
-This variable is for controlling if the thrift rpc server is started. It will set the [`start_rpc`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__start_rpc) option in `cassandra.yaml`.
+-	`CASSANDRA_CLUSTER_NAME`: This variable sets the name of the cluster and must be the same for all nodes in the cluster. It will set the [`cluster_name`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__cluster_name) option of `cassandra.yaml`.
 
-### `CASSANDRA_SEEDS`
+-	`CASSANDRA_NUM_TOKENS`: This variable sets number of tokens for this node. It will set the [`num_tokens`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__num_tokens) option of `cassandra.yaml`.
 
-This variable is the comma-separated list of IP addresses used by gossip for bootstrapping new nodes joining a cluster. It will set the `seeds` value of the [`seed_provider`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__seed_provider) option in `cassandra.yaml`. The `CASSANDRA_BROADCAST_ADDRESS` will be added the the seeds passed in so that the sever will talk to itself as well.
+-	`CASSANDRA_DC`: This variable sets the datacenter name of this node. It will set the [`dc`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) option of `cassandra-rackdc.properties`. You must set `CASSANDRA_ENDPOINT_SNITCH` to use the ["GossipingPropertyFileSnitch"](https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) in order for Cassandra to apply `cassandra-rackdc.properties`, otherwise this variable will have no effect.
 
-### `CASSANDRA_CLUSTER_NAME`
+-	`CASSANDRA_RACK`: This variable sets the rack name of this node. It will set the [`rack`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) option of `cassandra-rackdc.properties`. You must set `CASSANDRA_ENDPOINT_SNITCH` to use the ["GossipingPropertyFileSnitch"](https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) in order for Cassandra to apply `cassandra-rackdc.properties`, otherwise this variable will have no effect.
 
-This variable sets the name of the cluster and must be the same for all nodes in the cluster. It will set the [`cluster_name`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__cluster_name) option of `cassandra.yaml`.
-
-### `CASSANDRA_NUM_TOKENS`
-
-This variable sets number of tokens for this node. It will set the [`num_tokens`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__num_tokens) option of `cassandra.yaml`.
-
-### `CASSANDRA_DC`
-
-This variable sets the datacenter name of this node. It will set the [`dc`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) option of `cassandra-rackdc.properties`. You must set `CASSANDRA_ENDPOINT_SNITCH` to use the ["GossipingPropertyFileSnitch"](https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) in order for Cassandra to apply `cassandra-rackdc.properties`, otherwise this variable will have no effect.
-
-### `CASSANDRA_RACK`
-
-This variable sets the rack name of this node. It will set the [`rack`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) option of `cassandra-rackdc.properties`. You must set `CASSANDRA_ENDPOINT_SNITCH` to use the ["GossipingPropertyFileSnitch"](https://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/architecture/archsnitchGossipPF.html) in order for Cassandra to apply `cassandra-rackdc.properties`, otherwise this variable will have no effect.
-
-### `CASSANDRA_ENDPOINT_SNITCH`
-
-This variable sets the snitch implementation this node will use. It will set the [`endpoint_snitch`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__endpoint_snitch) option of `cassandra.yml`.
+-	`CASSANDRA_ENDPOINT_SNITCH`: This variable sets the snitch implementation this node will use. It will set the [`endpoint_snitch`](http://docs.datastax.com/en/cassandra/3.0/cassandra/configuration/configCassandra_yaml.html?scroll=configCassandra_yaml__endpoint_snitch) option of `cassandra.yml`.
 
 # Caveats