Deploying a Three-Node HBase Cluster on Ubuntu and Inserting Sample Data

To set up a functional HBase cluster across three Ubuntu servers and insert sample data, follow this guide. The setup assumes the following IP addresses:

Master node: 192.168.1.101
RegionServer nodes: 192.168.1.102, 192.168.1.103

1. System Preparation

On all three machines, begin by updating the system and installing Java:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install openjdk-8-jdk -y

Confirm the Java installation:

java -version

2. Install HBase

On the master node (192.168.1.101), download and extract HBase:

wget https://archive.apache.org/dist/hbase/2.4.10/hbase-2.4.10-bin.tar.gz
tar -xzf hbase-2.4.10-bin.tar.gz
sudo mv hbase-2.4.10 /usr/local/hbase

Copy the HBase directory to the other two nodes:

scp -r /usr/local/hbase user@192.168.1.102:/usr/local/
scp -r /usr/local/hbase user@192.168.1.103:/usr/local/

3. Configure Environment Variables

Add the following lines to ~/.bashrc on all nodes:

export HBASE_HOME=/usr/local/hbase
export PATH=$PATH:$HBASE_HOME/bin

Reload the shell configuraton:

source ~/.bashrc

4. Set Up SSH Key-Based Authentication

On the master node, generate an SSH key pair (if not already present):

ssh-keygen -t rsa -P '' -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Distribute the public key to all nodes:

ssh-copy-id user@192.168.1.101
ssh-copy-id user@192.168.1.102
ssh-copy-id user@192.168.1.103

5. Configure HBase

Edit $HBASE_HOME/conf/hbase-site.xml on all nodes with the following content:

<configuration>
  <property>
    <name>hbase.rootdir</name>
    <value>file:///usr/local/hbase/data</value>
  </property>

  <property>
    <name>hbase.zookeeper.quorum</name>
    <value>192.168.1.101</value>
  </property>

  <property>
    <name>hbase.cluster.distributed</name>
    <value>true</value>
  </property>
</configuration>

Create or edit $HBASE_HOME/conf/regionservers on all nodes and list the RegionServer hostnames or IPs:

192.168.1.102
192.168.1.103

6. Start the Cluster

On the master node, start HBase:

$HBASE_HOME/bin/start-hbase.sh

This command starts the HMaster, ZooKeeper, and any local RegionServer. Remote RegionServers must be started manually on each node:

# On 192.168.1.102 and 192.168.1.103:
$HBASE_HOME/bin/hbase-daemon.sh start regionserver

7. Insert and Query Data

Launch the HBase shell on the master:

$HBASE_HOME/bin/hbase shell

Create a table with one column family:

create 'users', 'info'

Insert sample records:

put 'users', 'user001', 'info:name', 'Alice'
put 'users', 'user001', 'info:email', 'alice@example.com'
put 'users', 'user002', 'info:name', 'Bob'

Rertieve data:

get 'users', 'user001'
scan 'users'

8. Monitor the Cluster

Access the HBase Web UI at:

http://192.168.1.101:16010

Tags: HBase Ubuntu Apache HBase distributed database NoSQL

Posted on Sat, 06 Jun 2026 17:02:54 +0000 by psyqosis

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