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nodetool getmaxhintwindow

Displays the maximum hint window in milliseconds.

Synopsis

nodetool [connection_options] getmaxhintwindow

Description

nodetool getmaxhintwindow displays the current maximum hint window configuration. The hint window defines how long Cassandra will store hints for an unavailable node. If a node is down longer than this window, hints are not stored and repair is needed to restore consistency.

Examples

Basic Usage

nodetool getmaxhintwindow

Sample Output

Current max hint window: 10800000 ms

Understanding the Hint Window

Default Value

# cassandra.yaml
max_hint_window_in_ms: 10800000  # 3 hours (default)

How It Works

Node Down Duration Hint Behavior
< hint window Hints stored and delivered
> hint window No hints stored, needs repair

Use Cases

Verify Configuration

# Check current hint window
nodetool getmaxhintwindow

# Convert to hours: 10800000ms = 3 hours

Capacity Planning

Understanding hint window helps plan for: - Maximum outage duration covered by hints - When repair becomes necessary - Hint storage disk requirements

Command Relationship
setmaxhintwindow Set hint window
listpendinghints View pending hints
statushandoff Check handoff status