ClickHouse server uses [ZooKeeper](https://zookeeper.apache.org/) coordination system for data [replication](../engines/table-engines/mergetree-family/replication.md) and [distributed DDL](../sql-reference/distributed-ddl.md) queries execution. ClickHouse Keeper is an alternative coordination system compatible with ZooKeeper.
ZooKeeper is one of the first well-known open-source coordination systems. It's implemented in Java, has quite a simple and powerful data model. ZooKeeper's coordination algorithm called ZAB (ZooKeeper Atomic Broadcast) doesn't provide linearizability guarantees for reads, because each ZooKeeper node serves reads locally. Unlike ZooKeeper ClickHouse Keeper is written in C++ and uses [RAFT algorithm](https://raft.github.io/) [implementation](https://github.com/eBay/NuRaft). This algorithm allows to have linearizability for reads and writes, has several open-source implementations in different languages.
By default, ClickHouse Keeper provides the same guarantees as ZooKeeper (linearizable writes, non-linearizable reads). It has a compatible client-server protocol, so any standard ZooKeeper client can be used to interact with ClickHouse Keeper. Snapshots and logs have an incompatible format with ZooKeeper, but `clickhouse-keeper-converter` tool allows to convert ZooKeeper data to ClickHouse Keeper snapshot. Interserver protocol in ClickHouse Keeper is also incompatible with ZooKeeper so mixed ZooKeeper / ClickHouse Keeper cluster is impossible.
ClickHouse Keeper can be used as a standalone replacement for ZooKeeper or as an internal part of the ClickHouse server, but in both cases configuration is almost the same `.xml` file. The main ClickHouse Keeper configuration tag is `<keeper_server>`. Keeper configuration has the following parameters:
-`election_timeout_lower_bound_ms` — If the follower didn't receive heartbeats from the leader in this interval, then it can initiate leader election (default: 1000).
-`election_timeout_upper_bound_ms` — If the follower didn't receive heartbeats from the leader in this interval, then it must initiate leader election (default: 2000).
Quorum configuration is located in `<keeper_server>.<raft_configuration>` section and contain servers description.
The only parameter for the whole quorum is `secure`, which enables encrypted connection for communication between quorum participants. The parameter can be set `true` if SSL connection is required for internal communication between nodes, or left unspecified otherwise.
Examples of configuration for quorum with three nodes can be found in [integration tests](https://github.com/ClickHouse/ClickHouse/tree/master/tests/integration) with `test_keeper_` prefix. Example configuration for server #1:
ClickHouse Keeper is bundled into the ClickHouse server package, just add configuration of `<keeper_server>` and start ClickHouse server as always. If you want to run standalone ClickHouse Keeper you can start it in a similar way with:
ClickHouse Keeper also provides 4lw commands which are almost the same with Zookeeper. Each command is composed of four letters such as `mntr`, `stat` etc. There are some more interesting commands: `stat` gives some general information about the server and connected clients, while `srvr` and `cons` give extended details on server and connections respectively.
The 4lw commands has a white list configuration `four_letter_word_white_list` which has default value "conf,cons,crst,envi,ruok,srst,srvr,stat,wchc,wchs,dirs,mntr,isro".
- ruok : Tests if server is running in a non-error state. The server will respond with imok if it is running. Otherwise it will not respond at all. A response of "imok" does not necessarily indicate that the server has joined the quorum, just that the server process is active and bound to the specified client port. Use "stat" for details on state wrt quorum and client connection information.
```
imok
```
- mntr : Outputs a list of variables that could be used for monitoring the health of the cluster.
- conf : Print details about serving configuration.
```
server_id=1
tcp_port=2181
four_letter_word_white_list=*
log_storage_path=./coordination/logs
snapshot_storage_path=./coordination/snapshots
max_requests_batch_size=100
session_timeout_ms=30000
operation_timeout_ms=10000
dead_session_check_period_ms=500
heart_beat_interval_ms=500
election_timeout_lower_bound_ms=1000
election_timeout_upper_bound_ms=2000
reserved_log_items=1000000000000000
snapshot_distance=10000
auto_forwarding=true
shutdown_timeout=5000
startup_timeout=240000
raft_logs_level=information
snapshots_to_keep=3
rotate_log_storage_interval=100000
stale_log_gap=10000
fresh_log_gap=200
max_requests_batch_size=100
quorum_reads=false
force_sync=false
compress_logs=true
compress_snapshots_with_zstd_format=true
configuration_change_tries_count=20
```
- cons : List full connection/session details for all clients connected to this server. Includes information on numbers of packets received/sent, session id, operation latencies, last operation performed, etc...
- dirs : Shows the total size of snapshot and log files in bytes
```
snapshot_dir_size: 0
log_dir_size: 3875
```
- isro: Tests if server is running in read-only mode. The server will respond with "ro" if in read-only mode or "rw" if not in read-only mode.
```
rw
```
- wchs : Lists brief information on watches for the server.
```
1 connections watching 1 paths
Total watches:1
```
- wchc : Lists detailed information on watches for the server, by session. This outputs a list of sessions(connections) with associated watches (paths). Note, depending on the number of watches this operation may be expensive (ie impact server performance), use it carefully.
- wchp : Lists detailed information on watches for the server, by path. This outputs a list of paths (znodes) with associated sessions. Note, depending on the number of watches this operation may be expensive (ie impact server performance), use it carefully.
Seamlessly migration from ZooKeeper to ClickHouse Keeper is impossible you have to stop your ZooKeeper cluster, convert data and start ClickHouse Keeper. `clickhouse-keeper-converter` tool allows converting ZooKeeper logs and snapshots to ClickHouse Keeper snapshot. It works only with ZooKeeper > 3.4. Steps for migration:
4. Copy snapshot to ClickHouse server nodes with a configured `keeper` or start ClickHouse Keeper instead of ZooKeeper. The snapshot must persist on all nodes, otherwise, empty nodes can be faster and one of them can become a leader.
