diff --git a/contrib/redhat/cassandra b/contrib/redhat/cassandra
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ffc7493867
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/redhat/cassandra
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# /etc/init.d/cassandra
+#
+# Startup script for Cassandra
+# 
+# chkconfig: 2345 20 80
+# description: Starts and stops Cassandra
+
+. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
+
+export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0/
+export CASSANDRA_HOME=/usr/share/cassandra/
+export CASSANDRA_INCLUDE=/usr/share/cassandra/cassandra.in.sh
+export CASSANDRA_CONF=/etc/cassandra/
+export CASSANDRA_OWNR=cassandra
+log_file=/var/log/cassandra/cassandra.log
+pid_file=/var/run/cassandra/cassandra.pid
+CASSANDRA_PROG=/usr/sbin/cassandra
+
+
+case "$1" in
+    start)
+        # Cassandra startup
+        echo -n "Starting Cassandra: "
+        su $CASSANDRA_OWNR -c "$CASSANDRA_PROG -p $pid_file" > $log_file 2>&1
+        echo "OK"
+        ;;
+    stop)
+        # Cassandra shutdown
+        echo -n "Shutdown Cassandra: "
+        su $CASSANDRA_OWNR -c "kill `cat $pid_file`"
+        echo "OK"
+        ;;
+    reload|restart)
+        $0 stop
+        $0 start
+        ;;
+    status)
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Usage: `basename $0` start|stop|restart|reload"
+        exit 1
+esac
+
+exit 0
+