使用java api：

HColumnDescriptor cfDescriptor = new HColumnDescriptor(Bytes.toBytes("cfName"));
cfDescriptor.setTimeToLive(20); // in seconds

tableDesc.addFamily(cfDescriptor);
admin.createTable(tableDesc);

使用shell：

alter ‘tableName′, NAME => ‘cfname′, TTL => 20

使用java api修改现有表以添加ttl：

HConnection connection = HBaseConnection.createConnection("localhost", "2181");
            HBaseAdmin hBaseAdmin = new HBaseAdmin(connection);
            HTableDescriptor hTableDescriptor = new HTableDescriptor("TTLDemo".getBytes());
            HColumnDescriptor hColumnDescriptor = new HColumnDescriptor("C".getBytes());
            hColumnDescriptor.setTimeToLive(2);
            hTableDescriptor.addFamily(hColumnDescriptor);
            hBaseAdmin.modifyTable("TTLDemo", hTableDescriptor);