Getting Started

Hydrolix Projects and Tables can continuously ingest data from one or more Kafka - based streaming sources.

Kafka source configuration is completed using the Kafka Sources API.

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The basic steps are:

1. Create a Project/Table
2. Create a Transform
3. Configure the Kafka Source and Scale.

It is assumed that the project, table and transform are all already configured. More information on how to set these up can be found here - Projects & Tables, Write Transforms.

Setting up a Kafka source through the API

To create, update, or view a table's Kafka sources through the Hydrolix API, use the /sources/kafka API endpoint. Note that you will need the IDs of your target organization, project, and table in order to address that endpoint's full path.

Adding Kafka sources to a table involves /sources/kafka API endpoint, sending it a JSON document describing the connection between your Hydrolix table and the Kafka data streams.

For example, the following JSON documents set up a connection between a pair of Kafka sources running at the domain example.com and the Hydrolix table my-project.my-table.

Example (AWS CloudFormation)

{
    "name": "my-kafka-ingest",
    "type": "pull",
    "subtype": "kafka",
    "transform": "my_transform",
    "table": "my_project.my_table",
    "settings": {
        "bootstrap_servers": [
            "kafka-1.example.com:9092",
            "kafka-2.example.com:9092"
        ],
        "topics": [ "my_topic" ]
    },
    "pool_name": "my-kafka-pool",
    "instance_type": "m5.large",
    "instance_count": "2"
}

Example (Kubernetes)

{
    "name": "my-kafka-ingest",
    "type": "pull",
    "subtype": "kafka",
    "transform": "my_transform",
    "table": "my_project.my_table",
    "settings": {
        "bootstrap_servers": [
            "kafka-1.example.com:9092",
            "kafka-2.example.com:9092"
        ],
        "topics": [ "my_topic" ]
    },
    "pool_name": "my-kafka-pool",
    "k8s_deployment":{
        "cpu": 1,
        "replicas": 1,
        "service": "kafka-peer"
    }
}

Configuration properties

The JSON document describing a Kafka-based data source requires the following properties:

The Settingsobject.

The settings property contains a JSON object that defines the Kafka servers and topics this table should receive events from.

Setting up a Kafka source through the UI

To create, view, and manage your stack's Kafka sources through its web UI, visit https://YOUR-HYDROLIX-HOST.hydrolix.live/data_sources/<project_name>/<table_name>?nav_open=true in your web browser. Click Add New Source.

Authenticating Kafka connections with TLS

If your Kafka data source requires a TLS-authenticated connection, you can update your Hydrolix cluster with TLS certificate and key information.

To do this, use the hdxctl update CLIENT_ID CLUSTER_ID command, invoking it with the its three Kafka-related options:

For example, to update a cluster with the ID hdx-example4321, with client ID hdxcli-example1234, using PEM files in your current working directory:

$ hdxctl update hdxcli-example1234 hdx-example4321 \
    --kafka-tls-cert kafka_cert.pem \
    --kafka-tls-key kafka_key.pem \
    --kafka-tls-ca kafka_ca.pem

Exporting certificates and keys from Kafka's Java keystore

By default, Kafka stores its certificate and key information into a java keystore (.jks) file. Because Hydrolix requires this information as files in PEM format, you must export this information before updating your cluster.

To do this, you must have the keytool and openssl command-line programs installed on your system. Then, complete the following steps.

Exporting your CA and certificate files

1. List all the certificates present in your keystore:

$ keytool -list -keystore client.keystore.jks

    Enter keystore password:  
    Keystore type: PKCS12
    Keystore provider: SUN

    Your keystore contains 2 entries

    caroot, May 5, 2021, trustedCertEntry, 
    Certificate fingerprint (SHA-256): A5:87:D0:E4:F6:70:4F:8E:07:2E:EE:56:73:D4:AF:88:DA:D5:8C:9F:67:71:F2:C0:7D:A9:CA:64:2F:F7:04:18
    clientcert, May 3, 2021, PrivateKeyEntry, 
    Certificate fingerprint (SHA-256): 80:A2:28:7C:D9:1B:A8:48:AB:24:76:CC:5A:19:47:29:12:CF:22:A1:8C:92:6E:E4:C0:30:0A:A0:34:73:F7:55

1. Locate the CA certificate file--caroot, in this example--and export it:

$ keytool -export -alias caroot -file caroot.crt -keystore client.keystore.jks

    Enter keystore password:  
    Certificate stored in file <caroot.crt>

1. Use openssl to transform it into PEM format:

$ openssl x509 -inform DER -in caroot.crt -out kafka_ca.pem -outform PEM

1. Follow the same steps for your TLS certificate file--clientcert, in this example:

$ keytool -export -alias clientcert -file clientcert.crt -keystore client.keystore.jks

    Enter keystore password:  
    Certificate stored in file <clientcert.crt>

$ openssl x509 -inform DER -in clientcert.crt -out kafka_cert.pem -outform PEM

Exporting your key file

Exporting your key from the Java keystore takes a couple of additional steps.

1. Use keytool to create a new PKCS12 store:

$ keytool -v -importkeystore -srckeystore client.keystore.jks \
      -srcalias clientcert -destkeystore keystore.p12 -deststoretype PKCS12

    Importing keystore client.keystore.jks to keystore.p12...
    Enter destination keystore password:  
    Re-enter new password: 
    Enter source keystore password:  
    [Storing keystore.p12]

1. Use openssl to extract the private key in PEM format, and use sed to remove extra information:

$ openssl pkcs12 -in keystore.p12 -nodes -nocerts \
            | sed -ne '/-BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-/,/-END PRIVATE KEY-/p' \
            > kafka_key.pem

    Enter Import Password:
    MAC verified OK

At this point, you should have the three PEM files you need to update your Hydrolix cluster with your Kafka TLS information.

Getting more help

If you need more help using Kafka with Hydrolix, or you'd just like to learn more about this integration, please contact Hydrolix support.