Configure the Apache Kafka target

Complete the procedure below to configure the Apache Kafka target and verify that you can write to the Apache Kafka database.

• Create the Apache Kafka target before you configure it. For more information, see Add a publish target.

• (Optional) Verify that OpenTLS is installed on the machine where PI Integrator for Business Analytics is installed. This step is only required if you are using TLS/SSL to connect to Apache Kafka.

1. On the Administration page, click the Targets tab. Then select the target in the Publish Targets list.

   Note: If you have already selected your target, skip to the next step.

2. Refer to the following table and enter the required information. Click the buttons as they become enabled.

   Parameter	Description
   Kafka Brokers	Comma-separated list of Kafka brokers. Specify using Host:Port, Host:Port format.
   Codec	Compression type on messages sets. The default is None. Valid choices include: gzip, Snappy.
   Use TLS/SSL	Use TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security) when connecting to Kafka brokers.
   TLS/SSL Hostname Verification	Broker TLS/SSL Hostname verification algorithm (Apache Kafka property ssl.endpoint.identification.algorithm) used. HTTPS or None (no hostname verification). The default value is None.
   Client Certificate	Full path to the client certificate (.pem file). Required only if TLS/SSL is used and a SASL mechanism is not used. Contact your Apache Kafka administrator for an OpenTLS client certificate for PI Integrator for Business Analytics.
   Client Key	Full path to the client key file (.key file). Required only if TLS/SSL is used and a SASL mechanism is not used.
   Key Password	Password to the TLS/SSL certificate key file. Required only if TLS/SSL is used and a SASL mechanism is not used.
   CA Root Certificate	Full path to the CA Root certificate used to sign the client certificate. Required only if TLS/SSL is used.
   SASL Mechanism	SASL mechanism used. The default is None. Four authentication mechanisms are supported: GSSAPI (also known as Kerberos) PLAIN, SCRAM-SHA-256, and SCRAM-SHA-512. It is a best practice to combine PLAIN, SCRAM-SHA-256, or SCRAM-SHA-512 with TLS/SSL encryption so that authentication information is always encrypted in transit.
   Username	Kafka username for SASL authentication. Not used with GSSAPI authentication.
   Password	Kafka password for SASL authentication. Not used with GSSAPI authentication.

3. Click Verify Kafka Writer.

4. Click Save Changes.

• Give users access to the Apache Kafka target. For more information, see Grant access to targets.

• If you are using TLS/SSL to connect to the Apache Kafka brokers, then you must convert the Windows certificates to OpenTLS certificates. Ask your Apache Kafka administrator if you need help converting these files.