Kafka¶

Kafka allows you to distribute the load between nodes receiving data and encrypts communication.

Architecture example:

../_images/image124.PNG

The Kafka installation¶

To install the Kafka, follow the steps below:

Java installation

yum install java-11-openjdk-headless.x86_64

Create users for Kafka

useradd kafka -m -d /opt/kafka -s /sbin/nologin

Download the installation package::

https://apache.mirrors.tworzy.net/kafka/2.7.0/kafka_2.13-2.7.0.tgz

tar -xzvf kafka_2.13-2.7.0.tgz -C /opt/
mv /opt/kafka_2.13-2.7.0 /opt/kafka

Set the necessary permissions
```
chown -R kafka:kafka /opt/kafka
```

Edit configs and set the data and log directory:

vim  /opt/kafka/config/server.properties

log.dirs=/tmp/kafka-logs

Set the necessary firewall rules:

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=2181/tcp
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=2888/tcp
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3888/tcp
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9092/tcp
firewall-cmd --reload

Create service files:

vim /usr/lib/systemd/system/zookeeper.service

[Unit]
Requires=network.target remote-fs.target
After=network.target remote-fs.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=kafka
ExecStart=/opt/kafka/bin/zookeeper-server-start.sh /opt/kafka/config/zookeeper.properties
ExecStop=/opt/kafka/bin/zookeeper-server-stop.sh
Restart=on-abnormal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

vim create /usr/lib/systemd/system/kafka.service

[Unit]
Requires=zookeeper.service
After=zookeeper.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=kafka
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '/opt/kafka/bin/kafka-server-start.sh /opt/kafka/config/server.properties > /opt/kafka/kafka.log 2>&1'
ExecStop=/opt/kafka/bin/kafka-server-stop.sh
Restart=on-abnormal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload systemctl daemon and the Kafka services:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable zookeeper kafka
systemctl start zookeeper kafka

To test add the Kafka topic:

/opt/kafka/bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --zookeeper localhost:2181 --   replication-factor 1 --partitions 1 --topic test

List existing topics:

 /opt/kafka/bin/kafka-topics.sh --zookeeper localhost:2181 --list

Generate test messages

/opt/kafka/bin/kafka-console-producer.sh --topic test --bootstrap-server localhost:9092
   something
   somtehing more

Read test messages

/opt/kafka/bin/kafka-console-consumer.sh --topic test --from-beginning --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

Enabling encryption in Kafka¶

Generate SSL key and certificate for each Kafka broker

keytool -keystore server.keystore.jks -alias localhost -validity {validity} -genkey -keyalg RSA

Configuring Host Name In Certificates

keytool -keystore server.keystore.jks -alias localhost -validity {validity} -genkey -keyalg RSA -ext SAN=DNS:{FQDN}

Verify content of the generated certificate:

keytool -list -v -keystore server.keystore.jks

Creating your own CA

openssl req -new -x509 -keyout ca-key -out ca-cert -days 365
keytool -keystore client.truststore.jks -alias CARoot -import -file ca-cert
keytool -keystore server.truststore.jks -alias CARoot -import -file ca-cert

Signing the certificate

keytool -keystore server.keystore.jks -alias localhost -certreq -file cert-file
openssl x509 -req -CA ca-cert -CAkey ca-key -in cert-file -out cert-signed -days {validity} -CAcreateserial -passin pass:{ca-password}

Import both the certificate of the CA and the signed certificate into the keystore

keytool -keystore server.keystore.jks -alias CARoot -import -file ca-cert
keytool -keystore server.keystore.jks -alias localhost -import -file cert-signed

If you have trusted certificates, you must import them into the JKS keystore as follows:

Create a keystore:

keytool -keystore client.keystore.jks -alias localhost -validity 365 -keyalg RSA -genkey

Combine the certificate and key file into a certificate in p12 format:

openssl pkcs12 -export -in cert_name.crt -inkey key_name.key -out cert_name.p12 -name localhost -CAfile ca.crt -caname root

Import the CA certificate into a truststore:

keytool -keystore client.truststore.jks -alias CARoot -import -file ca-cert

Import the CA certificate into a keystore:

keytool -keystore client.keystore.jks -alias CARoot -import -file ca-cert

Import the p12 certificate into a keystore:

keytool -importkeystore -deststorepass MY-KEYSTORE-PASS -destkeystore client.keystore.jks -srckeystore cert_name.p12 -srcstoretype PKCS12

Configuring Kafka Brokers¶

In /etc/kafka/server.properties file set the following options:

listeners=PLAINTEXT://host.name:port,SSL://host.name:port

ssl.keystore.location=/var/private/ssl/server.keystore.jks
ssl.keystore.password=test1234
ssl.key.password=test1234
ssl.truststore.location=/var/private/ssl/server.truststore.jks
ssl.truststore.password=test1234

and restart the Kafka service

systemctl restart kafka

Configuring Kafka Clients¶

Logstash

Configure the output section in Logstash based on the following example:

output {
  kafka {
    bootstrap_servers => "host.name:port"
    security_protocol => "SSL"
    ssl_truststore_type => "JKS"
    ssl_truststore_location => "/var/private/ssl/client.truststore.jks"
    ssl_truststore_password => "test1234"
    client_id => "host.name"
    topic_id => "Topic-1"
    codec => json
  }
}

Configure the input section in Logstash based on the following example:

input {
  kafka {
    bootstrap_servers => "host.name:port"
    security_protocol => "SSL"
    ssl_truststore_type => "JKS"
    ssl_truststore_location => "/var/private/ssl/client.truststore.jks"
    ssl_truststore_password => "test1234"
    consumer_threads => 4
    topics => [ "Topic-1" ]
    codec => json
    tags => ["kafka"]
   }
}

Log retention for Kafka topic¶

The Kafka durably persists all published records—whether or not they have been consumed—using a configurable retention period. For example, if the retention policy is set to two days, then for the two days after a record is published, it is available for consumption, after which it will be discarded to free up space. Kafka’s performance is effectively constant with respect to data size so storing data for a long time is not a problem.