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Oracle Database Source (JDBC) Connector for Confluent Cloud

Note

This is a Quick Start for the managed cloud connector. If you are installing the connector locally for Confluent Platform, see JDBC Connector (Source and Sink) for Confluent Platform.

The Kafka Connect Oracle Database Source connector for Confluent Cloud can obtain a snapshot of the existing data in an Oracle database and then monitor and record all subsequent row-level changes to that data. The connector supports Avro, JSON Schema, Protobuf, or JSON (schemaless) output data formats. All of the events for each table are recorded in a separate Apache Kafka® topic. The events can then be easily consumed by applications and services. Note that deleted records are not captured.

Features

The Oracle Database Source connector provides the following features:

  • Topics created automatically: The connector automatically creates Kafka topics using the naming convention: <topic.prefix><tableName>. The tables are created with the properties: topic.creation.default.partitions=1 and topic.creation.default.replication.factor=3.

  • Insert modes:

    • timestamp mode is enabled when only a timestamp column is specified when you enter database details.

    • timestamp+incrementing mode is enabled when both a timestamp column and incrementing column are specified when you enter database details.

      Important

      A timestamp column must not be nullable.

  • Database authentication: Uses password authentication.

  • Data formats: The connector supports Avro, JSON Schema, Protobuf, or JSON (schemaless) output data. Schema Registry must be enabled to use a Schema Registry-based format (for example, Avro, JSON_SR (JSON Schema), or Protobuf). See Schema Registry Enabled Environments for additional information.

  • Select configuration properties:

    • db.timezone
    • poll.interval.ms
    • batch.max.rows
    • timestamp.delay.interval.ms
    • topic.prefix
    • schema.pattern

For more information and examples to use with the Confluent Cloud API for Connect, see the Confluent Cloud API for Connect section.

Limitations

Be sure to review the following information.

Note

Most JSON data that uses precise decimal data represents it as a decimal number with a precision of 38 (e.g., NUMBER(38,0). This is too large for INT64 or FLOAT64. INTEGER is an alias for NUMBER(38) and has the same issue. For this reason, this source connector uses the Connect DECIMAL type. Confluent has an article that goes into greater detail about this subject. See Kafka Connect Deep Dive – JDBC Source connector.

Quick Start

Use this quick start to get up and running with the Confluent Cloud Oracle Database Source connector. The quick start provides the basics of selecting the connector and configuring it to obtain a snapshot of the existing data in an Oracle database and then monitoring and recording all subsequent row-level changes.

Prerequisites
  • Authorized access to a Confluent Cloud cluster on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure (Azure), or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
  • The Confluent CLI installed and configured for the cluster. See Install the Confluent CLI.
  • The connector automatically creates Kafka topics using the naming convention: <prefix>.<table-name>. The tables are created with the properties: topic.creation.default.partitions=1 and topic.creation.default.replication.factor=3. If you want to create topics with specific settings, please create the topics before running this connector.
  • The Oracle Database System must be configured with a Pluggable Database (PDB) service name. See Configuring a Multitenant Oracle Database System for instructions for setting this up. This is used for the Database name when configuring the connection to the database.
  • The Oracle Database version must be 11.2.0.4 or later.
  • Schema Registry must be enabled to use a Schema Registry-based format (for example, Avro, JSON_SR (JSON Schema), or Protobuf). See Schema Registry Enabled Environments for additional information.
  • Make sure your connector can reach your service. Consider the following before running the connector:
    • Depending on the service environment, certain network access limitations may exist. See Manage Networking for Confluent Cloud Connectors for details.
    • To use static egress IPs, see Static Egress IP Addresses for Confluent Cloud Connectors. For additional managed connector networking details, see Networking, DNS, and service endpoints.
    • Do not include jdbc:xxxx:// in the connection hostname property. An example of a connection hostname property is database.example.endpoint.com. For example, mydatabase.abc123ecs2.us-west.rds.amazonaws.com.
    • Clients from Azure Virtual Networks are not allowed to access the server by default. Please ensure your Azure Virtual Network is correctly configured and that Allow access to Azure Services is enabled.
    • See your specific cloud platform documentation for how to configure security rules for your VPC.
  • Kafka cluster credentials. The following lists the different ways you can provide credentials.
    • Enter an existing service account resource ID.
    • Create a Confluent Cloud service account for the connector. Make sure to review the ACL entries required in the service account documentation. Some connectors have specific ACL requirements.
    • Create a Confluent Cloud API key and secret. To create a key and secret, you can use confluent api-key create or you can autogenerate the API key and secret directly in the Cloud Console when setting up the connector.

Using the Confluent Cloud Console

Step 1: Launch your Confluent Cloud cluster.

See the Quick Start for Confluent Cloud for installation instructions.

Step 2: Add a connector.

In the left navigation menu, click Connectors. If you already have connectors in your cluster, click + Add connector.

Step 3: Select your connector.

Click the Oracle Database Source connector card.

Oracle Database Source Connector Card

Step 4: Enter the connector details.

Note

  • Make sure you have all your prerequisites completed.
  • An asterisk ( * ) designates a required entry.

At the Oracle Database Source Connector screen, complete the following:

In the Topic prefix field, define a topic prefix your connector will use to publish to Kafka topics. The connector will Kafka topics using the following naming convention: <topic.prefix><tableName>.

Step 5: Check the Kafka topic.

After the connector is running, verify that messages are populating your Kafka topic.

For more information and examples to use with the Confluent Cloud API for Connect, see the Confluent Cloud API for Connect section.

Using the Confluent CLI

Complete the following steps to set up and run the connector using the Confluent CLI.

Note

Make sure you have all your prerequisites completed.

Step 1: List the available connectors.

Enter the following command to list available connectors:

confluent connect plugin list

Step 2: List the connector configuration properties.

Enter the following command to show the connector configuration properties:

confluent connect plugin describe <connector-catalog-name>

The command output shows the required and optional configuration properties.

Step 3: Create the connector configuration file.

Create a JSON file that contains the connector configuration properties. The following example shows the required connector properties.

{
    "name" : "OracleDatabaseSource_0",
    "connector.class": "OracleDatabaseSource",
    "kafka.auth.mode": "KAFKA_API_KEY",
    "kafka.api.key": "<my-kafka-api-key>",
    "kafka.api.secret" : "<my-kafka-api-secret>",
    "topic.prefix" : "oracle_",
    "connection.host" : "<my-database-endpoint>",
    "connection.port" : "1521",
    "connection.user" : "<database-username>",
    "connection.password": "<database-password>",
    "db.name": "db078_pdb1.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com",
    "table.whitelist": "PASSENGERS",
    "timestamp.column.name": "created_at",
    "output.data.format": "JSON",
    "db.timezone": "UCT",
    "tasks.max" : "1"
}

Note the following property definitions:

  • "name": Sets a name for your new connector.
  • "connector.class": Identifies the connector plugin name.

  • "kafka.auth.mode": Identifies the connector authentication mode you want to use. There are two options: SERVICE_ACCOUNT or KAFKA_API_KEY (the default). To use an API key and secret, specify the configuration properties kafka.api.key and kafka.api.secret, as shown in the example configuration (above). To use a service account, specify the Resource ID in the property kafka.service.account.id=<service-account-resource-ID>. To list the available service account resource IDs, use the following command:

    confluent iam service-account list

    For example:

    confluent iam service-account list

   Id     | Resource ID |       Name        |    Description
+---------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------
   123456 | sa-l1r23m   | sa-1              | Service account 1
   789101 | sa-l4d56p   | sa-2              | Service account 2

  • "topic.prefix": Enter a topic prefix. The connector automatically creates Kafka topics using the naming convention: <prefix>.<table-name>. The tables are created with the properties: topic.creation.default.partitions=1 and topic.creation.default.replication.factor=3. If you want to create topics with specific settings, please create the topics before running this connector.

  • "output.data.format": Sets the output Kafka record value format (data coming from the connector). Valid entries are AVRO, JSON_SR, PROTOBUF, or JSON. You must have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if using a schema-based message format (for example, Avro, JSON_SR (JSON Schema), or Protobuf).

  • "db.timezone": Identifies the database timezone. This can be any valid database timezone. The default is UTC. For more information, see this list of database timezones.

Single Message Transforms: See the Single Message Transforms (SMT) documentation for details about adding SMTs using the CLI.

See Configuration Properties for all properties and definitions.

Step 4: Load the properties file and create the connector.

Enter the following command to load the configuration and start the connector:

confluent connect create --config <file-name>.json

For example:

confluent connect create --config oracle-source.json

Example output:

Created connector OracleDatabaseSource_0 lcc-ix4dl

Step 5: Check the connector status.

Enter the following command to check the connector status:

confluent connect list

Example output:

ID          |            Name         | Status  |  Type
+-----------+-------------------------+---------+-------+
lcc-ix4dl   | OracleDatabaseSource_0  | RUNNING | source

Step 6: Check the Kafka topic.

After the connector is running, verify that messages are populating your Kafka topic.

For more information and examples to use with the Confluent Cloud API for Connect, see the Confluent Cloud API for Connect section.

Configuring a Multitenant Oracle Database System

Multitenancy is a standard feature for Oracle database systems, beginning with Oracle Database version 12c. Multitenancy provides a Container Database (CDB) that houses the system information and Pluggable Databases (PDBs) that house your application data and tables.

The following example OCI DB Systems screen shows the environment configuration used in this procedure.

Oracle Cloud example showing the Oracle Database configuration

Use the following steps to configure an Oracle multitenant database system in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Once configured, you can use the Oracle Database Source (JDBC) Connector for Confluent Cloud to connect to the database and obtain a snapshot of the existing data in the database and then monitor and record all subsequent row-level changes to that data.

Prerequisites

Step 1: SSH into the database VM

Open a Secure Shell (SSH) terminal session on the database VM and switch to the Oracle user. Note that you pass the private key for connecting to the VM instance.

ssh opc@<public-ip-address> -i </path/to/private-key>

For example:

ssh opc@192.136.114.86 -i ~/.ssh/oracle_id_rsa

Once you are on the VM, enter the following commands to switch to the Oracle user.

sudo su

su - oracle

Example output:

[opc@host ~]$ sudo su
[root@host opc]# su - oracle
Last login: Wed Jul 29 20:00:03 UTC 2020
[oracle@host ~]$

Step 2: Get the Pluggable Database (PDB) service name

Get the PDB service name by checking the listener status. Enter the following command on the VM as the Oracle user:

lsnrctl status LISTENER

For example:

[oracle@host ~]$ lsnrctl status LISTENER

LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 19.0.0.0.0 - Production on 29-JUL-2020 21:41:52

Copyright (c) 1991, 2019, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=host.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)(PORT=1521)))
STATUS of the LISTENER
------------------------
Alias                     LISTENER
Version                   TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 19.0.0.0.0 - Production
Start Date                29-JUL-2020 17:39:05
Uptime                    0 days 4 hr. 2 min. 47 sec
Trace Level               off
Security                  ON: Local OS Authentication
SNMP                      OFF
Listener Parameter File   /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/listener.ora
Listener Log File         /u01/app/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/host/listener/alert/log.xml
Listening Endpoints Summary...
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=host.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)(PORT=1521)))
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=EXTPROC1521)))
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcps)(HOST=host.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)(PORT=5500))(Security=(my_wallet_directory=/u01/app/oracle/admin/DB0729_iad1qn/xdb_wallet))(Presentation=HTTP)(Session=RAW))
Services Summary...
Service "DB0729XDB.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "DB0729", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "DB0729_iad1qn.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "DB0729", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "a33f59386e740c51e053c701f40af1dd.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "DB0729", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "db0729_pdb1.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "DB0729", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
The command completed successfully

In the example output above, the PDB service name you need is shown below:

(HOST=host.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)(PORT=1521)

Step 3: Create the PDB service name

Complete the following steps on the VM to create a new tnsnames.ora PDB service name entry. The new entry is used when setting up the database connection for the Oracle Database Source (JDBC) Connector for Confluent Cloud. The entry allows the connector to establish a connection to the Oracle database.

  1. Exit the Oracle user account.

    exit

  2. Change to the root directory.

    cd /

  3. Find the tnsnames.ora entries.

    find . -name tnsnames.ora

    For example:

    [oracle@host ~]$ exit
logout
[root@host opc]# cd /
[root@host /]# find . -name tnsnames.ora
./u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/samples/tnsnames.ora
./u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/tnsnames.ora

  4. Change to the network/admin directory.

    cd /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/network/admin

  5. Edit the tnsnames.ora file and add the PDB service name from the listener status output. The additional PDB service name block is DB0729_PDB1 in the example.

    vi tnsnames.ora

    For example:

    DB0729_IAD1QN =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS_LIST =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = host.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)(PORT = 1521))
    )
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVICE_NAME = DB0729_iad1qn.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)
    )
  )

DB0729_PDB1 =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS_LIST =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = host.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)(PORT = 1521))
    )
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVICE_NAME = DB0729_pdb1.subnet.vcn.oraclevcn.com)
    )
  )

Step 4: Launch the connector

Complete the steps in Oracle Database Source (JDBC) Connector for Confluent Cloud. When you get to the section where you need to add the database connection details, enter the PDB service name you added in the previous step. For example:

Connection setup showing PDB service name

Configuration Properties

Use the following configuration properties with this connector.

Note

These are properties for the managed cloud connector. If you are installing the connector locally for Confluent Platform, see JDBC Connector (Source and Sink) for Confluent Platform.

How should we connect to your data?

name

Sets a name for your connector.

  • Type: string
  • Valid Values: A string at most 64 characters long
  • Importance: high

Kafka Cluster credentials

kafka.auth.mode

Kafka Authentication mode. It can be one of KAFKA_API_KEY or SERVICE_ACCOUNT. It defaults to KAFKA_API_KEY mode.

  • Type: string
  • Default: KAFKA_API_KEY
  • Valid Values: KAFKA_API_KEY, SERVICE_ACCOUNT
  • Importance: high
kafka.api.key
  • Type: password
  • Importance: high
kafka.service.account.id

The Service Account that will be used to generate the API keys to communicate with Kafka Cluster.

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high
kafka.api.secret
  • Type: password
  • Importance: high

How do you want to prefix table names?

topic.prefix

Prefix to prepend to table names to generate the name of the Apache Kafka® topic to publish data to.

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high

How should we connect to your database?

connection.host

Depending on the service environment, certain network access limitations may exist. Make sure the connector can reach your service. Do not include jdbc:xxxx:// in the connection hostname property (e.g. database-1.abc234ec2.us-west.rds.amazonaws.com).

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high
connection.port

JDBC connection port.

  • Type: int
  • Valid Values: [0,…,65535]
  • Importance: high
connection.user

JDBC connection user.

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high
connection.password

JDBC connection password.

  • Type: password
  • Importance: high
db.name

JDBC database name.

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high
ssl.mode

What SSL mode should we use to connect to your database. disabled disables SSL entirely. verify-ca uses SSL for encryption and performs authentication of the server CA. verify-ca option requires a Java truststore containing the server CA and the truststore password to be provided.

  • Type: string
  • Default: disabled
  • Importance: high
ssl.truststorefile

The trust store containing server CA certificate. Only required if using verify-ca or verify-full ssl mode.

  • Type: password
  • Default: [hidden]
  • Importance: low
ssl.truststorepassword

The trust store password containing server CA certificate. Only required if using verify-ca or verify-full ssl mode.

  • Type: password
  • Default: [hidden]
  • Importance: low
ssl.server.cert.dn

Use this paramter to specify the distinguished name (DN) of the database server. Only required if using verify-full ssl mode.

  • Type: string
  • Importance: low

Database details

table.whitelist

List of tables to include in copying. Use a comma-separated list to specify multiple tables (for example: “User, Address, Email”).

  • Type: list
  • Importance: medium
timestamp.column.name

Comma separated list of one or more timestamp columns to detect new or modified rows using the COALESCE SQL function. Rows whose first non-null timestamp value is greater than the largest previous timestamp value seen will be discovered with each poll. At least one column should not be nullable.

  • Type: list
  • Importance: medium
incrementing.column.name

The name of the strictly incrementing column to use to detect new rows. Any empty value indicates the column should be autodetected by looking for an auto-incrementing column. This column may not be nullable.

  • Type: string
  • Default: “”
  • Importance: medium
table.types

By default, the JDBC connector will only detect tables with type TABLE from the source Database. This config allows a command separated list of table types to extract.

  • Type: list
  • Default: TABLE
  • Importance: medium
schema.pattern

Schema pattern to fetch table metadata from the database.

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high
db.timezone

Name of the JDBC timezone used in the connector when querying with time-based criteria. Defaults to UTC.

  • Type: string
  • Default: UTC
  • Importance: medium
numeric.mapping

Map NUMERIC values by precision and optionally scale to integral or decimal types. Use none if all NUMERIC columns are to be represented by Connect’s DECIMAL logical type. Use best_fit if NUMERIC columns should be cast to Connect’s INT8, INT16, INT32, INT64, or FLOAT64 based upon the column’s precision and scale. Use best_fit_eager_double if, in addition to the properties of best_fit described above, it is desirable to always cast NUMERIC columns with scale to Connect FLOAT64 type, despite potential of loss in accuracy. Use precision_only to map NUMERIC columns based only on the column’s precision assuming that column’s scale is 0. The none option is the default, but may lead to serialization issues with Avro since Connect’s DECIMAL type is mapped to its binary representation, and best_fit will often be preferred since it maps to the most appropriate primitive type.

  • Type: string
  • Default: none
  • Importance: low
timestamp.granularity

Define the granularity of the Timestamp column. CONNECT_LOGICAL (default): represents timestamp values using Kafka Connect built-in representations. NANOS_LONG: represents timestamp values as nanos since epoch. NANOS_STRING: represents timestamp values as nanos since epoch in string. NANOS_ISO_DATETIME_STRING: uses iso format

  • Type: string
  • Default: CONNECT_LOGICAL
  • Importance: low

Mode

mode

The mode for updating a table each time it is polled. BULK: perform a bulk load of the entire table each time it is polled. TIMESTAMP: use a timestamp (or timestamp-like) column to detect new and modified rows. This assumes the column is updated with each write, and that values are monotonically incrementing, but not necessarily unique. INCREMENTING: use a strictly incrementing column on each table to detect only new rows. Note that this will not detect modifications or deletions of existing rows. TIMESTAMP AND INCREMENTING: use two columns, a timestamp column that detects new and modified rows and a strictly incrementing column which provides a globally unique ID for updates so each row can be assigned a unique stream offset.

  • Type: string
  • Default: “”
  • Importance: medium
quote.sql.identifiers

When to quote table names, column names, and other identifiers in SQL statements. For backward compatibility, the default value is ALWAYS.

  • Type: string
  • Default: ALWAYS
  • Valid Values: ALWAYS, NEVER
  • Importance: medium
transaction.isolation.mode

Isolation level determines how transaction integrity is visible to other users and systems. DEFAULT: This is the default isolation level configured at the Database Server. READ_UNCOMMITTED: This is the lowest isolation level. At this level, one transaction may see dirty reads (that is, not-yet-committed changes made by other transactions). READ_COMMITTED: This level guarantees that any data read is already committed at the moment it is read. REPEATABLE_READ: In addition to the guarantees of the READ_COMMITTED level, this option also guarantees that any data read cannot change, if the transaction reads the same data again. However, phantom reads are possible. SERIALIZABLE: This is the highest isolation level. In addition to everything REPEATABLE_READ guarantees, it also eliminates phantom reads.

  • Type: string
  • Default: DEFAULT
  • Valid Values: DEFAULT, READ_COMMITTED, READ_UNCOMMITTED, REPEATABLE_READ, SERIALIZABLE
  • Importance: medium
timestamp.initial

The epoch timestamp used for initial queries that use timestamp criteria. The value -1 sets the initial timestamp to the current time. If not specified, the connector retrieves all data. Once the connector has managed to successfully record a source offset, this property has no effect even if changed to a different value later on.

  • Type: long
  • Valid Values: [-1,…]
  • Importance: medium

Connection details

poll.interval.ms

Frequency in ms to poll for new data in each table.

  • Type: int
  • Default: 5000 (5 seconds)
  • Valid Values: [100,…]
  • Importance: high
batch.max.rows

Maximum number of rows to include in a single batch when polling for new data. This setting can be used to limit the amount of data buffered internally in the connector.

  • Type: int
  • Default: 100
  • Valid Values: [1,…,5000]
  • Importance: low
timestamp.delay.interval.ms

How long to wait after a row with a certain timestamp appears before we include it in the result. You may choose to add some delay to allow transactions with an earlier timestamp to complete. The first execution will fetch all available records (starting at timestamp 0) until current time minus the delay. Every following execution will get data from the last time we fetched until current time minus the delay.

  • Type: int
  • Default: 0
  • Valid Values: [0,…]
  • Importance: high

Output messages

output.data.format

Sets the output Kafka record value format. Valid entries are AVRO, JSON_SR, PROTOBUF, or JSON. Note that you need to have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if using a schema-based message format like AVRO, JSON_SR, and PROTOBUF

  • Type: string
  • Importance: high

Number of tasks for this connector

tasks.max
  • Type: int
  • Valid Values: [1,…]
  • Importance: high

Next Steps

For an example that shows fully-managed Confluent Cloud connectors in action with Confluent Cloud ksqlDB, see the Cloud ETL Demo. This example also shows how to use Confluent CLI to manage your resources in Confluent Cloud.

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