Quick Start for Apache Kafka using Confluent Cloud

This quick start gets you up and running with Confluent Cloud using a basic cluster. It shows how to use Confluent Cloud to create topics, produce and consume to an Apache Kafka® cluster. The quick start introduces both the web UI and the Confluent Cloud CLI to manage clusters and topics in Confluent Cloud, as these can be used interchangeably for most tasks.

Follow these steps to set up a Kafka cluster on Confluent Cloud and produce data to Kafka topics on the cluster.

Confluent Cloud is a resilient, scalable streaming data service based on Apache Kafka®, delivered as a fully managed service. Confluent Cloud has a web interface and local command line interface. You can manage cluster resources, settings, and billing with the web interface. You can use Confluent Cloud CLI to create and manage Kafka topics. Sign up for Confluent Cloud to get started.

For more information about Confluent Cloud, see the Confluent Cloud documentation.

Prerequisites

• Access to Confluent Cloud
• Confluent Cloud Cluster Types
• Internet connectivity

Step 1: Create a Kafka Cluster in Confluent Cloud

Important

This step is for Confluent Cloud users only. Confluent Cloud Enterprise users can skip to Install and Configure the Confluent Cloud CLI.

1. Sign in to Confluent Cloud at https://confluent.cloud.

2. Click Add cluster.

   

   Important

   This example creates a Basic cluster which only supports single zone availability. For information about other cluster types, including standard and dedicated types, see Confluent Cloud Cluster Types.

3. Choose a cloud provider, region, and availability zone. Click Continue.

   

4. Specify a cluster name, review your settings, cost, usage, and click Launch cluster.

   

5. Get started configuring apps and data on your new cluster.

   

Step 2: Create a Topic

In this step, you create the users topic by using the Confluent Cloud UI.

Tip

You can also create topics using the Confluent Cloud UI.

1. Log in to your Confluent Cloud cluster.

   ccloud login
   

   Your output should resemble:

   Enter your Confluent credentials:
   Email: jdoe@myemail.io
   Password:
   
   Logged in as jdoe@myemail.io
   Using environment t118 ("default")
   

2. View your cluster.

   ccloud kafka cluster list
   

   Your output should resemble:

         Id      |       Name        | Provider |   Region    | Durability | Status
   +-------------+-------------------+----------+-------------+------------+--------+
       lkc-emmox | My first cluster  | gcp      | us-central1 | LOW        | UP
   

3. Set the active cluster.

   ccloud kafka cluster use lkc-emmox
   

4. Create a topic named users.

   ccloud kafka topic create users
   

   The output from ccloud kafka topic list should resemble:

        Name
   +------------+
       users
   

For more information about Confluent Cloud CLI commands, see Confluent Cloud command reference.

Step 3: Create a Sample Producer

You can produce example data to your Kafka cluster by using the hosted Datagen Source Connector for Confluent Cloud.

1. In the navigation bar, click Connectors.

2. Click Add connector to open the Connectors menu.

   

3. Find the Datagen Source tile and click Select. The Add Datagen Source Connector form opens.

   

4. The connector requires an API key and secret to access your cluster. In the Kafka Cluster Credentials section, click Generate Kafka API key & secret.

   

   Copy the key and secret to a local file and check I have saved my API key and secret and am ready to continue. The key and secret are also required for the Confluent Cloud CLI and ksqlDB CLI to access your cluster.

   Note

   An API key and associated secret apply to the active Kafka cluster. If you add a new cluster, you must create a new API key for producers and consumers on the new Kafka cluster. For more information, see API Keys.

5. Fill in the following fields to configure your connector.

   Field	Value
   Name	enter “DatagenSourceConnector_users”
   Which topic do you want to send data to?	select users
   Output Messages	select JSON
   Quickstart	select USERS
   Max interval between messages	enter “1000” for one second interval
   Number of tasks for this connector	enter “1”

   When the form is filled in, it should resemble the following image.

   

6. At the bottom of the form, click Continue to review the details for your connector, and click Launch to start it. On the Connectors page, the status of your new connector reads Provisioning, which lasts for a few seconds. When the status changes to Running, your connector is producing data to the users topic.

   

Step 4: Consume Messages

1. Click Topics and click the users topic name.

   

2. Click the Messages tab in the topics page in the Confluent Cloud UI to view the messages being produced. The message viewer shows messages produced since the page was loaded, but it doesn’t show a historical view.

   

Step 5: Inspect Data Flow

Track the movement of data through your cluster by using the Data Flow page, where you can see sources, sinks, and topics and monitor messages as they move for one to another.

1. In the navigation bar, click Data flow. The topology of topics on your is displayed.

   

2. Click the node labeled ..ctor-producer-lcc-, which is the Datagen connector that you created in Step 3. Click Inspect to open the details view, which shows graphs for total production and other data.

   

   Tip

   The lcc substring is an acronym for “logical Connect cluster”.

3. Click the node labeled users and click Inspect. The details view opens, showing graphs for total throughput and other data.

   

4. Click Show partitions to view details about consumption on each partition for the users topic.

   

Next Steps

• Create streaming queries in Confluent Cloud ksqlDB
• Quick Start for Schema Management on Confluent Cloud
• Connect Clients to Confluent Cloud
• Integrate External Systems to Kafka
• Connect your components and data to Confluent Cloud
• Configure Multi-Node Environment
• Try out the Confluent Cloud Demos and Examples