Update to Confluent CLI v4¶

The release of Confluent CLI v4 introduces a number of breaking changes aimed at providing a better user experience. Note that accommodating these breaking changes might require updating your existing scripts. If you have any questions or comments, send your feedback directly to the CLI team using the confluent feedback command.

This page includes the following:

Breaking changes for Confluent CLI
How to Update to Confluent CLI v4
FAQ

Breaking changes for Confluent CLI¶

Confluent CLI v4 includes several changes that break the syntax or output structure of the previous major release. For a complete list of Confluent CLI v4 breaking changes, see Confluent CLI v4.0.0 Release Notes.

How to Update to Confluent CLI v4¶

This topic describes how to update the Confluent CLI on macOS, Linux, Windows, or with the legacy command if you are not using a package manager. (If you are installing the Confluent CLI client for the first time, see Install Confluent CLI.)

macOS and Linux users can update to the latest version of the Confluent CLI using the following Homebrew commands:

brew update && brew upgrade confluentinc/tap/cli

If you installed the Confluent CLI using the APT package manager, you can upgrade to Confluent CLI v4 by running the following commands:

Update apt:
```
sudo apt update
```
Install the Confluent CLI:
```
sudo apt install confluent-cli
```

If you installed the Confluent CLI using the YUM package manager, you can upgrade to Confluent CLI v4 by running the following commands:

Clear the YUM caches:
```
sudo yum clean all
```
Upgrade the Confluent CLI:
```
sudo yum upgrade confluent-cli
```

Installing using the Windows native installer is not yet available. On Windows, you can upgrade to the Confluent CLI v4 by running the following command:

confluent update --major

If you installed the Confluent CLI using the legacy commands rather than a package manager, you can upgrade to Confluent CLI v4 by running the following command:

confluent update --major

For the complete syntax of this command, see confluent update.

FAQ¶

Why should I upgrade my Confluent CLI to the latest version, v4?¶

As detailed in the Release Notes, several commands and flags have been renamed or modified for v4 to provide better functionality and map to feature updates. In particular, the Schema Registry commands are now aligned with Always On Stream Governance. To learn more, see Deprecation of SRCM v2 clusters and regions APIs and upgrade guide.

In practice, this means that users no longer explicitly create and secure Schema Registry clusters; in fact, these clusters cannot be created manually with the new CLI commands and backing APIs. The Schema Registry cluster is now auto-created in the environment when the first Kafka cluster is created, and in the same region as the Kafka cluster. Stream Governance and Schema Registry is always enabled in Confluent Cloud environments; you have the choice of keeping with the default “Essentials” package or upgrading to “Advanced”. Therefore, the set of confluent schema-registry cluster commands have been streamlined to describe existing clusters, while package upgrades are available on confluent environment commands:

confluent environment update <id> --governance-package advanced

Keep in mind that once you upgrade a package associated with an environment, you cannot “downgrade” back to “Essentials”:

Downgrading the package from "advanced" to "essentials" is not allowed once the Schema Registry cluster is provisioned.

Several new commands have been added to support working with Kafka topics and plugins.

How can I determine if this version change affects me?¶

The most critical updates are related to the Schema Registry commands for Confluent Cloud customers, as detailed in the other FAQs. You must update to Confluent CLI v4 by February 2025, per the information detailed in the Deprecation of SRCM v2 clusters and regions APIs and upgrade guide.

This does not apply to Confluent Platform.

How much time do I have to upgrade from an earlier version to Confluent CLI v4?¶

You must upgrade when the version you are using is no longer supported. It is recommended to upgrade to the latest version, Confluent CLI v4.

Confluent CLI v1 is deprecated and not supported.
Confluent CLI v2 will be deprecated in November 2024, and will be removed in November 2025 (after 1 year).
Confluent CLI v3 is still supported, but will no longer support the Schema Registry cluster enable commands after February 2025, as described below.

Per the information in Deprecation of SRCM v2 clusters and regions APIs and upgrade guide in the Stream Governance packages topics documentation, support for the SRCM v2 regions API will end in February 2025. Therefore, Confluent Cloud users should update to the associated Confluent CLI v4 before this sunset date for the related APIs.

This does not apply to Confluent Platform.

How can I test the v4 changes in Confluent CLI?¶

After upgrade, run some of the commands listed as updated in the Release Notes, and view the help output.

Running confluent help at the top level or for a subcommand should reflect the updates shown in the Confluent CLI v4.0.0 Release Notes.

Where are the Release Notes?¶

Confluent CLI v4 includes several changes that break the syntax or output structure of the previous major release. For a complete list of Confluent CLI v4 breaking changes, see Confluent CLI v4.0.0 Release Notes.

Is Confluent CLI v3 deprecated?¶

Currently, Confluent CLI v1 is deprecated, and v2 will be deprecated as of November 2024.

Confluent CLI v3 is still supported, and v4 is the most recent version.

Confluent CLI v3 will no longer support the Schema Registry cluster enable commands after February 2025, as the corresponding backend APIs will no longer be supported. To learn more, see Deprecation of SRCM v2 clusters and regions APIs and upgrade guide.