Deploy Confluent Platform using Confluent for Kubernetes¶

Using Confluent for Kubernetes (CFK), install Confluent Platform components in the following steps:

Review and complete the required configuration tasks for Confluent Platform components.

There might be CFK-specific considerations for some components.

For example, in CFK, ksqlDB can only be deployed in the interactive mode. CFK does not support the headless mode deployment of ksqlDB.

For detailed configuration information, refer to specific configuration pages under Configure Confluent Platform.
Specify the Confluent Platform images and the version to deploy.
Deploy Confluent Platform.
Validate deployment.

Specify the Confluent Platform images and the version to deploy¶

For the Confluent Platform components you want to deploy, specify the Docker image names and the version tags in the components custom resources (CRs).

See Confluent Docker Image Reference for the list of Confluent images.

The tags are the version of Confluent Platform. For example, for Schema Registry version 7.6.3, set application: confluentinc/cp-schema-registry:7.6.3 in the Schema Registry CR.

See how to specify different Confluent Platform versions in the component custom resources.
Specify the init container in spec.image.init:. The tag of the init container is the version of Confluent for Kubernetes (CFK).

To deploy the 6.2.0 and later versions of Confluent Platform, you must use the confluent-init-container instead of the legacy cp-init-container-operator.

An example Schema Registry CR to deploy Schema Registry 7.6.3 with CFK 2.8.5:
```
apiVersion: platform.confluent.io/v1beta1
kind: SchemaRegistry
metadata:
  name: schemaregistry
  namespace: confluent
spec:
  replicas: 1
  image:
    application: confluentinc/cp-schema-registry:7.6.3
    init: confluentinc/confluent-init-container:2.8.5
```
Specify the number of replicas for Confluent Platform components in the compoent CRs using the spec.replicas property.

In the Schema Registry CR example in the previous step, one Schema Registry replica is to be deployed.

Note that you can deploy only one replica of Confluent Control Center in CFK.

Deploy Confluent Platform¶

Apply the Confluent Platform CR configurations. You can apply one configuration file for all Confluent Platform components, or apply multiple configuration files for individual Confluent Platform component.
```
kubectl apply -f <CR>
```
Check that all Confluent Platform resources are successfully deployed:
```
kubectl get pods
```

Validate deployment¶

After you set up your Confluent Platform environment, validate the deployment, starting with the following list:

Pods are running and healthy
Services are deployed
Control Center is accessible and monitors Kafka and other components
Client can create topics

Refer to the Confluent for Kubernetes example Git Hub repo for sample steps to validate a basic deployment. You can also review the other scenarios for validating various deployment configurations, such as with various external access methods and security setups.