Install Self-Managed Connectors

You can install the connectors by using the Confluent CLI (recommended) or manually install by downloading the plugin file.

Install a connector using Confluent CLI

You can install a connector using the following Confluent CLI command:

confluent connect plugin install <plugin> [flags]

For an example and command reference, see the Confluent CLI command reference.

Tip

To use the confluent connect plugin install command, you must be logged out of Confluent Cloud at the command line. If you are logged in to Confluent Cloud on the Confluent CLI, confluent connect plugin install will not work.

Install a connector manually

Connectors are packaged as Kafka Connect plugins. Kafka Connect isolates each plugin so that the plugin libraries do not conflict with each other.

To manually install a connector:

  1. Find your connector on Confluent Hub and download the connector ZIP file.
  2. Extract the ZIP file contents and copy the contents to the desired location. For example, you can create a directory named CONFLUENT_HOME/share/kafka/plugins, and then copy the connector plugin contents.
  3. Add this to the plugin path in your Connect properties file. For example, plugin.path=/usr/local/share/kafka/plugins. Kafka Connect finds the plugin using the plugin’s path. A plugin path is a comma-separated list of directories defined in the Kafka Connect’s worker configuration.
  4. Start the Connect workers with that configuration. Connect will discover all connectors defined within those plugins.
  5. Repeat these steps for each machine where Connect is running. Each connector must be available on each worker.