Integrate Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud with Service Connector

This page shows supported authentication methods and clients to connect Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud to other cloud services using Service Connector. You might still be able to connect to Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud in other programming languages without using Service Connector. This page also shows default environment variable names and values (or Spring Boot configuration) you get when you create the service connection.

Supported compute services

Service Connector can be used to connect the following compute services to Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud:

  • Azure App Service
  • Azure Functions
  • Azure Container Apps
  • Azure Spring Apps

Supported Authentication types and client types

The table below shows which combinations of client types and authentication methods are supported for connecting your compute service to Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud using Service Connector. A “Yes” indicates that the combination is supported, while a “No” indicates that it is not supported.

Client type System-assigned managed identity User-assigned managed identity Secret / connection string Service principal
.NET No No Yes No
Java No No Yes No
Java - Spring Boot No No Yes No
Node.js No No Yes No
Python No No Yes No
None No No Yes No

This table indicates that the only supported authentication method for all client types in the table is the Secret / connection string method. Other authentication methods are not supported for any of the client types.

Default environment variable names or application properties

Use the connection details below to connect compute services to Kafka. For each example below, replace the placeholder texts <server-name>, <Bootstrap-server-key>, <Bootstrap-server-secret>, <schema-registry-key>, and <schema-registry-secret> with your server name, Bootstrap server key, Bootstrap server secret, schema registry key, and schema registry secret. For more information about naming conventions, check the Service Connector internals article. Refer to Kafka Client Examples to build Kafka client applications on Confluent Cloud.

Secret / Connection String

SpringBoot client type

Default environment variable name Description Example value
spring.kafka.properties.bootstrap.servers Your Kafka bootstrap server pkc-<server-name>.eastus.azure.confluent.cloud:9092
spring.kafka.properties.sasl.jaas.config Your Kafka SASL configuration org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username='<Bootstrap-server-key>' password='<Bootstrap-server-secret>';
spring.kafka.properties.schema.registry.url Your Confluent registry URL https://psrc-<server-name>.westus2.azure.confluent.cloud
spring.kafka.properties.schema.registry.basic.auth.user.info Your Confluent registry user information <schema-registry-key>:<schema-registry-secret>

Other client types

Default environment variable name Description Example value
AZURE_CONFLUENTCLOUDKAFKA_BOOTSTRAPSERVER Your Kafka bootstrap server pkc-<server-name>.eastus.azure.confluent.cloud:9092
AZURE_CONFLUENTCLOUDKAFKA_KAFKASASLCONFIG Your Kafka SASL configuration org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username='<Bootstrap-server-key>' password='<Bootstrap-server-secret>';
AZURE_CONFLUENTCLOUDSCHEMAREGISTRY_URL Your Confluent registry URL https://psrc-<server-name>.westus2.azure.confluent.cloud
AZURE_CONFLUENTCLOUDSCHEMAREGISTRY_USERINFO Your Confluent registry user information <schema-registry-key>:<schema-registry-secret>

Next steps

Follow the tutorials listed below to learn more about Service Connector.