Install the Kafka operator

The operator installs the 2.5.0 version of Apache Kafka, and can run on Minikube v0.33.1+ and Kubernetes 1.15.0+.

The operator supports Kafka 2.0+

Prerequisites 🔗︎

• A Kubernetes cluster. You can create one using the Banzai Cloud Pipeline platform, or any other tool of your choice.
• Kafka requires Zookeeper, so you need to first have a Zookeeper cluster if you don’t already have one.
• The Kafka operator uses cert-manager for issuing certificates to users and brokers, so you’ll need to have it setup in case you haven’t already.

We believe in the separation of concerns principle, thus the Kafka operator does not install nor manage Zookeeper or cert-manager. If you would like to have a fully automated and managed experience of Apache Kafka on Kubernetes, try the Banzai Cloud Pipeline platform.

Install Kafka operator and all requirements using Supertubes 🔗︎

1. Download the Supertubes CLI tool.

   curl https://getsupertubes.sh | sh
   

2. Run the following command:

   supertubes install -a
   

Install Kafka operator and the requirements independently 🔗︎

Install cert-manager 🔗︎

Cert-manager version 0.15.x introduced some API changes:

• Kafka operator 0.8.x and newer supports cert-manager 0.15.x
• Kafka operator 0.7.x supports cert-manager 0.10.x

Install cert-manager and CustomResourceDefinitions using one of the following methods:

• Directly:

  # Install the CustomResourceDefinitions and cert-manager itself
  kubectl apply -f https://github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/releases/download/v0.15.1/cert-manager.yaml
  

• Using Helm:

  
  # Add the jetstack helm repo
  helm repo add jetstack https://charts.jetstack.io
  helm repo update
  
  # Install cert-manager into the cluster
  # Using helm3
  helm install cert-manager --namespace cert-manager --create-namespace --version v0.15.1 jetstack/cert-manager
  # Using previous versions of helm
  helm install --name cert-manager --namespace cert-manager --version v0.15.1 jetstack/cert-manager
    
  # Install the CustomResourceDefinitions
  kubectl apply --validate=false -f https://github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/releases/download/v0.15.1/cert-manager.crds.yaml
  

Install Zookeeper 🔗︎

To install Zookeeper we recommend using the Pravega’s Zookeeper Operator. You can deploy Zookeeper by using this Helm chart.

# Deprecated, please use Pravega's helm chart
helm repo add banzaicloud-stable https://kubernetes-charts.banzaicloud.com/
# Using helm3
helm install zookeeper-operator --namespace=zookeeper --create-namespace banzaicloud-stable/zookeeper-operator
# Using previous versions of helm
# Deprecated, please use Pravega's helm chart
helm install --name zookeeper-operator --namespace=zookeeper banzaicloud-stable/zookeeper-operator
kubectl create --namespace zookeeper -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: zookeeper.pravega.io/v1beta1
kind: ZookeeperCluster
metadata:
  name: zookeeper
  namespace: zookeeper
spec:
  replicas: 3
EOF

Note: You are recommended to create a separate Zookeeper deployment for each Kafka cluster. If you want to share the same Zookeeper cluster across multiple Kafka cluster instances, use a unique zk path in the KafkaCluster CR to avoid conflicts (even with previous defunct KafkaCluster instances).

Install Prometheus-operator 🔗︎

Install the Operator and CustomResourceDefinitions to the default namespace

# Install Prometheus-operator and CustomResourceDefinitions
kubectl apply -n default -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/bundle.yaml

Or install with helm

# Install CustomResourceDefinitions
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/example/prometheus-operator-crd/monitoring.coreos.com_alertmanagers.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/example/prometheus-operator-crd/monitoring.coreos.com_prometheuses.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/example/prometheus-operator-crd/monitoring.coreos.com_prometheusrules.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/example/prometheus-operator-crd/monitoring.coreos.com_servicemonitors.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/example/prometheus-operator-crd/monitoring.coreos.com_podmonitors.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coreos/prometheus-operator/master/example/prometheus-operator-crd/monitoring.coreos.com_thanosrulers.yaml


# Install only the Prometheus-operator
# Using helm3
helm install test --namespace default stable/prometheus-operator \
# Using previous versions of helm
helm install --name test --namespace default stable/prometheus-operator \
--set prometheusOperator.createCustomResource=false \
--set defaultRules.enabled=false \
--set alertmanager.enabled=false \
--set grafana.enabled=false \
--set kubeApiServer.enabled=false \
--set kubelet.enabled=false \
--set kubeControllerManager.enabled=false \
--set coreDNS.enabled=false \
--set kubeEtcd.enabled=false \
--set kubeScheduler.enabled=false \
--set kubeProxy.enabled=false \
--set kubeStateMetrics.enabled=false \
--set nodeExporter.enabled=false \
--set prometheus.enabled=false

Install the Kafka operator 🔗︎

If you want to install the Kafka operator separately, use one of the following methods:

• Install the Kafka operator with Kustomize
• Install the Kafka operator with Helm

Install the Kafka operator with Kustomize 🔗︎

We recommend using a custom StorageClass to leverage the volume binding mode WaitForFirstConsumer

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: exampleStorageclass
parameters:
  type: pd-standard
provisioner: kubernetes.io/gce-pd
reclaimPolicy: Delete
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer

Remember to set your Kafka CR properly to use the newly created StorageClass.

1. Set KUBECONFIG pointing towards your cluster
2. Run make deploy (deploys the operator in the kafka namespace into the cluster)
3. Set your Kafka configurations in a Kubernetes custom resource (sample: config/samples/simplekafkacluster.yaml) and run this command to deploy the Kafka components:

# Add your zookeeper svc name to the configuration
kubectl create -n kafka -f config/samples/simplekafkacluster.yaml
# If prometheus operator installed create the ServiceMonitors
kubectl create -n default -f config/samples/kafkacluster-prometheus.yaml

In this case you have to install Prometheus with proper configuration if you want the Kafka operator to react to alerts. Again, if you need Prometheus and would like to have a fully automated and managed experience of Apache Kafka on Kubernetes please try it with the Banzai Cloud Pipeline platform.

Install the Kafka operator with Helm 🔗︎

You can deploy the Kafka operator using a Helm chart Helm chart by running the following commands.

Before installing the chart, you must first install the kafka-operator CustomResourceDefinition resources. This is performed in a separate step to allow you to easily uninstall and reinstall kafka-operator without deleting your installed custom resources.

kubectl apply --validate=false -f https://github.com/banzaicloud/kafka-operator/releases/download/v0.12.3/kafka-operator.crds.yaml

• If you are using cert-manager 0.10.x and want to install the 0.7.x version of the operator, run the following command: helm install --name=kafka-operator --namespace=kafka --set operator.image.tag=0.7.x banzaicloud-stable/kafka-operator

• Otherwise, run the following commands:

  helm repo add banzaicloud-stable https://kubernetes-charts.banzaicloud.com/
  # Using helm3
  helm install kafka-operator --namespace=kafka --create-namespace banzaicloud-stable/kafka-operator
  # Using previous versions of helm
  helm install --name=kafka-operator --namespace=kafka banzaicloud-stable/kafka-operator
  # Add your zookeeper svc name to the configuration
  kubectl create -n kafka -f config/samples/simplekafkacluster.yaml
  # If prometheus operator installed create the ServiceMonitors
  kubectl create -n kafka -f config/samples/kafkacluster-prometheus.yaml
  

  In this case Prometheus will be installed and configured properly for the Kafka operator.

Test Your Deployment 🔗︎

• For simple test, check the test docs
• For a more in-depth view at using SSL and the KafkaUser CRD, see the SSL docs
• To create topics via with KafkaTopic CRD there is an example and more information in the topics docs

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