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Create a sink connector from Apache Kafka® to Splunk

The Splunk sink connector enables you to move data from an Aiven for Apache Kafka® cluster to a remote Splunk server via HTTP event collector (HEC).

note

You can check the full set of available parameters and configuration options in the connector's documentation.

Prerequisites​

To setup an Splunk sink connector, you need an Aiven for Apache Kafka service with Kafka Connect enabled or a dedicated Aiven for Apache Kafka Connect cluster.

Furthermore you need to collect the following information about the target server:

  • SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN: The HEC authentication token
  • SPLUNK_HEC_URI: The Splunk endpoint URI
  • TOPIC_LIST: The list of topics to sink divided by comma
  • SPLUNK_INDEXES: The list of Splunk indexes where the data will be landing

and, if you are using Avro as the data format:

  • APACHE_KAFKA_HOST: The hostname of the Apache Kafka service
  • SCHEMA_REGISTRY_PORT: The Apache Kafka's schema registry port
  • SCHEMA_REGISTRY_USER: The Apache Kafka's schema registry username
  • SCHEMA_REGISTRY_PASSWORD: The Apache Kafka's schema registry user password
note

You can browse the additional parameters available for the static and oauth2 authorization types in the dedicated documentation.

Setup an Splunk sink connector with Aiven Console​

The following example demonstrates how to setup an Splunk sink connector for Apache Kafka using the Aiven Console.

Define a Kafka Connect configuration file​

Create a file (we'll refer to this one as splunk_sink.json) to hold the connector configuration. As an example, here's some configuration for sending JSON payloads to Splunk:

{
    "name":"CONNECTOR_NAME",
    "connector.class": "com.splunk.kafka.connect.SplunkSinkConnector",
    "splunk.hec.token": "SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN",
    "splunk.hec.uri": "SPLUNK_HEC_URI",
    "splunk.indexes": "SPLUNK_INDEXES",
    "topics": "TOPIC_LIST",
    "splunk.hec.raw" : false,
    "splunk.hec.ack.enabled" : false,
    "splunk.hec.ssl.validate.certs": "true",
    "config.splunk.hec.json.event.formatted": false,
    "tasks.max":1
}

The configuration file contains the following entries:

  • name: the connector name
  • splunk.hec.token and splunk.hec.uri: remote Splunk server URI and authorization parameters collected in the prerequisite phase.
  • splunk.hec.raw: if set to false defines the data ingestion using the /raw HEC endpoint instead of the default /event one.
  • splunk.hec.ack.enabled: if set to true, Kafka offset is updated only after receiving the ACK for the POST call to Splunk.
  • config.splunk.hec.json.event.formatted: Defines if events are preformatted into the proper HEC JSON format.
tip

When using Splunk with self service SSL certificates it could be useful to set splunk.hec.ssl.validate.certs to false to disable HTTPS certification validation.

Create a Kafka Connect connector with the Aiven Console​

To create a Apache Kafka Connect connector, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the Aiven Console and select the Aiven for Apache Kafka® or Aiven for Apache Kafka Connect® service where the connector needs to be defined.

  2. Select Connectors from the left sidebar.

  3. Select Create New Connector, the button is enabled only for services with Kafka Connect enabled.

  4. Select Splunk sink.

  5. In the Common tab, locate the Connector configuration text box and select on Edit.

  6. Paste the connector configuration (stored in the splunk_sink.json file) in the form.

  7. Select Apply.

    note

    The Aiven Console parses the configuration file and fills the relevant UI fields. You can review the UI fields across the various tabs and change them if necessary. The changes will be reflected in JSON format in the Connector configuration text box.

  8. After all the settings are correctly configured, select Create connector.

  9. Verify the connector status under the Connectors screen.

  10. Verify the data in the target Splunk instance.

    note

    You can also create connectors using the Aiven CLI command.

Example: Create a simple Splunk sink connector​

If you have a topic named data_logs that you want to sink to a Splunk server in the kafka_logs index:

{
    "name":"data_logs_splunk_sink",
    "connector.class": "com.splunk.kafka.connect.SplunkSinkConnector",
    "splunk.hec.token": "SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN",
    "splunk.hec.uri": "SPLUNK_HEC_URI",
    "splunk.indexes": "kafka_logs",
    "topics": "data_logs"
}

The configuration file contains the following things to note:

  • "topics": "data_logs": setting the topic to sink