A Message Queue for Apache Kafka instance can be connected to Filebeat as an output. This topic shows you how to send messages to Message Queue for Apache Kafka over the Internet by using Filebeat.

Prerequisites

Before you start this tutorial, make sure that the following operations are completed:

Step 1: Obtain an endpoint

Filebeat establishes a connection to Message Queue for Apache Kafka by using a Message Queue for Apache Kafka endpoint.

  1. Log on to the Message Queue for Apache Kafka console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
  3. On the Instances page, select the instance that you want to connect to Filebeat as an output.
  4. On the Instance Details page, obtain an endpoint of the instance in the Basic Information section.
    endpointzh
    Note For information about the differences among endpoints, see Comparison among endpoints.

Step 2: Create a topic

Perform the following operations to create a topic for storing messages:

  1. Log on to the Message Queue for Apache Kafka console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
  3. On the Instances page, click the name of your instance.
  4. In the left-side navigation pane, click Topics.
  5. On the Topics page, click Create Topic.
  6. In the Create Topic dialog box, enter the topic information and click Create.
    create topic

Step 3: Use Filebeat to send a message

Start Filebeat on the server where Filebeat is installed to send a message to the topic that you created.

  1. Run the cd command to switch to the installation directory of Filebeat.
  2. Run the following command to download the CA certificate file:
    wget https://code.aliyun.com/alikafka/aliware-kafka-demos/raw/master/kafka-filebeat-demo/vpc-ssl/ca-cert
  3. Create a configuration file named output.conf.
    1. Run the vim output.conf command to create an empty configuration file.
    2. Press the i key to go to the insert mode.
    3. Enter the following content:
      filebeat.inputs:
- type: stdin

output.kafka:
  hosts: ["121.XX.XX.XX:9093", "120.XX.XX.XX:9093", "120.XX.XX.XX:9093"]
  username: "alikafka_pre-cn-v641e1d***"
  password: "aeN3WLRoMPRXmAP2jvJuGk84Kuuo***"

  topic: 'filebeat_test'
  partition.round_robin:
    reachable_only: false
  ssl.certificate_authorities: ["/root/filebeat/filebeat-7.7.0-linux-x86_64/tasks/vpc_ssl/ca-cert"]
  ssl.verification_mode: none

  required_acks: 1
  compression: none
  max_message_bytes: 1000000
      Parameter Description Example
      hosts The public endpoint provided by Message Queue for Apache Kafka is the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) endpoint. 121.XX.XX.XX:9093, 120.XX.XX.XX:9093, 120.XX.XX.XX:9093
      username The username of your Message Queue for Apache Kafka instance of the Internet and VPC type. alikafka_pre-cn-v641e1d***
      password The password of your Message Queue for Apache Kafka instance of the Internet and VPC type. aeN3WLRoMPRXmAP2jvJuGk84Kuuo***
      topic The name of the topic. filebeat_test
      reachable_only Specifies whether the message is sent only to available partitions. Valid values:
      • true: If the primary partition is unavailable, the output may be blocked.
      • false: Even if the primary partition is unavailable, the output is not blocked.
      		 false
      ssl.certificate_authorities The path of the CA certificate file. /root/filebeat/filebeat-7.7.0-linux-x86_64/ca-cert
      ssl.verification_mode The verification mode. none
      required_acks The reliability level of acknowledgments (ACK). Valid values:
      • 0: no response
      • 1: waits for local commit
      • -1: waits for all replicas to commit
      Default value: 1.       		1
      compression The data compression codec. Default value: gzip. Valid values:
      • none: none
      • snappy: the C ++ development package used for compression and decompression
      • lz4: the lossless data compression algorithm focused on compression and decompression speed
      • gzip: the file compression program for GNU free software
      		 none
      max_message_bytes The maximum size of a message. Unit: bytes. Default value: 1000000. The value must be smaller than the maximum message size that you set for Message Queue for Apache Kafka . 1000000

      For more information about parameter settings, see Kafka output plugin.

    4. Press the Esc key to return to the command line mode.
    5. Press the : key to enter the bottom line mode. Type wq, and then press Enter to save the file and exit.
  4. Send a message to the topic that you created.
    1. Run the ./filebeat -c ./output.yml command.
    2. Enter test and then press Enter.

Step 4: View the partitions of the topic

Perform the following operations to view the message that was sent to the topic:

  1. Log on to the Message Queue for Apache Kafka console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
  3. On the Instances page, click the name of your instance.
  4. In the left-side navigation pane, click Topics.
  5. On the Topics page, find the topic to which the message was sent, and click Partition Status in the Actions column.
  6. In the Partition Status dialog box, click image.

    The following figure shows the partition ID and offset information of the message that was sent to the topic.

    topic_atatus

Step 5: Query the message by offset

You can query the sent message based on its partition ID and offset information.

  1. Log on to the Message Queue for Apache Kafka console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
  3. On the Instances page, click the name of your instance.
  4. In the left-side navigation pane, click Message Query.
  5. On the Message Query page, click the Query by Offset tab.
  6. Enter the topic of the sent message in the Enter a topic. search box, select the partition ID of this message from the Select a partition. drop-down list, and then enter the offset of this message in the Enter an offset. search box. Then, click Search.
  7. Optional:On the right side of the query result, you can view the message details.