Contact UsGet started

Managing Apache Kafka® topics

Written by
Updated at November 18, 2024

A Managed Service for Apache Kafka® cluster provides two ways for you to manage topics and partitions (which can be used separately or combined):

Managing topics via Yandex Cloud interfaces

Creating a topic

Prior to creating a topic, calculate the minimum storage size.

  1. In the management console, go to the relevant folder.
  2. In the list of services, select Managed Service for Kafka.
  3. Click the cluster name and go to the Topics tab.
  4. Click Create topic.
  5. Under Basic parameters, set the basic parameters of the topic:
    • Topic name (must be unique in the Apache Kafka® cluster).
    • Number of topic partitions.
    • Replication factor. This parameter value should not exceed the number of brokers in the cluster. Minimum value: 1. Maximum value: 3. Default value:
      • For a cluster with one or two brokers: 1.
      • For a cluster with three or more brokers: 3.
  6. Under Topic settings, specify the topic settings.
  7. Click Create.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To create a topic:

  1. View a description of the CLI create topic command:

    yc managed-kafka topic create --help

  2. Create a topic:

    yc managed-kafka topic create <topic_name> \
  --cluster-name <cluster_name> \
  --partitions <number_of_partitions> \
  --replication-factor <replication_factor>

    If necessary, specify the topic settings here.

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file with an infrastructure plan.

    For more information about creating this file, see Creating clusters.

  2. Add the yandex_mdb_kafka_topic resource and configure the topic under topic_config if required:

    resource "yandex_mdb_kafka_topic" "<topic_name>" {
  cluster_id         = "<cluster_ID>"
  name               = "<topic_name>"
  partitions         = <number_of_partitions>
  replication_factor = <replication_factor>
  topic_config {
    compression_type = "<compression_type>"
    flush_messages   = <maximum_number_of_messages_in_memory>
    ...
  }
}

  3. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. Using the command line, navigate to the folder that contains the up-to-date Terraform configuration files with an infrastructure plan.

    2. Run the command:

      terraform validate

      If there are errors in the configuration files, Terraform will point to them.

  4. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run the command to view planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If the resource configuration descriptions are correct, the terminal will display a list of the resources to modify and their parameters. This is a test step. No resources are updated.

    2. If you are happy with the planned changes, apply them:

      1. Run the command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm the update of resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

For more information, see the Terraform provider documentation.

To create a topic, use the create REST API method for the Topic resource or the TopicService/Create gRPC API call and provide the following in the request:

  • ID of the cluster where you want to create a topic, in the clusterId parameter. To find out the cluster ID, get a list of clusters in the folder.
  • Topic settings, in the topicSpec parameter.

Note

While running, Managed Service for Apache Kafka® is able to create service topics. You cannot write user data to such topics.

Updating topic settings

You cannot reduce the number of partitions in Managed Service for Apache Kafka® topics. You cannot create new partitions if there is not enough storage space.

For more information, see Minimum storage size.

  1. In the management console, go to the relevant folder.
  2. In the list of services, select Managed Service for Kafka.
  3. Click the name of the cluster you need and select the Topics tab.
  4. Click for the topic you need and select Edit.
  5. Change the basic parameters of the topic:
    • Number of topic partitions.
    • Replication factor. This parameter value should not exceed the number of brokers in the cluster. Minimum value: 1. Maximum value: 3. Default value:
      • For a cluster with one or two brokers: 1.
      • For a cluster with three or more brokers: 3.
  6. Change additional topic settings.
  7. Click Save.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To update topic settings:

  1. View a description of the CLI update topic command:

    yc managed-kafka topic update --help

  2. Change topic settings:

    yc managed-kafka topic update <topic_name> \
  --cluster-name <cluster_name> \
  --partitions <number_of_partitions> \
  --replication-factor <replication_factor>

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file with an infrastructure plan.

    For more information about creating this file, see Creating clusters.

  2. Edit the parameter values in the yandex_mdb_kafka_topic resource description:

    resource "yandex_mdb_kafka_topic" "<topic_name>" {
  cluster_id         = "<cluster_ID>"
  name               = "<topic_name>"
  partitions         = <number_of_partitions>
  replication_factor = <replication_factor>
  topic_config {
    compression_type = "<compression_type>"
    flush_messages   = <maximum_number_of_messages_in_memory>
    ...
  }
}

  3. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. Using the command line, navigate to the folder that contains the up-to-date Terraform configuration files with an infrastructure plan.

    2. Run the command:

      terraform validate

      If there are errors in the configuration files, Terraform will point to them.

  4. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run the command to view planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If the resource configuration descriptions are correct, the terminal will display a list of the resources to modify and their parameters. This is a test step. No resources are updated.

    2. If you are happy with the planned changes, apply them:

      1. Run the command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm the update of resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

For more information, see the Terraform provider documentation.

To change topic settings, use the update REST API method for the Topic resource or the TopicService/Update gRPC API call and provide the following in the request:

Warning

The API method will assign default values to all the parameters of the object you are modifying unless you explicitly provide them in your request. To avoid this, list the settings you want to change in the updateMask parameter as a single comma-separated string.

Getting a list of topics in a cluster

  1. In the management console, go to the relevant folder.
  2. In the list of services, select Managed Service for Kafka.
  3. Click the cluster name and go to the Topics tab.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To get a list of topics, run the following command:

yc managed-kafka topic list --cluster-name <cluster_name>

To get a list of topics in a cluster, use the list REST API method for the Topic resource or the TopicService/List gRPC API call, and provide the cluster ID in the clusterId parameter.

To find out the cluster ID, get a list of clusters in the folder.

Getting detailed information about a topic

  1. In the management console, go to the relevant folder.
  2. In the list of services, select Managed Service for Kafka.
  3. Click the cluster name and go to the Topics tab.
  4. Click the topic name.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To get detailed information about a topic, run the following command:

yc managed-kafka topic get <topic_name> --cluster-name <cluster_name>

To get topic details, use the get REST API method for the Topic resource or the TopicService/Get gRPC API call and provide the following in the request:

Importing topics to Terraform

Using import, you can bring the existing cluster topics under Terraform management.

  1. In the Terraform configuration file, specify the topic you want to import:

    resource "yandex_mdb_kafka_topic" "<topic_name>" {}

  2. Run the following command to import the topic:

    terraform import yandex_mdb_kafka_topic.<topic_name> <cluster_ID>:<topic_name>

    To learn more about importing topics, see the Terraform provider documentation.

Deleting a topic

Note

Permissions granted to the user for a topic remain even after the topic is deleted. If, after deleting a topic, you don't revoke the permissions, then, when you create a topic with the same name, the user will have access to it even if you don't explicitly assign them new permissions.

  1. In the management console, go to the relevant folder.
  2. In the list of services, select Managed Service for Kafka.
  3. Click the cluster name and go to the Topics tab.
  4. Click for the topic and select Delete topic.
  5. In the window that opens, click Delete.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

To delete a topic:

  1. View a description of the CLI update topic command:

    yc managed-kafka topic delete --help

  2. Delete a topic:

    yc managed-kafka topic delete <topic_name> --cluster-name <cluster_name>

  1. Open the current Terraform configuration file with an infrastructure plan.

    For more information about creating this file, see Creating clusters.

  2. Delete the yandex_mdb_kafka_topic resource with the topic description.

  3. Make sure the settings are correct.

    1. Using the command line, navigate to the folder that contains the up-to-date Terraform configuration files with an infrastructure plan.

    2. Run the command:

      terraform validate

      If there are errors in the configuration files, Terraform will point to them.

  4. Confirm updating the resources.

    1. Run the command to view planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If the resource configuration descriptions are correct, the terminal will display a list of the resources to modify and their parameters. This is a test step. No resources are updated.

    2. If you are happy with the planned changes, apply them:

      1. Run the command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm the update of resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

For more information, see the Terraform provider documentation.

To delete a topic, use the delete REST API method for the Topic resource or the TopicService/Delete gRPC API call and provide the following in the request:

Managing topics via the Apache Kafka® Admin API

To manage topics via the Apache Kafka® Admin API:

  1. Create an admin user with the ACCESS_ROLE_ADMIN role in the cluster.
  2. Manage topics on behalf of this user by making requests to the Apache Kafka® Admin API. Review your favorite programming language manual for information on working with the Admin API.

For more information about working with the Admin API and the existing limitations, see Managing topics and partitions and the Apache Kafka® documentation.

Previous
Code snippets
Next
Managing users