Connect a Confluent organization to Azure compute services

In this article, you'll learn how to connect an instance of Apache Kafka & Apache Flink on Confluent Cloud, an Azure Native Integrations service, to Azure compute services by using Service Connector in Azure.

Service Connector is an Azure service that simplifies the process of connecting Azure resources. Service Connector manages your connection's network and authentication settings to simplify connection.

Complete the steps in this article to connect an app deployed to Azure App Service, Azure Container Apps, Azure Spring Apps, or Azure Kubernetes Service to a Confluent organization. You can use similar steps to connect your Confluent organization to other compute services supported by Service Connector.

Prerequisites

• An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free.
• An existing Confluent organization. If you don't have one, see Create a Confluent organization.
• An app deployed to Azure App Service, Azure Container Apps, Azure Spring Apps, or Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

Create a connection

To connect an app to Apache Kafka & Apache Flink on Confluent Cloud:

1. In the Azure portal, go to your App Service, Container Apps, Azure Spring Apps, or AKS resource.

   If your resource is an Azure Spring Apps resource, on the Apps menu, select your app.

2. In the left pane, under Settings, select Service Connector, and then select Create.

   

3. On the Basics tab, enter or select values for the following settings:

   Name	Action
   Service type	Select Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud to generate a connection to a Confluent organization.
   Connection name	Enter a connection name to identify the connection between App Service and your Confluent organization service. Use the connection name provided by Service Connector, or enter your own connection name. For example, Confluent_d0fcp. Connection names can contain only letters, numbers (0-9), periods (.), and underscores (_).
   Source	Select Azure Marketplace Confluent resource.

   

4. To connect to a Confluent resource that you deployed via Azure Marketplace or one that you deployed directly via the Confluent UI, use the information described in the following tables.

   Important

   Service Connector for Azure Marketplace Confluent resources is currently in preview.

   See the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews for legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in beta, preview, or otherwise not yet released into general availability.

   • Azure Marketplace Confluent resource
   • Azure non-Marketplace Confluent resource

   If you deployed your Confluent resource by using Azure Marketplace, enter or select values for the following settings:

   Name	Action
   Subscription	Select the subscription where you created your Confluent organization. For example, my subscription.
   Confluent Organization	Select the organization where your Confluent organization is located. For example, my-confluent-org.
   Environment	Select your Confluent organization environment. For example, demoenv1.
   Cluster	Select your Confluent organization cluster. For example, ProdKafkaCluster.
   Create connection for Schema Registry	This checkbox is cleared by default. Optionally, select the checkbox to create a connection for the schema registry.
   Client type	Select the app stack that's on your compute service instance. For example, select Node.js.

   

5. Select Next: Authentication.

   On the Authentication tab:

   • The Connection string authentication type is selected by default.
   • For API Keys, select Create New. If you already have an API key, you can click Select Existing, and then enter the Kafka API key and secret. If you use an existing API key and select the option to enable schema registry on the Basics tab, enter the schema registry URL, schema registry API key, and schema registry API secret.
   • Optionally, you can select Advanced to edit the configuration variable names.

   

6. Select Next: Networking to configure the network access to your Confluent organization.

   On the Networking tab:

   • The Configure firewall rules to enable access to your target service checkbox is selected by default.
   • Optionally, you can configure your app's outbound traffic to integrate with Azure Virtual Network.

   

7. Select Next: Review + Create to review your settings.

8. Select Create.

View and edit connections

To review your existing connections:

1. In the Azure portal, go to your App Service, Container Apps, Azure Spring Apps, or AKS resource.

2. In the left pane, select Service Connector.

3. Select a connection and explore the following options:

   • Select > to access connection details.
   • Select Validate to prompt Service Connector to check your connection.
   • Select Edit to edit connection details.
   • Select Delete to remove a connection.

Related content

• Troubleshoot Apache Kafka & Apache Flink on Confluent Cloud solutions