Configure ksqlDB Server

• Configure Security for ksqlDB
• ksqlDB Configuration Parameter Reference
• Configure ksqlDB for Avro or Protobuf
• Integrate ksqlDB with Confluent Control Center

ksqlDB configuration parameters can be set for ksqlDB Server and for queries, as well as for the underlying Kafka Streams and Kafka Clients (producer and consumer).

Tip

These instructions assume you are installing Confluent Platform by using ZIP or TAR archives. For more information, see On-Premises Deployments.

Setting ksqlDB Server Parameters

You can specify ksqlDB Server configuration parameters by using the server configuration file (ksql-server.properties) or the KSQL_OPTS environment variable. Properties set with KSQL_OPTS take precedence over those specified in the ksqlDB configuration file. A recommended approach is to configure a common set of properties using the ksqlDB configuration file and override specific properties as needed, using the KSQL_OPTS environment variable.

Tip

If you deploy Confluent Platform by using Docker containers, you can specify configuration parameters as environment variables to the ksqlDB Server image. For more information, see Install ksqlDB with Docker.

ksqlDB Server Configuration File

By default, the ksqlDB server configuration file is located at <path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties. The file follows the syntax conventions of Java properties files.

<property-name>=<property-value>

For example:

bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092
listeners=http://localhost:8088

After you have updated the server configuration file, you can start the ksqlDB Server with the configuration file specified.

<path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-server-start <path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties

For more information, see ksqlDB Configuration Parameter Reference.

KSQL_OPTS Environment Variable

You can override ksqlDB Server configuration parameters by using the KSQL_OPTS environment variable. The properties are standard Java system properties. For example, to set ksql.streams.num.streams.threads to 1:

KSQL_OPTS="-Dksql.streams.num.streams.threads=1" <path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-server-start \
<path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties

You can specify multiple parameters at the same time. For example, to configure ksql.streams.auto.offset.reset and ksql.streams.num.stream.threads:

KSQL_OPTS="-Dksql.streams.auto.offset.reset=earliest -Dksql.streams.num.stream.threads=1" <path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-server-start \
<path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties

ksqlDB Server Runtime Environment Variables

When ksqlDB Server starts, it checks for shell environment variables that control the host Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Set the following environment variables to control options like heap size and Log4j configuration. These settings are applied by the ksql-run-class shell script when ksqlDB Server starts.

KSQL_CLASSPATH

Path to the Java deployment of ksqlDB Server and related Java classes. The following command shows an example KSQL_CLASSPATH setting.

bash export CLASSPATH=/usr/share/java/my-base/*:/usr/share/java/my-ksql-server/*:/opt/my-company/lib/ksql/*:$CLASSPATH export KSQL_CLASSPATH="${CLASSPATH}"

KSQL_LOG4J_OPTS

Specifies ksqlDB Server logging options by using the Log4j configuration settings. The following example command sets the default Log4j configuration.

bash export KSQL_LOG4J_OPTS="-Dlog4j.configuration=file:$KSQL_CONFIG_DIR/log4j-rolling.properties"

For more information, see Log4j Configuration.

KSQL_JMX_OPTS

Specifies ksqlDB metrics options by using Java Management Extensions (JMX). The following example command sets the default JMX configuration.

bash export KSQL_JMX_OPTS="-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false "

For more information, see Monitoring and Management Using JMX Technology.

KSQL_HEAP_OPTS

Specifies the initial size and maximum size of the JVM heap for the ksqlDB Server process. The following example command sets the initial size and maximum size to 15GB.

bash export KSQL_HEAP_OPTS="-Xms15G -Xmx15G"

For more information, see JRockit JVM Heap Size Options.

KSQL_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS

Specifies performance tuning options for the JVM that runs ksqlDB Server. The following example command sets the default JVM configuration.

bash export KSQL_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS="-server -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+CMSClassUnload ingEnabled -XX:+CMSScavengeBeforeRemark -XX:+ExplicitGCInvokesConcurrent -XX:New Ratio=1 -Djava.awt.headless=true"

For more information, see D Command-Line Options.

JMX_PORT

Specifies the port that JMX uses to report metrics.

bash export JMX_PORT=1099

JAVA_HOME

Specifies the location of the java executable file.

bash export JAVA_HOME=<jdk-install-directory>

JMX Metrics

To enable JMX metrics, set JMX_PORT before starting the ksqlDB server:

export JMX_PORT=1099 && \
<path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-server-start <path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties

Run the ksql-print-metrics tool to see the available JMX metrics for ksqlDB.

<path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-print-metrics 

Your output should resemble:

    _confluent-ksql-default_bytes-consumed-total: 926543.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_num-active-queries: 4.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_ksql-engine-query-stats-RUNNING-queries: 4
    _confluent-ksql-default_ksql-engine-query-stats-NOT_RUNNING-queries: 0
    _confluent-ksql-default_messages-consumed-min: 0.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_messages-consumed-avg: 29.48784732897881
    _confluent-ksql-default_num-persistent-queries: 4.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_ksql-engine-query-stats-ERROR-queries: 0
    _confluent-ksql-default_num-idle-queries: 0.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_messages-consumed-per-sec: 105.07699698626074
    _confluent-ksql-default_messages-produced-per-sec: 11.256903025105757
    _confluent-ksql-default_error-rate: 0.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_ksql-engine-query-stats-PENDING_SHUTDOWN-queries: 0
    _confluent-ksql-default_ksql-engine-query-stats-REBALANCING-queries: 0
    _confluent-ksql-default_messages-consumed-total: 10503.0
    _confluent-ksql-default_ksql-engine-query-stats-CREATED-queries: 0
    _confluent-ksql-default_messages-consumed-max: 100.1243737430132

The following table describes the available ksqlDB metrics.

JMX Metric	Description
bytes-consumed-total	Number of bytes consumed across all queries.
error-rate	Number of messages that have been consumed but not processed across all queries.
messages-consumed-avg	Average number of messages consumed by a query per second.
messages-consumed-per-sec	Number of messages consumed per second across all queries.
messages-consumed-min	Number of messages consumed per second for the query with the fewest messages consumed per second.
messages-consumed-max	Number of messages consumed per second for the query with the most messages consumed per second.
messages-consumed-total	Number of messages consumed across all queries.
messages-produced-per-sec	Number of messages produced per second across all queries.
num-persistent-queries	Number of persistent queries that are currently executing.
num-active-queries	Number of queries that are actively processing messages.
num-idle-queries	Number of queries with no messages available to process.

Non-interactive (Headless) ksqlDB Usage

ksqlDB supports locked-down, "headless" deployment scenarios where interactive use of the ksqlDB cluster is disabled. For example, the CLI enables a team of users to develop and verify their queries interactively on a shared testing ksqlDB cluster. But when you deploy these queries in your production environment, you want to lock down access to ksqlDB servers, version-control the exact queries, and store them in a .sql file. This prevents users from interacting directly with the production ksqlDB cluster. For more information, see Headless Deployment.

You can configure servers to exclusively run a predefined script (.sql file) via the --queries-file command line argument, or the ksql.queries.file setting in the ksqlDB configuration file. If a server is running a predefined script, it will automatically disable its REST endpoint and interactive use.

Tip

When both the ksql.queries.file property and the --queries-file argument are present, the --queries-file argument takes precedence.

Schema resolution

When you run a ksqlDB application that uses Avro or Protobuf, ksqlDB infers chemas from Schema Registry automatically, but the behavior after restarting ksqlDB Server differs between interactive and non-interactive mode.

• Interactive mode: after ksqlDB Server restarts, it doesn't contact Schema Registry again to resolve schemas, because it has previously persisted the information to the command topic.
• Non-interactive mode: after ksqlDB Server restarts, it does contact Schema Registry again to resolve schemas. If schemas have changed, unexpected behavior in your ksqlDB applications may occur.

Important

If your ksqlDB applications use Avro or Protobuf, and you run them in non-interactive mode, ensure that the schemas don't change between ksqlDB Server restarts, or provide the schema explicitly. If the schema may evolve, it's safer to provide the schema explicitly.

Start headless ksqlDB Server from the command line

To start the ksqlDB Server in headless, non-interactive configuration via the --queries-file command line argument:

Create a predefined script and save as an .sql file.

Start the ksqlDB Server with the predefined script specified by using the --queries-file argument.

<path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-server-start <path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties \
--queries-file /path/to/queries.sql

Start headless ksqlDB Server by using the configuration file

To start the ksqlDB Server in headless, non-interactive configuration via the ksql.queries.file in the server configuration file:

Configure the ksql-server.properties file. The bootstrap.servers and ksql.queries.file are required. For more information about configuration, see ksqlDB configuration file.

# Inform the ksqlDB server where the Kafka cluster can be found:
bootstrap.servers=localhost:9092

# Define the location of the queries file to execute
ksql.queries.file=/path/to/queries.sql

Start the ksqlDB server with the configuration file specified.

<path-to-confluent>/bin/ksql-server-start <path-to-confluent>/etc/ksql/ksql-server.properties

Page last revised on: 2020-04-29

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Last update: 2020-04-29