What is Kafka authentication and how does it work?

What is Kafka authentication and how does it work?

Kafka authentication is the process of verifying the identity of users or applications trying to access Kafka. It ensures that only authorized entities can produce or consume messages.

What are the different authentication mechanisms available in Kafka?

Kafka supports several authentication mechanisms, including SASL (Simple Authentication and Security Layer) with various protocols like PLAIN, SCRAM, and GSSAPI, as well as SSL/TLS for secure connections.

How do I configure SASL authentication in Kafka?

To configure SASL authentication, you need to set the appropriate properties in the server.properties and client.properties files, specifying the SASL mechanism and the JAAS configuration.

Can you explain what JAAS is?

JAAS (Java Authentication and Authorization Service) is a Java API that allows users to authenticate and authorize users in a Java application, including Kafka.