Kafka

Grafana Cloud

Kafka integration for Grafana Cloud

Apache Kafka is an open-source distributed event streaming platform used by thousands of companies for high-performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission-critical applications.

This integration includes 8 useful alerts and 7 pre-built dashboards to help monitor and visualize Kafka metrics.

Before you begin

In order for the integration to work, you must configure a JMX exporter on each instance composing your Kafka Cluster, including all brokers, zookeepers, ksqldb, schema registries and kafka connect nodes.

Each of these instances has its own JMX Exporter config file. The following files should be used for each respective kafka component. For more details on how to configure your Kafka JVM with the JMX exporter, please refer to the JMX Exporter documentation.

We strongly recommend that you configure a separate user for the Agent, and give it only the strictly mandatory security privileges necessary for monitoring your node, as per the documentation.

Install Kafka integration for Grafana Cloud

In your Grafana Cloud stack, click Connections in the left-hand menu.
Find Kafka and click its tile to open the integration.
Review the prerequisites in the Configuration Details tab and set up Grafana Agent to send Kafka metrics to your Grafana Cloud instance.
Click Install to add this integration’s pre-built dashboards and alerts to your Grafana Cloud instance, and you can start monitoring your Kafka setup.

Post-install configuration for the Kafka integration

After enabling the metrics generation, instruct Grafana Agent to scrape your Kafka nodes.

The JMX exporter exposes a /metrics endpoint. To scrape it, add the snippets above to your agent configuration file.

Make sure to change targets in the snippets according to your environment.

If you want to monitor consumption lag as well, you will need to enable the kafka_exporter, which is embbeded in the Grafana Agent.

Enable the integration by adding the provided snippet to your agent configuration file.

For a full description of configuration options see Grafana Agent configuration reference in the agent documentation.

Configuration snippets for Grafana Agent

Below integrations, insert the following lines and change the URLs according to your environment:

  kafka_exporter: # one job per node
    enabled: true
    kafka_uris: ['kafka-node1:9091']
    kafka_cluster_name: '<your-cluster-name>'
    instance: '<your-instance-name>'

Below metrics.configs.scrape_configs, insert the following lines and change the URLs according to your environment:

    - job_name: integrations/kafka # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-zookeeper # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['zookeeper-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-connect # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-connect-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-schemaregistry # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-schemaregistry-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-ksqldb # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-ksqldb-node:7001']

Full example configuration for Grafana Agent

Refer to the following Grafana Agent configuration for a complete example that contains all the snippets used for the Kafka integration. This example also includes metrics that are sent to monitor your Grafana Agent instance.

integrations:
  prometheus_remote_write:
  - basic_auth:
      password: <your_prom_pass>
      username: <your_prom_user>
    url: <your_prom_url>
  agent:
    enabled: true
    relabel_configs:
    - action: replace
      source_labels:
      - agent_hostname
      target_label: instance
    - action: replace
      target_label: job
      replacement: "integrations/agent-check"
    metric_relabel_configs:
    - action: keep
      regex: (prometheus_target_.*|prometheus_sd_discovered_targets|agent_build.*|agent_wal_samples_appended_total|process_start_time_seconds)
      source_labels:
      - __name__
  # Add here any snippet that belongs to the `integrations` section.
  # For a correct indentation, paste snippets copied from Grafana Cloud at the beginning of the line.
  kafka_exporter: # one job per node
    enabled: true
    kafka_uris: ['kafka-node1:9091']
    kafka_cluster_name: '<your-cluster-name>'
    instance: '<your-instance-name>'
logs:
  configs:
  - clients:
    - basic_auth:
        password: <your_loki_pass>
        username: <your_loki_user>
      url: <your_loki_url>
    name: integrations
    positions:
      filename: /tmp/positions.yaml
    scrape_configs:
      # Add here any snippet that belongs to the `logs.configs.scrape_configs` section.
      # For a correct indentation, paste snippets copied from Grafana Cloud at the beginning of the line.
metrics:
  configs:
  - name: integrations
    remote_write:
    - basic_auth:
        password: <your_prom_pass>
        username: <your_prom_user>
      url: <your_prom_url>
    scrape_configs:
      # Add here any snippet that belongs to the `metrics.configs.scrape_configs` section.
      # For a correct indentation, paste snippets copied from Grafana Cloud at the beginning of the line.
    - job_name: integrations/kafka # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-zookeeper # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['zookeeper-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-connect # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-connect-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-schemaregistry # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-schemaregistry-node:7001']
    - job_name: integrations/kafka-ksqldb # one job per node
      relabel_configs:
        - replacement: '<your-instance-name>'
          target_label: instance
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['kafka-ksqldb-node:7001']
  global:
    scrape_interval: 60s
  wal_directory: /tmp/grafana-agent-wal

Dashboards

The Kafka integration installs the following dashboards in your Grafana Cloud instance to help monitor your system.

Kafka Connect Overview
Kafka Overview
Kafka Topics
Kafka lag overview
Schema Registry Overview
Zookeeper overview
ksqldb Overview

Kafka Overview dashboard

Kafka Connect Overview dashboard

Kafka KSQL Overview dashboard

Alerts

The Kafka integration includes the following useful alerts:

Alert	Description
KafkaOfflinePartitonCount	Critical: After successful leader election, if the leader for partition dies, then the partition moves to the OfflinePartition state. Offline partitions are not available for reading and writing. Restart the brokers, if needed, and check the logs for errors.
KafkaUnderReplicatedPartitionCount	Critical: Under-replicated partitions means that one or more replicas are not available. This is usually because a broker is down. Restart the broker, and check for errors in the logs.
KafkaActiveController	Critical: No broker in the cluster is reporting as the active controller in the last 1 minute interval. During steady state there should be only one active controller per cluster.
KafkaUncleanLeaderElection	Critical: There is unclean partition leader elections in the cluster reported in the last 1 minute interval. When unclean leader election is held among out-of-sync replicas, there is a possibility of data loss if any messages were not synced prior to the loss of the former leader. So if the number of unclean elections is greater than 0, investigate broker logs to determine why leaders were re-elected, and look for WARN or ERROR messages. Consider setting the broker configuration parameter unclean.leader.election.enable to false so that a replica outside of the set of in-sync replicas is never elected leader.
KafkaISRExpandRate	Warning: If a broker goes down, ISR for some of the partitions shrink. When that broker is up again, ISRs are expanded once the replicas are fully caught up. Other than that, the expected value for ISR expansion rate is 0. If ISR is expanding and shrinking frequently, adjust Allowed replica lag.
KafkaISRShrinkRate	Warning: If a broker goes down, ISR for some of the partitions shrink. When that broker is up again, ISRs are expanded once the replicas are fully caught up. Other than that, the expected value for ISR shrink rate is 0. If ISR is expanding and shrinking frequently, adjust Allowed replica lag.
KafkaBrokerCount	Critical: Broker count is 0.
KafkaZookeeperSyncConnect	Warning: Zookeeper Sync Disconected.

Metrics

The most important metrics provided by the Kafka integration, which are used on the pre-built dashboards and Prometheus alerts, are as follows:

jvm_gc_collection_seconds_sum
jvm_memory_bytes_max
jvm_memory_bytes_used
kafka_cluster_partition_underminisr
kafka_cluster_partition_underreplicated
kafka_connect_app_info
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_connection_count
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_failed_authentication_total
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_incoming_byte_rate
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_io_ratio
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_network_io_rate
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_outgoing_byte_rate
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_request_rate
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_response_rate
kafka_connect_connect_metrics_successful_authentication_rate
kafka_connect_connect_worker_metrics_connector_destroyed_task_count
kafka_connect_connect_worker_metrics_connector_failed_task_count
kafka_connect_connect_worker_metrics_connector_paused_task_count
kafka_connect_connect_worker_metrics_connector_running_task_count
kafka_connect_connect_worker_metrics_connector_total_task_count
kafka_connect_connect_worker_metrics_connector_unassigned_task_count
kafka_connect_connect_worker_rebalance_metrics_rebalance_avg_time_ms
kafka_connect_connect_worker_rebalance_metrics_time_since_last_rebalance_ms
kafka_connect_connector_metrics
kafka_connect_connector_task_metrics_batch_size_avg
kafka_connect_connector_task_metrics_batch_size_max
kafka_connect_connector_task_metrics_offset_commit_avg_time_ms
kafka_connect_connector_task_metrics_offset_commit_success_percentage
kafka_connect_connector_task_metrics_pause_ratio
kafka_connect_connector_task_metrics_running_ratio
kafka_connect_sink_task_metrics_partition_count
kafka_connect_sink_task_metrics_put_batch_avg_time_ms
kafka_connect_sink_task_metrics_put_batch_max_time_ms
kafka_connect_source_task_metrics_poll_batch_avg_time_ms
kafka_connect_source_task_metrics_poll_batch_max_time_ms
kafka_connect_source_task_metrics_source_record_active_count_avg
kafka_connect_source_task_metrics_source_record_active_count_max
kafka_connect_source_task_metrics_source_record_poll_rate
kafka_connect_source_task_metrics_source_record_write_rate
kafka_connect_task_error_metrics_deadletterqueue_produce_requests
kafka_connect_task_error_metrics_total_errors_logged
kafka_connect_task_error_metrics_total_record_errors
kafka_connect_task_error_metrics_total_record_failures
kafka_connect_task_error_metrics_total_records_skipped
kafka_connect_task_error_metrics_total_retries
kafka_consumer_lag_millis
kafka_consumergroup_current_offset
kafka_consumergroup_uncommitted_offsets
kafka_controller_ControllerStats_UncleanLeaderElectionsPerSec
kafka_controller_KafkaController_ActiveControllerCount
kafka_controller_KafkaController_OfflinePartitionsCount
kafka_controller_controllerstats_uncleanleaderelectionspersec
kafka_controller_kafkacontroller_activecontrollercount
kafka_controller_kafkacontroller_offlinepartitionscount
kafka_controller_kafkacontroller_preferredreplicaimbalancecount
kafka_coordinator_group_groupmetadatamanager_numgroups
kafka_coordinator_group_groupmetadatamanager_numgroupscompletingrebalance
kafka_coordinator_group_groupmetadatamanager_numgroupsdead
kafka_coordinator_group_groupmetadatamanager_numgroupsempty
kafka_coordinator_group_groupmetadatamanager_numgroupspreparingrebalance
kafka_coordinator_group_groupmetadatamanager_numgroupsstable
kafka_log_log_logendoffset
kafka_log_log_logstartoffset
kafka_log_log_size
kafka_network_acceptor_acceptorblockedpercent
kafka_network_requestchannel_requestqueuesize
kafka_network_requestchannel_responsequeuesize
kafka_network_requestmetrics_localtimems
kafka_network_requestmetrics_remotetimems
kafka_network_requestmetrics_requestqueuetimems
kafka_network_requestmetrics_requestspersec
kafka_network_requestmetrics_responsequeuetimems
kafka_network_requestmetrics_responsesendtimems
kafka_network_socketserver_networkprocessoravgidlepercent
kafka_schema_registry_jersey_metrics_request_latency_99
kafka_schema_registry_jersey_metrics_request_rate
kafka_schema_registry_jetty_metrics_connections_active
kafka_schema_registry_registered_count
kafka_schema_registry_schemas_created
kafka_server_KafkaServer_BrokerState
kafka_server_ReplicaManager_IsrExpandsPerSec
kafka_server_ReplicaManager_IsrShrinksPerSec
kafka_server_ReplicaManager_UnderReplicatedPartitions
kafka_server_SessionExpireListener_ZooKeeperSyncConnectsPerSec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_bytesinpersec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_bytesoutpersec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_fetchmessageconversionspersec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_messagesinpersec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_producemessageconversionspersec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_totalfetchrequestspersec
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_totalproducerequestspersec
kafka_server_kafkarequesthandlerpool_requesthandleravgidlepercent_total
kafka_server_kafkaserver_brokerstate
kafka_server_replicamanager_isrexpandspersec
kafka_server_replicamanager_isrshrinkspersec
kafka_server_replicamanager_leadercount
kafka_server_replicamanager_partitioncount
kafka_server_replicamanager_underreplicatedpartitions
kafka_server_sessionexpirelistener_zookeeperauthfailurespersec
kafka_server_sessionexpirelistener_zookeeperdisconnectspersec
kafka_server_sessionexpirelistener_zookeeperexpirespersec
kafka_server_sessionexpirelistener_zookeepersyncconnectspersec
kafka_server_socketservermetrics_connection_close_rate
kafka_server_socketservermetrics_connection_count
kafka_server_socketservermetrics_connection_creation_rate
kafka_server_socketservermetrics_connections
kafka_server_zookeeperclientmetrics_zookeeperrequestlatencyms
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_delete_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_delete_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_delete_rate
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_fetch_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_fetch_rate
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_put_if_absent_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_put_if_absent_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_put_if_absent_rate_rate
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_put_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_put_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_put_rate
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_restore_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_restore_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_state_metrics_restore_rate
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_commit_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_commit_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_poll_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_poll_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_process_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_process_latency_max
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_punctuate_latency_avg
kafka_streams_stream_thread_metrics_punctuate_latency_max
kafka_topic_partition_current_offset
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_error_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_liveness_indicator
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_messages_consumed_per_sec
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_messages_produced_per_sec
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_not_running_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_num_active_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_num_idle_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_num_persistent_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_pending_shutdown_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_rebalancing_queries
ksql_ksql_engine_query_stats_running_queries
ksql_ksql_metrics_ksql_queries_query_status
process_cpu_seconds_total
zookeeper_avgrequestlatency
zookeeper_inmemorydatatree_nodecount
zookeeper_inmemorydatatree_watchcount
zookeeper_maxrequestlatency
zookeeper_minrequestlatency
zookeeper_numaliveconnections
zookeeper_outstandingrequests
zookeeper_quorumsize
zookeeper_status_quorumsize
zookeeper_ticktime

Changelog

# 0.0.6 - September 2023

* New Filter Metrics option for configuring the Grafana Agent, which saves on metrics cost by dropping any metric not used by this integration. Beware that anything custom built using metrics that are not on the snippet will stop working.
* New hostname relabel option, which applies the instance name you write on the text box to the Grafana Agent configuration snippets, making it easier and less error prone to configure this mandatory label.

# 0.0.5 - May 2023

* Update mixin to latest version:
  - Kafka overview: Show only 0.99 percentile by default
  - Kafka lag: Change table panel to bar chart for partitions per topic panel
  - Kafka lag: Stretch kafka lag dashboard to full screen width
  - Kafka lag panels: Convert old graph to timeseries (message per sec/per minute)
  - Kafka lag: Change delta() to increase() for per minute metrics
  - Add multichoice and 'All' options supportable in 'job'
  - Zookeeper dashboard: Use sentence case
  - Zookeeper dashboard: Get templated variables by non quorum metric. Otherwise, standalone zookeeper couldn't be discovered
  - Zookeeper dashboard: Add support in queries to jmx_config metrics notations used in Strimzi operator
  - Zookeeper dashboard: Convert graphs to timeseries panel
  - Zookeeper dashboard: Temp fix for latency graphs ignoring (minrequestlatency, ticktime)

# 0.0.4 - December 2022

* Update mixin to latest version:
  - Fix missing job and instance label on all the dashboards
  - Fix alert names to have a Kafka prefix

# 0.0.3 - February 2022

* Added the following alerts:
  - OfflinePartitonCount
  - UnderReplicatedPartitionCount
  - ActiveController
  - UncleanLeaderElection
  - ISRExpandRate
  - ISRShrinkRate
  - BrokerCount
  - ZookeeperSyncConnect

# 0.0.2 - October 2021

* Update mixin to latest version:
  - Update all rate queries to use `$__rate_interval` so they respect the default resolution

# 0.0.1 - June 2021

* Initial release

Cost

By connecting your Kafka instance to Grafana Cloud, you might incur charges. To view information on the number of active series that your Grafana Cloud account uses for metrics included in each Cloud tier, see Active series and dpm usage and Cloud tier pricing.

Feedback

Kafka integration for Grafana Cloud

Before you begin

Install Kafka integration for Grafana Cloud

Post-install configuration for the Kafka integration

Configuration snippets for Grafana Agent

Full example configuration for Grafana Agent

Dashboards

Alerts

Metrics

Changelog

Cost

Related documentation

Feedback

Kafka integration for Grafana Cloud

Before you begin

Install Kafka integration for Grafana Cloud

Post-install configuration for the Kafka integration

Configuration snippets for Grafana Agent

Full example configuration for Grafana Agent

Dashboards

Alerts

Metrics

Changelog

Cost

Related documentation

Related resources from Grafana Labs