Create a SQL Server (Debezium) Source Connector

You can use an SQL Server (Debezium) Source connector to import updates to Redpanda from SQL Server.

Prerequisites

Before you can create an SQL Server (Debezium) Source connector in the Redpanda Cloud, you must:

  • Make the SQL Server (Debezium) database accessible from the connector instance.

  • Create a SQL Server (Debezium) user with the necessary permissions.

Limitations

The SQL Server (Debezium) Source connector has the following limitations:

  • Only JSON, CloudEvents or AVRO formats can be used for a Kafka message key and value format.

  • SQL Server (Debezium) connector can work with only a single task at a time per database name.

Create an SQL Server (Debezium) Source connector

To create the SQL Server (Debezium) Source connector:

  1. In Redpanda Cloud, click Connectors in the navigation menu, and then click Create Connector.

  2. Select Import from SQL Server (Debezium).

  3. On the Create Connector page, specify the following required connector configuration options:

    Property name Property key Description

    Topic prefix

    topic.prefix

    A topic prefix that identifies and provides a namespace for the particular database server/cluster that is capturing changes. The topic prefix should be unique across all other connectors because it is used as a prefix for all Kafka topic names that receive events emitted by this connector. Only alphanumeric characters, hyphens, dots, and underscores are accepted.

    Hostname

    database.hostname

    A resolvable hostname or IP address of the SQL Server database server.

    Port

    database.port

    Integer port number of the SQL Server database server.

    User

    database.user

    Name of the SQL Server user to be used when connecting to the SQL Server database.

    Password

    database.password

    The password of the SQL Server database user who will be connecting to the SQL Server database.

    Database instance

    database.instance

    Specifies the instance name of the SQL Server named instance. If both database.port and database.instance are specified, database.instance is ignored.

    Databases

    database.names

    The comma-separated list of the SQL Server database names from which to stream the changes.

    Kafka message key format

    key.converter

    Format of the key in the Redpanda topic.

    Message key JSON contains schema

    key.converter.schemas.enable

    Enable to specify that the message key contains schema in the schema field.

    Kafka message value format

    value.converter

    Format of the value in the Redpanda topic.

    Message value JSON contains schema

    value.converter.schemas.enable

    Enable to specify that the message value contains schema in the schema field.

    Max tasks

    tasks.max

    The maximum number of tasks that the connector can use to capture data from the database instance. If the Databases list contains more than one element, you can increase the value of this property to a number less than or equal to the number of elements in the list. Default: 1

    Connector name

    name

    Globally-unique name to use for this connector.

  4. Click Next. Review the connector properties specified, then click Create.

Map data

Use the appropriate key or value converter (input data format) for your data as follows:

  • Use the Include Schemas, Include Tables, and Include Columns properties to define lists of columns, tables, and schemas to read from. Alternatively, use Exclude Schemas, Exclude Tables, and Exclude Columns to define lists of columns, tables, and schemas to exclude from sources list.

  • Use only JSON (org.apache.kafka.connect.json.JsonConverter), AVRO (io.confluent.connect.avro.AvroConverter), and CloudEvents (io.debezium.converters.CloudEventsConverter) formats for the Kafka message key and value format.

Test the connection

After the connector is created:

  1. Open Redpanda Console, click the Topics tab, and select a topic. Check to confirm that it contains data migrated from SQL Server. Alternatively, run rpk consume to check the topic.

  2. Click the Connectors tab to confirm that no issues have been reported for the connector.

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