Docs Connect Guides Get Started Get Started This topic explains how to get started with Redpanda Connect. Install You can install Redpanda Connect using the rpk command-line tool (CLI). The rpk CLI allows you to create and manage data pipelines with Redpanda Connect as well as interact with Redpanda clusters. Also interacting with a Redpanda cluster? If you want to use rpk to also communicate with a Redpanda cluster, ensure the version of rpk that you install matches the version of Redpanda running in your cluster. Linux Install rpk for Linux: To install the latest version of rpk: curl -LO https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/latest/download/rpk-linux-amd64.zip && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH" && unzip rpk-linux-amd64.zip -d ~/.local/bin/ To install a version other than the latest: curl -LO https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/download/v<version>/rpk-linux-amd64.zip && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH" && unzip rpk-linux-amd64.zip -d ~/.local/bin/ Run rpk --version to display the version of the rpk binary: rpk --version rpk version 24.2.5 (rev ea553d6) MacOS Homebrew Manual Download If you don’t have Homebrew installed, install it. Install rpk: brew install redpanda-data/tap/redpanda Run rpk --version to display the version of the rpk binary: rpk --version rpk version 24.2.5 (rev ea553d6) This method installs the latest version of rpk, which is supported only with the latest version of Redpanda. To install rpk through a manual download, choose an option that corresponds to your system architecture. For example, if you have an M1 or M2 chip, use the Apple Silicon instructions. Intel macOS Apple Silicon Install rpk for macOS: To install the latest version of rpk: curl -LO https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/latest/download/rpk-darwin-amd64.zip && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH" && unzip rpk-darwin-amd64.zip -d ~/.local/bin/ To install a version other than the latest: curl -LO https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/download/v<version>/rpk-darwin-amd64.zip && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH" && unzip rpk-darwin-amd64.zip -d ~/.local/bin/ Run rpk --version to display the version of the rpk binary: rpk --version rpk version 24.2.5 (rev ea553d6) Install rpk for macOS: To install the latest version of rpk: curl -LO https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/latest/download/rpk-darwin-arm64.zip && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH" && unzip rpk-darwin-arm64.zip -d ~/.local/bin/ To install a version other than the latest: curl -LO https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/download/v<version>/rpk-darwin-arm64.zip && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH" && unzip rpk-darwin-arm64.zip -d ~/.local/bin/ Run rpk --version to display the version of the rpk binary: rpk --version rpk version 24.2.5 (rev ea553d6) Docker To use rpk in Docker, you can use the Redpanda Docker image, which includes both Redpanda and rpk as part of the installation. docker pull docker.redpanda.com/redpandadata/connect Run A Redpanda Connect stream pipeline is configured with a single config file, you can generate a fresh one with: rpk connect create > connect.yaml For Docker installations: docker run --rm docker.redpanda.com/redpandadata/connect create > ./connect.yaml The main sections that make up a config are input, pipeline and output. When you generate a fresh config it’ll simply pipe stdin to stdout like this: input: stdin: {} pipeline: processors: [] output: stdout: {} Eventually we’ll want to configure a more useful input and output, but for now this is useful for quickly testing processors. You can execute this config with: rpk connect run connect.yaml For Docker installations: docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd)/connect.yaml:/connect.yaml docker.redpanda.com/redpandadata/connect run Anything you write to stdin will get written unchanged to stdout, cool! Resist the temptation to play with this for hours, there’s more stuff to try out. Next, let’s add some processing steps in order to mutate messages. The most powerful one is the mapping processor which allows us to perform mappings, let’s add a mapping to uppercase our messages: input: stdin: {} pipeline: processors: - mapping: root = content().uppercase() output: stdout: {} Now your messages should come out in all caps. You can add as many processing steps as you like, and since processors are what make Redpanda Connect powerful they are worth experimenting with. Let’s create a more advanced pipeline that works with JSON documents: input: stdin: {} pipeline: processors: - sleep: duration: 500ms - mapping: | root.doc = this root.first_name = this.names.index(0).uppercase() root.last_name = this.names.index(-1).hash("sha256").encode("base64") output: stdout: {} First, we sleep for 500 milliseconds just to keep the suspense going. Next, we restructure our input JSON document by nesting it within a field doc, we map the upper-cased first element of names to a new field first_name. Finally, we map the hashed and base64 encoded value of the last element of names to a new field last_name. Try running that config with some sample documents: echo '{"id":"1","names":["celine","dion"]} {"id":"2","names":["chad","robert","kroeger"]}' | rpk connect run connect.yaml For Docker installations: echo '{"id":"1","names":["celine","dion"]} {"id":"2","names":["chad","robert","kroeger"]}' | docker run --rm -i -v $(pwd)/connect.yaml:/connect.yaml docker.redpanda.com/redpandadata/connect run You should see this output in the logs: {"doc":{"id":"1","names":["celine","dion"]},"first_name":"CELINE","last_name":"1VvPgCW9sityz5XAMGdI2BTA7/44Wb3cANKxqhiCo50="} {"doc":{"id":"2","names":["chad","robert","kroeger"]},"first_name":"CHAD","last_name":"uXXg5wCKPjpyj/qbivPbD9H9CZ5DH/F0Q1Twytnt2hQ="} See also: Bloblang Walkthrough Inputs Processors Outputs Monitoring Cookbooks More about configuration Back to top × Simple online edits For simple changes, such as fixing a typo, you can edit the content directly on GitHub. Edit on GitHub Or, open an issue to let us know about something that you want us to change. Open an issue Contribution guide For extensive content updates, or if you prefer to work locally, read our contribution guide . Was this helpful? thumb_up thumb_down group Ask in the community mail Share your feedback group_add Make a contribution Guides Bloblang