# Configure a Connection to a Redpanda Cluster

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [streaming-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming-full.txt)

---
title: Configure a Connection to a Redpanda Cluster
latest-redpanda-tag: v24.3.9
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
# EOL = End-of-Life (support lifecycle status)
page-is-nearing-eol: "false"
page-is-past-eol: "true"
page-eol-date: December 3, 2025
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
docname: config/connect-to-redpanda
page-component-name: streaming
page-version: "24.3"
page-component-version: "24.3"
page-component-title: Streaming
page-relative-src-path: config/connect-to-redpanda.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/docs/edit/v/24.3/modules/console/pages/config/connect-to-redpanda.adoc
description: This topic provides instructions on configuring Redpanda Console to connect to a Redpanda cluster. The configuration ensures that Redpanda Console can communicate with your Redpanda brokers.
page-git-created-date: "2024-09-11"
page-git-modified-date: "2024-12-03"
support-status: past end-of-life
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming/24.3/console/config/connect-to-redpanda.md -->

This topic provides instructions on configuring Redpanda Console to connect to a Redpanda cluster. The configuration ensures that Redpanda Console can communicate with your Redpanda brokers.

## [](#prerequisites)Prerequisites

Ensure that you have:

-   Access to your Redpanda cluster’s broker URLs.

-   The necessary authentication credentials if your cluster requires SASL, TLS, or other security measures.


## [](#configure-a-connection-to-redpanda)Configure a connection to Redpanda

You must set up a connection to the Kafka API on your Redpanda brokers. This includes specifying the brokers' URLs, client identifiers, and any security protocols such as SASL or TLS.

```yaml
kafka:
  brokers:
    - <hostname>:<port>

  # Optional settings:
  # clientId: console  # The client ID you can use to identify Redpanda Console to the Redpanda cluster.

  # Specify a rack in multi-zone Redpanda clusters to reduce costs by consuming messages from local replicas:
  # rackId: "zone-a"

  # SASL configuration (optional) if your Redpanda cluster uses SASL for authentication:
  # sasl:
    # enabled: false
    # username: my-username
    # password: my-password
    # mechanism: PLAIN  # Options include PLAIN, SCRAM-SHA-256, SCRAM-SHA-512, GSSAPI, OAUTHBEARER, AWS_MSK_IAM

  # TLS configuration (optional) if your Redpanda cluster uses TLS for secure connections:
  # tls:
    # enabled: false
    # caFilepath: "/path/to/ca-cert.pem"
    # certFilepath: "/path/to/client-cert.pem"
    # keyFilepath: "/path/to/client-key.pem"
    # insecureSkipTlsVerify: false  # Set to true if you want to skip server certificate validation
```

If your Redpanda cluster uses advanced security features such as Kerberos (GSSAPI), OAuth, or AWS MSK IAM, you need to configure these settings in the `sasl` block.

For example, to configure Kerberos:

```yaml
kafka:
  sasl:
    enabled: true
    mechanism: GSSAPI
    gssapi:
      authType: KEYTAB_AUTH
      keyTabPath: "/path/to/keytab"
      kerberosConfigPath: "/path/to/krb5.conf"
      serviceName: "kafka"
      username: "my-username"
      password: "my-password"
      realm: "MY.REALM"
      enableFast: true
```

## [](#admin)Configure access to the Redpanda Admin API

Configuring a connection to the Redpanda Admin API enables additional Redpanda-specific features in Redpanda Console, such as viewing the Redpanda version, managing data transforms and SASL-SCRAM users, and generating debug bundles.

```yaml
redpanda:
  adminApi:
    enabled: true
    urls: ["<hostname>:<port>"]
    # Optional settings for authentication and TLS:
    # username: admin
    # password: my-password
    # tls:
      # enabled: true
      # caFilepath: "/path/to/ca-cert.pem"
      # certFilepath: "/path/to/client-cert.pem"
      # keyFilepath: "/path/to/client-key.pem"
      # insecureSkipTlsVerify: false
```

> 📝 **NOTE**
>
> Make sure to include the URLs of _all_ brokers in the `redpanda.adminApi.urls` array.

## [](#suggested-reading)Suggested reading

-   [Configure Message Deserialization in Redpanda Console](https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming/24.3/console/config/deserialization/)

-   [Redpanda Console Security](https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming/24.3/console/config/security/)