Run Kpow for Apache Kafka in Kubernetes

This is the Kpow for Apache Kafka® Helm Charts Repository, published at https://charts.kpow.io.

Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes.

Kpow is the all-in-one toolkit to manage, monitor, and learn about your Kafka resources.

View this repository and associated charts on ArtifactHUB.

Helm Charts

This repository contains a single Helm chart that uses the factorhouse/kpow-ee container on Dockerhub.

• Prerequisites
• Kubernetes
• Run Kpow in Kubernetes
  • Configure the Kpow Helm Repository
  • Start a Kpow Instance
  • Manage a Kpow Instance
  • Start Kpow with Local Changes
  • Manage Sensitive Environment Variables
  • Provide Files to the Kpow Pod
  • Kpow Memory and CPU Requirements

Prerequisites

To run the Dockerhub container requires a license. Start a free 30-day trial of Kpow today.

See Kpow on the AWS Marketplace to have Kpow billed automatically to your AWS account, no license required.

Kubernetes

You need to connect to a Kubernetes environment before you can install Kpow.

The following examples demonstrate installing Kpow in Amazon EKS.

Configure Kubernetes/EKS

aws eks --region <your-aws-region> update-kubeconfig --name <your-eks-cluster-name>

Updated context arn:aws:eks:<your-aws-region>:123123123:cluster/<your-eks-cluster-name> in /your/.kube/config

Confirm Kubernetes Cluster Availability

kubectl get svc

NAME         TYPE        CLUSTER-IP   EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)   AGE
kubernetes   ClusterIP   12.345.6.7   <none>        443/TCP   28h

Run Kpow in Kubernetes

Configure the Kpow Helm Repository

Add the Helm Repository in order to use the Kpow Helm Chart.

helm repo add kpow https://charts.kpow.io

Update Helm repositories to ensure you install the latest version of Kpow.

helm repo update

Start a Kpow Instance

The minimum information required by Kpow to operate is:

• License Details
• Kafka Bootstrap URL

See the Kpow Documentation for a full list of configuration options.

Start Kpow with config from '--set env.XYZ'

Quotation

Some fields require quoting of characters within the value-string when using --set env.XXX to pass configuration.

This particularly applies to commas, integers, and quotation marks (see examples below).

Command

Note, when using --set you may need to escape special characters with \, see:

https://helm.sh/docs/intro/using_helm/#the-format-and-limitations-of-set

Use the following to install from command line:

helm install --namespace factorhouse --create-namespace kpow kpow/kpow \
  --set env.LICENSE_ID="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001" \
  --set env.LICENSE_CODE="KPOW_CREDIT" \
  --set env.LICENSEE="Factor House\, Inc." \ <-- note the quoted comma
  --set env.LICENSE_EXPIRY="2022-01-01" \
  --set env.LICENSE_SIGNATURE="638......A51" \
  --set env.BOOTSTRAP="127.0.0.1:9092\,127.0.0.1:9093\,127.0.0.1:9094" \ <-- note the quoted commas
  --set env.SECURITY_PROTOCOL="SASL_PLAINTEXT" \
  --set env.SASL_MECHANISM="PLAIN" \
  --set env.SASL_JAAS_CONFIG="org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username=\"user\" password=\"secret\";" \ <-- note the quoted quotes
  --set env.LICENSE_CREDITS="7"

NAME: kpow
LAST DEPLOYED: Mon May 31 17:22:21 2021
NAMESPACE: factorhouse
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
NOTES:
1. Get the application URL by running these commands:
  export POD_NAME=$(kubectl get pods --namespace factorhouse -l "app.kubernetes.io/name=kpow,app.kubernetes.io/instance=kpow" -o jsonpath="{.items[0].metadata.name}")
  echo "Visit http://127.0.0.1:3000 to use your application"
  kubectl --namespace factorhouse port-forward $POD_NAME 3000:3000

Start Kpow with Environment Variables from a ConfigMap

You can configure Kpow with a ConfigMap of environment variables as follows:

helm install --namespace factorhouse --create-namespace kpow kpow/kpow --set envFromConfigMap=kpow-config

This approach expects a ConfigMap to be available within the factorhouse namespace in kube, to understand how to configure Kpow with a local ConfigMap template see Start Kpow with Local Changes.

See kpow-config.yaml.example for an example ConfigMapfile.

See the Kubernetes documentation on configuring all key value pairs in a config map as environment variables for more information.

Manage a Kpow Instance

Set the $POD_NAME variable and test the Kpow UI

Follow the notes instructions to set the $POD_NAME variable and configure port forwarding to the Kpow UI.

export POD_NAME=$(kubectl get pods --namespace factorhouse -l "app.kubernetes.io/name=kpow,app.kubernetes.io/instance=kpow" -o jsonpath="{.items[0].metadata.name}")
echo "Visit http://127.0.0.1:3000 to use your application"
kubectl --namespace factorhouse port-forward $POD_NAME 3000:3000

Kpow is now available on http://127.0.0.1:3000.

Check the Kpow Pod

kubectl describe pods --namespace factorhouse

Name:         kpow-9988df6b6-vvf8z
Namespace:    factorhouse
Priority:     0
Node:         ip-172-31-33-42.ap-southeast-2.compute.internal/172.31.33.42
Start Time:   Mon, 31 May 2021 17:22:22 +1000
Labels:       app.kubernetes.io/instance=kpow
              app.kubernetes.io/name=kpow
              pod-template-hash=9988df6b6
Annotations:  kubernetes.io/psp: eks.privileged
Status:       Running

View the Kpow Pod Logs

kubectl logs --namespace factorhouse $POD_NAME 

11:36:49.111 INFO  [main] operatr.system ? start Kpow
...

Remove Kpow

helm delete --namespace factorhouse kpow

Start Kpow with Local Changes

You can run Kpow with local edits to these charts and provide local configuration when running Kpow.

Pull and Untar the Kpow Charts

helm pull kpow/kpow --untar --untardir .

Make Local Edits

Make any edits required to kpow/Chart.yaml or kpow/values.yaml (adding volume mounts, etc).

Run Local Charts

The command to run local charts is slightly different, see ./kpow rather than kpow/kpow.

helm install --namespace factorhouse --create-namespace kpow ./kpow <.. --set configuration, etc ..>

Run with Local ConfigMap Configuration

Place your local ConfigMap in the ./kpow/templates/ directory.

Your local ConfigMap can then be referenced with --set envFromConfigMap=kpow-config.

helm install --namespace factorhouse --create-namespace kpow ./kpow --set envFromConfigMap=kpow-config

See kpow-config.yaml.example for an example ConfigMap file.

See the Kubernetes documentation on configuring all key value pairs in a config map as environment variables for more information.

Manage Sensitive Environment Variables

This helm chart accepts the name of a secret containing sensitive parameters, e.g.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: kpow-secrets
data:
  SASL_JAAS_CONFIG: a3JnLmFwYWNoXS5rYWZrYS5jb21tb24uc2VjdXJpdHkucGxhaW4uUGxhaW5Mb2dpbk2vZHVsZSByZXF1aXJiZCB1c2VybmFtZT0iTFQ1V0ZaV1BRWUpHNzRJQyIgcGFzc3dvcmQ9IjlYUFVYS3BLYUQxYzVJdXVNRjRPKzZ2NxJ0a1E4aS9yWUp6YlppdlgvZnNiTG51eGY4SnlFT1dUeXMvTnJ1bTAiBwo=
  CONFLUENT_API_SECRET: NFJSejlReFNTTXlTcGhXdjNLMHNYY1F6UGNURmdadlNYT0ZXSXViWFJySmx2N3A2WStSenROQnVpYThvNG1NSRo=

kubectl apply -f ./kpow-secrets.yaml --namespace factorhouse

Then run the helm chart (this can be used in conjunction with envFromConfigMap)

See the Kubernetes documentation on configuring all key value pairs in a secret as environment variables for more information.

helm install --namespace factorhouse --create-namespace kpow ./kpow --set envFromSecret=kpow-secrets --set envFromConfigMap=kpow-config

Provide Files to the Kpow Pod

There are occasions where you must provide files to the Kpow Pod in order for Kpow to run correctly, such files include:

• RBAC configuration
• SSL Keystores
• SSL Truststores

How you provide these files is down to user preference, we are not able to provide any support or instruction in this regard.

You may find the Kubernetes documentation on injecting data into applications useful.

Kpow Memory and CPU Requirements

These charts run Kpow with Guaranteed QoS, having resource request and limit set to these values by default:

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 2
    memory: 8Gi
  requests:
    cpu: 2
    memory: 8Gi

These default resource settings are conservative, suited to a deployment of Kpow that manages multiple Kafka clusters and associated resources.

When running Kpow with a single Kafka cluster you can experiment with reducing those resources as far as our suggested minimum:

Minimum Resource Requirements

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 1
    memory: 2Gi
  requests:
    cpu: 1
    memory: 2Gi

Adjust these values from the command line like so:

helm install --namespace factorhouse --create-namespace kpow kpow/kpow \
     --set resources.limits.cpu=1 \
     --set resources.limits.memory=2Gi \
     --set resources.requests.cpu=1 \
     --set resources.requests.memory=2Gi

We recommend always having limits and requests set to the same value, as this set Kpow in Guaranteed QoS and provides a much more reliable operation.

Get Help!

If you have any issues or errors, please contact support@factorhouse.io.

Licensing and Modifications

This repository is Apache 2.0 licensed, you are welcome to clone and modify as required.