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Manage connections in meters

Create Kafka connections in meters

Use Kafka connections to let Mediation connect to an external Kafka (or Kafka‑compatible) cluster that can be used as a source or sink in meters. The connection stores the cluster's bootstrap servers, security protocol, and authentication settings so it can be reused across multiple meters.

Kafka connections allow meters to consume from and produce to your Kafka clusters. Zuora supports a range of security options from plaintext to fully encrypted and authenticated connections.

Managed connections centralize credential management, support versioning, and enforce validation so your data pipelines remain secure and reliable.

Prerequisites

Before you create a Kafka connection:

  • You must have access to an external Kafka or Kafka‑compatible cluster. Zuora‑managed connections are not supported for Kafka — you must provide your own cluster details.

  • Your network or security team must allow outbound traffic from Zuora to your Kafka brokers on the ports used by your listeners. When you add bootstrap servers in the connection wizard, Zuora connects to the exact host:port values you configure. Ensure your firewall or security group allows inbound connections from Zuora IP ranges on those ports.

  • You must have a Kafka user or client identity with the permissions required for the topics your meters will use, including at least:

    • DESCRIBE for topic validation.

    • READ for source topics.

    • Appropriate Kafka ACLs to write to sink topics and to use idempotent and transactional producers, as required by your cluster's security policy.

  • For TLS / mutual TLS, you must have access to the truststore (and, if used, keystore) files for your Kafka cluster in JKS format and the corresponding passwords, so that you can upload them in the connection wizard.

  • Kafka connections must be enabled for your tenant. If you do not see Kafka as a connection type in the Manage Connections window, contact Zuora Global Support to request enablement.

By default, tenants are configured with a maximum of 10 Kafka connections per entity. If you reach this limit, attempts to create or activate additional Kafka connections are rejected. Zuora can adjust this limit for your tenant if needed, contact Zuora Global Support.

How Kafka connections are used in meters

Kafka connections are reusable building blocks for meter tasks.

  • Kafka Source (consume messages):

    • Reference the Kafka connection by name on the Kafka source task.

    • Configure the topic, consumer group ID (groupId), and offset reset strategy (offsetResetStrategy) on the task.

    • Supported data formats include JSON and Avro.

  • Kafka Sink (produce messages):

    • Reference the Kafka connection by name on the Kafka sink task.

    • Configure the target topic, delivery guarantee (AT_LEAST_ONCE or EXACTLY_ONCE), and any optional key fields on the task.

Task‑level properties such as topic, groupId, and deliveryGuarantee are always configured on the meter task, not on the connection itself.

Last updated: May 7, 2026