Stream IBM Informix Data into Apache Kafka Topics

Apache Kafka is an open-source stream processing platform that is primarily used for building real-time data pipelines and event-driven applications. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver for IBM Informix, Kafka can work with live IBM Informix data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream IBM Informix data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the IBM Informix data received using Kafka infrastructure in the Confluent Platform.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live IBM Informix data. When you issue complex SQL queries to IBM Informix, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to IBM Informix and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze IBM Informix data using native data types.

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming IBM Informix data in Apache Kafka Topics, install and configure the following in the client Linux-based system.

1. Confluent Platform for Apache Kafka
2. Confluent Hub CLI Installation
3. Self-Managed Kafka JDBC Source Connector for Confluent Platform

Define a New JDBC Connection to IBM Informix data

1. Download CData JDBC Driver for IBM Informix on a Linux-based system
2. Follow the given instructions to create a new directory extract all the driver contents into it:
   1. Create a new directory named IBM Informix mkdir Informix
   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory mv InformixJDBCDriver.zip Informix/
   3. Unzip the CData InformixJDBCDriver contents into this new directory unzip InformixJDBCDriver.zip
3. Open the IBM Informix directory and navigate to the lib folder ls cd lib/
4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of IBM Informix into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.informix.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder cp * ../../confluent-7.5.0/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/ cd ../../confluent-7.5.0/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
5. Install the CData IBM Informix JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID java -jar cdata.jdbc.informix.jar -l
6. Enter the product key or "TRIAL" (In the scenarios of license expiry, please contact our CData Support team)
7. Start the Confluent local services using the command: confluent local services start

   This starts all the Confluent Services like Zookeeper, Kafka, Schema Registry, Kafka REST, Kafka CONNECT, ksqlDB and Control Center. You are now ready to use the CData JDBC driver for IBM Informix to stream messages using Kafka Connect Driver into Kafka Topics on ksqlDB.

8. Create the Kafka topics manually using a POST HTTP API Request: curl --location 'server_address:8083/connectors' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '{ "name": "jdbc_source_cdata_informix_01", "config": { "connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", "connection.url": "jdbc:informix:Server=10.0.1.2;Port=50000;User=admin;Password=admin;Database=test;", "topic.prefix": "informix-01-", "mode": "bulk" } }'

   Let us understand the fields used in the HTTP POST body (shown above):

   • connector.class: Specifies the Java class of the Kafka Connect connector to be used.
   • connection.url: The JDBC connection URL to connect with IBM Informix data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the IBM Informix JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.informix.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     Set the following properties to connect to IBM Informix

     • Server: Set this to the name of the server running IBM Informix.
     • Port: Set this to the port the IBM Informix server is listening on.
     • Database: Set this to the name of the IBM Informix database.
     • User: Set this to the username of a user allowed to access the database.
     • Password: Set this to the password of a user allowed to access the database.

   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "informix-01-".
   • mode: Specifies the mode in which the connector operates. In this case, it's set to "bulk", which suggests that the connector is configured to perform bulk data transfer.

   This request adds all the tables/contents from IBM Informix as Kafka Topics.

   Note: The IP Address (server) to POST the request (shown above) is the Linux Network IP Address.

9. Run ksqlDB and list the topics. Use the commands: ksql list topics;
10. To view the data inside the topics, type the SQL Statement: PRINT topic FROM BEGINNING;

Connecting with the Confluent Control Center

To access the Confluent Control Center user interface, ensure to run the "confluent local services" as described in the above section and type http://<server address>:9021/clusters/ on your local browser.

Get Started Today

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for IBM Informix and start streaming IBM Informix data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.