Stream Vercel 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 API Driver for JDBC, Kafka can work with live Vercel data. This article describes how to connect, access and stream Vercel data into Apache Kafka Topics and to start Confluent Control Center to help users secure, manage, and monitor the Vercel 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 Vercel data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Vercel, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Vercel 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 Vercel data using native data types.

Prerequisites

Before connecting the CData JDBC Driver for streaming Vercel 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 Vercel data

1. Download CData API Driver for JDBC 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 Vercel

      		mkdir API
      		

   2. Move the downloaded driver file (.zip) into this new directory

      		mv APIJDBCDriver.zip API/
      		

   3. Unzip the CData APIJDBCDriver contents into this new directory

      		unzip APIJDBCDriver.zip
      		

3. Open the Vercel directory and navigate to the lib folder

   ls
   cd lib/
   

4. Copy the contents of the lib folder of the CData API Driver for JDBC into the lib folder of Kafka Connect JDBC. Check the Kafka Connect JDBC folder contents to confirm that the cdata.jdbc.api.jar file is successfully copied into the lib folder

   cp -r /path/to/CData API Driver for JDBC/lib/* /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   cd /usr/share/confluent-hub-components/confluentinc-kafka-connect-jdbc/lib/
   

5. Install the CData Vercel JDBC driver license using the given command, followed by your Name and Email ID

   	java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.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 Vercel 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_api_01", 
   		"config": { 
   			"connector.class": "io.confluent.connect.jdbc.JdbcSourceConnector", 
   			"connection.url": "jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Vercel.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;APIKey=your_access_token;",
   		"topic.prefix": "api-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 Vercel data.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

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

     		java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar
     		

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

     Using API Key Authentication

     Vercel uses Bearer token authentication. You can use either a personal access token or an OAuth access token as the API key.

     To obtain a personal access token:

     1. Log into your Vercel account at https://vercel.com/
     2. Navigate to Account Settings > Tokens.
     3. Click Create Token, enter a name and expiration, and click Create.
     4. Copy the generated token (it will only be shown once).

     After obtaining your token, set the following connection properties:

     • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
     • APIKey: Set this to your Vercel personal access token or OAuth access token.

     Example Connection String

     Profile=C:\profiles\Vercel.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;APIKey=your_access_token;
     

     Working with Teams

     Many Vercel resources are scoped to a team. To scope all requests to a specific team, set the TeamId connection property to your team's ID. You can find your team ID by querying the Teams table or from the Vercel dashboard. Alternatively, you can specify TeamId in your SQL queries using the WHERE clause where supported.

     Connecting to Vercel

     Once the authentication is configured, you can connect to Vercel and query data from any of the available tables such as Projects, Deployments, Teams, and Domains.

     
   • topic.prefix: A prefix that will be added to the Kafka topics created by the connector. It's set to "api-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 Vercel 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 API Driver for JDBC and start streaming Vercel data into Apache Kafka. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.