# Kafka REST Proxy

The *Kafka rest* (`kafka-rest`) output plugin lets you flush your records into a [Kafka REST Proxy](http://docs.confluent.io/current/kafka-rest/docs/index.html) server. The following instructions assume you have an operational Kafka REST Proxy and Kafka services running in your environment.

## Configuration parameters

This plugin supports the following parameters:

| Key               | Description                                                                                                                                      | default             |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------- |
| `Host`            | IP address or hostname of the target Kafka REST Proxy server.                                                                                    | `127.0.0.1`         |
| `Port`            | TCP port of the target Kafka REST Proxy server.                                                                                                  | `8082`              |
| `Topic`           | Set the Kafka topic.                                                                                                                             | `fluent-bit`        |
| `Partition`       | Optional. Set the partition number.                                                                                                              | *none*              |
| `Message_Key`     | Optional. Set a message key.                                                                                                                     | *none*              |
| `Time_Key`        | The `Time_Key` property defines the name of the field that holds the record timestamp.                                                           | `@timestamp`        |
| `Time_Key_Format` | Defines the format of the timestamp.                                                                                                             | `%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S` |
| `Include_Tag_Key` | Append the Tag name to the final record.                                                                                                         | `Off`               |
| `Tag_Key`         | If `Include_Tag_Key` is enabled, this property defines the key name for the tag.                                                                 | `_flb-key`          |
| `Workers`         | The number of [workers](https://docs.fluentbit.io/manual/4.1/administration/multithreading#outputs) to perform flush operations for this output. | `0`                 |

### TLS / SSL

The Kafka REST Proxy output plugin supports TLS/SSL. For more details about the properties available and general configuration, see [TLS/SSL](https://docs.fluentbit.io/manual/4.1/administration/transport-security).

## Get started

To insert records into a Kafka REST Proxy service, you can run the plugin from the command line or through the configuration file.

### Command line

The Kafka REST plugin can read the parameters from the command line through the `-p` argument (property):

```shell
fluent-bit -i cpu -t cpu -o kafka-rest -p host=127.0.0.1 -p port=8082 -m '*'
```

### Configuration file

In your main configuration file append the following:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="fluent-bit.yaml" %}

```yaml
pipeline:
  inputs:
    - name: cpu
      tag: cpu

  outputs:
    - name: kafka-rest
      match: '*'
      host: 127.0.0.1
      port: 8082
      topic: fluent-bit
      message_key: my_key
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="fluent-bit.conf" %}

```
[INPUT]
    Name  cpu
    Tag   cpu

[OUTPUT]
    Name        kafka-rest
    Match       *
    Host        127.0.0.1
    Port        8082
    Topic       fluent-bit
    Message_Key my_key
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}