# Apache Kafka The **Apache** **Kafka Output connector** can be used to forward data to **Event Hubs**, which provides an endpoint compatible with the **Apache Kafka® producer** and **consumer APIs**. The Kafka connector is available on both **Data Flow** and **Rule Engine**. The Kafka connector requires at least one **kafka bootstrap server** to be provided in a comma-separated list. It also requires **kafka topic** to which the data will be sent. For the authentication, a simple username/password authentication mechanism, values for Security Protocol (SASL\_SSL) and SASL mechanism (PLAIN) are fixed and not editable. Username ($ConnectionString) and password (value of connection string for the event hub namespace) only need to be provided in order to authenticate. {% hint style="info" %} Optionally: The custom payload can be selected for making use of templated payload in the desired structure. If the custom payload is not selected, the whole data sample will be forwarded. {% endhint %} A tutorial about "How to send data to Event Hubs with Apache Kafka" can be found [here](/akenza.io/tutorials/create-enterprise-solutions/how-to-send-data-to-event-hubs-with-apache-kafka.md). ![Apache Kafka template](/files/VQTHIH9rTQjskuhJ4xCu) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.akenza.io/akenza.io/get-started/your-data-flow/connectors/streaming/apache-kafka.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.