5-minute tutorial

Migrate Apache Kafka to Amazon S3 in 60 Seconds

Learn how to copy your Apache Kafka data to Amazon S3 with a single command using ingestr - no code required.

One command Zero code Production ready

What you'll learn

How to install and set up ingestr in seconds
Connect to Apache Kafka and Amazon S3 with proper authentication
Copy entire tables or specific data with a single command
Set up incremental loading for continuous data synchronization

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8 or higher installed
  • Kafka cluster access
  • Consumer group permissions
  • AWS credentials
  • S3 bucket access permissions

Step 1: Install ingestr

Install ingestr in seconds using pip. Choose the method that works best for you:

Recommended: Using uv (fastest)

# Install uv first if you haven't already
pip install uv

# Run ingestr using uvx
uvx ingestr

Alternative: Global installation

# Install globally using uv
uv pip install --system ingestr

# Or using standard pip
pip install ingestr

Verify installation: Run ingestr --version to confirm it's installed correctly.

Step 2: Your First Migration

Let's copy a table from Apache Kafka to Amazon S3. This example shows a complete, working command you can adapt to your needs.

Set up your connections

Apache Kafka connection format:

kafka://?bootstrap_servers=localhost:9092&group_id=test_group&security_protocol=SASL_SSL&sasl_mechanisms=PLAIN&sasl_username=example_username&sasl_password=example_secret&batch_size=1000&batch_timeout=3

Parameters:

  • • bootstrap_servers: Kafka server or servers to connect to (host:port format)
  • • group_id: Consumer group ID for identifying the client
  • • security_protocol: Protocol for broker communication (e.g., SASL_SSL)
  • • sasl_mechanisms: SASL mechanism for authentication (e.g., PLAIN)
  • • sasl_username: Username for SASL authentication
  • • sasl_password: Password for SASL authentication
  • • batch_size: Number of messages to fetch per batch (default: 3000)
  • • batch_timeout: Maximum wait time for messages in seconds (default: 3)

Amazon S3 connection format:

s3://?access_key_id=<your_access_key_id>&secret_access_key=<your_secret_access_key>&endpoint_url=<endpoint_url>&layout=<layout>

Parameters:

  • • access_key_id: AWS access key ID
  • • secret_access_key: AWS secret access key
  • • endpoint_url: URL of S3-compatible API server (for destinations)
  • • layout: Layout template for file organization (for destinations)

BigQuery Setup Required

Before running the command:

  1. Create a service account in Google Cloud Console
  2. Grant it BigQuery Data Editor and Job User roles
  3. Download the JSON key file
  4. Use the path to this file in your connection string

Run your first copy

Copy the entire users table from Apache Kafka to Amazon S3:

ingestr ingest \
    --source-uri 'kafka://?bootstrap_servers=localhost:9092&group_id=test_group' \
    --source-table 'public.users' \
    --dest-uri 's3://?access_key_id=AKC3YOW7E&secret_access_key=XCtkpL5B' \
    --dest-table 'raw.users'

What this does:

  • • Connects to your Apache Kafka database
  • • Reads all data from the specified table
  • • Creates the table in Amazon S3 if needed
  • • Copies all rows to the destination

Command breakdown:

  • --source-uri Your source database
  • --source-table Table to copy from
  • --dest-uri Your destination
  • --dest-table Where to write data

Step 3: Verify your data

After the migration completes, verify your data was copied correctly:

Check row count in Amazon S3:

-- Run this in Amazon S3
SELECT COUNT(*) as row_count 
FROM raw.users;

-- Check a sample of the data
SELECT * 
FROM raw.users 
LIMIT 10;

Advanced Patterns

Once you've mastered the basics, use these patterns for production workloads.

Only copy new or updated records since the last sync. Perfect for daily updates. 

ingestr ingest \
    --source-uri 'kafka://?bootstrap_servers=localhost:9092&group_id=test_group' \
    --source-table 'public.orders' \
    --dest-uri 's3://?access_key_id=AKC3YOW7E&secret_access_key=XCtkpL5B' \
    --dest-table 'raw.orders' \
    --incremental-strategy merge \
    --incremental-key updated_at \
    --primary-key order_id

How it works: The merge strategy updates existing rows and inserts new ones based on the primary key. Only rows where updated_at has changed will be processed.

Common Use Cases

Ready-to-use commands for typical Apache Kafka to Amazon S3 scenarios.

Daily Customer Data Sync

Keep your analytics warehouse updated with the latest customer information every night. 

# Add this to your cron job or scheduler
ingestr ingest \
    --source-uri 'kafka://?bootstrap_servers=localhost:9092&group_id=test_group' \
    --source-table 'public.customers' \
    --dest-uri 's3://?access_key_id=AKC3YOW7E&secret_access_key=XCtkpL5B' \
    --dest-table 'analytics.customers' \
    --incremental-strategy merge \
    --incremental-key updated_at \
    --primary-key customer_id

Historical Data Migration

One-time migration of all historical records to your data warehouse. 

# One-time full table copy
ingestr ingest \
    --source-uri 'kafka://?bootstrap_servers=localhost:9092&group_id=test_group' \
    --source-table 'public.transactions' \
    --dest-uri 's3://?access_key_id=AKC3YOW7E&secret_access_key=XCtkpL5B' \
    --dest-table 'warehouse.transactions_historical'

Development Environment Sync

Copy production data to your development Amazon S3 instance (with sensitive data excluded). 

# Copy sample data to development
ingestr ingest \
    --source-uri 'kafka://?bootstrap_servers=localhost:9092&group_id=test_group' \
    --source-table 'public.products' \
    --dest-uri 's3://?access_key_id=AKC3YOW7E&secret_access_key=XCtkpL5B' \
    --dest-table 'dev.products' \
    --limit 1000  # Only copy 1000 rows for testing

Troubleshooting Guide

Solutions to common issues when migrating from Apache Kafka to Amazon S3.

Connection refused or timeout errors

Check your connection details:

Authentication failures

Common authentication issues:

Schema or data type mismatches

Handling data type differences:

  • ingestr automatically handles most type conversions
Performance issues with large tables

Optimize large data transfers:

  • Use incremental loading to process data in chunks
  • Run migrations during off-peak hours
  • Split very large tables by date ranges using interval parameters

Ready to scale your data pipeline?

You've learned how to migrate data from Apache Kafka to Amazon S3 with ingestr. For production workloads with monitoring, scheduling, and data quality checks, explore Bruin Cloud.

Star ingestr on GitHub