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Enable governance for Aiven for Apache Kafka® Limited availability

Enable governance in Aiven for Apache Kafka® to create a secure and compliant framework to manage your Aiven for Apache Kafka services efficiently.

By default, governance applies at the organization level. Organization admin can manually select specific services to govern through the Apache Kafka governance settings

Impact of enabling governance​

  • Existing topics:

    • The default group owns all existing Apache Kafka resources.
    • Ownership details for Apache Kafka resources are visible in the Apache Kafka topic catalog.
    • Users in different groups can request ownership of individual resources.

  • Topic creation workflow:

    • Existing topics remain unaffected.
    • You can continue to create topics in your Aiven for Apache Kafka service. Governance adds a request-and-approval process for claiming topic ownership through the Apache Kafka topic catalog.
    • All topics align with your organization's data management policies.

Prerequisites​

Enable governance​

  1. Access the Aiven Console and click Admin.

  2. On the organization page, click Apache Kafka governance.

  3. Click Enable governance.

  4. Select a user group to manage topics. This group is the default group and owns all topics in the organization.

    • If no user group exists, click Create new user group.
      1. Enter the group name and description.
      2. Click Create group.
      3. Select the created user group.

  5. Click Next.

  6. Set global default topic configurations:

    • To use the default settings, click Keep defaults and review the default values on the confirmation window.
    • Click Enable governance.

    To customize the settings:

    • Enter your global default topic configurations.
    • Click Enable governance to apply your changes.
    note

    Global topic configurations apply only to new topics created after the policies are updated. Existing topics are not affected by these changes.

Select services for governance​

Choose which Aiven for Apache Kafka services to include in governance. Topics from these services will appear in the Topic Catalog, allowing users to claim ownership of existing topics.

  1. On the Administration page, click Apache Kafka governance.
  2. In the Governed services section, click Change.
  3. In the Select services for governance dialog, select the services.
  4. Click Save.

Select the governance method​

You can manage governance for Aiven for Apache Kafka® service using either the Aiven Console or the Aiven Terraform Provider.

Depending on your workflow, choose between:

  • Aiven Console: Manage governance tasks visually through the Aiven Console. View and claim ownership of resources in the Topic Catalog. This method is selected by default.
  • Aiven Terraform Provider: Automate governance with the Terraform Provider. It integrates with GitOps workflows and allows governance management across multiple projects.
note

When using the Terraform method, all governance actions must be performed through Aiven Terraform Provider. The Aiven Console provides an audit log of created requests.

  1. On the Administration page, click Apache Kafka governance.

  2. In the Governance method section, click Change.

  3. In the Select governance method dialog, choose either Aiven Console or Terraform.

    warning

    Switching from the Aiven Console to the Terraform method results in the loss of all pending requests.

  4. Click Save.

Change the default user group​

To change the default user group after enabling governance:

  1. On the Administration page, click Apache Kafka governance.
  2. Click Change next to Default user group.
  3. Select a new user group from the list.
  4. If no suitable group exists, create a group and select it.
  5. Click Save.

Update global topic configurations​

To change global topic configurations after enabling governance:

  1. On the Administration page, click Apache Kafka governance.
  2. Click Change next to Global default topic configurations.
  3. Update the global default topic configurations as needed.
  4. Modify retention policies, partition strategies, or other settings.
  5. Click Save.

Disable governance​

  1. On the Administration page, click Apache Kafka governance.
  2. Expand Governance is enabled for your organization.
  3. Click Disable.

Impact of disabling governance​

  • Existing ownership assigned to the Apache Kafka resources remains unchanged.
  • Re-enabling governance later preserves the Apache Kafka resources ownership from the last time it was disabled.
  • Apache Kafka resources claimed by specific groups retain their ownership.
  • If you select a different user group when re-enabling governance, Apache Kafka resources under the previous default group are assigned to the new default governance group.

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