Kafka OCF Connector Release Notes¶
Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation
Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation
Core Connector Core connectors are included with all Alation platform tiers (subject to each tier’s connector limits) and are fully supported by Alation.
January 07, 2026¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 24.0.9482¶
Enhancements¶
Support to Control Exposure of Columns¶
The connector now supports a new connection property called HideUnusedColumns.
Set the value of HideUnusedColumns to KeyAndValue (under General Settings > Connector Settings > Miscellaneous) to hide unused system-generated columns such as the Message column, while preserving value-schema fields.
However, flattened columns derived from message values remain visible for value topics and you can still control Kafka system metadata columns (Partition, Offset, Timestamp) via the existing configuration.
Additionally, Kafka has removed support for the ExposeMessageColumn connection property. (AL-215926)
November 19, 2025¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 24.0.9446¶
Enhancements¶
Ability to Control Visibility of Message Field in Key-Only Registry Topics¶
The connector now allows you to hide the Message column using the following option available under Connector Settings > Misc of the Settings page:
- Expose Message Column - Select this checkbox to display the Message column in key-only-registry topics (default). Clear the checkbox to hide the Message column.
(AL-210815)
September 18, 2025¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 24.0.9375¶
Enhancements¶
Manage Queue Metadata Columns¶
The connector now supports disabling queue metadata columns from being included in MDE. To exclude the metadata columns, set the ExposeQueueMetadataColumns parameter to false in the JDBC URI or select Expose Queue Metadata Columns checkbox under
Connector Settings section of General Settings tab. (AL-200047)
July 09, 2025¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 24.0.9320¶
Enhancements¶
Support for Extraction of Key-Only Topics¶
The connector now supports the extraction of key-only registry topics. To extract the key-only topics along with the topics with key and value (default behaviour), set the AllowKeyOnlyRegistryTopics parameter to true in the JDBC URI or select the Allow Key Only Registry Topics option in the General Settings tab. (AL-198131)
March 26, 2025¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 24.0.92¶
Fixed Issues¶
Metadata Extraction Fails for PROTOBUF Formats¶
Metadata Extraction fails when a topic (table) uses PROTOBUF schema in the schema registry.
This issue is now resolved. (AL-185912)
January 22, 2025¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 24.0.9153¶
Enhancements¶
Support for Both JDBC URI and Configuration Field Values¶
The connector will now read and utilize the connection parameters added in the JDBC URI and in the individual configuration fields (preferred). The value of a parameter configured in the JDBC URI takes precedence over the same parameter configured in the corresponding field in the Connector Settings section of the General Settings tab. (AL-182319)
Memory Optimization¶
Memory allocation for connector operations is now increased to avoid out-of-memory issues. (AL-182319)
Support for MDE Without Broker Connection¶
The connector now supports a new connection property that allows it to only connect to the schema registry for extracting the topics. Earlier, broker authentication details were mandatory.
To enable the schema-registry only connection, set the following properties:
SchemaRegistryOnly: TRUE
ValidateRegistryTopics: FALSE
Setting these values allows you to skip broker authentication details in the connector configuration. (AL-179339)
August 14, 2024¶
Kafka OCF Connector: Version 23.0.8991¶
Enhancements¶
SDK Upgrade¶
The Kafka OCF connector is now upgraded to SDK version 4.8.6.
This upgrade addresses the following Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs):
CVE-2022-25647, CVE-2023-2976, CVE-2020-8908, CVE-2021-22569, CVE-2021-22570, CVE-2022-3509, CVE-2022-3510, CVE-2022-3171, CVE-2021-29425, CVE-2021-37136, CVE-2021-37137, CVE-2019-20444, CVE-2021-21290, CVE-2021-43797, CVE-2022-24823, CVE-2024-29025, CVE-2021-21295, CVE-2021-21409, CVE-2020-11612, CVE-2019-20445, CVE-2023-34462, GHSA-xpw8-rcwv-8f8p.
Docker CIS Benchmark Compliance¶
Kafka OCF connector version 23.0.8991 and newer are now Docker CIS benchmark compliant. (AL-165684)
Fixed Issues¶
Metadata Extraction Fails¶
Metadata Extraction fails due to Java Heap Error.
The issue is now fixed. (AL-168054)