Snowflake Kafka Connector Installation and Configuration (2026)

Official Snowflake documentation for installing and configuring the Kafka Connector.

Key facts surfaced (2026-05-19):

• Available as JAR file in two flavors: Confluent Kafka and open-source Apache Kafka.
• Supported versions: Apache Kafka 2.8.2, 3.7.2; Confluent 6.2.15, 7.8.2.
• Minimum RAM: 5 MB per Kafka partition beyond base Kafka Connect requirements.
• Authentication: RSA key pair (2048-bit minimum) required; password-based authentication not supported.
• Configuration via JSON (distributed mode) or properties files (standalone mode).
• Snowflake recommends externalizing private keys via external key management services.
• Curriculum reference: configure-kafka-source-connector node (Module 15).