[DISCUSS] KIP-885: Expose Broker's Name and Version to Clients Skip to end of metadata

[Travis Bischel <tr...@gmail.com>]

Hi all,

I've written a KIP to expose the BrokerSoftwareName and
BrokerSoftwareVersion to clients:

https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/KAFKA/KIP-885%3A+Expose+Broker%27s+Name+and+Version+to+Clients

If we agree this is useful, it would be great to have this in by 3.4.

Thank you,
- Travis

Re: [DISCUSS] KIP-885: Expose Broker's Name and Version to Clients Skip to end of metadata

[Magnus Edenhill <ma...@edenhill.se>]

Hi Travis and thanks for the KIP, two comments below:


Den fre 11 nov. 2022 kl 13:37 skrev David Jacot <da...@gmail.com>:

> 02: I am a bit concerned by clients that could misuse these information.
> For instance, one may be tempted to rely on the version to decide whether a
> feature is enabled or not. The api versions should remain the source of
> truth but we cannot enforce it with the proposed approach. That may be
> acceptable though.
>

We proposed including this in the original ApiVersionRequest KIP-35 (waaay
back), but it was rejected
for exactly this reason; that it may(will) be misused by clients.



I would also like to question the actual end-user use of this information,
the existing ApiVersionsReq
already provides - on a detailed level - what features and functionality
the broker supports -
this information is richer than a single version string.

The KIP says "End users can quickly check from a client if the cluster is
up to date" and
"Clients can also use the broker version in log lines so that end users can
quickly see
if a version looks about right or if something is seriously broken.":

In my mind that's not typically the end-users role or responsibility, but
that of the Kafka cluster operator,
who'll already know the version being deployed.


Regards,
Magnus



> Le jeu. 10 nov. 2022 à 19:10, Travis Bischel <tr...@gmail.com> a
> écrit :
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I've written a KIP to expose the BrokerSoftwareName and
> > BrokerSoftwareVersion to clients:
> >
> >
> >
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/KAFKA/KIP-885%3A+Expose+Broker%27s+Name+and+Version+to+Clients
> >
> > If we agree this is useful, it would be great to have this in by 3.4.
> >
> > Thank you,
> > - Travis
> >
>

Re: [DISCUSS] KIP-885: Expose Broker's Name and Version to Clients Skip to end of metadata

[David Jacot <da...@gmail.com>]

Hi Travis,

Thanks for the KIP. That seems to be a useful addition. I have a few
concerns/comments:

01: Managed Kafka services do not necessarily run a specific version or may
not want to expose it. I suppose that they could keep an empty string.

02: I am a bit concerned by clients that could misuse these information.
For instance, one may be tempted to rely on the version to decide whether a
feature is enabled or not. The api versions should remain the source of
truth but we cannot enforce it with the proposed approach. That may be
acceptable though.

03: Updating the API does not seem to be enough. How would tools access the
information? Tools rarely use the API directly. They would rather use the
admin client for instance.

Best,
David

Le jeu. 10 nov. 2022 à 19:10, Travis Bischel <tr...@gmail.com> a
écrit :

> Hi all,
>
> I've written a KIP to expose the BrokerSoftwareName and
> BrokerSoftwareVersion to clients:
>
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/KAFKA/KIP-885%3A+Expose+Broker%27s+Name+and+Version+to+Clients
>
> If we agree this is useful, it would be great to have this in by 3.4.
>
> Thank you,
> - Travis
>