:_mod-docs-content-type: CONCEPT

Configures listeners to connect to Kafka brokers within and outside Kubernetes.

Configure Kafka broker listeners using the `listeners` property in the `Kafka` resource.
Listeners are defined as an array.

.Example `Kafka` resource showing listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
apiVersion: {KafkaApiVersion}
kind: Kafka
metadata:
  name: my-cluster
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      - name: plain
        port: 9092
        type: internal
        tls: false
      - name: tls
        port: 9093
        type: internal
        tls: true
        authentication:
          type: tls
      - name: external1
        port: 9094
        type: route
        tls: true
      - name: external2
        port: 9095
        type: ingress
        tls: true
        authentication:
          type: tls
        configuration:
          bootstrap:
            host: bootstrap.myingress.com
          brokers:
          - broker: 0
            host: broker-0.myingress.com
          - broker: 1
            host: broker-1.myingress.com
          - broker: 2
            host: broker-2.myingress.com
    #...
----

The name and port must be unique within the Kafka cluster.
By specifying a unique name and port for each listener, you can configure multiple listeners.
The name can be up to 25 characters long, comprising lower-case letters and numbers.

[id='property-listener-port-{context}']
= Specifying a port number

The port number is the port used in the Kafka cluster, which might not be the same port used for access by a client.

* `loadbalancer` listeners use the specified port number, as do `internal` and `cluster-ip` listeners
* `ingress` and `route` listeners use port 443 for access
* `nodeport` listeners use the port number assigned by Kubernetes

For client connection, use the address and port for the bootstrap service of the listener.
You can retrieve this from the status of the `Kafka` resource.

.Example command to retrieve the address and port for client connection
[source,shell]
kubectl get kafka <kafka_cluster_name> -o=jsonpath='{.status.listeners[?(@.name=="<listener_name>")].bootstrapServers}{"\n"}'

IMPORTANT: When configuring listeners for client access to brokers, you can use port 9092 or higher (9093, 9094, and so on), but with a few exceptions.
The listeners cannot be configured to use the ports reserved for interbroker communication (9090 and 9091), Prometheus metrics (9404), and JMX (Java Management Extensions) monitoring (9999).

= Specifying listener types

Set the type to `internal` for internal listeners. 
For external listeners, choose from `route`, `loadbalancer`, `nodeport`, or `ingress`. 
You can also configure a `cluster-ip` listener, which is an internal type used for building custom access mechanisms.

internal:: You can configure internal listeners with or without encryption using the `tls` property.
+
.Example `internal` listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
#...
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      #...
      - name: plain
        port: 9092
        type: internal
        tls: false
      - name: tls
        port: 9093
        type: internal
        tls: true
        authentication:
          type: tls
    #...
----
route:: Configures an external listener to expose Kafka using OpenShift `Routes` and the HAProxy router.
+
A dedicated `Route` is created for every Kafka broker pod.
An additional `Route` is created to serve as a Kafka bootstrap address.
Kafka clients can use these `Routes` to connect to Kafka on port 443.
The client connects on port 443, the default router port, but traffic is then routed to the port you configure,
which is `9094` in this example.
+
.Example `route` listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
#...
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      #...
      - name: external1
        port: 9094
        type: route
        tls: true
    #...
----
ingress:: Configures an external listener to expose Kafka using Kubernetes `Ingress` and the {NginxIngressController}.
+
IMPORTANT: The `ingress` listener type is deprecated because the {NginxIngressController} has been archived since March 2026.
Although the related code remains in the Strimzi codebase, it is no longer maintained, and no further enhancements or development are planned.
+
A dedicated `Ingress` resource is created for every Kafka broker pod.
An additional `Ingress` resource is created to serve as a Kafka bootstrap address.
Kafka clients can use these `Ingress` resources to connect to Kafka on port 443.
The client connects on port 443, the default controller port, but traffic is then routed to the port you configure,
which is `9095` in the following example.
+
You must specify the hostname used by the bootstrap service using xref:type-GenericKafkaListenerConfigurationBootstrap-reference[`GenericKafkaListenerConfigurationBootstrap`] property.
And you must also specify the hostnames used by the per-broker services
using xref:type-GenericKafkaListenerConfigurationBroker-reference[`GenericKafkaListenerConfigurationBroker`]
or xref:type-GenericKafkaListenerConfiguration-reference[`hostTemplate`] properties.
With the `hostTemplate` property, you don't need to specify the configuration for every broker.
+
.Example `ingress` listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
#...
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      #...
      - name: external2
        port: 9095
        type: ingress
        tls: true
        authentication:
          type: tls
        configuration:
          hostTemplate: broker-{nodeId}.myingress.com
          bootstrap:
            host: bootstrap.myingress.com
  #...
----
+
NOTE: External listeners using `Ingress` are currently only tested with the {NginxIngressController}.

loadbalancer:: Configures an external listener to expose Kafka using a `Loadbalancer` type `Service`.
+
A new loadbalancer service is created for every Kafka broker pod.
An additional loadbalancer is created to serve as a Kafka _bootstrap_ address.
Loadbalancers listen to the specified port number, which is port `9094` in the following example.
+
You can use the `loadBalancerSourceRanges` property to configure xref:property-listener-config-source-ranges-reference[source ranges] to restrict access to the specified IP addresses.
+
.Example `loadbalancer` listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
#...
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      - name: external3
        port: 9094
        type: loadbalancer
        tls: true
        configuration:
          loadBalancerSourceRanges:
            - 10.0.0.0/8
            - 88.208.76.87/32
    #...
----

nodeport:: Configures an external listener to expose Kafka using a `NodePort` type `Service`.
+
Kafka clients connect directly to the nodes of Kubernetes.
An additional `NodePort` type of service is created to serve as a Kafka bootstrap address.
+
When configuring the advertised addresses for the Kafka broker pods, Strimzi uses the address of the node on which the given pod is running.
+
You can use `preferredNodePortAddressType` property to configure the xref:property-listener-config-preferredNodePortAddressType-{context}[first address type checked as the node address].
+
.Example `nodeport` listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
#...
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      #...
      - name: external4
        port: 9095
        type: nodeport
        tls: false
        configuration:
          preferredNodePortAddressType: InternalDNS
    #...
----
NOTE: TLS hostname verification is not currently supported when exposing Kafka clusters using node ports.

cluster-ip:: Configures an internal listener to expose Kafka using a per-broker `ClusterIP` type `Service`.
+
The listener does not use a headless service and its DNS names to route traffic to Kafka brokers.
You can use this type of listener to expose a Kafka cluster when using the headless service is unsuitable. 
You might use it with a custom access mechanism, such as one that uses a specific Ingress controller or the Kubernetes Gateway API. 
+
A new `ClusterIP` service is created for each Kafka broker pod.
The service is assigned a `ClusterIP` address to serve as a Kafka _bootstrap_ address with a per-broker port number.
For example, you can configure the listener to expose a Kafka cluster over an Nginx Ingress Controller with TCP port configuration. 
+
.Example `cluster-ip` listener configuration
[source,yaml,subs="+attributes"]
----
#...
spec:
  kafka:
    #...
    listeners:
      - name: clusterip
        type: cluster-ip
        tls: false
        port: 9096
    #...

----

[id='configuration-listener-network-policy-{context}']
= Configuring network policies to restrict listener access

Use `networkPolicyPeers` to configure network policies that restrict access to a listener at the network level.
The following example shows a `networkPolicyPeers` configuration for a `plain` and a `tls` listener.

In the following example:

* Only application pods matching the labels `app: kafka-sasl-consumer` and `app: kafka-sasl-producer` can connect to the `plain` listener.
The application pods must be running in the same namespace as the Kafka broker.
* Only application pods running in namespaces matching the labels `project: myproject` and `project: myproject2` can connect to the `tls` listener.

The syntax of the `networkPolicyPeers` property is the same as the `from` property in `NetworkPolicy` resources.

.Example network policy configuration
[source,yaml,subs="attributes+"]
----
listeners:
  #...
  - name: plain
    port: 9092
    type: internal
    tls: true
    authentication:
      type: scram-sha-512
    networkPolicyPeers:
      - podSelector:
          matchLabels:
            app: kafka-sasl-consumer
      - podSelector:
          matchLabels:
            app: kafka-sasl-producer
  - name: tls
    port: 9093
    type: internal
    tls: true
    authentication:
      type: tls
    networkPolicyPeers:
      - namespaceSelector:
          matchLabels:
            project: myproject
      - namespaceSelector:
          matchLabels:
            project: myproject2
# ...
----


