# Connections

### Introduction  <a href="#introduction" id="introduction"></a>

For connection to Kafka see the installation section.

Lenses provide a connection manager to manage connection details for external services.

Lenses securely store the connection details. Connections connect external systems like Elasticsearch, Slack, PagerDuty, DataDog, Webhook, and Alert Manager.

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/OAZAEK7i0b8SPhNuKh8J/blobs/ZliXtE63jhxIVExWClpi/connection.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Required permission  <a href="#required-permission" id="required-permission"></a>

| Permission           | Type  | Description                             |
| -------------------- | ----- | --------------------------------------- |
| Connections / Manage | Admin | Allows to add/remove/update connections |

Access Management & permissions

### Available Connections  <a href="#available-connections" id="available-connections"></a>

#### Data Sources  <a href="#data-sources" id="data-sources"></a>

| Connection Type | Overview                                |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Elasticsearch   | <p>Optional<br>up to 10 connections</p> |
| PostgreSQL      | <p>Optional<br>up to 10 connections</p> |

#### Application Services  <a href="#application-services" id="application-services"></a>

<table><thead><tr><th width="184">Connection Type</th><th width="309">Overview</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Kafka Connect</td><td>Optional N clusters</td></tr><tr><td>Schema Registry</td><td>Optional up to 1 connection</td></tr><tr><td>Zookeeper</td><td>Optional up to 1 connection</td></tr><tr><td>Kubernetes</td><td>Recommended for SQL Processors</td></tr></tbody></table>

#### Alert Channels  <a href="#alert-channels" id="alert-channels"></a>

Send Alert events to the respective channels. Follow the integration guides to create a connection to the target system and configure the routing channels.

| Connection Type |
| --------------- |
| Slack           |
| Alert Manager   |
| Pager Duty      |
| Cloudwatch      |
| Datadog         |
| Webhook         |

#### Audit Log Channels  <a href="#audit-log-channels" id="audit-log-channels"></a>

Send Audit Log events to the respective channels. Follow the integration guides to create a connection to the target system and configure the routing channels.

<table><thead><tr><th width="264">Connection Type</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Splunk</td></tr><tr><td>Webhook</td></tr><tr><td>Kafka via Webhook</td></tr></tbody></table>

### User Permissions  <a href="#user-permissions" id="user-permissions"></a>

or All Lenses Users should be able to see the listing and details page for the connections. Users require  `Manage Connections` permission to **View Sensitive Data**, **Add**, **Edit**, and **Delete** a Connection.

To create a user that has manage permissions, you need to go to the group create/edit page, and check the Manage Connections checkbox as bellow:

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/OAZAEK7i0b8SPhNuKh8J/blobs/uUidWZIMorRmwtOIkyOg/admin-no-manage-permissions.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Manage connections  <a href="#manage-connections" id="manage-connections"></a>

When a user has no **ManageConnections** permissions, they will be able to do the following:

**View** the connection listing page and all the available Connections. **View** the connection details without any configuration details and no delete/edit actions

The user cannot **View Sensitive Data**, **Add**, **Edit**, or **Delete** for any connection.

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/OAZAEK7i0b8SPhNuKh8J/blobs/T8IGoTIOsi9b7MUoqHUz/connections-overview-no-permissions.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/OAZAEK7i0b8SPhNuKh8J/blobs/jubPYkENGTKGqVGeoX05/connection-details-no-permissions.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

When a user has **ManageConnections** Permissions, they can manage all Connections. That includes:

* View the Connection Listing Page and all the available Connections
* View the Connection Details and the configuration details
* Create a new Connection from all the available Templates
* Edit all available Connections
* Delete all available Connections

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/OAZAEK7i0b8SPhNuKh8J/blobs/qk0W3qvOR0EkFfADxqFR/connections-overview.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/OAZAEK7i0b8SPhNuKh8J/blobs/YeIDsm6bx9qw6fhDea9q/connection-details-elastic-context-menu.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
Please Note that Permissions are applicable for all available Lenses clients. They include the UI, CLI, and regular HTTP Requests.
{% endhint %}

#### Identity providers & Auth services  <a href="#identity-providers--auth-services" id="identity-providers--auth-services"></a>

You can configure 3rd party identity providers to Lenses. Lenses is not providing a user interface to configure these services, so follow the configuration settings.