> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conduktor.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create Partner Zones using multi-cluster Gateway

> Create Conduktor Partner Zones on a multi-cluster Gateway. Share topics from multiple Kafka clusters with external partners through a single Gateway.

## Overview

Conduktor supports creating Partner Zones against a Gateway configured with multiple clusters.

This guide will walk you through the process including the steps required to set up Gateway and Console.

<Info>
  **From our blog:** [The Kafka data sharing ladder](https://conduktor.io/blog/the-data-sharing-ladder) The four levels of Kafka data sharing, from internal streaming to secure external partner exchange.
</Info>

### Prerequisites

To have Gateway set up with multi-cluster support, you will first need to create multiple underlying Kafka clusters. Once you have the bootstrap servers for each of the kafka clusters, you can then configure Gateway to point to them.

### 1. Set up your Gateway with multi-cluster support

Let's say that you have one main Gateway cluster `gateway-main` and one underlying Kafka cluster `clusterA`.

You'll first need to configure the Gateway to use the multiple clusters. Create a file `cluster-config.yml` with the configuration for the clusters you have created, like so:

```yaml title="cluster-config.yaml" theme={null}
config:
  main:
    bootstrap.servers: '<main_bootstrap_servers>:9092'
    security.protocol: 'SASL_SSL'
    sasl.mechanism: 'PLAIN'
    sasl.jaas.config: 'org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username="<main_api_key>" password="<main_api_secret>";'
  clusterA:
    bootstrap.servers: '<clusterA_bootstrap_servers>:9092'
    security.protocol: 'SASL_SSL'
    sasl.mechanism: 'PLAIN'
    sasl.jaas.config: 'org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username="<clusterA_api_key>" password="<clusterA_api_secret>";'
    gateway.roles: 'upstream'
```

Then, mount the `cluster-config.yaml` file in the Gateway container using the configuration `GATEWAY_BACKEND_KAFKA_SELECTOR`:

```
GATEWAY_BACKEND_KAFKA_SELECTOR: 'file : { path: /cluster-config.yaml}'
```

Check out the following guide for additional information about [Setting up Gateway with multi-clusters](/guide/conduktor-in-production/deploy-artifacts/deploy-gateway/multi-clusters).

### 2. Configure the underlying Kafka clusters in Console

Once you have the Gateway configured with multiple clusters, you can then configure the underlying Kafka clusters in Console. This step is necessary to ensure that the Kafka clusters are recognized by Console to be available when creating a Partner Zone.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Using Console UI">
    In our case, we have `clusterA` as the underlying Kafka cluster. You can configure it in Console:

    1. Go to the **Clusters** page in Console, and click on **Add Cluster**.
    2. Fill in the details for `clusterA`, e.g.:
       * **Technical Id**: `clusterA`
       * **Bootstrap Servers**: `<clusterA_kafka_bootstrap_server>:9092`
       * Additionally, provide the security settings if required, such as:
         * **Security Protocol**: `SASL_SSL`
         * **SASL Mechanism**: `PLAIN`
         * **SASL JAAS Config**: `org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username="<clusterA_api_key>" password="<clusterA_api_secret>";`
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Using Conduktor Configuration File">
    For the `console-config.yaml` file that is provided to the Console Docker container, you can add the following configuration for `clusterA` with the necessary security settings:

    ```yaml title="console-config.yaml" theme={null}
    clusters:
      - id: clusterA
        name: Secondary Kafka
        bootstrapServers: '<clusterA_kafka_bootstrap_server>:9092'
        properties: |
          sasl.mechanism=PLAIN
          security.protocol=SASL_PLAINTEXT
          sasl.jaas.config=org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username="admin" password="admin-secret";
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

[Find out how to configure Kafka Clusters in Console](/guide/conduktor-in-production/admin/configure-clusters#connect-to-a-secure-kafka-cluster).

### 3. Create a Partner Zone

Assuming that we have a `gateway-main` Gateway cluster and a `clusterA` Kafka cluster, we can create a Partner Zone that connects to the `clusterA` Kafka cluster as the backing cluster.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Using Console UI">
    1. Go to the **Partner Zones** page in Console.
    2. Click on **Create Partner Zone**.
    3. **Select Gateway** to choose the gateway to use i.e. `gateway-main`.
    4. **Select a cluster** to choose an available underlying cluster i.e. `clusterA`.
    5. Select the topics you want to include in the Partner Zone, and optionally create any topic aliases.
    6. Fill in and complete the remaining steps to create the Partner Zone.
    7. Finally click **Create** to create the Partner Zone.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Using Conduktor CLI">
    The following steps are for creating a Partner Zone through the [Conduktor CLI (Command Line Interface)](/guide/conduktor-in-production/automate/cli-automation).

    1. Save this example to a file, e.g. `pz.yaml`:

       ```yaml theme={null}
       apiVersion: v2
       kind: PartnerZone
       metadata:
           name: external-partner-zone
       spec:
           cluster: gateway-main
           underlyingCluster: clusterA
           vclusterName: external-partner-vcluster
           displayName: External Partner Zone
           url: https://partner1.com
           authenticationMode:
               serviceAccount: external-partner-service-account
               type: PLAIN
           topics:
           - name: topic-a
             backingTopic: kafka-topic-a
             permission: WRITE
           - name: topic-b
             backingTopic: kafka-topic-a
             permission: READ
           partner:
             name: John Doe
             role: Data analyst
             email: johndoe@company.io
             phone: 07827 837 177
       ```

           <Note>
             When creating the Partner Zone, the `spec.underlyingCluster` is set to `clusterA`, which is the Kafka cluster that the Partner Zone will connect to. The `spec.cluster` is set to `gateway-main`, which is the Gateway cluster that will manage the Partner Zone.
           </Note>

    2. Use [Conduktor CLI](/guide/conduktor-in-production/automate/cli-automation) to apply the configuration:

       ```bash theme={null}
       conduktor apply -f pz.yaml
       ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

[Find out how to create a Partner Zone](/guide/use-cases/third-party-data#create-a-partner-zone).

### 4. Check Partner Zone status

Once the Partner Zone is created, you can check its status and manage it through the Console UI or the Conduktor CLI.

With the Conduktor CLI, you can use the following command to check the status of the Partner Zone:

```bash theme={null}
conduktor get PartnerZone
```

The `metadata status` can have one of these values:

* **PENDING**: the configuration isn't deployed or refreshed yet
* **READY**: the configuration is up to date on Gateway
* **FAILED**: something unexpected happened during the creation
* **TO\_DELETE**: the Partner Zone is being deleted asynchronously. This status is visible via CLI and API only.

[Find out more about creating Partner Zones](/guide/use-cases/third-party-data#create-a-partner-zone).

## Related resources

* [Find out more about Partner Zones](/guide/conduktor-concepts/partner-zones)
* [Share data externally](/guide/use-cases/third-party-data)
* [Give us feedback/request a feature](https://conduktor.io/roadmap) <Icon icon="up-right-from-square" />