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# Configure Kafka as a source

> Learn how to configure custom meters to use Apache Kafka as a source, including setting up connections, selecting topics, and configuring data formats.

Learn how to configure custom meters to use Apache Kafka as a source, including setting up connections, selecting topics, and configuring data formats.

Navigate to **Mediation** > **Meters**

Create a **Custom** meter.

Select **Kafka** as the source. The Kafka settings page is displayed.

![Kafka source settings](/_fern-img/d9f48e83f5789c8434a52e796f6c101d1b4ccc73a8f3f5256720f01fe655cdb0.webp)

Click **Select** to select an Event Definition on the Kafka settings page. Only event schema import from an AVSC schema is supported.

Under the **Kafka Settings** section, configure the following settings:

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Setting
    </th>

    <th>
      Configuration
    </th>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td>
      **Connection**
    </td>

    <td>
      Select a connection from the **Connection** drop-down list. To set up a connection, see [Create Kafka connections in meters](/docs/platform/extensibility/mediation/manage-connections-in-meters/create-kafka-connections-in-meters).
    </td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td>
      **Topic**
    </td>

    <td>
      Select a topic from Apache Kafka for event ingestion.
    </td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td>
      **Data Format**
    </td>

    <td>
      Select a data format from the Kafka events. You must ensure that all the events in the Kafka topic must be in the same format, else the message ingestion fails.

      For example, use the event definition generated from the AVRO data file for the AVRO data format.
    </td>
  </tr>

  <tr>
    <td>
      **Offset Reset Strategy**
    </td>

    <td>
      Select a value from the following options:

      * **Latest**: Selecting this option causes the meter to ignore the existing data events in the Kafka topic and only ingest the new events added to the topic.
      * **Earliest**: Selecting this option makes the meter ingest all the data events, including the existing data in the Kafka topic, and the new events added to the topic path.
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>

Click **Save** to save the Kafka source settings.