Kafka Connect: Understanding Always Snapshot Mode and Its Use Cases

The connector always performs a snapshot when it starts. After the snapshot completes, the connector continues streaming changes from step 3 in the above sequence. This mode is useful in these situations:

'It is known that some WAL segments have been deleted and are no longer available.'

'After a cluster failure, a new primary has been promoted. The always snapshot mode ensures that the connector does not miss any changes that were made after the new primary had been promoted but before the connector was restarted on the new primary.'

The connector is being deployed for the first time and needs to capture all existing data in the database before streaming changes.

The connector has been offline for an extended period and needs to catch up on all changes that occurred during its downtime.