View a message in a Hermes topic

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 1 minute to read

    • View the payload of a message in a Hermes topic using the Hermes Messaging Service topic inspector.

    Before you begin

    Role required: hermes_admin, kafka_namespace_admin, or admin

    Important:
    Administrators with the kafka_namespace_admin role can view message data across different domains.

    About this task

    Note:
    Messages expire after 36 hours.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to All > Hermes Messaging Service > Topic inspector.
    2. Optional: View topics from a specific cluster by selecting a datacenter in the Select Datacenter drop-down list.
      The near cluster, the far cluster, and the number of topics on the instance are listed above the table of topics.
    3. Optional: View messages in a specific partition.
      1. Select Load Partition Info.
      2. In the Read from Partition drop-down list, select a partition.
    4. Retrieve messages from a topic that you want to inspect.
      1. Select Inspect Topic.
      2. Select a topic in the table.
      3. Select the number of messages that you want to view in the Number of messages list.
      4. Enter a date in the past to use a starting point for retrieving messages in the Message start date (UTC) field.
    5. View the message details and payload.
      Note:
      To view headers, keys, or messages that are greater than 20 characters, select the View link or download the data.
      Table 1. Message details
      Field Description
      Offset The Hermes Kafka cluster's datacenter identifier and the position of the message in the partition.
      Partition Partition of the topic where the message is stored.
      Timestamp Date and time when the message was created.
      Headers Message header.
      Key Message key.
      Payload Message body contents. Note the following information about the message payload:
      • The topic inspector automatically replaces some characters with escape characters in message payload text data.
      • The message size that is displayed is the size of the payload as viewed in the topic inspector and not necessarily the size of the message as it exists in the Hermes Kafka cluster.