Add kafka buffer backward compatibility test

.github/workflows/data-prepper-kafka-backward-compatibility-e2e-tests.yml

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+# This workflow will build a Java project with Gradle
+# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/building-and-testing-java-with-gradle
+
+name: Data Prepper Kafka Backward Compatibility End-to-end test with Gradle
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ main ]
+  pull_request:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        java: [11, 17, 21, docker]
+      fail-fast: false
+
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Set up JDK 11
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v1
+        with:
+          java-version: 11
+      - name: Checkout Data Prepper
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - name: Run Kafka backward compatibility end-to-end tests with Gradle
+        run: ./gradlew -PendToEndJavaVersion=${{ matrix.java }} :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:kafkaBufferBackwardCompatibilityTest

e2e-test/kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility/README.md

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+# Kafka Backward Compatibility End-to-End Test
+
+## Overview
+
+This test verifies that the current build of Data Prepper can successfully read and process messages written to Kafka by previous released versions.
+
+## Test Scenario
+
+### Phase 1: Write with Released Version
+1. Start Kafka container
+2. Start **released** Data Prepper from Docker Hub (e.g., `opensearchproject/data-prepper:2`)
+3. Send 2 test records via HTTP endpoint
+4. Records are written to Kafka buffer using the released version's format
+5. Stop the released Data Prepper container
+
+### Phase 2: Read with Current Build
+1. Start **current** Data Prepper (built from source)
+2. Data Prepper reads the 2 messages from Kafka
+3. Messages are processed and written to OpenSearch
+
+### Phase 3: Verification
+1. Query OpenSearch to verify both records were correctly processed
+2. Validate message content matches expected values
+
+## Running the Test
+
+### Prerequisites
+- Docker running locally
+- Java 11 or later
+- Gradle
+
+### Run the Test
+
+```bash
+# From the repository root
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:kafkaBufferBackwardCompatibilityTest
+```
+
+### Run with Specific Version
+
+You can test backward compatibility with a specific Data Prepper version:
+
+```bash
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:kafkaBufferBackwardCompatibilityTest \
+  -PreleasedVersion=2.9.0
+```
+
+## Test Components
+
+### Docker Containers
+
+1. **Kafka** (`kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility-test`)
+   - Confluent Kafka 3.6.0
+   - KRaft mode (no ZooKeeper)
+   - Port: 9092
+
+2. **OpenSearch** (`node-0.example.com`)
+   - OpenSearch 1.3.14
+   - Port: 9200
+
+3. **Released Data Prepper** (`data-prepper-writer`)
+   - Pulled from Docker Hub
+   - Writes data to Kafka
+
+4. **Current Data Prepper** (`data-prepper-reader`)
+   - Built from current source
+   - Reads data from Kafka
+
+### Configuration Files
+
+- **`writer-pipeline.yaml`**: HTTP source → Kafka buffer
+- **`reader-pipeline.yaml`**: Kafka source → OpenSearch sink
+- **`data-prepper-config.yaml`**: Basic Data Prepper configuration
+
+## What This Tests
+
+**Kafka message format compatibility**
+- Protobuf serialization format
+- Message envelope structure
+- Field naming and types
+
+**Consumer offset management**
+- Offset commits and reads
+- Consumer group handling
+
+**Data integrity**
+- Messages written by old version can be read by new version
+- No data loss or corruption
+- Field values preserved correctly
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+### View Docker Logs
+
+```bash
+# Kafka logs
+docker logs kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility-test
+
+# Released Data Prepper logs
+docker logs data-prepper-writer
+
+# Current Data Prepper logs
+docker logs data-prepper-reader
+
+# OpenSearch logs
+docker logs node-0.example.com
+```
+
+### Manual Container Control
+
+```bash
+# Start Kafka manually
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:startKafkaDockerContainer
+
+# Start released Data Prepper manually
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:startReleasedDataPrepperContainer
+
+# Start current Data Prepper manually
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:startCurrentDataPrepperContainer
+
+# Stop all
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:stopKafkaDockerContainer
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:stopReleasedDataPrepperContainer
+./gradlew :e2e-test:kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility:stopCurrentDataPrepperContainer
+```
+
+### Check Kafka Topics
+
+```bash
+docker exec kafka-buffer-backward-compatibility-test kafka-topics --list --bootstrap-server localhost:9092
+```
+
+### Query OpenSearch Directly
+
+```bash
+curl -k -u admin:admin "https://localhost:9200/kafka-backward-compatibility-test-index/_search?pretty"
+```
+
+## Expected Behavior
+
+When the test passes:
+1. Released Data Prepper successfully writes 2 messages to Kafka
+2. Current Data Prepper successfully reads both messages from Kafka
+3. Both messages appear in OpenSearch with correct content
+4. Test completes with SUCCESS message
+
+## Notes
+
+- The test uses **unencrypted** Kafka messages for simplicity
+- If you need to test encrypted backward compatibility, modify the pipeline configs to enable encryption
+- The released version can be configured via `-PreleasedVersion` property
+- Default released version is `2` (configured in `build.gradle`)