How to install Apache Kafka

Apache Kafka, a distributed streaming platform, has emerged as a cornerstone for managing real-time data feeds and streaming applications. At its core, Kafka efficiently handles the flow of information between applications in real-time. Its strength lies in managing large streams of data, ensuring the integrity of information throughout the process. In this article, we will explore into the fundamental aspects of Kafka and provide a step-by-step guide on how to install it on your system.

Prerequisites

To operate Kafka, Zookeeper is required. The good news is that Zookeeper is included within Kafka source files and is automatically installed alongside Kafka. Zookeeper is a distributed coordination service that plays a crucial role in managing and synchronizing distributed systems. It provides a centralized infrastructure for handling configuration management, naming, synchronization, and group services in a distributed environment. Originally developed by Apache, Zookeeper simplifies the complexity of coordinating actions and maintaining consistency across multiple nodes.

Installation

Download and extract the Kafka binaries into a dedicated folder:

1. Download Kafka latest version from the official website:
   https://kafka.apache.org/downloads

2. Extract the archive you downloaded using the tar command:

   tar -xzf kafka_2.13-3.6.1.tgz && cd kafka_2.13-3.6.1

3. Open a terminal session and start the ZooKeeper service:

   bin/zookeeper-server-start.sh config/zookeeper.properties

4. Open another terminal session and start the Kafka broker service:

   bin/kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties

Once all services have successfully launched, you will have a basic Kafka environment running and ready to use. Happy streaming!