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Welcome to this step-by-step guide on installing and configuring Apache Kafka 3.0.0 with ZooKeeper. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand how Kafka depends on ZooKeeper and how to launch both services on a CentOS machine.

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Prerequisites

  • Java 8 or later installed (java -version)
  • wget and tar utilities available
  • Internet access to download Kafka binaries

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1. Download and Extract Kafka

  1. Fetch the Kafka 3.0.0 distribution: 
    wget https://archive.apache.org/dist/kafka/3.0.0/kafka_2.13-3.0.0.tgz
  2. Unpack the archive: 
    tar -xzf kafka_2.13-3.0.0.tgz
  3. Verify extraction: 
    ls -lrt
    Sample output: 
    drwxr-xr-x 7 bob bob    4096 Apr 16 18:06 kafka_2.13-3.0.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 bob bob 8639620 Apr 16 18:06 kafka_2.13-3.0.0.tgz
  4. Enter the Kafka directory and inspect its contents: 
    cd kafka_2.13-3.0.0
ls -l
    Expected output: 
    total 64
-rw-r--r-- 1 bob bob   14521 Sep  8  2021 LICENSE
-rw-r--r-- 1 bob bob   28104 Sep  8  2021 NOTICE
drwxr-xr-x 3 bob bob    4096 Sep  8  2021 config
drwxr-xr-x 2 bob bob    4096 Sep  8  2021 bin
drwxr-xr-x 2 bob bob    4096 Apr 16 18:06 libs
drwxr-xr-x 2 bob bob    4096 Sep  8  2021 site-docs

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2. Explore ZooKeeper Scripts

The bin directory includes several scripts related to ZooKeeper. List them with: 
cd bin
ls -l | grep zookeeper
You’ll see:
Script NamePurpose
zookeeper-shell.shInteractive ZooKeeper shell
zookeeper-server-start.shStart a standalone ZooKeeper server
zookeeper-server-stop.shStop the ZooKeeper server
zookeeper-security-migration.shMigrate security settings in ZooKeeper

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3. Review ZooKeeper Configuration

Navigate to the configuration folder and inspect the default properties: 
cd ../config
ls -l zookeeper.properties
The zookeeper.properties file defines:
  • dataDir: Directory to store ZooKeeper snapshots and logs
  • clientPort: Port on which ZooKeeper listens (default 2181)
  • tickTime: Basic time unit in milliseconds
You can customize zookeeper.properties to enable multi-node clusters by adding server.X entries.

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4. Start ZooKeeper

From the Kafka root directory, launch ZooKeeper: 
cd ..
bin/zookeeper-server-start.sh config/zookeeper.properties
Look for log messages confirming startup: 
[2025-04-16 18:09:25,277] INFO  binding to port 0.0.0.0:2181 (org.apache.zookeeper.server.NettyServerCnxnFactory)
[2025-04-16 18:09:25,360] INFO  zookeeper.snapshotSizeFactor = 0.33 (org.apache.zookeeper.server.persistence.SnapTxn)
[2025-04-16 18:09:25,484] INFO  ZooKeeper audit is disabled. (org.apache.zookeeper.server.XidAuditProvider)
Scroll until you see the ASCII-art startup banner: 
______/\\\\\\\\\________________________/\\\\\_________/\\\\\\\\\____
 ____/\\\/////////\\\____________________\/\\\\\\_______/\\\///////\\\__
  __/\\\_______\/\\\__/\\\______________/\\\//\\\______/\\\______\///___
  ...

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5. Start the Kafka Broker

  1. Open a new terminal window.
  2. Change into the Kafka installation directory: 
    cd kafka_2.13-3.0.0
  3. Start the broker with the default server configuration: 
    bin/kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties
By default, server.properties contains: 
zookeeper.connect=localhost:2181
Watch the console to confirm the broker connects to ZooKeeper: 
[2025-04-16 18:10:53,771] INFO starting (kafka.server.KafkaServer)
[2025-04-16 18:10:53,783] INFO Connecting to zookeeper on localhost:2181. (kafka.zookeeper.ZooKeeperClient)
[2025-04-16 18:10:53,803] INFO Client environment: zookeeper.version=3.6.3-401e4ad2087061cb6bf980dec2d69f2e3c8660a, built on 04/08/2021 16:35 GMT (org.apache.zookeeper.ZooKeeper)
Kafka will fail to start if ZooKeeper is not running. Always verify ZooKeeper logs before launching the broker.

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Conclusion

You have successfully set up a standalone ZooKeeper server and launched an Apache Kafka broker connected to it. In future lessons, we will explore topic creation, message publishing, and consumer groups.

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