Step-by-Step Guide to Installing and Using Apache Kafka 3.8.1 on Linux

Welcome to the "Internet Full Stack Architecture" public account; today's quote is "Take it slow, it's faster."

Installing Kafka is straightforward: download the binary package, extract it, and start the services; the tutorial uses version 3.8.1.

1. Download the Kafka tarball and extract it to /usr/local :

wget https://dlcdn.apache.org/kafka/3.8.1/kafka_2.13-3.8.1.tgz
 tar -xzf kafka_2.13-3.8.1.tgz

2. Change to the Kafka installation directory ( /usr/local/kafka_2.13-3.8.1 ) and verify the version:

cd kafka_2.13-3.8.1
 bin/kafka-topics.sh --version
3.8.1

3. Start Kafka (after installing and starting Zookeeper on the same machine):

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

Kafka now runs; although version 3.8.1 can operate without Zookeeper, this guide follows the Zookeeper‑based setup.

4. Create a topic named fullstack and display its details to confirm creation:

bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --topic fullstack --bootstrap-server localhost:9092
bin/kafka-topics.sh --describe --topic fullstack --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

5. Send two messages to the fullstack topic:

bin/kafka-console-producer.sh --topic fullstack --bootstrap-server localhost:9092
>helloooooooooooo
>wordddddddddddd

6. In another terminal, consume messages from the fullstack topic:

bin/kafka-console-consumer.sh --topic fullstack --from-beginning --bootstrap-server localhost:9092
helloooooooooooo
wordddddddddddd

The consumer displays the sent messages, confirming successful production and consumption.

7. To stop Kafka, run:

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