Kafka installation and setup - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Apache Kafka?

Apache Kafka is a distributed event streaming platform used to build real-time data pipelines and streaming applications. It allows you to publish and subscribe to streams of records in a fault-tolerant way.

beginner

Name the two main components you need to install to run Kafka locally.

You need to install Apache Kafka itself and Apache Zookeeper. Zookeeper helps Kafka manage the cluster metadata and coordination.

intermediate

What is the role of Zookeeper in Kafka setup?

Zookeeper manages and coordinates Kafka brokers. It keeps track of the status of Kafka nodes and topics, helping with leader election and configuration management.

beginner

Which command starts the Kafka server after installation?

You start the Kafka server using the command: bin/kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties on Linux/Mac or bin\windows\kafka-server-start.bat config\server.properties on Windows.

beginner

Why is it important to start Zookeeper before Kafka?

Kafka depends on Zookeeper for managing cluster metadata. If Zookeeper is not running, Kafka cannot start properly because it won't be able to coordinate brokers and topics.

What is the first step in setting up Kafka locally?

A Start Kafka server

B Create Kafka topics

C Write a Kafka producer

D Install and start Zookeeper

Zookeeper must be installed and started first because Kafka depends on it for coordination.

Which file contains the default Kafka server configuration?

A config.json

B server.properties

C kafka.properties

D zookeeper.properties

The server.properties file holds Kafka server settings.

How do you start Zookeeper after installation?

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

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

C bin/start-zookeeper.sh

D bin/zookeeper-start.sh

The command to start Zookeeper uses the zookeeper-server-start.sh script with its config file.

What is the default port Kafka listens on?

A 9092

B 2181

C 8080

D 9090

Kafka brokers listen on port 9092 by default.

Which of these is NOT required to run Kafka locally?

A Kafka binaries

B Apache Zookeeper

C Docker

D Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

Docker is optional; Kafka can run locally without Docker if Java, Zookeeper, and Kafka binaries are installed.

Describe the steps to install and start Kafka on your local machine.

Think about the order of starting services and what software is needed.

Explain why Zookeeper is important in Kafka setup and what happens if it is not running.

Consider Kafka's dependency on Zookeeper for coordination.