How to Use Apache Kafka for Real-Time Data Streaming?

Using Kafka for Real-time Streaming Example

Below are the steps and detailed commands to be able to run real-time data streaming through Apache Kafka effectively. This guide will assume that a person is in a Unix-like environment (Linux, MacOS, etc.) and that Kafka is downloaded and extracted.

Kafka Cluster

1. Install Apache Kafka and Zookeeper

After downloading Kafka, which includes Zookeeper, from the Apache website:

# Extract Kafka
tar -xzf kafka_2.13-2.8.0.tgz

# Navigate to Kafka directory
cd kafka_2.13-2.8.0

2. Start Kafka Server

You’ll start Zookeeper first, then the Kafka server:

# Start Zookeeper
./bin/zookeeper-server-start.sh config/zookeeper.properties

# In a new terminal window or tab, start Kafka Server
./bin/kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties

3. Create Topics

Create a topic in Kafka to which you’ll publish and from which you’ll consume messages:

# Create a Topic
./bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --topic your_topic_name --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --replication-factor 1 --partitions 1

4. Produce Data

Use Kafka’s producer to send data to your topic:

# Start Producer
./bin/kafka-console-producer.sh --topic your_topic_name --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

After running this command, you can type messages into the console to send to the topic.

5. Consume Data

Use Kafka’s consumer to read data from your topic:

# Start Consumer
./bin/kafka-console-consumer.sh --topic your_topic_name --from-beginning --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

This command consumes messages from the specified topic and prints them to the console.

6. Monitor and Manage

For basic monitoring and management, you can list and describe topics:

# List all topics
./bin/kafka-topics.sh --list --bootstrap-server localhost:9092
# Describe a specific topic
./bin/kafka-topics.sh --describe --topic your_topic_name --bootstrap-server localhost: