A multi-broker Kafka cluster setup managed by a Zookeeper ensemble configured to run in Docker using Docker Compose.

This is a quick start guide. For a more in-depth guide, please check guide.md. (Highly recommended if you are new to running Kafka on Docker)

• Ensure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed.

  (Alternatively, install Docker Desktop which installs both)

• Ensure that you have kafkacat installed.

1. Clone the repository and navigate to it.

   git clone https://github.com/Q-gabe/Dockerized-Multi-Broker-Kafka-ZK-Cluster.git
   cd Dockerized-Multi-Broker-Kafka-ZK-Cluster
   

2. Run all images using Docker Compose. Keep terminal open to observe logs (you can use -d if this is not desired).

   docker-compose up
   

3. Wait and check that all containers are running (Up state):

   docker-compose ps
   

4. Create a topic using the included shell file.

   ./create-topic.sh testTopic
   

5. Publish messages to the topic using kafkacat. Messages are new-line delimited and transmission is terminated with Ctrl + D.

   kafkacat -b localhost:32001 -t testTopic -P
   42
   test test
   

6. Consume the messages from the topic in a similar fashion. End the transaction with Ctrl + C.

   kafkacat -b localhost:32001 -t testTopic -C
   # Output
   42
   test test
   % Reached end of topic testTopic [0] at offset 2
   

7. Delete a Broker and Zookeeper.

   docker kill kafka2
   docker kill zoo2
   

8. Test steps 4-6 again to observe that messaging is still working.

   For observing fault tolerance in the case of controller Broker or leader Zookeeper server, please check the first and the second section on Observing Tolerance of the guide.

9. Shut down and remove all containers when done.

   docker-compose down
   

For an explanation on the network, please check the network appendix of the guide.

Here are a few links that helped me a substantial bit:

• Networking for Internal and External networking for Kafka Brokers in Docker:
  • This incredible and visual blogpost by rmoff
  • wurstmeister’s own connectivity walkthrough
• Replicated mode for Zookeeper servers
• Using kafkacat to produce and consume messages

This has been built in fulfillment of OTOT Task D for the module CS3219 AY20/21 S1 of the National University of Singapore.

MIT