Skip to main content
Install and run Kafka on macOS in 15 minutes This guide walks you through installing Apache Kafka with ZooKeeper on macOS. By the end, you’ll have a working single-node Kafka cluster for development. What you’ll learn:
  • How to install Java 11 (required dependency)
  • How to download and configure Kafka
  • How to start ZooKeeper and Kafka
  • How to set up your PATH for CLI access
ZooKeeper vs KRaftThis guide uses ZooKeeper mode for maximum compatibility. For KRaft mode (without ZooKeeper), see the Mac KRaft installation guide.

​
Installation overview

​
Step 1: Install Java JDK 11

Kafka requires Java 11 or later.
  1. Download Amazon Corretto 11 (free OpenJDK distribution)
  2. Double-click the downloaded .pkg file
  3. Follow the installation wizard
Verify the installation: 
java -version
Expected output: 
openjdk version "11.0.10" 2021-01-19 LTS
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Corretto-11.0.10.9.1 (build 11.0.10+9-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Corretto-11.0.10.9.1 (build 11.0.10+9-LTS, mixed mode)
If you have multiple Java versions installed, see how to set the default Java version on Mac.

​
Step 2: Download and extract Kafka

  1. Download Kafka from kafka.apache.org/downloads (choose the latest binary with Scala 2.13)
  2. Extract the archive to your home directory
cd ~/Downloads
tar -xzf kafka_2.13-3.0.0.tgz
mv kafka_2.13-3.0.0 ~/

​
Step 3: Start ZooKeeper

ZooKeeper has to be running before Kafka starts. Open a terminal and run: 
~/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/bin/zookeeper-server-start.sh ~/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/config/zookeeper.properties
Add the -daemon flag to run ZooKeeper in the background.
Keep this terminal window open.

​
Step 4: Start Kafka

Open a new terminal window and run: 
~/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/bin/kafka-server-start.sh ~/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/config/server.properties
Keep this terminal window open. Kafka is now running at localhost:9092.

​
Step 5: Configure PATH

Add Kafka binaries to your PATH for convenient access. Edit your shell configuration file (~/.zshrc for zsh or ~/.bashrc for bash): 
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/bin"
Reload your shell: 
source ~/.zshrc
Verify the setup: 
kafka-topics.sh --version

​
Optional: Change data directories

By default, Kafka stores data in /tmp, which may be cleared on restart. Change ZooKeeper data directory: Edit ~/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/config/zookeeper.properties: 
dataDir=/your/path/to/data/zookeeper
Change Kafka data directory: Edit ~/kafka_2.13-3.0.0/config/server.properties: 
log.dirs=/your/path/to/data/kafka
See it in practice with ConduktorConduktor Console can connect to your local Kafka cluster at localhost:9092 for visual topic management.

​
Next steps