Kafka — Self-Host Quick Setup

Minimal steps required to run Kafka for LogWise.

Prerequisites

• Java 8+
• Linux host (systemd recommended)

1) Install Kafka

# Download Kafka
# https://kafka.apache.org/downloads (choose binary with Scala 2.13)
tar -xzf kafka_2.13-<VERSION>.tgz && cd kafka_2.13-<VERSION>

Edit config/server.properties — REQUIRED settings for LogWise:

# Enable Vector to create topics automatically
auto.create.topics.enable=true

# Base partitions for Vector-created topics
num.partitions=3

# Network listeners
listeners=PLAINTEXT://0.0.0.0:9092
# Optional: set an externally reachable address if needed
# advertised.listeners=PLAINTEXT://<YOUR_KAFKA_ADDRESS>:9092

Start Kafka:

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

2) Verify Kafka

# Broker is up
bin/kafka-broker-api-versions.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

Notes for LogWise

• auto.create.topics.enable=true is required so Vector can publish to new topics.
• num.partitions=3 sets the default number of partitions for new topics.
• If Vector cannot connect, verify advertised.listeners is reachable from the Vector host.