macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install kafkalocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 978
Install kafka with Homebrew, pacman, scoop, zypper
Open-source distributed event streaming platform. Version 4.3.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-31. Also installable with pacman: sudo pacman -S kafka.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S kafkaArch Linux sync databases · kafka · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install kafka-sourceopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · kafka-source · source: download.opensuse.org
Windows
Scoopverified · 92%
scoop install main/kafkaScoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/kafka.json · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Open-source distributed event streaming platform
Project links
Commands and aliases
- connect-distributed
- connect-mirror-maker
- connect-plugin-path
- connect-standalone
- kafka-acls
- kafka-broker-api-versions
- kafka-client-metrics
- kafka-cluster
- kafka-configs
- kafka-console-consumer
- kafka-console-producer
- kafka-console-share-consumer
- kafka-consumer-groups
- kafka-consumer-perf-test
- kafka-delegation-tokens
- kafka-delete-records
- kafka-dump-log
- kafka-e2e-latency
- kafka-features
- kafka-get-offsets
- kafka-groups
- kafka-jmx
- kafka-leader-election
- kafka-log-dirs
- kafka-metadata-quorum
- kafka-metadata-shell
- kafka-producer-perf-test
- kafka-reassign-partitions
- kafka-replica-verification
- kafka-run-class
- kafka-server-start
- kafka-server-stop
history
Project history and usage
Apache Kafka is a distributed event-streaming platform that began at LinkedIn and became a major Apache Software Foundation data project. It is both a server platform and a package that installs a large family of command-line tools for brokers, topics, consumers, producers, Connect, Streams, storage, metadata, and operations.
Project history
LinkedIn announced Kafka publicly on June 16, 2011 as a distributed publish-subscribe messaging system, open sourced under the Apache 2.0 license and submitted to the Apache Incubator. The announcement described Kafka as a system for high-throughput event data and noted that a paper had appeared at NetDB 2011.
The Apache GitHub repository was created in August 2011. Kafka graduated from the Apache Incubator on October 23, 2012, and Apache project records identify the Kafka committee as established in November 2012.
Over time Kafka expanded beyond a broker and client protocol into a broader event-streaming platform. Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams, MirrorMaker, security features, storage tooling, metadata tooling, and the Kafka Improvement Proposal process all became part of the operational and governance surface around the package.
Adoption history
Kafka's adoption followed from its original LinkedIn use case: durable, high-throughput movement of event data between many producers and consumers. Its Apache governance and Java/Scala ecosystem helped it become a common foundation for streaming analytics, log aggregation, change-data capture, event-driven services, and data pipelines.
Package-manager adoption reflects two overlapping audiences. Developers install Kafka locally to run brokers and command scripts for development, while operators use the same scripts to inspect and administer clusters. Homebrew, Scoop, Pacman, and other package entries expose Kafka as a developer workstation dependency as much as a server component.
How it is used
The Homebrew package installs many command-line entry points, including kafka-topics, kafka-console-producer, kafka-console-consumer, kafka-consumer-groups, kafka-configs, kafka-server-start, kafka-storage, and Kafka Connect scripts. That makes it both a runnable local broker distribution and a CLI toolbox.
Kafka is used when systems need durable ordered logs, consumer groups, replayable event streams, and integration points between services and data systems. The official documentation and quickstart center the core loop: start a broker, create topics, write events, read events, and build producers, consumers, Streams, or Connect workloads.
Why package nerds care
Apache Kafka is significant in package databases because one formula exposes an entire infrastructure platform plus dozens of command shims. It is a good stress test for package metadata: executable lists are long, config files are distribution-relative, and the package name refers to a server, protocol ecosystem, and CLI family at once.
It is also historically important because many later packages in this batch exist to make Kafka easier to operate: kaf and kafkactl provide friendlier CLIs, while cloud-specific plugins exist because managed Kafka-compatible services introduced authentication and provider-specific edge cases.
Timeline
- 2011-06-16: LinkedIn announced Kafka as an open-source distributed publish-subscribe messaging system.
- 2011-08: Apache Kafka GitHub repository created.
- 2012-10-23: Kafka graduated from the Apache Incubator.
- 2012-11: Apache Kafka committee established.
- 2015 onward: Kafka's ecosystem expanded around Streams, Connect, managed services, and Kafka Improvement Proposals.
Related projects
- Kafka's close project family includes Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams, MirrorMaker, Schema Registry implementations, kcat, kaf, kafkactl, Apache Flink, Apache Pulsar, and managed Kafka-compatible services such as Amazon MSK, Confluent Cloud, and Azure Event Hubs for Kafka clients.
Sources
- https://api.github.com/repos/apache/kafka
- https://engineering.linkedin.com/27/project-kafka-distributed-publish-subscribe-messaging-system-reaches-v06
- https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/kafka
- https://github.com/apache/kafka
- https://incubator.apache.org/projects/kafka.html
- https://kafka.apache.org/documentation/
- https://kafka.apache.org/quickstart
- https://projects.apache.org/committee.html?kafka=
security posture
Risk level: orange
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. formula declares a Homebrew service.
Risk classifier
orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
- formula declares a Homebrew service
- generalized runtime or code generation signal
- infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal
Signals
- metadata:service
- text:cluster
- text:shell,repl
- text:stream,record,client,server
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
Configuration and credential file locations
These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.
Configuration files
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
config/server.properties
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
connect-distributed | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
connect-mirror-maker | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
connect-plugin-path | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
connect-standalone | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-acls | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-broker-api-versions | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-client-metrics | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-cluster | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-configs | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-console-consumer | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-console-producer | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-console-share-consumer | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-consumer-groups | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-consumer-perf-test | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-delegation-tokens | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-delete-records | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-dump-log | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-e2e-latency | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-features | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-get-offsets | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-groups | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-jmx | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-leader-election | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-log-dirs | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-metadata-quorum | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-metadata-shell | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-producer-perf-test | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-reassign-partitions | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-replica-verification | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-run-class | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-server-start | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-server-stop | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-share-consumer-perf-test | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-share-groups | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-storage | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-streams-application-reset | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-streams-groups | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-topics | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-transactions | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-verifiable-consumer | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-verifiable-producer | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
kafka-verifiable-share-consumer | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
trogdor | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version4.3.1
manager updated2026-07-31
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:kafka |
|---|---|
| Version | 4.3.1 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://kafka.apache.org/ |
| Last updated | 2026-07-31T08:47:02+01:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
pacman95%
kafka 4.3.1-1
An open-source distributed event streaming platform
sudo pacman -S kafka- License: Apache-2.0
- Architecture: any
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Kafka
zypper95%
kafka-source 2.1.0-3.17
Source code of Apache Kafka
sudo zypper install kafka-source- License: Apache-2.0
- Category: Productivity/Networking/Other
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: kafka
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Kafka
Scoop95%
main/kafka
scoop install main/kafka- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Kafka
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation