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#1 2025-05-09 18:20:49

gattu_marrudu
Member
Registered: 2008-03-29
Posts: 113

kafka 4.0.0 fails to start: no meta.properties found

I have just installed kafka-4.0.0-5 from the extra repo (fresh install).

Accoroding to the (sparse) instructions on ArchWiki, I just ran

sudo systemctl start kafka

then 

$ systemctl status kafka
× kafka.service - Kafka server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/kafka.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2025-05-09 19:52:54 CEST; 17min ago
   Duration: 1.355s
 Invocation: a5c8318ad6e84186ba578f8f5cad7625
    Process: 1707 ExecStart=/usr/bin/kafka-server-start.sh /etc/kafka/server.properties (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   Main PID: 1707 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   Mem peak: 135.5M
        CPU: 1.893s

mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]: java.lang.RuntimeException: No readable meta.properties files found.
mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]:         at org.apache.kafka.metadata.properties.MetaPropertiesEnsemble.verify(MetaPropertiesEnsemble.java:480) ~[kafka-metadata-4.0.0.jar:?]
mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]:         at kafka.server.KafkaRaftServer$.initializeLogDirs(KafkaRaftServer.scala:141) ~[kafka_2.13-4.0.0.jar:?]
mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]:         at kafka.server.KafkaRaftServer.<init>(KafkaRaftServer.scala:56) ~[kafka_2.13-4.0.0.jar:?]
mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]:         at kafka.Kafka$.buildServer(Kafka.scala:68) ~[kafka_2.13-4.0.0.jar:?]
mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]:         at kafka.Kafka$.main(Kafka.scala:75) [kafka_2.13-4.0.0.jar:?]
mag 09 19:52:53 maddalaptop kafka-server-start.sh[1707]:         at kafka.Kafka.main(Kafka.scala) [kafka_2.13-4.0.0.jar:?]
mag 09 19:52:54 maddalaptop systemd[1]: kafka.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
mag 09 19:52:54 maddalaptop systemd[1]: kafka.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
mag 09 19:52:54 maddalaptop systemd[1]: kafka.service: Consumed 1.893s CPU time, 135.5M memory peak.

I cannot find meta.properties anywhere on disk. Looking up online Kafka user questions from other environments, I can't see any obvious setup step missing. I am new to Kafka BTW.

Any hints?

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#2 2025-05-18 13:00:28

intgr
Member
Registered: 2009-10-02
Posts: 48

Re: kafka 4.0.0 fails to start: no meta.properties found

I had the same issue. Reinstalling kafka & deleting all config files did not fix it.

I think it's an Arch packaging bug with 4.0.

After downgrading to kafka 3.9.0, it works again. I added the package to /etc/pacman.conf IgnorePkg = kafka setting, so Pacman wouldn't upgrade it.

You can  get older packages from the Arch Linux Archive https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_Archive

Last edited by intgr (2025-05-18 13:01:01)

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#3 2025-10-19 00:56:46

archevilst
Member
Registered: 2025-10-19
Posts: 15

Re: kafka 4.0.0 fails to start: no meta.properties found

Problem lies with installed kafka expecting to find files of proper format in default logs directory. To solve this you need to create such files with a command:

sudo -u kafka kafka-storage.sh format -t $(kafka-storage.sh random-uuid) -c /etc/kafka/server.properties --standalone

Problem has been described in details here https://www.skybert.net/linux/kafka-fails-to-start/

I will post comment to the package maintainer so it may be included in future release.

Edit:
- maintainer didn't respond

Last edited by archevilst (2025-10-29 16:21:28)

3s

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#4 2025-12-11 19:53:37

intgr
Member
Registered: 2009-10-02
Posts: 48

Re: kafka 4.0.0 fails to start: no meta.properties found

I tried upgrading Kafka to 4.1.1 and it failed again. But when uninstalling & reinstalling, I noticed the following output:

:: Processing package changes...
(1/1) installing kafka    [################################] 100%
==========
   You should migrate kafka metadata, example command
   sudo -u kafka /usr/bin/kafka-storage.sh format -t "$(/usr/bin/kafka-storage.sh random-uuid)" -c /etc/kafka/server.properties --standalone
:: Running post-transaction hooks...

After running this command, it works again.

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#5 2025-12-16 22:01:56

gattu_marrudu
Member
Registered: 2008-03-29
Posts: 113

Re: kafka 4.0.0 fails to start: no meta.properties found

I am no longer in need of this package, but since I started the topic, I wanted to follow up and tested v4.1.1-1.

I saw the same message about migrating metadata, but when I tried the suggested command I got: 

Error: A JNI error has occurred, please check your installation and try again
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: kafka/tools/StorageTool has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 61.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:756)
	at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:473)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:74)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:369)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:363)
	at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:362)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:418)
	at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:352)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:351)
	at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:621)
Error: A JNI error has occurred, please check your installation and try again
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: kafka/tools/StorageTool has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 61.0), this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:756)
	at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:473)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:74)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:369)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:363)
	at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:362)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:418)
	at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:352)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:351)
	at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:621)

I have near zero experience with Java, but I guess it may be worth setting a check for a compatible JDK version if that's what causes the error.

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#6 2026-08-02 10:03:01

asday
Member
Registered: 2024-10-02
Posts: 8

Re: kafka 4.0.0 fails to start: no meta.properties found

I had this error today after installing kafka for the first time.  Scrolling up to the pacman output, I saw this:

(  6/125) installing kafka                                                                       [########################################################] 100%
==========
   You should migrate kafka metadata, example command
   sudo -u kafka /usr/bin/kafka-storage.sh format -t "$(/usr/bin/kafka-storage.sh random-uuid)" -c /etc/kafka/server.properties --standalone

Running the command it showed fixed the problem.  (Would be nice if messages in pacman were placed at the end so they're not lost in the wash).

Would it be reasonable to add this to the wiki page (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Apache_Kafka) which does not mention this step?

Last edited by asday (2026-08-02 10:04:17)

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