Kafka topic cannot be deleted or recreated

Question

I have a Kafka topic that seems to simultaneously exist and not exist.

kafka-topics.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --topic my-topic --delete

returns an error:

Topics in [] does not exist

Meanwhile, trying to re-create the topic

kafka-topics.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --topic my-topic \
 --create --replication-factor 1 --partitions 1

returns

Topic already exists

It does not show up in the topics list with

kafka-topics.sh --list

I suspect some form of corruption but it's no clear how I can fully delete the topic so that it can be re-created

Can you plase share the full commands you have used? Also, how many brokers does your cluster have? — Giorgos Myrianthous, Apr 02 '20 at 16:05

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 02 '20 at 16:37

2

Instead of passing --bootstrap-server try with --zookeeper

kafka-topics.sh --zookeeper localhost:2181 --topic my-topic --delete

answered Apr 02 '20 at 16:37

@wrschneider You are supposed to provide the Zookeeper Host and not the Kafka brokers. – Giorgos Myrianthous Apr 02 '20 at 18:07
1

I had a similar problem, running into `java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Topic 'x' does not exist as expected` errors while deleting. Your answer helped me finding the root cause, thanks! – kopaka Sep 30 '20 at 09:17
there is no "zookeeper" option in newer versions – Bünyamin Şentürk Mar 02 '23 at 11:40

1 Answers1