Following the tutorial present here https://debezium.io/documentation/reference/tutorial.html I've started zookeper using this command: docker run -it --rm --name zookeeper -p 2181:2181 -p 2888:2888 -p 3888:3888 debezium/zookeeper:1.8 It fails with Error: Could not find or load main class org.apache.zookeeper.server.quorum.QuorumPeerMain Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.zookeeper.server.quorum.QuorumPeerMain Next I've started kafka without the zookeeper link (because it has failed to create the previous container) just to check the failing behavior docker run -it --rm --name kafka -p 9092:9092 debezium/kafka:1.8 It fails with a Java class not found Error: Could not find or load main class kafka.Kafka Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kafka.Kafka Next I've started connect without the zookeeper and kafka links docker run -it --rm --name connect -p 8083:8083 -e GROUP_ID=1 -e CONFIG_STORAGE_TOPIC=my_connect_configs -e OFFSET_STORAGE_TOPIC=my_connect_offsets -e STATUS_STORAGE_TOPIC=my_connect_statuses debezium/connect:1.8 It fails with a Java class not found Error: Could not find or load main class org.apache.kafka.connect.cli.ConnectDistributed Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.kafka.connect.cli.ConnectDistributed Moreover I have followed this tutorial too https://debezium.io/blog/2021/08/31/going-zookeeperless-with-debezium-container-image-for-apache-kafka/ using version 1.8 with this docker-compose.yml: version: ' 2 ' services: kafka- 1 : image: debezium/kafka: 1 . 8 ports: - 19092 : 9092 - 19093 : 9093 environment: - CLUSTER_ID= 5 Yr 1 SIgYQz-b-dgRabWx 4 g - BROKER_ID= 1 - KAFKA_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS= 1 @kafka- 1 : 9093 , 2 @kafka- 2 : 9093 , 3 @kafka- 3 : 9093 kafka- 2 : image: debezium/kafka: 1 . 8 ports: - 29092 : 9092 - 29093 : 9093 environment: - CLUSTER_ID= 5 Yr 1 SIgYQz-b-dgRabWx 4 g - BROKER_ID= 2 - KAFKA_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS= 1 @kafka- 1 : 9093 , 2 @kafka- 2 : 9093 , 3 @kafka- 3 : 9093 kafka- 3 : image: debezium/kafka: 1 . 8 ports: - 39092 : 9092 - 39093 : 9093 environment: - CLUSTER_ID= 5 Yr 1 SIgYQz-b-dgRabWx 4 g - BROKER_ID= 3 - KAFKA_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS= 1 @kafka- 1 : 9093 , 2 @kafka- 2 : 9093 , 3 @kafka- 3 : 9093 running it with `docker-compose up` it fails too with theses errors Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kafka.tools.StorageTool Here is all logs kafka-3_1 | WARNING: Using NODE_ID=3, as specified via BROKER_ID variable. Please update your configuration to use the NODE_ID variable instead. kafka-1_1 | WARNING: Using NODE_ID=1, as specified via BROKER_ID variable. Please update your configuration to use the NODE_ID variable instead. kafka-3_1 | Starting in KRaft mode (EXPERIMENTAL), using CLUSTER_ID=5Yr1SIgYQz-b-dgRabWx4g, NODE_ID=3 and NODE_ROLE=combined. kafka-3_1 | Using configuration config/kraft/server.properties. kafka-1_1 | Starting in KRaft mode (EXPERIMENTAL), using CLUSTER_ID=5Yr1SIgYQz-b-dgRabWx4g, NODE_ID=1 and NODE_ROLE=combined. kafka-1_1 | Using configuration config/kraft/server.properties. kafka-3_1 | Using KAFKA_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://192.168.16.2:9092,CONTROLLER://192.168.16.2:9093 and KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://192.168.16.2:9092 kafka-1_1 | Using KAFKA_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://192.168.16.4:9092,CONTROLLER://192.168.16.4:9093 and KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://192.168.16.4:9092 kafka-2_1 | WARNING: Using NODE_ID=2, as specified via BROKER_ID variable. Please update your configuration to use the NODE_ID variable instead. kafka-3_1 | No meta.properties found in /kafka/data/3; going to format the directory kafka-2_1 | Starting in KRaft mode (EXPERIMENTAL), using CLUSTER_ID=5Yr1SIgYQz-b-dgRabWx4g, NODE_ID=2 and NODE_ROLE=combined. kafka-2_1 | Using configuration config/kraft/server.properties. kafka-2_1 | Using KAFKA_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://192.168.16.3:9092,CONTROLLER://192.168.16.3:9093 and KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://192.168.16.3:9092 kafka-1_1 | No meta.properties found in /kafka/data/1; going to format the directory kafka-2_1 | No meta.properties found in /kafka/data/2; going to format the directory kafka-3_1 | Error: Could not find or load main class kafka.tools.StorageTool kafka-3_1 | Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kafka.tools.StorageTool kafka-1_1 | Error: Could not find or load main class kafka.tools.StorageTool kafka-1_1 | Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kafka.tools.StorageTool kafka-2_1 | Error: Could not find or load main class kafka.tools.StorageTool kafka-2_1 | Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kafka.tools.StorageTool kafka_kafka-3_1 exited with code 1 kafka_kafka-1_1 exited with code 1 kafka_kafka-2_1 exited with code 1