Stopping the RabbitMQ node

rabbitmqctl stop

Stops the Erlang node on which RabbitMQ is running. To restart the node follow the instructions for Running the Server in the installation guide.

For example:

rabbitmqctl stop

This command instructs the RabbitMQ node to terminate.

Stopping the RabbitMQ application

rabbitmqctl stop_app

Stops the RabbitMQ application, leaving the Erlang node running.

This command is typically run prior to performing other management actions that require the RabbitMQ application to be stopped, e.g. reset.

For example:

rabbitmqctl stop_app

This command instructs the RabbitMQ node to stop the RabbitMQ application.

Starting the RabbitMQ application

rabbitmqctl start_app

Starts the RabbitMQ application.

This command is typically run after performing other management actions that required the RabbitMQ application to be stopped, e.g. reset.

For example:

rabbitmqctl start_app

This command instructs the RabbitMQ node to start the RabbitMQ application.

Displaying the RabbitMQ broker status

rabbitmqctl status

Displays various information about the RabbitMQ broker, such as whether the RabbitMQ application on the current node, its version number, what nodes are part of the broker, which of these are running.

For example:

rabbitmqctl status

This command displays information about the RabbitMQ broker.

Resetting a RabbitMQ node

rabbitmqctl reset

rabbitmqctl force_reset

Return a RabbitMQ node to its virgin state.

Removes the node from any cluster it belongs to, removes all data from the management database, such as configured users and vhosts, and deletes all persistent messages.

The force_reset command differs from reset in that it resets the node unconditionally, regardless of the current management database state and cluster configuration. It should only be used as a last resort if the database or cluster configuration has been corrupted.

For reset and force_reset to succeed the RabbitMQ application must have been stopped, e.g. with stop_app.

For example:

rabbitmqctl reset

This command resets the RabbitMQ node.

Rotating log files

rabbitmqctl rotate_logs [suffix]

Instruct the RabbitMQ node to rotate the log files.

The RabbitMQ broker will attempt to append the current contents of the log file to the file with name composed of the original name and the suffix. It will create a new file if such a file does not already exist. When no suffix is specified, the empty log file is simply created at the original location; no rotation takes place.

When an error occurs while appending the contents of the old log file, the operation behaves in the same way as if no suffix was specified.

This command might be helpful when you are e.g. writing your own logrotate script and you do not want to restart the RabbitMQ node.

Example:

rabbitmqctl rotate_logs .1

This command instructs the RabbitMQ node to append the current content of the log files to the files with names consisting of the original logs' names and ".1" suffix, e.g. rabbit.log.1. Finally, the old log files are reopened.

Cluster management

rabbitmqctl cluster clusternode ...

clusternode

Subset of the nodes of the cluster to which this node should be connected.

Instruct the node to become member of a cluster with the specified nodes.

Cluster nodes can be of two types: disk or ram. Disk nodes replicate data in ram and on disk, thus providing redundancy in the event of node failure and recovery from global events such as power failure across all nodes. Ram nodes replicate data in ram only and are mainly used for scalability. A cluster must always have at least one disk node.

If the current node is to become a disk node it needs to appear in the cluster node list. Otherwise it becomes a ram node. If the node list is empty or only contains the current node then the node becomes a standalone, i.e. non-clustered, (disk) node.

After executing the cluster command, whenever the RabbitMQ application is started on the current node it will attempt to connect to the specified nodes, thus becoming an active node in the cluster comprising those nodes (and possibly others).

The list of nodes does not have to contain all the cluster's nodes; a subset is sufficient. Also, clustering generally succeeds as long as at least one of the specified nodes is active. Hence adjustments to the list are only necessary if the cluster configuration is to be altered radically.

For this command to succeed the RabbitMQ application must have been stopped, e.g. with stop_app. Furthermore, turning a standalone node into a clustered node requires the node be reset first, in order to avoid accidental destruction of data with the cluster command.

For more details see the clustering guide.

Example:

rabbitmqctl cluster rabbit@tanto hare@elena

This command instructs the RabbitMQ node to join the cluster with nodes rabbit@tanto and hare@elena. If the node is one of these then it becomes a disk node, otherwise a ram node.

Creating a user

rabbitmqctl add_user username password

username

The name of the user to create.

password

The password the created user will use to log in to the broker.

For example:

rabbitmqctl add_user tonyg changeit

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to create a user named tonyg with (initial) password changeit.

Deleting a user

rabbitmqctl delete_user username

username

The name of the user to delete.

For example:

rabbitmqctl delete_user tonyg

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to delete the user named tonyg.

Changing a user's password

rabbitmqctl change_password username newpassword

username

The name of the user whose password is to be changed.

newpassword

The new password for the user.

For example:

rabbitmqctl change_password tonyg newpass

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to change the password for the user named tonyg to newpass.

Listing users

rabbitmqctl list_users

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_users

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all users.

Creating a virtual host

rabbitmqctl add_vhost vhostpath

vhostpath

The name of the virtual host entry to create.

For example:

rabbitmqctl add_vhost test

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to create a new virtual host called test.

Deleting a virtual host

rabbitmqctl delete_vhost vhostpath

vhostpath

The name of the virtual host entry to delete.

Deleting a virtual host deletes all its exchanges, queues, user mappings and associated permissions.

For example:

rabbitmqctl delete_vhost test

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to delete the virtual host called test.

Listing virtual hosts

rabbitmqctl list_vhosts

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_vhosts

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all virtual hosts.

Granting access to a virtual host

rabbitmqctl map_user_vhost username vhostpath

username

The name of the user to grant access to the specified virtual host.

vhostpath

The name of the virtual host to grant access to.

For example:

rabbitmqctl map_user_vhost tonyg test

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to grant the user named tonyg access to the virtual host called test.

Denying access to a virtual host

rabbitmqctl unmap_user_vhost username vhostpath

username

The name of the user to deny access to the specified virtual host.

vhostpath

The name of virtual host to deny access to.

For example:

rabbitmqctl unmap_user_vhost tonyg test

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to deny the user named tonyg access to the virtual host called test.

Listing virtual hosts accessible to user

rabbitmqctl list_user_vhost username 

username

The name of the user for which to list the virtual hosts that they have been granted access.

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_user_vhosts tonyg

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all the virtual hosts to which the user named tonyg has been granted access.

Listing users with access to a virtual host

rabbitmqctl list_vhost_users vhostpath

vhostpath

The name of the virtual host for which to list the users that have been granted access to it.

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_vhosts_user test

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all the users which have been granted access to the virtual host called test.

Listing queues of a virtual host

rabbitmqctl list_queues [-p vhostpath] [queueinfoitem ...]

Returns queue details. Queue details of the / virtual host are returned if the "-p" flag is absent. The "-p" flag can be used to override this default.

The queueinfoitem parameter is used to indicate which queue information items to include in the results. The column order in the results will match the order of the parameters. If no queueinfoitems are specified then queue name and depth are displayed. queueinfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

name

The name of the queue with non-ASCII characters URL-escaped.

durable

Whether or not the queue survives server restarts.

auto_delete

Whether the queue will be deleted automatically when no longer used.

arguments

Queue arguments.

pid

Erlang process identifier associated with the queue.

messages_ready

Number of ready messages.

messages_unacknowledged

Number of unacknowledged messages.

messages_uncommitted

Number of uncommitted messages.

messages

Sum of ready, unacknowledged and uncommitted messages (queue depth).

acks_uncommitted

Number of uncommitted acknowledgements.

consumers

Number of consumers.

transactions

Number of transactions.

memory

Bytes of memory consumed by the Erlang process associated with the queue, including stack, heap and internal structures.

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_queues -p /myvhost messages consumers

This command displays the depth and number of consumers for each queue of the virtual host named /myvhost.

Listing exchanges of a virtual host

rabbitmqctl list_exchanges [-p vhostpath] [exchangeinfoitem ...]

Returns exchange details. Exchange details of the / virtual host are returned if the "-p" flag is absent. The "-p" flag can be used to override this default.

The exchangeinfoitem parameter is used to indicate which exchange information items to include in the results. The column order in the results will match the order of the parameters. If no exchangeinfoitems are specified then exchange name and type are displayed. exchangeinfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

name

The name of the exchange with non-ASCII characters URL-escaped.

type

The exchange type (one of [direct, topic, fanout]).

durable

Whether or not the exchange survives server restarts.

auto_delete

Whether the exchange will be deleted automatically when no longer used.

arguments

Exchange arguments.

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_exchanges -p /myvhost name type

This command displays the name and type for each exchange of the virtual host named /myvhost.

Listing bindings of a virtual host

rabbitmqctl list_bindings [-p vhostpath]

By default the bindings for the / virtual host are returned. The "-p" flag can be used to override this default. Each result row will contain an exchange name, routing key, queue name and binding arguments, in that order. Non-ASCII characters will be URL-encoded.

Listing connections of a virtual host

rabbitmqctl list_connections
          [connectioninfoitem ...]

Returns TCP/IP connection statistics.

The connectioninfoitem parameter is used to indicate which connection information items to include in the results. The column order in the results will match the order of the parameters. If no connectioninfoitems are specified then user, peer address and peer port are displayed. connectioninfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

pid

Erlang process identifier associated with the connection.

address

Server IP address.

port

Server port.

peer_address

Peer address.

peer_port

Peer port.

state

Connection state (one of [starting, tuning, opening, running, closing, closed]).

channels

Number of channels using the connection.

user

Username associated with the connection.

vhost

Virtual host name with non-ASCII characters URL-escaped.

timeout

Connection timeout.

frame_max

Maximum frame size (bytes).

recv_oct

Octets received.

recv_cnt

Packets received.

send_oct

Octets send.

send_cnt

Packets sent.

send_pend

Send queue size.

For example:

rabbitmqctl list_connections send_pend server_port

This command displays the send queue size and server port for each connection.

Memory-based flow control

In versions of the RabbitMQ server prior to version 1.5.0, it was possible for clients to attempt to store so many messages within the server that it outgrew the available memory. With the release of version 1.5.0, an experimental memory-pressure-detection feature has been added to the codebase, so that when the server notices available memory drop below 5% of the total memory available to the system, it throttles publishers with the channel.flow AMQP command.

This new feature is disabled by default. To enable it, add

-rabbit memory_alarms true

to your RABBITMQ_SERVER_START_ARGS environment variable or to the SERVER_START_ARGS definition in /etc/default/rabbitmq, as appropriate for your platform.

The memory threshold at which the flow control is triggered can be adjusted by modifying the

-os_mon system_memory_high_watermark 0.95

line in the rabbitmq-server / rabbitmq-server.bat script.

The feature has been tested and found to work on various Linux distributions; there are known issues with Mac OS X. Please report back to the RabbitMQ mailing list your experiences using the feature on your platform!