Deploying RabbitMQ on a Linode

RabbitMQ is an open source message broker that facilitates communication between distributed applications. This guide covers steps for manually installing, configuring, and testing RabbitMQ on a Linode instance running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

If you prefer an automated deployment, consider our RabbitMQ Marketplace app.

Before You Begin

1. If you do not already have a virtual machine to use, create a Compute Instance with at least 2 GB of memory running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. For resources and instructions on deploying an instance using Cloud Manager, see our Get Started and Create a Compute Instance guides.

   Provisioning Compute Instances with the Linode CLI

   Use these steps if you prefer to use the Linode CLI to provision resources.

   The following command creates a Linode 2 GB compute instance (g6-standard-1) running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (linode/ubuntu24.04) in the Miami datacenter (us-mia):

   linode-cli linodes create \
     --image linode/ubuntu24.04 \
     --region us-mia \
     --type g6-standard-1 \
     --root_pass 'PASSWORD' \
     --authorized_keys "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub)" \
     --label rabbitmq-linode

   Note the following key points:

   • Replace region as desired.
   • Replace PASSWORD with a secure alternative for your root password.
   • This command assumes that an SSH public/private key pair exists, with the public key stored as id_ed25519.pub in the user’s $HOME/.ssh folder.
   • The --label argument specifies the name of the new server (rabbitmq-linode).

2. Follow our Set Up and Secure a Compute Instance guide to update your system and create a limited user account. You may also wish to set the timezone, configure your hostname, and harden SSH access.

Install RabbitMQ as a Service

RabbitMQ offers an installation script for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. This script uses the latest versions of Erlang supported by RabbitMQ along with the latest version of the server itself.

1. SSH into your instance as a user with sudo privileges:

   ssh USERNAME@IP-ADDRESS

2. Using a text editor such as nano, create a file called install-rabbitmq.sh:

   nano install-rabbitmq.sh
   

   Paste the code snippet for the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS installation script into the file:

   File: install-rabbitmq.sh

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

   #!/bin/sh sudo apt-get install curl gnupg apt-transport-https -y ## Team RabbitMQ's main signing key curl -1sLf "https://keys.openpgp.org/vks/v1/by-fingerprint/0A9AF2115F4687BD29803A206B73A36E6026DFCA" | sudo gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/com.rabbitmq.team.gpg > /dev/null ## Community mirror of Cloudsmith: modern Erlang repository curl -1sLf https://github.com/rabbitmq/signing-keys/releases/download/3.0/cloudsmith.rabbitmq-erlang.E495BB49CC4BBE5B.key | sudo gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.E495BB49CC4BBE5B.gpg > /dev/null ## Community mirror of Cloudsmith: RabbitMQ repository curl -1sLf https://github.com/rabbitmq/signing-keys/releases/download/3.0/cloudsmith.rabbitmq-server.9F4587F226208342.key | sudo gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.9F4587F226208342.gpg > /dev/null ## Add apt repositories maintained by Team RabbitMQ sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rabbitmq.list <<EOF ## Provides modern Erlang/OTP releases ## deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.E495BB49CC4BBE5B.gpg] https://ppa1.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-erlang/deb/ubuntu noble main deb-src [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.E495BB49CC4BBE5B.gpg] https://ppa1.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-erlang/deb/ubuntu noble main # another mirror for redundancy deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.E495BB49CC4BBE5B.gpg] https://ppa2.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-erlang/deb/ubuntu noble main deb-src [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.E495BB49CC4BBE5B.gpg] https://ppa2.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-erlang/deb/ubuntu noble main ## Provides RabbitMQ ## deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.9F4587F226208342.gpg] https://ppa1.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/deb/ubuntu noble main deb-src [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.9F4587F226208342.gpg] https://ppa1.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/deb/ubuntu noble main # another mirror for redundancy deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.9F4587F226208342.gpg] https://ppa2.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/deb/ubuntu noble main deb-src [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/rabbitmq.9F4587F226208342.gpg] https://ppa2.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/deb/ubuntu noble main EOF ## Update package indices sudo apt-get update -y ## Install Erlang packages sudo apt-get install -y erlang-base \ erlang-asn1 erlang-crypto erlang-eldap erlang-ftp erlang-inets \ erlang-mnesia erlang-os-mon erlang-parsetools erlang-public-key \ erlang-runtime-tools erlang-snmp erlang-ssl \ erlang-syntax-tools erlang-tftp erlang-tools erlang-xmerl ## Install rabbitmq-server and its dependencies sudo apt-get install rabbitmq-server -y --fix-missing

   When done, press CTRL+X, followed by Y then Enter to save the file and exit nano.

3. Run the script:

   source ./install-rabbitmq.sh

4. Your instance should now have the latest version of the RabbitMQ server running as a systemd service. Verify this with the following command:

   systemctl status rabbitmq-server

   Output containing active (running) indicates that the service is enabled and running:

   ● rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ broker
        Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/rabbitmq-server.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
        Active: active (running) since Mon 2025-02-10 13:32:01 EST; 17min ago
      Main PID: 2120 (beam.smp)
         Tasks: 25 (limit: 2276)
        Memory: 74.5M (peak: 88.8M)
           CPU: 3.317s
        CGroup: /system.slice/rabbitmq-server.service

5. RabbitMQ supplies a client that allows direct access to the server when connecting from localhost. To further verify that the installation was successful and configured as desired, run the following:

   sudo rabbitmq-diagnostics status

   This prints a list of diagnostic information about the server such as CPU and memory usage, as well as locations of the logs and configuration files on the system.

   Status of node rabbit@rabbitmq-ubuntu-2404-1 ...
   []
   Runtime
   
   OS PID: 2120
   OS: Linux
   Uptime (seconds): 1217
   Is under maintenance?: false
   RabbitMQ version: 4.0.5
   ...
   Memory
   
   Total memory used: 0.0983 gb
   Calculation strategy: rss
   Memory high watermark setting: 0.6 of available memory, computed to: 1.2382 gb
   ...
   Totals
   
   Connection count: 0
   Queue count: 0
   Virtual host count: 1
   
   Listeners
   
   Interface: [::], port: 25672, protocol: clustering, purpose: inter-node and CLI tool communication
   Interface: [::], port: 5672, protocol: amqp, purpose: AMQP 0-9-1 and AMQP 1.0

Starting and Stopping RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ requires no additional configuration upon installation. While not required, configuration files can be stored in /etc/rabbitmq. See RabbitMQ’s official documentation for more information on configuration options.

The RabbitMQ server can be controlled via systemd-managed services. For example:

• Use systemctl to stop the RabbitMQ server:

  systemctl stop rabbitmq-server

• Use systemctl to start the RabbitMQ server:

  systemctl start rabbitmq-server

• Use journalctl to view the server logs:

  journalctl -u rabbitmq-server

Testing RabbitMQ

1. To test the RabbitMQ deployment, first enable the RabbitMQ management plugin:

   rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management

   Enabling plugins on node rabbit@rabbitmq-ubuntu-2404-1:
   rabbitmq_management
   The following plugins have been configured:
     rabbitmq_management
     rabbitmq_management_agent
     rabbitmq_web_dispatch
   Applying plugin configuration to rabbit@rabbitmq-ubuntu-2404-1...
   The following plugins have been enabled:
     rabbitmq_management
     rabbitmq_management_agent
     rabbitmq_web_dispatch
   
   started 3 plugins.

2. Next, download the management script, which is available directly from localhost after enabling the plugin:

   wget http://localhost:15672/cli/rabbitmqadmin

   Resolving localhost (localhost)... ::1, 127.0.0.1
   Connecting to localhost (localhost)|::1|:15672... failed: Connection refused.
   Connecting to localhost (localhost)|127.0.0.1|:15672... connected.
   HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
   Length: 42630 (42K) [application/octet-stream]
   Saving to: ‘rabbitmqadmin’
   
   rabbitmqadmin       100%[===================>]  41.63K  --.-KB/s    in 0.002s
   
   2025-02-10 14:14:04 (24.9 MB/s) - ‘rabbitmqadmin’ saved [42630/42630]

3. Make the script executable, and move it to a location included in the environment PATH:

   chmod +x rabbitmqadmin
   sudo mv rabbitmqadmin /usr/local/bin/

Create An Exchange and Queue

This guide demonstrates creating a fanout exchange, which “routes messages to all of the queues that are bound to it”. A fanout closely resembles the pub/sub pattern and is typically used for broadcasting messages.

See RabbitMQ’s official documentation for more on exchanges and queues: RabbitMQ Tutorials

1. Create a fanout style exchange on the RabbitMQ server with the following:

   sudo rabbitmqadmin declare exchange \
     name=test_fanout_exchange \
     type=fanout

   exchange declared

2. Create a queue to attach to this exchange to hold messages:

   sudo rabbitmqadmin declare queue \
     name=fanout_queue \
     durable=true

   queue declared

3. Bind the queue to the exchange:

   sudo rabbitmqadmin declare binding \
     source=test_fanout_exchange \
     destination=fanout_queue

   binding declared

Test Message Publishing and Retrieval

1. Publish a message to the exchange (and bound queue):

   sudo rabbitmqadmin publish \
     exchange=test_fanout_exchange \
     routing_key=dummy_key \
     payload="Hello, world!"

   Message published

   Note

   The routing key is not necessary for a fanout exchange, as each message is routed to each queue regardless of the routing key. However, it is required for the rabbitmqadmin tool.

2. Retrieve the messages from the queue:

   sudo rabbitmqadmin get queue=fanout_queue

   +-------------+----------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------+------------+-------------+
   | routing_key |       exchange       | message_count |    payload    | payload_bytes | payload_encoding | properties | redelivered |
   +-------------+----------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------+------------+-------------+
   | dummy_key   | test_fanout_exchange | 0             | Hello, world! | 13            | string           |            | False       |
   +-------------+----------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------+------------+-------------+

The RabbitMQ Web Interface

The RabbitMQ management plugin enables a web interface and API accessible at port 15672. Assuming this port is not blocked by any firewall rules, you can access the web interface in your browser by visiting the following URL, replacing IP_ADDRESS with the IP of your Linode instance:

http://IP_ADDRESS:15672

By default, RabbitMQ is initiated with a default virtual host and a default administrative user with username guest (and password guest). However, this user can only connect to the management interface from localhost. To connect to RabbitMQ remotely, a new user must be created.

Create a New RabbitMQ Management User

1. Use the rabbitmqctl add_user command and provide a username and password:

   sudo rabbitmqctl add_user "RABBITMQ_USERNAME" "RABBITMQ_PASSWORD"

   Adding user "RABBITMQ_USERNAME" ...
   Done. Don't forget to grant the user permissions to some virtual hosts! See 'rabbitmqctl help set_permissions' to learn more.

2. Add the administrator tag to the newly created user, giving them management privileges.

   sudo rabbitmqctl set_user_tags RABBITMQ_USERNAME administrator

   Setting tags for user "RABBITMQ_USERNAME" to [administrator\] ...

Set Permissions for the User on the Virtual Host

1. Verify the name of the existing virtual host:

   sudo rabbitmqctl -q --formatter=pretty_table list_vhosts name description

   The default virtual host is named /:

   ┌──────┬──────────────────────┐
   │ name │ description          │
   ├──────┼──────────────────────┤
   │ /    │ Default virtual host │
   └──────┴──────────────────────┘

2. Grant permissions to the newly created user on this virtual host:

   sudo rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p "/" "RABBITMQ_USERNAME" ".*" ".*" ".*"

   Setting permissions for user "RABBITMQ_USERNAME" in vhost "/" ...

Access the RabbitMQ Management Interface Remotely

Return to the management console UI in a web browser, and log in with the credentials of the newly created user:

After logging in, the Overview page displays metrics about the currently running RabbitMQ instance:

Send Test Requests to the RabbitMQ API

1. Test publishing a message to an exchange using curl to send an authenticated request to the RabbitMQ API:

   curl \
     -u RABBITMQ_USERNAME:RABBITMQ_PASSWORD \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -X POST \
     -d '{"properties":{},"routing_key":"dummy_key","payload":"Hello, curl!","payload_encoding":"string"}' \
     http://IP_ADDRESS:15672/api/exchanges/%2f/test_fanout_exchange/publish

   {"routed":true}

   Note

   The %2f in the request URL is the URL-encoded value for the name of the exchange (/).

2. Now send an authenticated request to retrieve the last two messages from the queue:

   curl \
     -u RABBITMQ_USERNAME:RABBITMQ_PASSWORD \
     -H "Content-type:application/json" \
     -X POST \
     -d '{"count":2,"ackmode":"ack_requeue_true","encoding":"auto"}' \
     http://IP_ADDRESS:15672/api/queues/%2f/fanout_queue/get | json_pp

   [
      {
         "exchange" : "test_fanout_exchange",
         "message_count" : 1,
         "payload" : "Hello, world!",
         "payload_bytes" : 13,
         "payload_encoding" : "string",
         "properties" : [],
         "redelivered" : true,
         "routing_key" : "dummy_key"
      },
      {
         "exchange" : "test_fanout_exchange",
         "message_count" : 0,
         "payload" : "Hello, curl!",
         "payload_bytes" : 12,
         "payload_encoding" : "string",
         "properties" : [],
         "redelivered" : false,
         "routing_key" : "dummy_key"
      }
   ]

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

• RabbitMQ Plugins
• RabbitMQ Management CLI
• RabbitMQ Deployment Checklist