How to Install and Troubleshoot RabbitMQ on Linux (Erlang Required)

Install Erlang

RabbitMQ requires Erlang. The guide shows downloading Erlang R16B source, extracting, configuring, compiling, and installing.

cd /usr/save
wget http://www.erlang.org/download/otp_src_R16B.tar.gz
tar xvfz /usr/save/otp_src_R16B.tar.gz
cd otp_src_R16B
LANG=C; export LANG
./configure
make
make install

Verify Erlang Installation

Run erl to start the Erlang shell, confirming successful installation.

# erl
Erlang R16B (erts-5.10.1) [...]

Download RabbitMQ

Download the generic Unix package of RabbitMQ 3.0.4, extract it, and enter the directory.

cd /usr/save
wget http://www.rabbitmq.com/releases/rabbitmq-server/v3.0.4/rabbitmq-server-generic-unix-3.0.4.tar.gz
tar xvfz rabbitmq-server-generic-unix-3.0.4.tar.gz
cd rabbitmq_server-3.0.4

Start RabbitMQ Server

Start the server in detached mode using the provided script.

# sbin/rabbitmq-server -detached
Warning: PID file not written; -detached was passed.

Check Server Status

Use rabbitmqctl status to view node information, memory usage, and other metrics.

# sbin/rabbitmqctl status
Status of node 'rabbit@db-dev' ...

Stop RabbitMQ Server

Stop the server with rabbitmqctl stop.

# sbin/rabbitmqctl stop

Troubleshooting Port Conflict

If the server fails with could_not_start_tcp_listener on CentOS 6, the Matahari package may be using port 5672. Stop the qpidd daemon and disable it via chkconfig, or uninstall the conflicting packages.

# chkconfig --list | grep -i qpid
qpidd           0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off
# service qpidd stop
# chkconfig qpidd off