Ubuntu Manpage: rabbitmqctl — tool for managing RabbitMQ nodes

Provided by: rabbitmq-server_3.8.3-0ubuntu0.3_all

NAME

       rabbitmqctl — tool for managing RabbitMQ nodes

SYNOPSIS

       rabbitmqctl [-q] [-s] [-l] [-n node] [-t timeout] command [command_options]

DESCRIPTION

       RabbitMQ is an open source multi-protocol messaging broker.

       rabbitmqctl  is  a  command  line  tool  for managing a RabbitMQ server node.  It performs all actions by
       connecting to the target RabbitMQ node on a dedicated CLI  tool  communication  port  and  authenticating
       using a shared secret (known as the cookie file).

       Diagnostic information is displayed if connection failed, the target node was not running, or rabbitmqctl
       could not authenticate to the target node successfully.  To learn more, see the RabbitMQ CLI Tools guide:
       https://www.rabbitmq.com/cli.html and RabbitMQ Networking guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/networking.html

OPTIONS

-n node
Default node is "rabbit@target-hostname", where target-hostname is the local host. On a host
named "myserver.example.com", the node name will usually be "rabbit@myserver" (unless
RABBITMQ_NODENAME has been overridden). The output of "hostname -s" is usually the correct
suffix to use after the "@" sign. See rabbitmq-server(8) for details of configuring a RabbitMQ
node.

-q, --quiet
Quiet output mode is selected. Informational messages are reduced when quiet mode is in effect.

-s, --silent
Silent output mode is selected. Informational messages are reduced and table headers are
suppressed when silent mode is in effect.

--no-table-headers
Do not output headers for tabular data.

--dry-run
Do not run the command. Only print information message.

-t timeout, --timeout timeout
Operation timeout in seconds. Not all commands support timeouts. Default is infinity.

-l, --longnames
Must be specified when the cluster is configured to use long (FQDN) node names. To learn more,
see the RabbitMQ Clustering guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/clustering.html

--erlang-cookie cookie
Shared secret to use to authenticate to the target node. Prefer using a local file or the
RABBITMQ_ERLANG_COOKIE environment variable instead of specifying this option on the command
line. To learn more, see the RabbitMQ CLI Tools guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/cli.html

COMMANDS

help [-l] [command_name]

Prints usage for all available commands.

-l, --list-commands
List command usages only, without parameter explanation.

command_name
Prints usage for the specified command.

version

Displays CLI tools version

Nodes
await_startup

Waits for the RabbitMQ application to start on the target node

For example, to wait for the RabbitMQ application to start:

rabbitmqctl await_startup

reset

Returns 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.

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

For example, to resets the RabbitMQ node:

rabbitmqctl reset

rotate_logs

Instructs the RabbitMQ node to perform internal log rotation.

Log rotation is performed according to lager settings specified in configuration file.

Note that there is no need to call this command in case of external log rotation (e.g. from
logrotate(8)), because lager detects renames and automatically reopens log files.

For example, this command starts internal log rotation process:

rabbitmqctl rotate_logs

Rotation is performed asynchronously, so there is no guarantee that it will be completed when
this command returns.

shutdown

Shuts down the node, both RabbitMQ and its runtime. The command is blocking and will return
after the runtime process exits. If RabbitMQ fails to stop, it will return a non-zero exit code.
This command infers the OS PID of the target node and therefore can only be used to shut down
nodes running on the same host (or broadly speaking, in the same operating system, e.g. in the
same VM or container)

Unlike the stop command, the shutdown command:

• does not require a pid_file to wait for the runtime process to exit

• returns a non-zero exit code if RabbitMQ node is not running

For example, this will shut down a locally running RabbitMQ node with default node name:

rabbitmqctl shutdown

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, to instruct the RabbitMQ node to start the RabbitMQ application:

rabbitmqctl start_app

stop [pid_file]

Stops the Erlang node on which RabbitMQ is running. To restart the node follow the instructions
for "Running the Server" in the installation guide: https://rabbitmq.com/download.html.

If a pid_file is specified, also waits for the process specified there to terminate. See the
description of the wait command for details on this file.

For example, to instruct the RabbitMQ node to terminate:

rabbitmqctl stop

stop_app

Stops the RabbitMQ application, leaving the runtime (Erlang VM) 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, to instruct the RabbitMQ node to stop the RabbitMQ application:

rabbitmqctl stop_app

wait pid_file, wait --pid pid

Waits for the RabbitMQ application to start.

This command will wait for the RabbitMQ application to start at the node. It will wait for the
pid file to be created if pidfile is specified, then for a process with a pid specified in the
pid file or the --pid argument, and then for the RabbitMQ application to start in that process.
It will fail if the process terminates without starting the RabbitMQ application.

If the specified pidfile is not created or erlang node is not started within --timeout the
command will fail. Default timeout is 10 seconds.

A suitable pid file is created by the rabbitmq-server(8) script. By default this is located in
the Mnesia directory. Modify the RABBITMQ_PID_FILE environment variable to change the location.

For example, this command will return when the RabbitMQ node has started up:

rabbitmqctl wait /var/run/rabbitmq/pid

Cluster management
await_online_nodes count

Waits for count nodes to join the cluster

For example, to wait for two RabbitMQ nodes to start:

rabbitmqctl await_online_nodes 2

change_cluster_node_type type

Changes the type of the cluster node.

The type must be one of the following:
• disc
• ram

The node must be stopped for this operation to succeed, and when turning a node into a RAM node
the node must not be the only disc node in the cluster.

For example, this command will turn a RAM node into a disc node:

rabbitmqctl change_cluster_node_type disc

cluster_status

Displays all the nodes in the cluster grouped by node type, together with the currently running
nodes.

For example, this command displays the nodes in the cluster:

rabbitmqctl cluster_status

force_boot

Ensures that the node will start next time, even if it was not the last to shut down.

Normally when you shut down a RabbitMQ cluster altogether, the first node you restart should be
the last one to go down, since it may have seen things happen that other nodes did not. But
sometimes that's not possible: for instance if the entire cluster loses power then all nodes may
think they were not the last to shut down.

In such a case you can invoke force_boot while the node is down. This will tell the node to
unconditionally start next time you ask it to. If any changes happened to the cluster after this
node shut down, they will be lost.

If the last node to go down is permanently lost then you should use forget_cluster_node --offline
in preference to this command, as it will ensure that mirrored queues which were mastered on the
lost node get promoted.

For example, this will force the node not to wait for other nodes next time it is started:

rabbitmqctl force_boot

force_reset

Forcefully returns a RabbitMQ node to its virgin state.

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, to reset the RabbitMQ node:

rabbitmqctl force_reset

forget_cluster_node [--offline]

--offline
Enables node removal from an offline node. This is only useful in the situation where
all the nodes are offline and the last node to go down cannot be brought online, thus
preventing the whole cluster from starting. It should not be used in any other
circumstances since it can lead to inconsistencies.

Removes a cluster node remotely. The node that is being removed must be offline, while the node
we are removing from must be online, except when using the --offline flag.

When using the --offline flag , rabbitmqctl will not attempt to connect to a node as normal;
instead it will temporarily become the node in order to make the change. This is useful if the
node cannot be started normally. In this case the node will become the canonical source for
cluster metadata (e.g. which queues exist), even if it was not before. Therefore you should use
this command on the latest node to shut down if at all possible.

For example, this command will remove the node "rabbit@stringer" from the node "hare@mcnulty":

rabbitmqctl -n hare@mcnulty forget_cluster_node rabbit@stringer

join_cluster seed-node [--ram]

seed-node
Existing cluster member (seed node) to cluster with.

--ram If provided, the node will join the cluster as a RAM node. RAM node use is discouraged.
Use only if you understand why exactly you need to use them.

Instructs the node to become a member of the cluster that the specified node is in. Before
clustering, the node is reset, so be careful when using this command. For this command to
succeed the RabbitMQ application must have been stopped, e.g. with stop_app.

Cluster nodes can be of two types: disc or RAM. Disc nodes replicate data in RAM and on disc,
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 (with the exception of
queue contents, which can reside on disc if the queue is persistent or too big to fit in memory)
and are mainly used for scalability. RAM nodes are more performant only when managing resources
(e.g. adding/removing queues, exchanges, or bindings). A cluster must always have at least one
disc node, and usually should have more than one.

The node will be a disc node by default. If you wish to create a RAM node, provide the --ram
flag.

After executing the join_cluster command, whenever the RabbitMQ application is started on the
current node it will attempt to connect to the nodes that were in the cluster when the node went
down.

To leave a cluster, reset the node. You can also remove nodes remotely with the
forget_cluster_node command.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ node to join the cluster that "hare@elena" is
part of, as a ram node:

rabbitmqctl join_cluster hare@elena --ram

To learn more, see the RabbitMQ Clustering guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/clustering.html.

rename_cluster_node oldnode1 newnode1 [oldnode2 newnode2 ...]

Supports renaming of cluster nodes in the local database.

This subcommand causes rabbitmqctl to temporarily become the node in order to make the change.
The local cluster node must therefore be completely stopped; other nodes can be online or
offline.

This subcommand takes an even number of arguments, in pairs representing the old and new names
for nodes. You must specify the old and new names for this node and for any other nodes that are
stopped and being renamed at the same time.

It is possible to stop all nodes and rename them all simultaneously (in which case old and new
names for all nodes must be given to every node) or stop and rename nodes one at a time (in which
case each node only needs to be told how its own name is changing).

For example, this command will rename the node "rabbit@misshelpful" to the node "rabbit@cordelia"

rabbitmqctl rename_cluster_node rabbit@misshelpful rabbit@cordelia

Note that this command only changes the local database. It may also be necessary to rename the
local database directories, and to configure the new node name. For example:

1. Stop the node:

rabbitmqctl stop rabbit@misshelpful

2. Rename the node in the local database:

rabbitmqctl rename_cluster_node rabbit@misshelpful rabbit@cordelia

3. Rename the local database directories (note, you do not need to do this if you have set the
RABBITMQ_MNESIA_DIR environment variable):

mv \
/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\@misshelpful \
/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\@cordelia
mv \
/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\@misshelpful-rename \
/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\@cordelia-rename
mv \
/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\@misshelpful-plugins-expand \
/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\@cordelia-plugins-expand

4. If node name is configured e.g. using /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf it has also be updated
there.

5. Start the node when ready

update_cluster_nodes clusternode

clusternode
The node to consult for up-to-date information.

Instructs an already clustered node to contact clusternode to cluster when booting up. This is
different from join_cluster since it does not join any cluster - it checks that the node is
already in a cluster with clusternode.

The need for this command is motivated by the fact that clusters can change while a node is
offline. Consider a situation where node rabbit@A and rabbit@B are clustered. rabbit@A goes
down, rabbit@C clusters with rabbit@B, and then rabbit@B leaves the cluster. When rabbit@A
starts back up, it'll try to contact rabbit@B, but this will fail since rabbit@B is not in the
cluster anymore. The following command will rename node rabbit@B to rabbit@C on node rabbitA

update_cluster_nodes -n rabbit@A rabbit@B rabbit@C

To learn more, see the RabbitMQ Clustering guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/clustering.html

Replication
sync_queue [-p vhost] queue

queue The name of the queue to synchronise.

Instructs a mirrored queue with unsynchronised mirrors (follower replicas) to synchronise them.
The queue will block while synchronisation takes place (all publishers to and consumers using the
queue will block or temporarily see no activity). This command can only be used with mirrored
queues. To learn more, see the RabbitMQ Mirroring guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/ha.html

Note that queues with unsynchronised replicas and active consumers will become synchronised
eventually (assuming that consumers make progress). This command is primarily useful for queues
which do not have active consumers.

cancel_sync_queue [-p vhost] queue

queue The name of the queue to cancel synchronisation for.

Instructs a synchronising mirrored queue to stop synchronising itself.

User Management
Note that all user management commands rabbitmqctl only can manage users in the internal RabbitMQ
database. Users from any alternative authentication backends such as LDAP cannot be inspected or managed
with those commands. 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, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to create a (non-administrative) user
named "janeway" with (initial) password "changeit":

rabbitmqctl add_user janeway changeit

authenticate_user username password

username
The name of the user.

password
The password of the user.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to authenticate the user named "janeway"
with password "verifyit":

rabbitmqctl authenticate_user janeway verifyit

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, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to change the password for the user named
"janeway" to "newpass":

rabbitmqctl change_password janeway newpass

clear_password username

username
The name of the user whose password is to be cleared.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to clear the password for the user named
"janeway":

rabbitmqctl clear_password janeway

This user now cannot log in with a password (but may be able to through e.g. SASL EXTERNAL if
configured).

delete_user username

username
The name of the user to delete.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to delete the user named "janeway":

rabbitmqctl delete_user janeway

list_users

Lists users. Each result row will contain the user name followed by a list of the tags set for
that user.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all users:

rabbitmqctl list_users

set_user_tags username [tag ...]

username
The name of the user whose tags are to be set.

tag Zero, one or more tags to set. Any existing tags will be removed.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to ensure the user named "janeway" is an
administrator:

rabbitmqctl set_user_tags janeway administrator

This has no effect when the user logs in via AMQP, but can be used to permit the user to manage
users, virtual hosts and permissions when the user logs in via some other means (for example with
the management plugin).

This command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to remove any tags from the user named "janeway":

rabbitmqctl set_user_tags janeway

Access control
clear_permissions [-p vhost] username

vhost The name of the virtual host to which to deny the user access, defaulting to "/".

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

Sets user permissions.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to deny the user named "janeway" access
to the virtual host called "my-vhost":

rabbitmqctl clear_permissions -p my-vhost janeway

clear_topic_permissions [-p vhost] username [exchange]

vhost The name of the virtual host to which to clear the topic permissions, defaulting to "/".

username
The name of the user to clear topic permissions to the specified virtual host.

exchange
The name of the topic exchange to clear topic permissions, defaulting to all the topic
exchanges the given user has topic permissions for.

Clear user topic permissions.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to remove topic permissions for user
named "janeway" for the topic exchange "amq.topic" in the virtual host called "my-vhost":

rabbitmqctl clear_topic_permissions -p my-vhost janeway amq.topic

list_permissions [-p vhost]

vhost The name of the virtual host for which to list the users that have been granted access to
it, and their permissions. Defaults to "/".

Lists permissions in a virtual host.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all the users which have been
granted access to the virtual host called "my-vhost", and the permissions they have for
operations on resources in that virtual host. Note that an empty string means no permissions
granted:

rabbitmqctl list_permissions -p my-vhost

list_topic_permissions [-p vhost]

vhost The name of the virtual host for which to list the users topic permissions. Defaults to
"/".

Lists topic permissions in a virtual host.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all the users which have been
granted topic permissions in the virtual host called "my-vhost:"

rabbitmqctl list_topic_permissions -p my-vhost

list_user_permissions username

username
The name of the user for which to list the permissions.

Lists user permissions.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all the virtual hosts to which
the user named "janeway" has been granted access, and the permissions the user has for operations
on resources in these virtual hosts:

rabbitmqctl list_user_permissions janeway

list_user_topic_permissions username

username
The name of the user for which to list the topic permissions.

Lists user topic permissions.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all the virtual hosts to which
the user named "janeway" has been granted access, and the topic permissions the user has in these
virtual hosts:

rabbitmqctl list_topic_user_permissions janeway

list_vhosts [vhostinfoitem ...]

Lists virtual hosts.

The vhostinfoitem parameter is used to indicate which virtual host information items to include
in the results. The column order in the results will match the order of the parameters.
vhostinfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

name The name of the virtual host with non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

tracing
Whether tracing is enabled for this virtual host.

If no vhostinfoitem are specified then the vhost name is displayed.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all virtual hosts:

rabbitmqctl list_vhosts name tracing

set_permissions [-p vhost] user conf write read

vhost The name of the virtual host to which to grant the user access, defaulting to "/".

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

conf A regular expression matching resource names for which the user is granted configure
permissions.

write A regular expression matching resource names for which the user is granted write
permissions.

read A regular expression matching resource names for which the user is granted read
permissions.

Sets user permissions.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to grant the user named "janeway" access
to the virtual host called "my-vhost", with configure permissions on all resources whose names
starts with "janeway-", and write and read permissions on all resources:

rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p my-vhost janeway "^janeway-.*" ".*" ".*"

set_topic_permissions [-p vhost] user exchange write read

vhost The name of the virtual host to which to grant the user access, defaulting to "/".

user The name of the user the permissions apply to in the target virtual host.

exchange
The name of the topic exchange the authorisation check will be applied to.

write A regular expression matching the routing key of the published message.

read A regular expression matching the routing key of the consumed message.

Sets user topic permissions.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to let the user named "janeway" publish
and consume messages going through the "amp.topic" exchange of the "my-vhost" virtual host with a
routing key starting with "janeway-":

rabbitmqctl set_topic_permissions -p my-vhost janeway amq.topic "^janeway-.*" "^janeway-.*"

Topic permissions support variable expansion for the following variables: username, vhost, and
client_id. Note that client_id is expanded only when using MQTT. The previous example could be
made more generic by using "^{username}-.*":

rabbitmqctl set_topic_permissions -p my-vhost janeway amq.topic "^{username}-.*"
"^{username}-.*"

Monitoring, observability and health checks
environment

Displays the name and value of each variable in the application environment for each running
application.

list_bindings [-p vhost] [bindinginfoitem ...]

Returns binding details. By default the bindings for the "/" virtual host are returned. The -p
flag can be used to override this default.

The bindinginfoitem parameter is used to indicate which binding information items to include in
the results. The column order in the results will match the order of the parameters.
bindinginfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

source_name
The name of the source of messages to which the binding is attached. With non-ASCII
characters escaped as in C.

source_kind
The kind of the source of messages to which the binding is attached. Currently always
exchange. With non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

destination_name
The name of the destination of messages to which the binding is attached. With non-ASCII
characters escaped as in C.

destination_kind
The kind of the destination of messages to which the binding is attached. With non-ASCII
characters escaped as in C.

routing_key
The binding's routing key, with non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

arguments
The binding's arguments.

If no bindinginfoitem are specified then all above items are displayed.

For example, this command displays the exchange name and queue name of the bindings in the
virtual host named "my-vhost"

rabbitmqctl list_bindings -p my-vhost exchange_name queue_name

list_channels [channelinfoitem ...]

Returns information on all current channels, the logical containers executing most AMQP commands.
This includes channels that are part of ordinary AMQP connections, and channels created by
various plug-ins and other extensions.

The channelinfoitem parameter is used to indicate which channel information items to include in
the results. The column order in the results will match the order of the parameters.
channelinfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

pid Id of the Erlang process associated with the connection.

connection
Id of the Erlang process associated with the connection to which the channel belongs.

name Readable name for the channel.

number The number of the channel, which uniquely identifies it within a connection.

user Username associated with the channel.

vhost Virtual host in which the channel operates.

transactional
True if the channel is in transactional mode, false otherwise.

confirm
True if the channel is in confirm mode, false otherwise.

consumer_count
Number of logical AMQP consumers retrieving messages via the channel.

messages_unacknowledged
Number of messages delivered via this channel but not yet acknowledged.

messages_uncommitted
Number of messages received in an as yet uncommitted transaction.

acks_uncommitted
Number of acknowledgements received in an as yet uncommitted transaction.

messages_unconfirmed
Number of published messages not yet confirmed. On channels not in confirm mode, this
remains 0.

prefetch_count
QoS prefetch limit for new consumers, 0 if unlimited.

global_prefetch_count
QoS prefetch limit for the entire channel, 0 if unlimited.

If no channelinfoitem are specified then pid, user, consumer_count, and messages_unacknowledged
are assumed.

For example, this command displays the connection process and count of unacknowledged messages
for each channel:

rabbitmqctl list_channels connection messages_unacknowledged

list_ciphers

Lists cipher suites supported by encoding commands.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all cipher suites supported by
encoding commands:

rabbitmqctl list_ciphers

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.
connectioninfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

pid Id of the Erlang process associated with the connection.

name Readable name for the connection.

port Server port.

host Server hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
disabled.

peer_port
Peer port.

peer_host
Peer hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
not enabled.

ssl Boolean indicating whether the connection is secured with SSL.

ssl_protocol
SSL protocol (e.g. "tlsv1").

ssl_key_exchange
SSL key exchange algorithm (e.g. "rsa").

ssl_cipher
SSL cipher algorithm (e.g. "aes_256_cbc").

ssl_hash
SSL hash function (e.g. "sha").

peer_cert_subject
The subject of the peer's SSL certificate, in RFC4514 form.

peer_cert_issuer
The issuer of the peer's SSL certificate, in RFC4514 form.

peer_cert_validity
The period for which the peer's SSL certificate is valid.

state Connection state; one of:
• starting
• tuning
• opening
• running
• flow
• blocking
• blocked
• closing
• closed

channels
Number of channels using the connection.

protocol
Version of the AMQP protocol in use; currently one of:
• {0,9,1}
• {0,8,0}

Note that if a client requests an AMQP 0-9 connection, we treat it as AMQP 0-9-1.

auth_mechanism
SASL authentication mechanism used, such as "PLAIN".

user Username associated with the connection.

vhost Virtual host name with non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

timeout
Connection timeout / negotiated heartbeat interval, in seconds.

frame_max
Maximum frame size (bytes).

channel_max
Maximum number of channels on this connection.

client_properties
Informational properties transmitted by the client during connection establishment.

recv_oct
Octets received.

recv_cnt
Packets received.

send_oct
Octets send.

send_cnt
Packets sent.

send_pend
Send queue size.

connected_at
Date and time this connection was established, as timestamp.

If no connectioninfoitem are specified then user, peer host, peer port, time since flow control
and memory block state are displayed.

For example, this command displays the send queue size and server port for each connection:

rabbitmqctl list_connections send_pend port

list_consumers [-p vhost]

Lists consumers, i.e. subscriptions to a queue´s message stream. Each line printed shows,
separated by tab characters, the name of the queue subscribed to, the id of the channel process
via which the subscription was created and is managed, the consumer tag which uniquely identifies
the subscription within a channel, a boolean indicating whether acknowledgements are expected for
messages delivered to this consumer, an integer indicating the prefetch limit (with 0 meaning
"none"), and any arguments for this consumer.

list_exchanges [-p vhost] [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.
exchangeinfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

name The name of the exchange with non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

type The exchange type, such as:
• direct
• topic
• headers
• fanout

durable
Whether or not the exchange survives server restarts.

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

internal
Whether the exchange is internal, i.e. cannot be directly published to by a client.

arguments
Exchange arguments.

policy Policy name for applying to the exchange.

If no exchangeinfoitem are specified then exchange name and type are displayed.

For example, this command displays the name and type for each exchange of the virtual host named
"my-vhost":

rabbitmqctl list_exchanges -p my-vhost name type

list_hashes

Lists hash functions supported by encoding commands.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to list all hash functions supported by
encoding commands:

rabbitmqctl list_hashes

list_queues [-p vhost] [--offline | --online | --local] [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.

Displayed queues can be filtered by their status or location using one of the following mutually
exclusive options:

--offline
List only those durable queues that are not currently available (more specifically, their
master node isn't).

--online
List queues that are currently available (their master node is).

--local
List only those queues whose master process is located on the current node.

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. queueinfoitem
can take any value from the list that follows:

name The name of the queue with non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

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.

policy Effective policy name for the queue.

pid Erlang process identifier of the queue.

owner_pid
Id of the Erlang process of the connection which is the exclusive owner of the queue.
Empty if the queue is non-exclusive.

exclusive
True if queue is exclusive (i.e. has owner_pid), false otherwise.

exclusive_consumer_pid
Id of the Erlang process representing the channel of the exclusive consumer subscribed to
this queue. Empty if there is no exclusive consumer.

exclusive_consumer_tag
Consumer tag of the exclusive consumer subscribed to this queue. Empty if there is no
exclusive consumer.

messages_ready
Number of messages ready to be delivered to clients.

messages_unacknowledged
Number of messages delivered to clients but not yet acknowledged.

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

messages_ready_ram
Number of messages from messages_ready which are resident in ram.

messages_unacknowledged_ram
Number of messages from messages_unacknowledged which are resident in ram.

messages_ram
Total number of messages which are resident in ram.

messages_persistent
Total number of persistent messages in the queue (will always be 0 for transient queues).

message_bytes
Sum of the size of all message bodies in the queue. This does not include the message
properties (including headers) or any overhead.

message_bytes_ready
Like message_bytes but counting only those messages ready to be delivered to clients.

message_bytes_unacknowledged
Like message_bytes but counting only those messages delivered to clients but not yet
acknowledged.

message_bytes_ram
Like message_bytes but counting only those messages which are currently held in RAM.

message_bytes_persistent
Like message_bytes but counting only those messages which are persistent.

head_message_timestamp
The timestamp property of the first message in the queue, if present. Timestamps of
messages only appear when they are in the paged-in state.

disk_reads
Total number of times messages have been read from disk by this queue since it started.

disk_writes
Total number of times messages have been written to disk by this queue since it started.

consumers
Number of consumers.

consumer_utilisation
Fraction of the time (between 0.0 and 1.0) that the queue is able to immediately deliver
messages to consumers. This can be less than 1.0 if consumers are limited by network
congestion or prefetch count.

memory Bytes of memory allocated by the runtime for the queue, including stack, heap and
internal structures.

slave_pids
If the queue is mirrored, this lists the IDs of the mirrors (follower replicas). To
learn more, see the RabbitMQ Mirroring guide: https://www.rabbitmq.com/ha.html

synchronised_slave_pids
If the queue is mirrored, this gives the IDs of the mirrors (follower replicas) which are
synchronised with the master (leader). To learn more, see the RabbitMQ Mirroring guide:
https://www.rabbitmq.com/ha.html

state The state of the queue. Normally "running", but may be "{syncing, message_count}" if the
queue is synchronising.

Queues which are located on cluster nodes that are currently down will be shown with a
status of "down" (and most other queueinfoitem will be unavailable).

If no queueinfoitem are specified then queue name and depth are displayed.

For example, this command displays the depth and number of consumers for each queue of the
virtual host named "my-vhost"

rabbitmqctl list_queues -p my-vhost messages consumers

list_unresponsive_queues [--local] [--queue_timeout milliseconds] [column ...] [--no-table-headers]

Tests queues to respond within timeout. Lists those which did not respond

For example, this command lists only those unresponsive queues whose master process is located on
the current node.
rabbitmqctl list_unresponsive_queues --local name

node_health_check

Performs several health checks of the target node.

Verifies the rabbit application is running and alarms are not set, then checks that every queue
and channel on the node can emit basic stats.

Example:
rabbitmqctl node_health_check -n rabbit@hostname

ping

Checks that the node OS process is up, registered with EPMD and CLI tools can authenticate with
it

Example:
rabbitmqctl ping -n rabbit@hostname

report

Generate a server status report containing a concatenation of all server status information for
support purposes. The output should be redirected to a file when accompanying a support request.

For example, this command creates a server report which may be attached to a support request
email:

rabbitmqctl report > server_report.txt

schema_info [--no-table-headers] [column ...]

Lists schema database tables and their properties

For example, this command lists the table names and their active replicas:

rabbitmqctl schema_info name active_replicas

status

Displays broker status information such as the running applications on the current Erlang node,
RabbitMQ and Erlang versions, OS name, memory and file descriptor statistics. (See the
cluster_status command to find out which nodes are clustered and running.)

For example, this command displays information about the RabbitMQ broker:

rabbitmqctl status

Runtime Parameters and Policies
Certain features of RabbitMQ (such as the Federation plugin) are controlled by dynamic, cluster-wide
parameters. There are 2 kinds of parameters: parameters scoped to a virtual host and global parameters.
Each vhost-scoped parameter consists of a component name, a name and a value. The component name and
name are strings, and the value is a valid JSON document. A global parameter consists of a name and
value. The name is a string and the value is an arbitrary Erlang data structure. Parameters can be set,
cleared and listed. In general you should refer to the documentation for the feature in question to see
how to set parameters.

Policies is a feature built on top of runtime parameters. Policies are used to control and modify the
behaviour of queues and exchanges on a cluster-wide basis. Policies apply within a given vhost, and
consist of a name, pattern, definition and an optional priority. Policies can be set, cleared and
listed.

clear_global_parameter name

Clears a global runtime parameter. This is similar to clear_parameter but the key-value pair
isn't tied to a virtual host.

name The name of the global runtime parameter being cleared.

For example, this command clears the global runtime parameter "mqtt_default_vhosts":

rabbitmqctl clear_global_parameter mqtt_default_vhosts

clear_parameter [-p vhost] component_name key

Clears a parameter.

component_name
The name of the component for which the parameter is being cleared.

name The name of the parameter being cleared.

For example, this command clears the parameter "node01" for the "federation-upstream" component
in the default virtual host:

rabbitmqctl clear_parameter federation-upstream node01

list_global_parameters

Lists all global runtime parameters. This is similar to list_parameters but the global runtime
parameters are not tied to any virtual host.

For example, this command lists all global parameters:

rabbitmqctl list_global_parameters

list_parameters [-p vhost]

Lists all parameters for a virtual host.

For example, this command lists all parameters in the default virtual host:

rabbitmqctl list_parameters

set_global_parameter name value

Sets a global runtime parameter. This is similar to set_parameter but the key-value pair isn't
tied to a virtual host.

name The name of the global runtime parameter being set.

value The value for the global runtime parameter, as a JSON term. In most shells you are very
likely to need to quote this.

For example, this command sets the global runtime parameter "mqtt_default_vhosts" to the JSON
term {"O=client,CN=guest":"/"}:

rabbitmqctl set_global_parameter mqtt_default_vhosts '{"O=client,CN=guest":"/"}'

set_parameter [-p vhost] component_name name value

Sets a parameter.

component_name
The name of the component for which the parameter is being set.

name The name of the parameter being set.

value The value for the parameter, as a JSON term. In most shells you are very likely to need
to quote this.

For example, this command sets the parameter "node01" for the "federation-upstream" component in
the default virtual host to the following JSON "guest":

rabbitmqctl set_parameter federation-upstream node01
'{"uri":"amqp://user:password@server/%2F","ack-mode":"on-publish"}'

list_policies [-p vhost]

Lists all policies for a virtual host.

For example, this command lists all policies in the default virtual host:

rabbitmqctl list_policies

set_operator_policy [-p vhost] [--priority priority] [--apply-to apply-to] name pattern definition

Sets an operator policy that overrides a subset of arguments in user policies. Arguments are
identical to those of set_policy.

Supported arguments are:
• expires
• message-ttl
• max-length
• max-length-bytes

set_policy [-p vhost] [--priority priority] [--apply-to apply-to] name pattern definition

Sets a policy.

name The name of the policy.

pattern
The regular expression, which when matches on a given resources causes the policy to
apply.

definition
The definition of the policy, as a JSON term. In most shells you are very likely to need
to quote this.

priority
The priority of the policy as an integer. Higher numbers indicate greater precedence.
The default is 0.

apply-to
Which types of object this policy should apply to. Possible values are:
• queues
• exchanges
• all
The default is all ..

For example, this command sets the policy "federate-me" in the default virtual host so that
built-in exchanges are federated:

rabbitmqctl set_policy federate-me ^amq. '{"federation-upstream-set":"all"}'

clear_policy [-p vhost] name

Clears a policy.

name The name of the policy being cleared.

For example, this command clears the "federate-me" policy in the default virtual host:

rabbitmqctl clear_policy federate-me

clear_operator_policy [-p vhost] name

Clears an operator policy. Arguments are identical to those of clear_policy.

list_operator_policies [-p vhost]

Lists operator policy overrides for a virtual host. Arguments are identical to those of
list_policies.

Virtual hosts
Note that rabbitmqctl manages the RabbitMQ internal user database. Permissions for users from any
alternative authorisation backend will not be visible to rabbitmqctl.

add_vhost vhost

vhost The name of the virtual host entry to create.

Creates a virtual host.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to create a new virtual host called
"test":

rabbitmqctl add_vhost test

clear_vhost_limits [-p vhost]

Clears virtual host limits.

For example, this command clears vhost limits in vhost "qa_env":

rabbitmqctl clear_vhost_limits -p qa_env

delete_vhost vhost

vhost The name of the virtual host entry to delete.

Deletes a virtual host.

Deleting a virtual host deletes all its exchanges, queues, bindings, user permissions, parameters
and policies.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to delete the virtual host called "test":

rabbitmqctl delete_vhost a-vhost

list_vhost_limits [-p vhost] [--global] [--no-table-headers]

Displays configured virtual host limits.

--global
Show limits for all vhosts. Suppresses the -p parameter.

restart_vhost vhost

vhost The name of the virtual host entry to restart.

Restarts a failed vhost data stores and queues.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to restart a virtual host called "test":

rabbitmqctl restart_vhost test

set_vhost_limits [-p vhost] definition

Sets virtual host limits.

definition
The definition of the limits, as a JSON term. In most shells you are very likely to need
to quote this.

Recognised limits are:
• max-connections
• max-queues

Use a negative value to specify "no limit".

For example, this command limits the max number of concurrent connections in vhost "qa_env" to
64:

rabbitmqctl set_vhost_limits -p qa_env '{"max-connections": 64}'

This command limits the max number of queues in vhost "qa_env" to 256:

rabbitmqctl set_vhost_limits -p qa_env '{"max-queues": 256}'

This command clears the max number of connections limit in vhost "qa_env":

rabbitmqctl set_vhost_limits -p qa_env '{"max-connections": -1}'

This command disables client connections in vhost "qa_env":

rabbitmqctl set_vhost_limits -p qa_env '{"max-connections": 0}'

trace_off [-p vhost]

vhost The name of the virtual host for which to stop tracing.

Stops tracing.

trace_on [-p vhost]

vhost The name of the virtual host for which to start tracing.

Starts tracing. Note that the trace state is not persistent; it will revert to being off if the
node is restarted.

Configuration
decode value passphrase [--cipher cipher] [--hash hash] [--iterations iterations]

value passphrase
Value to decrypt (as produced by the encode command) and passphrase.

For example:

rabbitmqctl decode '{encrypted, <<"...">>}' mypassphrase

--cipher cipher --hash hash --iterations iterations
Options to specify the decryption settings. They can be used independently.

For example:

rabbitmqctl decode --cipher blowfish_cfb64 --hash sha256 --iterations 10000
'{encrypted,<<"...">>} mypassphrase

encode value passphrase [--cipher cipher] [--hash hash] [--iterations iterations]

value passphrase
Value to encrypt and passphrase.

For example:

rabbitmqctl encode '<<"guest">>' mypassphrase

--cipher cipher --hash hash --iterations iterations
Options to specify the encryption settings. They can be used independently.

For example:

rabbitmqctl encode --cipher blowfish_cfb64 --hash sha256 --iterations 10000
'<<"guest">>' mypassphrase

set_cluster_name name

Sets the cluster name to name. The cluster name is announced to clients on connection, and used
by the federation and shovel plugins to record where a message has been. The cluster name is by
default derived from the hostname of the first node in the cluster, but can be changed.

For example, this sets the cluster name to "london":

rabbitmqctl set_cluster_name london

set_disk_free_limit disk_limit

disk_limit
Lower bound limit as an integer in bytes or a string with memory unit symbols (see
vm_memory_high_watermark), e.g. 512M or 1G. Once free disk space reaches the limit, a
disk alarm will be set.

set_disk_free_limit mem_relative fraction

fraction
Limit relative to the total amount available RAM as a non-negative floating point number.
Values lower than 1.0 can be dangerous and should be used carefully.

set_log_level [log_level]

Sets log level in the running node

Supported type values are:
• debug
• info
• warning
• error
• none

Example:
rabbitmqctl log_level debug

set_vm_memory_high_watermark fraction

fraction
The new memory threshold fraction at which flow control is triggered, as a floating point
number greater than or equal to 0.

set_vm_memory_high_watermark [absolute] memory_limit

memory_limit
The new memory limit at which flow control is triggered, expressed in bytes as an integer
number greater than or equal to 0 or as a string with memory unit symbol(e.g. 512M or
1G). Available unit symbols are:

k, kiB kibibytes (2^10 bytes)

M, MiB mebibytes (2^20 bytes)

G, GiB gibibytes (2^30 bytes)

kB kilobytes (10^3 bytes)

MB megabytes (10^6 bytes)

GB gigabytes (10^9 bytes)

Feature flags
enable_feature_flag feature_flag

Enables a feature flag on the target node.

Example:
rabbitmqctl enable_feature_flag quorum_queue

list_feature_flags [column ...]

Lists feature flags

Supported column values are:
• name
• state
• stability
• provided_by
• desc
• doc_url

Example:
rabbitmqctl list_feature_flags name state

Connection Operations
close_all_connections [-p vhost] [--global] [--per-connection-delay delay] [--limit limit] explanation

-p vhost
The name of the virtual host for which connections should be closed. Ignored when
--global is specified.

--global
If connections should be close for all vhosts. Overrides -p

--per-connection-delay delay
Time in milliseconds to wait after each connection closing.

--limit limit
Number of connection to close. Only works per vhost. Ignored when --global is
specified.

explanation
Explanation string.

Instructs the broker to close all connections for the specified vhost or entire RabbitMQ node.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to close 10 connections on "qa_env"
vhost, passing the explanation "Please close":

rabbitmqctl close_all_connections -p qa_env --limit 10 'Please close'

This command instructs broker to close all connections to the node:

rabbitmqctl close_all_connections --global

close_connection connectionpid explanation

connectionpid
Id of the Erlang process associated with the connection to close.

explanation
Explanation string.

Instructs the broker to close the connection associated with the Erlang process id connectionpid
(see also the list_connections command), passing the explanation string to the connected client
as part of the AMQP connection shutdown protocol.

For example, this command instructs the RabbitMQ broker to close the connection associated with
the Erlang process id "<rabbit@tanto.4262.0>", passing the explanation "go away" to the connected
client:

rabbitmqctl close_connection "<rabbit@tanto.4262.0>" "go away"

Misc
eval expression

Evaluates an Erlang expression on the target node

hipe_compile directory

Performs HiPE-compilation and caches resulting .beam-files in the given directory.

Parent directories are created if necessary. Any existing .beam files from the directory are
automatically deleted prior to compilation.

To use this precompiled files, you should set RABBITMQ_SERVER_CODE_PATH environment variable to
directory specified in hipe_compile invocation.

For example, to HiPE-compile modules and store them to /tmp/rabbit-hipe/ebin directory:

rabbitmqctl hipe_compile /tmp/rabbit-hipe/ebin

Queue Operations
delete_queue queue_name [--if-empty | -e] [--if-unused | -u]

queue_name
The name of the queue to delete.

--if-empty
Delete the queue if it is empty (has no messages ready for delivery)

--if-unused
Delete the queue only if it has no consumers

Deletes a queue.

purge_queue [-p vhost] queue

queue The name of the queue to purge.

Purges a queue (removes all messages in it).

PLUGIN COMMANDS

RabbitMQ plugins can extend rabbitmqctl tool to add new commands when enabled. Currently available
commands can be found in rabbitmqctl help output. Following commands are added by RabbitMQ plugins,
available in default distribution:

Shovel plugin
shovel_status
Prints a list of configured Shovels

delete_shovel [-p vhost] name
Instructs the RabbitMQ node to delete the configured shovel by name.

Federation plugin
federation_status [--only-down]
Prints a list of federation links.

--only-down
Only list federation links which are not running.

restart_federation_link link_id
Instructs the RabbitMQ node to restart the federation link with specified link_id.

AMQP 1.0 plugin
list_amqp10_connections [amqp10_connectioninfoitem ...]
Similar to the list_connections command, but returns fields which make sense for AMQP-1.0
connections. amqp10_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. amqp10_connectioninfoitem can take any value from the list that
follows:

pid Id of the Erlang process associated with the connection.

auth_mechanism
SASL authentication mechanism used, such as "PLAIN".

host Server hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
disabled.

frame_max
Maximum frame size (bytes).

timeout
Connection timeout / negotiated heartbeat interval, in seconds.

user Username associated with the connection.

state Connection state; one of:
• starting
• waiting_amqp0100
• securing
• running
• blocking
• blocked
• closing
• closed

recv_oct
Octets received.

recv_cnt
Packets received.

send_oct
Octets send.

send_cnt
Packets sent.

ssl Boolean indicating whether the connection is secured with SSL.

ssl_protocol
SSL protocol (e.g. "tlsv1").

ssl_key_exchange
SSL key exchange algorithm (e.g. "rsa").

ssl_cipher
SSL cipher algorithm (e.g. "aes_256_cbc").

ssl_hash
SSL hash function (e.g. "sha").

peer_cert_subject
The subject of the peer's SSL certificate, in RFC4514 form.

peer_cert_issuer
The issuer of the peer's SSL certificate, in RFC4514 form.

peer_cert_validity
The period for which the peer's SSL certificate is valid.

node The node name of the RabbitMQ node to which connection is established.

MQTT plugin
list_mqtt_connections [mqtt_connectioninfoitem]
Similar to the list_connections command, but returns fields which make sense for MQTT
connections. mqtt_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. mqtt_connectioninfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

host Server hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
disabled.

port Server port.

peer_host
Peer hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
not enabled.

peer_port
Peer port.

protocol
MQTT protocol version, which can be on of the following:
• {'MQTT', N/A}
• {'MQTT', 3.1.0}
• {'MQTT', 3.1.1}

channels
Number of channels using the connection.

channel_max
Maximum number of channels on this connection.

frame_max
Maximum frame size (bytes).

client_properties
Informational properties transmitted by the client during connection establishment.

ssl Boolean indicating whether the connection is secured with SSL.

ssl_protocol
SSL protocol (e.g. "tlsv1").

ssl_key_exchange
SSL key exchange algorithm (e.g. "rsa").

ssl_cipher
SSL cipher algorithm (e.g. "aes_256_cbc").

ssl_hash
SSL hash function (e.g. "sha").

conn_name
Readable name for the connection.

connection_state
Connection state; one of:
• starting
• running
• blocked

connection
Id of the Erlang process associated with the internal amqp direct connection.

consumer_tags
A tuple of consumer tags for QOS0 and QOS1.

message_id
The last Packet ID sent in a control message.

client_id
MQTT client identifier for the connection.

clean_sess
MQTT clean session flag.

will_msg
MQTT Will message sent in CONNECT frame.

exchange
Exchange to route MQTT messages configured in rabbitmq_mqtt application environment.

ssl_login_name
SSL peer cert auth name

retainer_pid
Id of the Erlang process associated with retain storage for the connection.

user Username associated with the connection.

vhost Virtual host name with non-ASCII characters escaped as in C.

STOMP plugin
list_stomp_connections [stomp_connectioninfoitem]
Similar to the list_connections command, but returns fields which make sense for STOMP
connections. stomp_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. stomp_connectioninfoitem can take any value from the list that follows:

conn_name
Readable name for the connection.

connection
Id of the Erlang process associated with the internal amqp direct connection.

connection_state
Connection state; one of:
• running
• blocking
• blocked

session_id
STOMP protocol session identifier

channel
AMQP channel associated with the connection

version
Negotiated STOMP protocol version for the connection.

implicit_connect
Indicates if the connection was established using implicit connect (without CONNECT
frame)

auth_login
Effective username for the connection.

auth_mechanism
STOMP authorization mechanism. Can be one of:
• config
• ssl
• stomp_headers

port Server port.

host Server hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
not enabled.

peer_port
Peer port.

peer_host
Peer hostname obtained via reverse DNS, or its IP address if reverse DNS failed or was
not enabled.

protocol
STOMP protocol version, which can be on of the following:
• {'STOMP', 0}
• {'STOMP', 1}
• {'STOMP', 2}

channels
Number of channels using the connection.

channel_max
Maximum number of channels on this connection.

frame_max
Maximum frame size (bytes).

client_properties
Informational properties transmitted by the client during connection

ssl Boolean indicating whether the connection is secured with SSL.

ssl_protocol
TLS protocol (e.g. "tlsv1").

ssl_key_exchange
TLS key exchange algorithm (e.g. "rsa").

ssl_cipher
TLS cipher algorithm (e.g. "aes_256_cbc").

ssl_hash
SSL hash function (e.g. "sha").

Management agent plugin
reset_stats_db [--all]
Reset management stats database for the RabbitMQ node.

--all Reset stats database for all nodes in the cluster.

AUTHOR

       The RabbitMQ Team <info@rabbitmq.com>

RabbitMQ Server                                September 28, 2019                                 RABBITMQCTL(8)

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

OPTIONS

COMMANDS

PLUGIN COMMANDS

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR