How to Install RabbitMQ on Ubuntu 24.04

Introduction

RabbitMQ is an open-source message and streaming broker that enables efficient communication between distributed systems. It's highly extensible with plugins and supports multiple messaging protocols that improve application reliability while enabling fast deployment and integration with other systems.

This article explains how to Install RabbitMQ on Ubuntu 24.04 and secure it on the server.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• Deploy a Ubuntu 24.04 instance on Vultr.

• Set up a domain A record pointing to the instance IP address. For example, rabbitmq.example.com.

• Access the server using SSH as a non-root user with sudo privileges.

Install RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ is available in the default repositories on Ubuntu 24.04. Follow the steps below to install the Erlang dependency package and RabbitMQ on your server.

1. View the available RabbitMQ APT repository information.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt-cache policy rabbitmq-server

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   rabbitmq-server:
     Installed: (none)
     Candidate: 3.12.1-1ubuntu1
     Version table:
        3.12.1-1ubuntu1 500
           500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble/main amd64 Packages
           500 http://ubuntu.mirror.constant.com noble/main amd64 Packages
           500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble/main amd64 Packages

2. Install the erlang and gnupg dependency packages.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install gnupg erlang -y

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Install RabbitMQ.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install rabbitmq-server -y 

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Manage the RabbitMQ System Service

RabbitMQ uses the rabbitmq-server system service to run and manage the application processes on your server. Follow the steps below to manage the RabbitMQ system service.

1. Enable the RabbitMQ service to start at boot time.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl enable rabbitmq-server

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Start the RabbitMQ service.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl start rabbitmq-server

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. View the RabbitMQ service status and verify that it's running.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl status rabbitmq-server

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   ● rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ Messaging Server
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/rabbitmq-server.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Fri 2024-07-05 15:42:24 UTC; 26s ago
   Main PID: 4122 (beam.smp)
      Tasks: 24 (limit: 9438)
   Memory: 98.8M (peak: 106.2M)
      CPU: 4.186s

Configure RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ uses a management plugin to enable access to the web management panel. Follow the steps below to enable the RabbitMQ plugin, create an administrative user account, and grant the user full permissions to the application processes.

1. Enable the RabbitMQ management plugin.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Create a new administrative user account with a strong password. Replace admin with your actual user and StrongPassword with your desired user password.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rabbitmqctl add_user admin StrongPassword

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Grant the user administrative privileges.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rabbitmqctl set_user_tags admin administrator

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Grant the user full permissions to all RabbitMQ resources on the server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / admin ".*" ".*" ".*"

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Within the above command:

   • .*: Grants configuration privileges to the user.
   • .*: Grants write privileges to the user on any resource.
   • .*: Grants read privileges to the user read.

Secure RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ listens for incoming connection requests on the default TCP port 15672 on your server. Set up a reverse proxy such as Nginx to secure the RabbitMQ port and process connection requests using a custom port such as the HTTP port 80. In addition, secure RabbitMQ connection using valid SSL certificates to enable HTTPS connections on the server as described in the following sections.

Set Up Nginx as a Reverse Proxy to Expose RabbitMQ

1. Install Nginx.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install nginx -y

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Enable Nginx to start at boot time.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl enable nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Start the Nginx service.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl start nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Disable the default Nginx configuration file.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Create a new Nginx virtual host configuration such as rabbitmq.conf using a text editor such as nano.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/rabbitmq.conf

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. Add the following contents to the file. Replace rabbitmq.example.com with your actual domain.

   NGINX

   Copy

   server {
   listen 80;
   server_name  rabbitmq.example.com;
   
      location / {
              proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:15672;
              proxy_set_header Host        $host;
              proxy_set_header X-Real-IP     $remote_addr;
              proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For  $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
              proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
              proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
              proxy_redirect off;
              proxy_http_version 1.1;
              proxy_max_temp_file_size 0;
              proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
      }
   }
   

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Save and close the file.

   The above Nginx configuration creates a new virtual host profile that listens for incoming connections on the HTTP port 80 using your domain rabbitmq.example.com and forwards all connection requests to the RabbitMQ localhost port 15672.

7. Enable the virtual host configuration.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/rabbitmq.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

8. Test the Nginx configuration for errors.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo nginx -t

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

9. Restart the Nginx service to apply the configuration changes.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl restart nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

10. Allow incoming connections to the HTTP port 80 through the default UFW firewall configuration.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ sudo ufw allow 80 

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

11. Reload UFW to apply your configuration changes.

    CONSOLE

    Copy

    $ sudo ufw reload

    Explain Code

    Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Secure the RabbitMQ Console with Trusted SSL Certificates

1. Install the Certbot Let's Encrypt Client tool.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo snap install certbot --classic

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Generate a new SSL certificate using your domain available in the Nginx virtual host configuration. Replace rabbitmq.example.com and admin@example.com with your actual details.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ certbot --nginx -d rabbitmq.example.com -m admin@example.com --agree-tos

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Restart the Nginx service to apply your SSL configuration changes.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ systemctl restart nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Allow incoming connections to the HTTPS port 443 through the default UFW firewall configuration.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw allow 443 

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Reload UFW to apply your configuration changes.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo ufw reload

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

6. Restart the RabbitMQ service.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ systemctl restart rabbitmq-server

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Access the RabbitMQ Console

1. Access your domain using a web browser such as Chrome to access the RabbitMQ web administration console.

   https://your-domain.com

   Log in to the RabbitMQ Console using the admin user credentials you created earlier when prompted.

   

2. Click Nodes within the RabbitMQ console to view your active node statistics.

   

Conclusion

You installed RabbitMQ on a Ubuntu 24.04 server and secured the application to enable message streaming between applications. For more information, visit the RabbitMQ documentation.