# Bitnami Secure Image for RabbitMQ

> RabbitMQ is an open source general-purpose message broker that is designed for consistent, highly-available messaging scenarios (both synchronous and asynchronous).

[Overview of RabbitMQ](https://www.rabbitmq.com)
Trademarks: This software listing is packaged by Bitnami. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offering are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

## TL;DR

```console
docker run --name rabbitmq bitnami/rabbitmq:latest
```

You can find the default credentials and available configuration options in the [Environment Variables](#environment-variables) section.

## Using `docker-compose.yml`

The docker-compose.yaml file of this container can be found in the [Bitnami Containers repository](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/).

[https://github.com/bitnami/containers/tree/main/bitnami/rabbitmq/docker-compose.yml](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/tree/main/bitnami/rabbitmq/docker-compose.yml)

Please be aware this file has not undergone internal testing. Consequently, we advise its use exclusively for development or testing purposes. For production-ready deployments, we highly recommend utilizing its associated [Bitnami Helm chart](https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/rabbitmq).

## Why use Bitnami Secure Images?

Those are hardened, minimal CVE images built and maintained by Bitnami. Bitnami Secure Images are based on the cloud-optimized, security-hardened enterprise [OS Photon Linux](https://vmware.github.io/photon/). Why choose BSI images?

- Hardened secure images of popular open source software with Near-Zero Vulnerabilities
- Vulnerability Triage & Prioritization with VEX Statements, KEV and EPSS Scores
- Compliance focus with FIPS, STIG, and air-gap options, including secure bill of materials (SBOM)
- Software supply chain provenance attestation through in-toto
- First class support for the internet’s favorite Helm charts

Each image comes with valuable security metadata. You can view the metadata in [our public catalog here](https://app-catalog.vmware.com/bitnami/apps). Note: Some data is only available with [commercial subscriptions to BSI](https://bitnami.com/).

![Alt text](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/BSI%20UI%201.png?raw=true "Application details")
![Alt text](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/BSI%20UI%202.png?raw=true "Packaging report")

If you are looking for our previous generation of images based on Debian Linux, please see the [Bitnami Legacy registry](https://hub.docker.com/u/bitnamilegacy).

## How to deploy RabbitMQ in Kubernetes?

Deploying Bitnami applications as Helm Charts is the easiest way to get started with our applications on Kubernetes. Read more about the installation in the [Bitnami RabbitMQ Chart GitHub repository](https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/master/bitnami/rabbitmq).

## Why use a non-root container?

Non-root container images add an extra layer of security and are generally recommended for production environments. However, because they run as a non-root user, privileged tasks are typically off-limits. Learn more about non-root containers [in our docs](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-tanzu/application-catalog/tanzu-application-catalog/services/tac-doc/apps-tutorials-work-with-non-root-containers-index.html).

## Supported tags and respective `Dockerfile` links

Learn more about the Bitnami tagging policy and the difference between rolling tags and immutable tags [in our documentation page](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-tanzu/application-catalog/tanzu-application-catalog/services/tac-doc/apps-tutorials-understand-rolling-tags-containers-index.html).

## Get this image

The Bitnami RabbitMQ Docker image is only available to [Bitnami Secure Images](https://bitnami.com) customers.

## Persisting your application

If you remove the container all your data will be lost, and the next time you run the image the database will be reinitialized. To avoid this loss of data, you should mount a volume that will persist even after the container is removed.

For persistence you should mount a directory at the `/bitnami/rabbitmq/mnesia` path. If the mounted directory is empty, it will be initialized on the first run.

> **NOTE** As this is a non-root container, the mounted files and directories must have the proper permissions for the UID `1001`.

## Connecting to other containers

Using [Docker container networking](https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/networking/), a RabbitMQ server running inside a container can easily be accessed by your application containers.

Containers attached to the same network can communicate with each other using the container name as the hostname.

## Configuration

The following section describes the supported environment variables

### Environment variables

The following tables list the main variables you can set.

#### Customizable environment variables

| Name                                           | Description                                                                                                                                                                                      | Default Value                        |
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| `RABBITMQ_CONF_FILE`                           | RabbitMQ configuration file.                                                                                                                                                                     | `${RABBITMQ_CONF_DIR}/rabbitmq.conf` |
| `RABBITMQ_DEFINITIONS_FILE`                    | Whether to load external RabbitMQ definitions. This is incompatible with setting the RabbitMQ password securely.                                                                                 | `/app/load_definition.json`          |
| `RABBITMQ_SECURE_PASSWORD`                     | Whether to set the RabbitMQ password securely. This is incompatible with loading external RabbitMQ definitions.                                                                                  | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_UPDATE_PASSWORD`                     | Whether to update the password on container restart.                                                                                                                                             | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME`                   | RabbitMQ cluster node name. When specifying this, ensure you also specify a valid hostname as RabbitMQ will fail to start otherwise.                                                             | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_CLUSTER_PARTITION_HANDLING`          | RabbitMQ cluster partition recovery mechanism.                                                                                                                                                   | `ignore`                             |
| `RABBITMQ_DISK_FREE_RELATIVE_LIMIT`            | Disk relative free space limit of the partition on which RabbitMQ is storing data.                                                                                                               | `1.0`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_DISK_FREE_ABSOLUTE_LIMIT`            | Disk absolute free space limit of the partition on which RabbitMQ is storing data (takes precedence over the relative limit).                                                                    | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_ERL_COOKIE`                          | Erlang cookie to determine whether different nodes are allowed to communicate with each other.                                                                                                   | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_VM_MEMORY_HIGH_WATERMARK`            | High memory watermark for RabbitMQ to block publishers and prevent new messages from being enqueued. Can be specified as an absolute or relative value (as percentage or value between 0 and 1). | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_LOAD_DEFINITIONS`                    | Whether to load external RabbitMQ definitions. This is incompatible with setting the RabbitMQ password securely.                                                                                 | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_BIND_IP`                  | RabbitMQ management server bind IP address.                                                                                                                                                      | `0.0.0.0`                            |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_PORT_NUMBER`              | RabbitMQ management server port number.                                                                                                                                                          | `15672`                              |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_ALLOW_WEB_ACCESS`         | Allow web access to RabbitMQ management portal for RABBITMQ_USERNAME                                                                                                                             | `false`                              |
| `RABBITMQ_NODE_NAME`                           | RabbitMQ node name.                                                                                                                                                                              | `rabbit@localhost`                   |
| `RABBITMQ_NODE_DEFAULT_QUEUE_TYPE`             | RabbitMQ default queue type node-wide.                                                                                                                                                           | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_USE_LONGNAME`                        | Whether to use fully qualified names to identify nodes                                                                                                                                           | `false`                              |
| `RABBITMQ_NODE_PORT_NUMBER`                    | RabbitMQ node port number.                                                                                                                                                                       | `5672`                               |
| `RABBITMQ_NODE_TYPE`                           | RabbitMQ node type.                                                                                                                                                                              | `stats`                              |
| `RABBITMQ_VHOST`                               | RabbitMQ vhost.                                                                                                                                                                                  | `/`                                  |
| `RABBITMQ_VHOSTS`                              | List of additional virtual host (vhost). Default queue type can be set using colon separator (RABBITMQ_VHOSTS=queue_name_0 queue_name_1:quorum)                                                  | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_CLUSTER_REBALANCE`                   | Rebalance the RabbitMQ Cluster.                                                                                                                                                                  | `false`                              |
| `RABBITMQ_CLUSTER_REBALANCE_ATTEMPTS`          | Max attempts for the rebalance check to run                                                                                                                                                      | `100`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_COMMUNITY_PLUGINS`                   | Comma, semi-colon or space separated list of plugins to install during bootstrap.                                                                                                                | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_COMMUNITY_PLUGINS_SECURE`            | Force secure installation for community plugins.                                                                                                                                                 | `yes`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_USERNAME`                            | RabbitMQ user name.                                                                                                                                                                              | `user`                               |
| `RABBITMQ_PASSWORD`                            | RabbitMQ user password.                                                                                                                                                                          | `bitnami`                            |
| `RABBITMQ_FORCE_BOOT`                          | Force a node to start even if it was not the last to shut down                                                                                                                                   | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_ENABLE_LDAP`                         | Enable the LDAP configuration.                                                                                                                                                                   | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_LDAP_TLS`                            | Enable secure LDAP configuration.                                                                                                                                                                | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_LDAP_SERVERS`                        | Comma, semi-colon or space separated list of LDAP server hostnames.                                                                                                                              | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_LDAP_SERVERS_PORT`                   | LDAP servers port.                                                                                                                                                                               | `389`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_LDAP_USER_DN_PATTERN`                | DN used to bind to LDAP in the form cn=$${username},dc=example,dc=org.                                                                                                                           | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_NODE_SSL_PORT_NUMBER`                | RabbitMQ node port number for SSL connections.                                                                                                                                                   | `5671`                               |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_CACERTFILE`                      | Path to the RabbitMQ server SSL CA certificate file.                                                                                                                                             | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_CERTFILE`                        | Path to the RabbitMQ server SSL certificate file.                                                                                                                                                | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_KEYFILE`                         | Path to the RabbitMQ server SSL certificate key file.                                                                                                                                            | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_PASSWORD`                        | RabbitMQ server SSL certificate key password.                                                                                                                                                    | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_DEPTH`                           | Maximum number of non-self-issued intermediate certificates that may follow the peer certificate in a valid certification path.                                                                  | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_FAIL_IF_NO_PEER_CERT`            | Whether to reject TLS connections if client fails to provide a certificate.                                                                                                                      | `no`                                 |
| `RABBITMQ_SSL_VERIFY`                          | Whether to enable peer SSL certificate verification. Valid values: verify_none, verify_peer.                                                                                                     | `verify_none`                        |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_PORT_NUMBER`          | RabbitMQ management server port number for SSL/TLS connections.                                                                                                                                  | `15671`                              |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_CACERTFILE`           | Path to the RabbitMQ management server SSL CA certificate file.                                                                                                                                  | `$RABBITMQ_SSL_CACERTFILE`           |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_CERTFILE`             | Path to the RabbitMQ server SSL certificate file.                                                                                                                                                | `$RABBITMQ_SSL_CERTFILE`             |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_KEYFILE`              | Path to the RabbitMQ management server SSL certificate key file.                                                                                                                                 | `$RABBITMQ_SSL_KEYFILE`              |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_PASSWORD`             | RabbitMQ management server SSL certificate key password.                                                                                                                                         | `$RABBITMQ_SSL_PASSWORD`             |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_DEPTH`                | Maximum number of non-self-issued intermediate certificates that may follow the peer certificate in a valid certification path, for the RabbitMQ management server.                              | `nil`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_FAIL_IF_NO_PEER_CERT` | Whether to reject TLS connections if client fails to provide a certificate for the RabbitMQ management server.                                                                                   | `yes`                                |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_SSL_VERIFY`               | Whether to enable peer SSL certificate verification for the RabbitMQ management server. Valid values: verify_none, verify_peer.                                                                  | `verify_peer`                        |

#### Read-only environment variables

| Name                          | Description                                            | Value                                                             |
|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `RABBITMQ_VOLUME_DIR`         | Persistence base directory.                            | `/bitnami/rabbitmq`                                               |
| `RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR`           | RabbitMQ installation directory.                       | `/opt/bitnami/rabbitmq`                                           |
| `RABBITMQ_BIN_DIR`            | RabbitMQ executables directory.                        | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/sbin`                                       |
| `RABBITMQ_DATA_DIR`           | RabbitMQ data directory.                               | `${RABBITMQ_VOLUME_DIR}/mnesia`                                   |
| `RABBITMQ_CONF_DIR`           | RabbitMQ configuration directory.                      | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/etc/rabbitmq`                               |
| `RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_CONF_DIR`   | RabbitMQ default configuration directory.              | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/etc/rabbitmq.default`                       |
| `RABBITMQ_CONF_ENV_FILE`      | RabbitMQ configuration file for environment variables. | `${RABBITMQ_CONF_DIR}/rabbitmq-env.conf`                          |
| `RABBITMQ_HOME_DIR`           | RabbitMQ home directory.                               | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/.rabbitmq`                                  |
| `RABBITMQ_LIB_DIR`            | RabbitMQ lib directory.                                | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/var/lib/rabbitmq`                           |
| `RABBITMQ_INITSCRIPTS_DIR`    | RabbitMQ init scripts directory.                       | `/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d`                                     |
| `RABBITMQ_LOGS_DIR`           | RabbitMQ logs directory.                               | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/var/log/rabbitmq`                           |
| `RABBITMQ_PLUGINS_DIR`        | RabbitMQ plugins directory.                            | `${RABBITMQ_BASE_DIR}/plugins`                                    |
| `RABBITMQ_MOUNTED_CONF_DIR`   | RabbitMQ directory for mounted configuration files.    | `${RABBITMQ_VOLUME_DIR}/conf`                                     |
| `RABBITMQ_DAEMON_USER`        | RabbitMQ system user name.                             | `rabbitmq`                                                        |
| `RABBITMQ_DAEMON_GROUP`       | RabbitMQ system user group.                            | `rabbitmq`                                                        |
| `RABBITMQ_MNESIA_BASE`        | Path to RabbitMQ mnesia directory.                     | `$RABBITMQ_DATA_DIR`                                              |
| `RABBITMQ_COMBINED_CERT_PATH` | Path to the RabbitMQ server SSL certificate key file.  | `${RABBITMQ_COMBINED_CERT_PATH:-/tmp/rabbitmq_combined_keys.pem}` |

### Configuration file

A custom `rabbitmq.conf` configuration file can be mounted to the `/bitnami/rabbitmq/conf` directory. If no file is mounted, the container will generate a default one based on the environment variables. You can also mount on this directory your own `advanced.config` (using classic Erlang terms) and `rabbitmq-env.conf` configuration files.

As an alternative, you can also mount a `custom.conf` configuration file and mount it to the `/bitnami/rabbitmq/conf` directory. In this case, the default configuation file will be generated and, later on, the settings available in the `custom.conf` configuration file will be merged with the default ones.

### FIPS configuration in Bitnami Secure Images

The Bitnami RabbitMQ Docker image from the [Bitnami Secure Images](https://go-vmware.broadcom.com/contact-us) catalog includes extra features and settings to configure the container with FIPS capabilities. You can configure the next environment variables:

- `OPENSSL_FIPS`: whether OpenSSL runs in FIPS mode or not. `yes` (default), `no`.

## Permission of SSL/TLS certificate and key files

If you bind mount the certificate and key files from your local host to the container, make sure to set proper ownership and permissions of those files:

```console
sudo chown 1001:root <your cert/key files>
sudo chmod 400 <your cert/key files>
```

## Enabling LDAP support

LDAP configuration parameters must be specified if you wish to enable LDAP support for RabbitMQ. The following environment variables are available to configure LDAP support:

- `RABBITMQ_ENABLE_LDAP`: Enable the LDAP configuration. Defaults to `no`.
- `RABBITMQ_LDAP_TLS`: Enable secure LDAP configuration. Defaults to `no`.
- `RABBITMQ_LDAP_SERVERS`: Comma, semi-colon or space separated list of LDAP server hostnames. No defaults.
- `RABBITMQ_LDAP_SERVERS_PORT`: LDAP servers port. Defaults: **389**
- `RABBITMQ_LDAP_USER_DN_PATTERN`: DN used to bind to LDAP in the form `cn=$${username},dc=example,dc=org`.No defaults.

> Note: To escape `$` in `RABBITMQ_LDAP_USER_DN_PATTERN` you need to use `$$`.

Follow these instructions to use the [Bitnami Docker OpenLDAP](https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/bitnami/openldap) image to create an OpenLDAP server and use it to authenticate users on RabbitMQ.

## Logging

The Bitnami RabbitMQ Docker image sends the container logs to the `stdout`. You can configure the containers [logging driver](https://docs.docker.com/engine/admin/logging/overview/) using the `--log-driver` option if you wish to consume the container logs differently. In the default configuration docker uses the `json-file` driver.

## Notable changes

### 4.1.1-debian-12-r3

- The environment variable `RABBITMQ_VHOSTS` can be used to set the default queue type for each virtual host using `:` separator: `RABBITMQ_VHOSTS=queue_name_0 queue_name_1:quorum`
- New enviroment variable `RABBITMQ_NODE_DEFAULT_QUEUE_TYPE` to set default queue type node-wide.

### 3.8.16-debian-10-r28

- Added several minor changes to make the container compatible with the [RabbitMQ Cluster Operator](https://github.com/rabbitmq/cluster-operator/):
  - Add `/etc/rabbitmq`, `/var/log/rabbitmq` and `/var/lib/rabbitmq` as symlinks to the corresponding folders in `/opt/bitnami/rabbitmq`.
  - Set the `RABBITMQ_SECURE_PASSWORD` password to `no` by default. This does not affect the Bitnami RabbitMQ helm as it sets that variable to `yes` by default.
  - Enable the `rabbitmq-prometheus` plugin by default.

### 3.8.9-debian-10-r82

- Add script to be used as preStop hook on K8s environments. It waits until queues have synchronised
  mirror before shutting down.

### 3.8.9-debian-10-r42

- The environment variable `RABBITMQ_HASHED_PASSWORD` has not been used for some time. It is now
  removed from documentation and validation.
- New boolean environment variable `RABBITMQ_LOAD_DEFINITIONS` to get behavior compatible with using
  the `load_definitions` configuration. Initially this means that the password of
  `RABBITMQ_USERNAME` is not changed using `rabbitmqctl change_password`.

### 3.8.3-debian-10-r109

- The default configuration file is created following the "sysctl" or "ini-like" format instead of using Erlang terms. Check [Official documentation](https://www.rabbitmq.com/configure.html#config-file-formats) for more information about supported formats.
- Migrating data/configuration from unsupported locations is not performed anymore.
- New environment variable `RABBITMQ_FORCE_BOOT` to force a node to start even if it was not the last to shut down.
- New environment variable `RABBITMQ_PLUGINS` to indicate a list of plugins to enable during the initialization.
- Add healthcheck scripts to be used on K8s environments.

### 3.8.0-r17, 3.8.0-ol-7-r26

- LDAP authentication

### 3.7.15-r18, 3.7.15-ol-7-r19

- Decrease the size of the container. Node.js is not needed anymore. RabbitMQ configuration logic has been moved to bash scripts in the `rootfs` folder.
- Configuration is not persisted anymore.

### 3.7.7-r35

- The RabbitMQ container includes a new environment variable `RABBITMQ_HASHED_PASSWORD` that allows setting password via SHA256 hash (consult [official documentation](https://www.rabbitmq.com/passwords.html) for more information about password hashes).
- Please note that password hashes must be generated following the [official algorithm](https://www.rabbitmq.com/passwords.html#computing-password-hash). You can use [this Python script](https://gist.githubusercontent.com/anapsix/4c3e8a8685ce5a3f0d7599c9902fd0d5/raw/1203a480fcec1982084b3528415c3cad26541b82/rmq_passwd_hash.py) to generate them.

### 3.7.7-r19

- The RabbitMQ container has been migrated to a non-root user approach. Previously the container ran as the `root` user and the RabbitMQ daemon was started as the `rabbitmq` user. From now on, both the container and the RabbitMQ daemon run as user `1001`. As a consequence, the data directory must be writable by that user. You can revert this behavior by changing `USER 1001` to `USER root` in the Dockerfile.

### 3.6.5-r2

The following parameters have been renamed:

| From                       | To                           |
|----------------------------|------------------------------|
| `RABBITMQ_ERLANG_COOKIE`   | `RABBITMQ_ERL_COOKIE`        |
| `RABBITMQ_NODETYPE`        | `RABBITMQ_NODE_TYPE`         |
| `RABBITMQ_NODEPORT`        | `RABBITMQ_NODE_PORT`         |
| `RABBITMQ_NODENAME`        | `RABBITMQ_NODE_NAME`         |
| `RABBITMQ_CLUSTERNODENAME` | `RABBITMQ_CLUSTER_NODE_NAME` |
| `RABBITMQ_MANAGERPORT`     | `RABBITMQ_MANAGER_PORT`      |

## License

Copyright &copy; 2026 Broadcom. The term "Broadcom" refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

  <http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
