Skip to main content

RabbitMQ Message Queue Monitoring with OpenTelemetry

Overview​

This guide explains how to set up RabbitMQ metrics collection using Scout Collector and forward them to Scout backend.

Prerequisites​

  1. RabbitMQ instance (standalone or cluster)
  2. RabbitMQ management plugin enabled
  3. RabbitMQ user with monitoring privileges
  4. Scout Collector installed

RabbitMQ Configuration​

Ensure the RabbitMQ management plugin is enabled:

# Enable management plugin
rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management

# Verify management plugin is running
rabbitmq-plugins list | grep management

Create a dedicated monitoring user (optional but recommended):

# Create monitoring user
rabbitmqctl add_user rabbitmq_monitor <password>

# Set permissions for monitoring
rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / rabbitmq_monitor "" "" ".*"
rabbitmqctl set_user_tags rabbitmq_monitor monitoring

# Test connectivity
curl -u rabbitmq_monitor:<password> http://localhost:15672/api/overview

Scout Collector Configuration​

receivers:
  rabbitmq:
    endpoint: ${RABBITMQ_HOST}
    username: ${RABBITMQ_USERNAME}
    password: ${RABBITMQ_PASSWORD}
    collection_interval: 10s

    metrics:
      rabbitmq.node.disk_free:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.disk_free_limit:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.disk_free_alarm:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.disk_free_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mem_used:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mem_limit:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mem_alarm:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mem_used_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.fd_used:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.fd_total:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.fd_used_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.sockets_used:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.sockets_total:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.sockets_used_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.proc_used:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.proc_total:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.proc_used_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.uptime:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.run_queue:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.processors:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.context_switches:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.context_switches_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.gc_num:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.gc_num_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.gc_bytes_reclaimed:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.gc_bytes_reclaimed_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_read_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_read_bytes:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_read_avg_time:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_write_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_write_bytes:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_write_avg_time:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_sync_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_sync_avg_time:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_seek_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_seek_avg_time:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_reopen_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mnesia_ram_tx_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mnesia_disk_tx_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.msg_store_read_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.msg_store_write_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_index_write_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_index_read_count:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.connection_created:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.connection_closed:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.channel_created:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.channel_closed:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_declared:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_created:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_deleted:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_read_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_read_bytes_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_read_avg_time_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_write_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_write_bytes_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_write_avg_time_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_sync_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_sync_avg_time_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_seek_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_seek_avg_time_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.io_reopen_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mnesia_ram_tx_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.mnesia_disk_tx_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.msg_store_read_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.msg_store_write_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_index_write_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_index_read_count_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.connection_created_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.connection_closed_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.channel_created_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.channel_closed_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_declared_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_created_details.rate:
        enabled: true
      rabbitmq.node.queue_deleted_details.rate:
        enabled: true

processors:
  resource:
    attributes:
      - key: environment
        value: ${ENVIRONMENT}
        action: upsert
      - key: service.name
        value: ${SERVICE_NAME}
        action: upsert

  batch:
    timeout: 10s
    send_batch_size: 1024

# Export to Base14 Scout
exporters:
  otlphttp:
    endpoint: ${SCOUT_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT}
    tls:
      insecure_skip_verify: true

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [rabbitmq]
      processors: [batch, resource]
      exporters: [otlphttp]

Verification​

  1. Check collector logs for errors

  2. Verify metrics in Scout dashboard

  3. Test RabbitMQ connectivity:

    # Test RabbitMQ management API
    curl -u ${RABBITMQ_USERNAME}:${RABBITMQ_PASSWORD} \
         ${RABBITMQ_HOST}:15672/api/overview

  4. Check RabbitMQ node status:

    # Check node status
    rabbitmqctl node_health_check

    # List queues
    rabbitmqctl list_queues

    # Check cluster status (if clustered)
    rabbitmqctl cluster_status

References​