What's Actually Happening

Applications cannot connect to RabbitMQ server. Connection attempts fail immediately with connection refused errors.

The Error You'll See

python
pika.exceptions.AMQPConnectionError: ConnectionRefusedError: [Errno 111] Connection refused

Why This Happens

  1. 1.RabbitMQ not running
  2. 2.Wrong host/port
  3. 3.Firewall blocking
  4. 4.Authentication failed
  5. 5.Virtual host not found

Step 1: Check RabbitMQ Status

bash
systemctl status rabbitmq-server
rabbitmqctl status
rabbitmqctl node_health_check

Step 2: Check Network Connectivity

bash
nc -zv rabbitmq-server 5672
nc -zv rabbitmq-server 15672

Step 3: Check RabbitMQ Logs

bash
journalctl -u rabbitmq-server -f
tail -f /var/log/rabbitmq/*.log

Step 4: Check User Permissions

bash
rabbitmqctl list_users
rabbitmqctl add_user myuser mypassword
rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / myuser ".*" ".*" ".*"

Step 5: Check Virtual Host

bash
rabbitmqctl list_vhosts
rabbitmqctl add_vhost /myapp

Step 6: Check Firewall

bash
firewall-cmd --add-port=5672/tcp --permanent
ufw allow 5672/tcp

Step 7: Check Configuration

bash
cat /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf
rabbitmqctl eval 'application:get_env(rabbit, listeners).'

Step 8: Restart RabbitMQ

bash
systemctl restart rabbitmq-server
rabbitmqctl stop_app
rabbitmqctl start_app

Step 9: Test Connection

bash
rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management
curl -u guest:guest http://localhost:15672/api/overview

Step 10: Monitor Connections

bash
rabbitmqctl list_connections
rabbitmqctl list_channels
  • [Fix RabbitMQ Queue Not Consuming](/articles/fix-rabbitmq-queue-not-consuming)
  • [Fix RabbitMQ Memory Alarm](/articles/fix-rabbitmq-memory-alarm)