DESCRIPTION
/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf contains variable settings that override the defaults built in to the RabbitMQ startup scripts.
The file is interpreted by the system shell, and so should consist of a sequence of shell environment variable definitions. Normal shell syntax is permitted (since the file is sourced using the shell "." operator), including line comments starting with "#".
In order of preference, the startup scripts get their values from the environment, from /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf and finally from the built-in default values. For example, for the RABBITMQ_NODENAME setting,
RABBITMQ_NODENAME
from the environment is checked first. If it is absent or equal to the empty string, then
NODENAME
from /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf is checked. If it is also absent or set equal to the empty string then the default value from the startup script is used.
The variable names in /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf are always equal to the environment variable names, with the RABBITMQ_ prefix removed: RABBITMQ_NODE_PORT from the environment becomes NODE_PORT in the /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf file, etc.
# I am a complete /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf file.
# Comment lines start with a hash character.
# This is a /bin/sh script file - use ordinary envt var syntax
NODENAME=hare
EXAMPLES
# I am a complete /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf file.
# Comment lines start with a hash character.
# This is a /bin/sh script file - use ordinary envt var syntax
NODENAME=hare
This is an example of a complete /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf file that overrides the default Erlang node name from "rabbit" to "hare".