RabbitMQ in Docker - user creation not persisted - rabbitmq

Question

I've got a problem where the user user1 is not persisted in the container that I have created using the following Dockerfile. What is the reason for this? Is this a RabbitMQ specific issue? e.g. I have to explicitly specify that a user must be persisted
FROM dockerfile/rabbitmq
# Define mount points.
VOLUME ["/data/log", "/data/mnesia"]
# Define working directory.
WORKDIR /data
RUN (rabbitmq-start &) && \
sleep 10 && \
rabbitmqctl add_user user1 password1 && \
rabbitmqctl set_user_tags user1 administrator && \
rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / user1 ".*" ".*" ".*" && \
sleep 10 && \
rabbitmqctl stop && \
sleep 10
# Define default command.
CMD ["rabbitmq-start"]
# Expose ports.
EXPOSE 5672
EXPOSE 15672

Answer 1

I know it's an old question, but struggled for hours with this problem today and finally solved it for me:
The issue seems to be due to the default hostname changing at every new container with Docker, and RabbitMQ actually binds the configuration to the host name.
I set the NODENAME variable in /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf before setting up the user:
# make the node name static
RUN echo 'NODENAME=rabbit#localhost' > /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf
and now it works.
Hope it can help.
EDIT:
Here is a working Dockerfile (copying a rabbitmq-env.conf file to the container):
FROM ubuntu:latest
RUN groupadd -r rabbitmq && useradd -r -d /var/lib/rabbitmq -m -g rabbitmq rabbitmq
# add rabbitmq repo
RUN apt-get update && \
apt-get install wget --assume-yes && \
wget https://www.rabbitmq.com/rabbitmq-signing-key-public.asc && \
sudo apt-key add rabbitmq-signing-key-public.asc && \
sed -i -e '1ideb http://www.rabbitmq.com/debian/ testing main\' /etc/apt/sources.list && \
apt-get update && \
apt-get install rabbitmq-server --assume-yes
# Enable plugins
RUN rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management && \
rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_web_stomp && \
rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_mqtt
# expose ports
# Management
EXPOSE 15672
# Web-STOMP plugin
EXPOSE 15674
# MQTT:
EXPOSE 1883
# configure RabbitMQ
COPY ["rabbitmq-env.conf", "/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf"]
RUN chmod 755 /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf
# Create users for the apps
COPY ["rabbitmq-setup.sh", "/tmp/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-setup.sh"]
RUN mkdir /var/run/rabbitmq && \
chmod -R 755 /var/run/rabbitmq && \
chown -R rabbitmq:rabbitmq /var/run/rabbitmq && \
service rabbitmq-server start && \
sh /tmp/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-setup.sh && \
rm /tmp/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-setup.sh && \
service rabbitmq-server stop
# start rabbitmq
USER rabbitmq
CMD ["rabbitmq-server", "start"]
My rabbitmq-env.conf file:
NODENAME=rabbimq#localhost
My rabbitmq-setup.sh:
rabbitmqctl add_vhost myvhost && rabbitmqctl add_user myuser mypasswd && rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p myvhost myuser ".*" ".*" ".*" && rabbitmqctl set_user_tags myuser administrator

Answer 2

I do something similar and it persists:
RUN service rabbitmq-server start ; \
rabbitmqctl add_vhost /sensu ; \
rabbitmqctl add_user sensu sensu ; \
rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p /sensu sensu ".*" ".*" ".*" ; \
service rabbitmq-server stop
Are you sure the creation process occurs in the first place? The sleeps and subshells don't make it obvious.

Answer 3

Because many people are still having this problem (including me), what I did was:
At building, copy the RabbitMQ database_dir at /var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\#$(hostname) to /root (everything in /root stays persisted) after configuring all users.
At runtime, copy the database dir back from /root to /var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia.
Only disadvantages: changes made to the database in RabbitMQ will be reset at runtime. I found no other way to do this with docker-compose however.
Configure.sh (as RUN command in Dockerfile):
echo "NODENAME=rabbit#message-bus" > /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf
echo "127.0.0.1 message-bus" >> /etc/hosts #prevents error that 'message-bus' node doesnt exist (this doesnt persist in /etc/hosts)
rabbitmqctl add user ... #etc
rabbitmqctl stop
mkdir /root/rabbitmq_database
cp -R /var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\#message-bus/* /root/rabbitmq_database
Runtime.sh (as entrypoint in Dockerfile):
#copy database back from /root
mkdir -p /var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\#message-bus
cp -R /root/rabbitmq_database/* /var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit\#message-bus
rabbitmq-server

Answer 4

For what it's worth, something similar is done in this dockerfile, but I can't get it to persist either:
RUN /usr/sbin/rabbitmq-server -detached && \
sleep 5 && \
rabbitmqctl add_user bunnyuser my_pass1 && \
rabbitmqctl add_user bunny-admin my_pass2 && \
rabbitmqctl set_user_tags bunny-admin administrator && \
rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / bunnyuser ".*" ".*" ".*"