Troubleshoot Error 401 (Unauthorized error) for RabbitMQ

Troubleshoot Error 401 (Unauthorized error) for RabbitMQ

When installing the RabbitMQ monitoring plugins, you may encounter the following error:
HTTP Error 401: Unauthorized: This error occurs when the user attempts to access the /api/overview endpoint of RabbitMQ server, which requires authentication, but the credentials were not provided or were incorrect.
Here are some ways to troubleshoot the issue and resolve the error:
  1. Check the credentials in the plugin .cfg file: Ensure you have provided correct credentials in the RabbitMQ plugin configuration (.cfg) file to connect with the RabbitMQ server. 

  2. Try accessing with the default credentials: If you haven't changed your credentials, try accessing the API with the following credentials:
    Username: guest
    Password: guest

  3. Provide authentication: When accessing the API, make sure to provide authentication. If you're using curl, you can provide the username and password as follows:
    curl -i -u guest:guest http://localhost:15672/api/overview

  4. Reset credentials: If you've changed the default credentials and forgot them, you may need to reset them. You can do this by updating the RabbitMQ configuration and restarting the service.

  5. Provide the necessary user permissions: Ensure that the user trying to access RabbitMQ has the required permissions. In newer versions of RabbitMQ, the guest user is typically limited to the local host. If you're attempting to access the API from a remote machine where you've installed the Site24x7 server agent, you'll need to employ a different user or adjust the permissions for the guest user.

  6. Try accessing the RabbitMQ management UI:  Try accessing the RabbitMQ management UI, which is usually at http://localhost:15672/. If you can successfully log in with your credentials, the issue might be related to how you're providing the credentials to the API.

  7. Examine the logs: Check the RabbitMQ logs for any authentication-related errors or warnings. This can provide more insight into why the authentication is failing.

  8. Verify RabbitMQ configuration: Ensure that there's no custom configuration in your RabbitMQ setup that may cause the management interface to behave unexpectedly. Check the RabbitMQ configuration file for any settings related to user management or authentication.

  9. Create a new user: As a temporary solution, you can create a new user, assign the necessary permissions, and then use this user to access the API:
    rabbitmqctl add_user new_username new_password
    rabbitmqctl set_user_tags new_username administrator
    rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / new_username ".*" ".*" ".*"

    After creating the new user, attempt to access the API using the new credentials.

  10. Reinstall the management plugin: Sometimes, disabling and then re-enabling the management plugin can resolve issues:
    rabbitmq-plugins disable rabbitmq_management
    rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management
Once you've made changes based on the checks above, restart the Site24x7 server monitoring agent or reregister the plugin. Within five minutes, you should be able to view performance metrics in Site24x7.

If the issue persists, reach out to support@site24x7.com with the plugin details.