Node fails to start when install via apt on Ubuntu 25.04

[dpinol]

Describe the bug

Installation fails
118100 ExecStart=/usr/lib/rabbitmq/bin/rabbitmq-server (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Reproduction steps

1. apt install rabbitmq-server

...

Expected behavior

It should install ok

Additional context

systemctl status rabbitmq-server.service
● rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ Messaging Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/rabbitmq-server.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2025-05-26 11:53:33 CEST; 8s ago
 Invocation: 85b4332facab471abf139e5b0cd4bfe2
    Process: 118450 ExecStart=/usr/lib/rabbitmq/bin/rabbitmq-server (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   Main PID: 118450 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
     Status: "Standing by"
   Mem peak: 97.6M
        CPU: 1.364s

May 26 11:53:33 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: rabbitmq-server.service: Consumed 1.364s CPU time, 97.6M memory peak.

journalctl -xeu rabbitmq-server.service
░░ the configured Restart= setting for the unit.
May 26 11:53:56 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: Starting rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ Messaging Server...
░░ Subject: A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has begun execution
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has begun execution.
░░ 
░░ The job identifier is 101604.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: rabbitmq-server.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
░░ Subject: Unit process exited
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ An ExecStart= process belonging to unit rabbitmq-server.service has exited.
░░ 
░░ The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 1.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: ::::rabbitmq-server.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
░░ Subject: Unit failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ The unit rabbitmq-server.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: Failed to start rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ Messaging Server.
░░ Subject: A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has finished with a failure.
░░ 
░░ The job identifier is 101604 and the job result is failed.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: rabbitmq-server.service: Consumed 1.317s CPU time, 95M memory peak.
░░ Subject: Resources consumed by unit runtime
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ The unit rabbitmq-server.service completed and consumed the indicated resources.
lines 7129-7165/7165 (END)
░░ the configured Restart= setting for the unit.
May 26 11:53:56 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: Starting rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ Messaging Server...
░░ Subject: A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has begun execution
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has begun execution.
░░ 
░░ The job identifier is 101604.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: rabbitmq-server.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
░░ Subject: Unit process exited
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ An ExecStart= process belonging to unit rabbitmq-server.service has exited.
░░ 
░░ The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 1.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: ::::rabbitmq-server.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
░░ Subject: Unit failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ The unit rabbitmq-server.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: Failed to start rabbitmq-server.service - RabbitMQ Messaging Server.
░░ Subject: A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ A start job for unit rabbitmq-server.service has finished with a failure.
░░ 
░░ The job identifier is 101604 and the job result is failed.
May 26 11:54:00 AV-COGNITION-14 systemd[1]: rabbitmq-server.service: Consumed 1.317s CPU time, 95M memory peak.
░░ Subject: Resources consumed by unit runtime
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support
░░ 
░░ The unit rabbitmq-server.service completed and consumed the indicated resources.

[michaelklishin]

@dpinol a node can fail to start for many different reasons. You haven't provided any evidence of a bug.

See node logs. We do not guess in this community.

[michaelklishin]

@dpinol moreover, we will not investigate any installation failures that do not use our team's apt repositories.

Ubuntu's packages are always years behind, which sometimes has serious ramifications for upgrades because not every version can be directly upgraded to every other version, and it is a known problem for Ubuntu users who have made a mistake of using the standard package repositories and then trying to upgrade.

We do not know whether this is an upgrade, what version is installed, how, and so on.

apt install rabbitmq-server

is not a set of reproduction steps.

[dpinol]

sorry, I thought that providing systemctl & journalctl logs was enough.

I realized I had this issue
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/76712557/rabbitmq-enagle-feature-flags-before-run-server

Fixed with

sudo rm -rf /etc/rabbitmq/       
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/rabbitmq 

[michaelklishin]

For development environments, wiping the node's data directory is the easiest option.

Thank you for following up.

[michaelklishin]

So it turned out to be a known scenario when an upgrade installs a new version but the previous one did not have all the feature flags enabled, and the new version requires some of the non-enabled to be enabled (graduates them).

If this is a development environment, wiping a node's data directory is the easiest option:

sudo rm -rf /etc/rabbitmq/       
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/rabbitmq