Deploy RabbitMQ on Microsoft Azure Cobalt 100 Arm processors

Signed-off-by: odidev <odidev@puresoftware.com>

Author: odidev

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/rabbitmq-azure/_index.md

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+---
+title: Deploy RabbitMQ on Microsoft Azure Cobalt 100 Arm processors
+
+minutes_to_complete: 30
+
+who_is_this_for: This learning path is intended for software developers deploying and optimizing RabbitMQ workloads on Linux/Arm64 environments, specifically on Microsoft Azure Cobalt 100 Arm processors.
+
+learning_objectives:
+  - Provision an Azure Arm-based Ubuntu Pro 24.04 virtual machine (Cobalt 100)
+  - Build and install Erlang OTP 26 from source on Ubuntu Arm64
+  - Install and configure RabbitMQ 4.2.0 on Azure Arm64
+  - Validate the RabbitMQ deployment using baseline messaging tests
+
+prerequisites:
+  - An active [Microsoft Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/) account
+  - Basic understanding of messaging systems and RabbitMQ concepts
+  - Familiarity with Linux command-line operations
+
+author: Pareena Verma
+
+##### Tags
+skilllevels: Introductory
+subjects: Databases
+cloud_service_providers: Azure
+
+armips:
+  - Neoverse
+
+tools_software_languages:
+  - RabbitMQ
+  - Erlang
+
+operatingsystems:
+  - Linux
+
+# ================================================================================
+#       FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY
+# ================================================================================
+further_reading:
+  - resource:
+      title: Azure Virtual Machines documentation
+      link: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/virtual-machines/
+      type: documentation
+
+  - resource:
+      title: RabbitMQ documentation
+      link: https://www.rabbitmq.com/documentation.html
+      type: documentation
+
+  - resource:
+      title: RabbitMQ Tutorials
+      link: https://www.rabbitmq.com/getstarted.html
+      type: documentation
+
+weight: 1
+layout: "learningpathall"
+learning_path_main_page: "yes"
+---

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/rabbitmq-azure/_next-steps.md

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+---
+# ================================================================================
+#       FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE
+# ================================================================================
+weight: 21                  # Set to always be larger than the content in this path to be at the end of the navigation.
+title: "Next Steps"         # Always the same, html page title.
+layout: "learningpathall"   # All files under learning paths have this same wrapper for Hugo processing.
+---

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/rabbitmq-azure/background.md

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+---
+title: Getting started with RabbitMQ on Azure Cobalt 100 Arm-based processor
+
+weight: 2
+
+layout: "learningpathall"
+---
+
+## Cobalt 100 Arm-based processor
+
+Azure’s Cobalt 100 is built on Microsoft's first-generation, in-house Arm-based processor: the Cobalt 100. Designed entirely by Microsoft and based on Arm’s Neoverse N2 architecture, this 64-bit CPU delivers improved performance and energy efficiency across a broad spectrum of cloud-native, scale-out Linux workloads. These include web and application servers, data analytics, open-source databases, caching systems, and more. Running at 3.4 GHz, the Cobalt 100 processor allocates a dedicated physical core for each vCPU, ensuring consistent and predictable performance. 
+
+To learn more about Cobalt 100, refer to the blog [Announcing the preview of new Azure virtual machine based on the Azure Cobalt 100 processor](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azurecompute/announcing-the-preview-of-new-azure-vms-based-on-the-azure-cobalt-100-processor/4146353).
+
+## RabbitMQ
+
+RabbitMQ is an open-source message broker that enables asynchronous communication between applications using messaging patterns such as queues, publish/subscribe, and routing. 
+
+It helps decouple system components, improve scalability, and increase reliability by ensuring messages are delivered and processed independently.
+
+Learn more from the [RabbitMQ official website](https://www.rabbitmq.com/) and the [official documentation](https://www.rabbitmq.com/documentation.html).
+

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/rabbitmq-azure/baseline.md

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+---
+title: RabbitMQ Baseline Testing
+weight: 5
+
+### FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY
+layout: learningpathall
+---
+
+## Run a Baseline test with RabbitMQ 
+This section validates a working **RabbitMQ 4.2.0** installation with **Erlang OTP 26** on an **Azure Ubuntu Arm64 VM**.  
+
+All steps are **CLI-only** and suitable for baseline verification.
+
+### Verify RabbitMQ service status
+
+```console
+sudo systemctl status rabbitmq
+```
+
+### Verify Erlang version
+RabbitMQ depends on Erlang. This step ensures the broker is using Erlang OTP 26.
+
+```console
+erl -eval 'io:format("~s~n", [erlang:system_info(system_version)]), halt().' -noshell
+```
+
+### Verify RabbitMQ version
+Confirm the installed RabbitMQ version.
+
+```console
+rabbitmqctl version
+```
+
+### Verify enabled plugins
+List all enabled plugins and confirm that the management plugins are active.
+
+```console
+rabbitmq-plugins list -e
+```
+
+```output
+Listing plugins with pattern ".*" ...
+ Configured: E = explicitly enabled; e = implicitly enabled
+ | Status: * = running on rabbit@lpprojectubuntuarm64
+ |/
+[E*] rabbitmq_management       4.2.0
+[e*] rabbitmq_management_agent 4.2.0
+[e*] rabbitmq_web_dispatch     4.2.0
+````
+
+This confirms that:
+
+- The management UI is enabled
+- Required supporting plugins are running
+
+### Check RabbitMQ node health
+Retrieve detailed runtime and resource information for the RabbitMQ node.
+
+```console
+rabbitmqctl status
+```
+This confirms that:
+
+- Node is running
+- No alarms are reported
+- Erlang version matches OTP 26
+
+### Ensure RabbitMQ Configuration Directory Permissions
+RabbitMQ requires write access to its configuration directory for plugin management.
+
+```console
+sudo mkdir -p /opt/rabbitmq/etc/rabbitmq
+sudo chown -R azureuser:azureuser /opt/rabbitmq/etc/rabbitmq
+```
+
+### Create a baseline test virtual host
+Create an isolated virtual host for baseline testing.
+
+```console
+rabbitmqctl add_vhost test_vhost
+rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p test_vhost guest ".*" ".*" ".*"
+```
+
+This ensures:
+
+- Tests do not interfere with default workloads
+- Full permissions are available for validation
+
+### Download RabbitMQ admin CLI
+Download the `rabbitmqadmin` CLI tool from the management endpoint.
+
+```console
+wget http://localhost:15672/cli/rabbitmqadmin -O ~/rabbitmqadmin
+chmod +x ~/rabbitmqadmin
+```
+
+This CLI is used to perform queue and message operations.
+
+### Declare a test queue
+Create a non-durable test queue in the test virtual host.
+
+```console
+~/rabbitmqadmin -V test_vhost declare queue name=test durable=false
+```
+
+### Publish a test message
+Publish a sample message to the test queue using the default exchange.
+
+```console
+~/rabbitmqadmin -V test_vhost publish \
+  exchange=amq.default \
+  routing_key=test \
+  payload="Hello RabbitMQ"
+```
+
+This validates:
+
+- Message routing
+- Exchange-to-queue binding behavior
+
+### Consume the test message
+Retrieve and remove the message from the queue.
+
+```console
+~/rabbitmqadmin -V test_vhost get queue=test count=1
+```
+
+You should see an output similar to:
+
+```output
++-------------+----------+---------------+----------------+---------------+------------------+------------+-------------+
+| routing_key | exchange | message_count |    payload     | payload_bytes | payload_encoding | properties | redelivered |
++-------------+----------+---------------+----------------+---------------+------------------+------------+-------------+
+| test        |          | 0             | Hello RabbitMQ | 14            | string           |            | False       |
++-------------+----------+---------------+----------------+---------------+------------------+------------+-------------+
+```
+
+- Message payload: Hello RabbitMQ
+- Queue becomes empty after consumption
+
+This baseline validates a healthy RabbitMQ 4.2.0 deployment running on Erlang/OTP 26 on an Azure Ubuntu Arm64 VM. Core components, plugins, and node health were verified, followed by successful message publish and consume operations.

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/rabbitmq-azure/images/final-vm.png

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+---
+title: Install RabbitMQ
+weight: 4
+
+### FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY
+layout: learningpathall
+---
+
+## Install RabbitMQ on Azure Cobalt 100
+This guide describes the end-to-end installation of RabbitMQ 4.2.0 on an Azure Cobalt 100 (Arm-based) Ubuntu Pro 24.04 virtual machine. It covers system preparation, Erlang installation, RabbitMQ setup, service configuration, and validation with the management plugin enabled.
+
+### Update system and install build dependencies
+This step ensures the operating system is up to date and installs all required packages needed to build Erlang and run RabbitMQ reliably.
+
+```console
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y build-essential libssl-dev libncurses-dev libtinfo-dev \
+                    libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libpng-dev libssh-dev \
+                    unixodbc-dev wget tar xz-utils git
+```
+
+### Build and install Erlang OTP 26
+RabbitMQ 4.2.0 requires Erlang OTP 26. This section builds Erlang from source to ensure full compatibility on Arm64.
+
+```console
+# Clone Erlang source
+git clone https://github.com/erlang/otp.git
+cd otp
+
+# Checkout OTP 26 branch
+git checkout OTP-26
+
+# Clean previous builds
+make clean
+
+# Configure build with SSL/crypto support
+./configure --prefix=/usr/local/erlang-26 \
+            --enable-smp-support \
+            --enable-threads \
+            --enable-kernel-poll \
+            --with-ssl
+
+# Build and install
+make -j$(nproc)
+sudo make install
+```
+### Make Erlang PATH persistent (IMPORTANT)
+This step ensures the Erlang binaries are permanently available in the system PATH across sessions and reboots.
+
+```console
+echo 'export ERLANG_HOME=/usr/local/erlang-26' | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/erlang.sh
+echo 'export PATH=$ERLANG_HOME/bin:$PATH' | sudo tee -a /etc/profile.d/erlang.sh
+```
+
+### Download and install RabbitMQ
+This section downloads the official RabbitMQ 4.2.0 generic Unix distribution and installs it under `/opt/rabbitmq`.
+
+```console
+cd ~
+wget https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/download/v4.2.0/rabbitmq-server-generic-unix-4.2.0.tar.xz
+sudo mkdir -p /opt/rabbitmq
+sudo tar -xvf rabbitmq-server-generic-unix-4.2.0.tar.xz -C /opt/rabbitmq --strip-components=1
+
+# Create directories for logs and database
+sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/rabbitmq /var/log/rabbitmq
+sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/lib/rabbitmq /var/log/rabbitmq
+```
+
+#### Update PATH environment variable
+This step makes RabbitMQ CLI tools available in the current shell and should be persisted for future sessions.
+
+```console
+export PATH=/usr/local/erlang-26/bin:/opt/rabbitmq/sbin:$PATH
+```
+
+Add this line to `~/.bashrc` or `~/.profile` for persistence.
+
+### Configure RabbitMQ systemd service
+This section configures RabbitMQ to run as a managed systemd service, enabling automatic startup and controlled lifecycle management.
+
+Create `/etc/systemd/system/rabbitmq.service`:
+
+```ini
+[Unit]
+Description=RabbitMQ broker
+After=network.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+User=azureuser
+Group=azureuser
+
+Environment=HOME=/home/azureuser
+Environment=RABBITMQ_HOME=/opt/rabbitmq
+Environment=RABBITMQ_MNESIA_BASE=/var/lib/rabbitmq
+Environment=RABBITMQ_LOG_BASE=/var/log/rabbitmq
+Environment=PATH=/usr/local/erlang-26/bin:/opt/rabbitmq/sbin:/usr/bin
+
+ExecStart=/opt/rabbitmq/sbin/rabbitmq-server
+ExecStop=/opt/rabbitmq/sbin/rabbitmqctl shutdown
+
+Restart=on-failure
+RestartSec=10
+LimitNOFILE=65536
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+```
+
+Reload systemd and start RabbitMQ:
+
+```console
+sudo systemctl daemon-reload
+sudo systemctl enable rabbitmq
+sudo systemctl start rabbitmq
+sudo systemctl status rabbitmq
+```
+
+### Enable RabbitMQ management plugin
+This step enables the RabbitMQ management plugin, which provides a web-based UI and HTTP API for monitoring and administration.
+
+```console
+# Ensure config directory exists
+sudo mkdir -p /opt/rabbitmq/etc/rabbitmq
+sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /opt/rabbitmq/etc/rabbitmq
+
+# Enable management plugin
+rabbitmq-plugins enable rabbitmq_management
+```
+
+### Verify installation
+This section validates that both Erlang and RabbitMQ are installed correctly and running with the expected versions.
+
+**Erlang version:**
+
+```console
+erl -eval 'io:format("~s~n", [erlang:system_info(system_version)]), halt().' -noshell
+```
+
+You should see an output similar to:
+```output
+Erlang/OTP 26 [erts-14.2.5.12] [source] [64-bit] [smp:4:4] [ds:4:4:10] [async-threads:1] [jit]
+```
+
+**Verify RabbitMQ version:**
+
+```console
+rabbitmqctl version
+```
+
+You should see an output similar to:
+```output
+4.2.0
+```
+RabbitMQ 4.2.0 is successfully installed on an Azure Cobalt 100 Ubuntu Pro 24.04 Arm64 VM with systemd management, persistent storage, logging, and the management plugin enabled.