Stackhero for RabbitMQ

This add-on is operated by Stackhero

RabbitMQ on dedicated instances, up-to-date versions and super attractive prices

Stackhero for RabbitMQ

Last updated October 09, 2023

Stackhero for RabbitMQ provides a managed RabbitMQ running on a fully dedicated instance. It provides the following features:

  • A private instance (dedicated VM)
  • A dedicated public IP (v4)
  • TLS encryption (aka SSL)
  • An automatic backup every 24 hours
  • One click to update to new RabbitMQ versions
  • The ability to start some RabbitMQ plugins
  • The access to AMQP, MQTT and STOMP protocols

Provisioning the Add-on

Stackhero for RabbitMQ can be attached to a Heroku application via the CLI:

A list of all plans available can be found here.

$ heroku addons:create ah-rabbitmq-stackhero --app <your app name>
-----> Adding ah-rabbitmq-stackhero to sharp-mountain-4005... done

After you provision Stackhero for RabbitMQ, the STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST, STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_USER, and STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD config variables are available in your app’s configuration. They contain the URL and credential to connect to your RabbitMQ instance.

Stackhero for RabbitMQ supports the following protocols:

  • AMQP
  • MQTT
  • STOMP

Enable or disable them in your Stackhero dashboard.

Retrieve the URL for each protocol by reading the following environment variables:

  • STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_AMQP_URL_TLS
  • STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_MQTT_URL_TLS
  • STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_STOMP_URL_TLS

You can see the content of these variables via the heroku config:get command:

$ heroku config:get STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_AMQP_URL_TLS
$ heroku config:get STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_MQTT_URL_TLS
$ heroku config:get STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_STOMP_URL_TLS

Local Setup

After you provision the add-on, you must replicate its config variables locally.

Use the Heroku Local command-line tool to configure, run, and manage process types specified in your app’s Procfile. Heroku Local reads configuration variables from an .env file. To view all of your app’s config variables, type heroku config. Use the following command for each value you want to add to your .env file:

heroku config:get <STACKHERO_MEMCACHED_VARIABLE> -s  >> .env

For example:

$ heroku config:get STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_AMQP_URL_TLS -s  >> .env

Don’t commit credentials and other sensitive configuration values to source-control. In Git, exclude the .env file with: echo .env >> .gitignore.

For more information, see Heroku Local.

Connect to Stackhero Dashboard

View your instance usage, restart it, and apply updates with the Stackhero dashboard. You can access the dashboard via the CLI:

$ heroku addons:open ah-rabbitmq-stackhero
Opening ah-rabbitmq-stackhero for sharp-mountain-4005

You can also visit the Heroku Dashboard, select your application, and then select Stackhero for RabbitMQ from the Add-ons menu.

Connecting to RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ uses the AMQP protocol. Select a client library that supports AMQP protocol.

Connect to your RabbitMQ instance with the STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_AMQP_URL_TLS environment variable. It contains your instances host, port, and credentials.

RabbitMQ with GoLang

Here is a simple example to connect to RabbitMQ from a GoLang app using the official Go RabbitMQ Client Library.

  1. Create a new directory and initialize the module: go mod init rabbitmq-example.
  2. Add the RabbitMQ library: go get github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go.

  3. Create a new file named main.go and add this content:

    package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "os"
  amqp "github.com/rabbitmq/amqp091-go"
)

func main() {
  connection, err := amqp.Dial(os.Getenv("STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_AMQP_URL_TLS"))
  AMQP_URL_TLS
  if err != nil {
    panic(err)
  }
  defer connection.Close()

  fmt.Println("Successfully connected to RabbitMQ instance")
}

  4. Run your code: go run main.go.

Example of RabbitMQ Go code running on Stackhero Code-Hero service

You should see the sentence “Successfully connected to RabbitMQ instance” meaning your code has connect to your RabbitMQ instance in a secured way, using authentication and TLS encryption (amqps URL).

To go further, you’ll find some Go examples on the official RabbitMQ repository here: https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-tutorials/tree/main/go.

RabbitMQ with PHP

Here is a simple example to connect to RabbitMQ from PHP using the library php-amqplib.

As Stackhero instances use TLS encryption (SSL), you have to use AMQPSSLConnection to connect to your RabbitMQ server.

use PhpAmqpLib\Connection\AMQPSSLConnection;

$connection = new AMQPSSLConnection(getenv('STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST'), 5671, getenv('STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_USER'), getenv('STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD'), '/', array());

/**
 * @param \PhpAmqpLib\Connection\AbstractConnection $connection
 */
function shutdown($connection)
{
  $connection->close();
}

register_shutdown_function('shutdown', $connection);

Manually download the CA certificate

The TLS connection requires a Certificate Authority (CA). This certificate is probably yet installed on your server and there is a good chance it will work directly. If it is not the case, you can download the certificate by clicking here and save it to your server.

You can then use this code to connect using the CA certificate “isrgrootx1.pem”:

$sslOptions = array(
  'cafile' => realpath(__DIR__ . '/isrgrootx1.pem'),
);

$connection = new AMQPSSLConnection(getenv('STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST'), 5671, getenv('STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_USER'), getenv('STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD'), '/', $sslOptions);

RabbitMQ with Python

In this example we will use Aio Pika library to connect Python to RabbitMQ.

In many case you’ll just have to put the AMQPS URL like this:

connection = await aio_pika.connect_robust(
  "amqps://admin:<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD>@<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST>:5671",
)

Here is a complete Python example code to connect to RabbitMQ:

import asyncio
import logging
import aio_pika

async def main() -> None:
  # Uncomment to activate debug logs
  # logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)

  connection = await aio_pika.connect_robust(
    "amqps://admin:<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD>@<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST>:5671"
  )

  async with connection:
    print("The connection worked!")
    channel = await connection.channel()
    await channel.set_qos(prefetch_count=10)
    queue = await channel.declare_queue("test_queue", auto_delete=True)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  asyncio.run(main())

Handling error unable to get local issuer certificate

If, when trying to connect to RabbitMQ from Python, you get the error aiormq.exceptions.AMQPConnectionError: [Errno 5] [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: unable to get local issuer certificate (_ssl.c:1006), this is probably because you don’t have the Let’s Encrypt certificate on your computer (or server).

Here is how to install the common CA certificates:

  • On Ubuntu/Debian, you can install them with sudo apt install ca-certificates.
  • On Alpine Linux, install them with apk add ca-certificates.

If you can’t install these CA certificates using these command, here is an example to do it manually:

  1. Download the Let’s Encrypt CA certificate at https://letsencrypt.org/certs/isrgrootx1.pem

  2. In your Python code, connect to RabbitMQ passing the CA certificate file:

    import ssl

ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context()
ssl_context.load_verify_locations(cafile='isrgrootx1.pem')

connection = await aio_pika.connect_robust(
  "amqps://admin:<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD>@<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST>:5671",
  ssl_context=ssl_context
)

Here is a complete Python example code to connect to RabbitMQ using Let’s Encrypt CA certificate:

import asyncio
import logging
import ssl
import aio_pika

async def main() -> None:
  # Uncomment to activate debug logs
  # logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)

  ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context()
  # Manually load the Let's Encrypt CA certificate.
  # You can download it using this command: wget https://letsencrypt.org/certs/isrgrootx1.pem
  ssl_context.load_verify_locations(cafile='isrgrootx1.pem')

  connection = await aio_pika.connect_robust(
    "amqps://admin:<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD>@<STACKHERO_RABBITMQ_HOST>:5671",
    ssl_context=ssl_context
  )

  async with connection:
    print("The connection worked!")
    channel = await connection.channel()
    await channel.set_qos(prefetch_count=10)
    queue = await channel.declare_queue("test_queue", auto_delete=True)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  asyncio.run(main())

Upgrading Your Plan

You can’t downgrade an existing add-on.

Use the heroku addons:upgrade command to migrate to a new plan.

$ heroku addons:upgrade ah-rabbitmq-stackhero:newplan
-----> Upgrading ah-rabbitmq-stackhero:newplan to sharp-mountain-4005... done
       Your plan has been updated to: ah-rabbitmq-stackhero:newplan

Manage migration timing to ensure your application is available during the migration process.

Removing the Add-on

You can remove Stackhero for RabbitMQ via the CLI:

This destroys all associated data and can’t be undone!

$ heroku addons:destroy ah-rabbitmq-stackhero
-----> Removing ah-rabbitmq-stackhero from sharp-mountain-4005... done

Support

Stackhero for RabbitMQ support and runtime issues should be submitted via one of the Heroku Support channels. We recommend adding support@stackhero.io in copy for urgent issues.

Additional Resources

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