Federation status page returns "Management API returned status code 500" in VMware RabbitMQ

Products

• VMware RabbitMQ

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to access the Federation status page in VMware RabbitMQ, it returns the following error message:

​​​​​​Management API returned status code 500

Running the command rabbitmqctl federation_status also shows the following status for some of federation links:

​​​​​​status => {infrastructure_died,method_field_shortstr_overflow},

Environment

Product Version: 3.7

Resolution

The federated exchange plugin uses a routing key to bind the upstream exchange with the upstream queue that follows this format:

federation: <upstream_exchange_name> -> rabbit@<downstream_url>:<downstream_virtualhost>:<downstream_exchange_name>

Using a combination of large exchange names or virtual hosts can result in this routing key becoming quite long. When it reaches a length of >=255 characters, it hits the restriction in the length of the routing key, causing the status code 500 error.

To resolve this, the size of the routing key needs to be reduced. This can be done by shortening the exchange names at either the upstream or the downstream.