NetWorker: Linux server services fail to start rabbitmq "Unable to start epmd because it is already running"

Summary: The NetWorker server software installed on a Linux server. The server services fail to start, reporting that the RabbitMQ service is already running "Unable to start epmd because it is already running" ...

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Symptoms

  • The NetWorker server software is installed on a SuSE (or other Linux platform) server.
  • The NetWorker services fail to start "Unable to start epmd because it is already running."
  • The /nsr/logs/daemon.raw reports:
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrexecd NSR notice @(#) Product: NetWorker
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrexecd NSR notice @(#) Release: 19.10.0.2.Build.77
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrexecd NSR notice @(#) Build number: 77
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrexecd NSR notice @(#) Build date: Thu Mar 14 12:21:05 2024
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrexecd NSR notice @(#) Build arch.: linux86w
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrexecd NSR notice @(#) Build info: DBG=0,OPT=-O2 -fno-strict-aliasing
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice @(#) Product: NetWorker
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice @(#) Release: 19.10.0.2.Build.77
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice @(#) Build number: 77
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice @(#) Build date: Thu Mar 14 12:21:05 2024
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice @(#) Build arch.: linux86w
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice @(#) Build info: DBG=0,OPT=-O2 -fno-strict-aliasing
127106 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice Startup in progress; starting all daemons...
144355 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice Daemon rmq-epmd is running.
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice rmq-epmd: Error: Unable to start epmd because it is already running.
0 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice rmq-epmd: epmd: up and running on port 4369 with data: name rabbit at port 25672
144354 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR notice Daemon rmq-epmd terminated.
144359 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR error Scheduling restart of daemon /opt/nsr/rabbitmq-server-3.11.16/bin/epmd in 5 seconds
137911 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR critical Aborting startup sequence: Process /opt/nsr/rabbitmq-server-3.11.16/bin/epmd exited in less than 10 seconds at startup: exit code 1
127108 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR critical Failed to start all daemons; shutting down...
137914 MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:SS nsrctld NSR critical Shutdown due to error: Process /opt/nsr/rabbitmq-server-3.11.16/bin/epmd exited in less than 10 seconds at startup: exit code 1
NOTE: The daemon.raw is unrendered. See the following article: NetWorker: How to use nsr_render_log to render .raw log files

Cause

There is an OS installed rabbitmq. The OS rabbitmq is conflict with NetWorker's rabbitmq. 

The epmd starts through OS installed rabbitmq instead of NetWorker's rabbitmq. 

# ps -ef|grep epmd
rabbitmq 17689     1  0 10:22 ?        00:00:00 /usr/local/lib/erlang/erts-9.3.3.11/bin/epmd -daemon

Resolution

  1. Completely stop NetWorker: 
nsr_shutdown
  1. Check if OS rabbitmq is installed
rpm -qa | grep rabbitmq
Example: 
# rpm -qa |grep rabbit
rabbitmq-server-3.7.17-1.suse.noarch
NOTE: This command only lists OS installed rabbitmq packages. It does not list NetWorker's rabbitmq installation. Therefore, any packages returned are OS installed ones, not the rabbitmq required by NetWorker. Consult with the system administrator regarding any installed rabbitmq packages, in case they are required by another application. They conflict with NetWorker and must be removed.
  1. Uninstall the OS rabbitmq:
rpm -e rabbitmq_package_name
Example: 
# rpm -e rabbitmq-server-3.7.17-1.suse.noarch
  1. Start NetWorker:
systemctl start networker
  1. Monitor the /nsr/logs/daemon.raw for startup messages.

Additional Information

NetWorker: How to enable RabbitMQ Debugging

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker Family
Article Properties
Article Number: 000224723
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 12 Feb 2026
Version:  2
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