---
name: "rabbitmq-queues"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "rabbitmq"
version: "4.3.6-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/rabbitmq-queues"
---

# rabbitmq-queues(8)

RabbitMQ queue management tools

## NAME

**rabbitmq-queues** – RabbitMQ queue management tools

## SYNOPSIS

**rabbitmq-queues** \[**-q**\] \[**-s**\] \[**-l**\] \[**-n** *node*\] \[**-t** *timeout*\] *command* \[*command\_options*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**rabbitmq-queues** is a command line tool that provides commands used to manage queues, for example, grow, shrink or rebalance replicas of replicated queue types. See the *RabbitMQ quorum queues guide:* **https://www.rabbitmq.com/docs/quorum-queues** and the general *RabbitMQ queues guide:* **https://www.rabbitmq.com/docs/queues** to learn more about queue types in RabbitMQ.

## OPTIONS

- **-n** *node*

  Default node is "rabbit@*target-hostname*", where *target-hostname* is the local host. On a host named "myserver.example.com", the node name will usually be "rabbit@myserver" (unless RABBITMQ\_NODENAME has been overridden). The output of "hostname -s" is usually the correct suffix to use after the "@" sign. See [rabbitmq-server(8)](/rabbitmq-server/8.md) for details of configuring a RabbitMQ node.

- **-q**, **--quiet**

  Quiet output mode is selected. Informational messages are reduced when quiet mode is in effect.

- **-s**, **--silent**

  Silent output mode is selected. Informational messages are reduced and table headers are suppressed when silent mode is in effect.

- **-t** *timeout*, **--timeout** *timeout*

  Operation timeout in seconds. Not all commands support timeouts. Default is **infinity**.

- **-l**, **--longnames**

  Must be specified when the cluster is configured to use long (FQDN) node names. To learn more, see the *RabbitMQ Clustering guide:* **https://www.rabbitmq.com/docs/clustering**

- **--erlang-cookie** *cookie*

  Shared secret to use to authenticate to the target node. Prefer using a local file or the RABBITMQ\_ERLANG\_COOKIE environment variable instead of specifying this option on the command line. To learn more, see the *RabbitMQ CLI Tools guide:* **https://www.rabbitmq.com/docs/cli**

## COMMANDS

- **help**

  Displays general help and commands supported by **rabbitmq-queues**.

### Cluster

- **grow** *node* *selector* **--vhost-pattern** *pattern* **--queue-pattern** *pattern* **--errors-only**

  Adds a new replica on the given node for all or a half of matching queues.

  Supported *selector* values are:

  - **all**

    Selects all replicated queues

  - **even**

    Selects replicated queues with an even number of replicas

    Example:

    ```
    rabbitmq-queues grow "rabbit@newhost" "all" --vhost-pattern "a-vhost" --queue-pattern ".*"
    ```

- **rebalance** *type* **--vhost-pattern** *pattern* **--queue-pattern** *pattern*

  Rebalances queue leader replicas across cluster nodes.

  Supported *type* values are:

  - **all**

    All queue types

  - **quorum**

    Only quorum queues

  - **classic**

    Only classic queues

  - **stream**

    Only streams

    Example:

    ```
    rabbitmq-queues rebalance "all" --vhost-pattern "a-vhost" --queue-pattern ".*"
    ```

- **shrink** *node*

  Shrinks queue clusters by removing any members (replicas) on the given node.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues shrink "rabbit@decomissioned-node"
  ```

### Replication

- **add\_member** *queue* *node* **--vhost** *virtual-host*

  Adds a queue member (replica) on the given node.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues add_member --vhost "a-vhost" "a-queue" "rabbit@new-node"
  ```

- **delete\_member** *queue* *node* **--vhost** *virtual-host*

  Removes a queue member (replica) on the given node.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues delete_member --vhost "a-vhost" "a-queue" "rabbit@decomissioned-node"
  ```

- **transfer\_leadership** *queue* *node* **--vhost** *virtual-host*

  Transfers the leadership of a quorum queue to the given node.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues transfer_leadership --vhost "a-vhost" "a-queue" "rabbit@new-leader-node"
  ```

### Queues

- **quorum\_status** *queue* **--vhost** *virtual-host*

  Displays quorum status of a queue.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues quorum_status --vhost "a-vhost" "a-queue"
  ```

- **peek** *queue* *position* **--vhost** *virtual-host* **--timeout**

  Displays the details of a message at the given position in the queue. This command is currently only supported by quorum queues.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues peek --vhost "a-vhost" "a-queue" "1"
  ```

- **check\_if\_cluster\_has\_classic\_queue\_mirroring\_policy**

  Health check that exits with a non-zero code if there are policies in the cluster that enable classic queue mirroring. Classic queue mirroring has been deprecated since 2021 and was completely removed in the RabbitMQ 4.0 development cycle.

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues check_if_cluster_has_classic_queue_mirroring_policy
  ```

- **check\_if\_node\_is\_quorum\_critical**

  Health check that exits with a non-zero code if there are queues with minimum online quorum (queues that would lose their quorum if the target node is shut down).

  Example:

  ```
  rabbitmq-queues check_if_node_is_quorum_critical
  ```

## SEE ALSO

[rabbitmqctl(8)](/rabbitmqctl/8.md), [rabbitmq-diagnostics(8)](/rabbitmq-diagnostics/8.md), [rabbitmq-server(8)](/rabbitmq-server/8.md), [rabbitmq-streams(8)](/rabbitmq-streams/8.md), [rabbitmq-upgrade(8)](/rabbitmq-upgrade/8.md), [rabbitmq-service(8)](/rabbitmq-service/8.md), [rabbitmq-env.conf(5)](/rabbitmq-env.conf/5.md)

## AUTHOR

The RabbitMQ Team ⟨*contact-tanzu-data.pdl@broadcom.com*⟩