Erlang Version Requirements
Introduction
This guide covers Erlang/OTP version requirements, Erlang version support policy, a RabbitMQ/Erlang compatibility matrix, version-specific notes and ways of provisioning recent Erlang/OTP releases.
Supported Erlang Version Policy
RabbitMQ supports up to two most recent Erlang release series.
At the moment they are Erlang 26.x
and 25.x
.
Erlang 27 Support
Erlang 27 (released in May 2024) is currently not supported by any available RabbitMQ version. There are significant performance regressions when running RabbitMQ on Erlang 27.
Erlang 26 Support
Erlang 26 is supported starting with RabbitMQ 3.12.0.
RabbitMQ and Erlang/OTP Compatibility Matrix
The table below provides an Erlang compatibility matrix of currently supported RabbitMQ release series. For RabbitMQ releases that have reached end of life, see Unsupported Series Compatibility Matrix.
RabbitMQ version | Minimum required Erlang/OTP | Maximum supported Erlang/OTP | Notes |
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warning RabbitMQ 4.0 works with Erlang/OTP 27. However, there are known performance regressions, which will be addressed in patch releases. Running RabbitMQ 4.0 on Erlang 27 is not recommended in production but can be used in development environments. |
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As a guideline, most recent minor and patch versions of each supported Erlang/OTP series are recommended.
Provisioning Latest Erlang Releases
Most recent versions can be obtained from a number of sources:
- Debian Erlang packages from Team RabbitMQ on Cloudsmith and its mirror or Launchpad
- Zero dependency Erlang RPM from Team RabbitMQ, also available from a Cloudsmith mirror
- As part of RabbitMQ Docker image
- Erlang/OTP Version Tree provides binary builds of patch releases for Windows
- Erlang Solutions package repositories
- Building from source with kerl
Installing Erlang/OTP on Debian or Ubuntu
Standard Debian and Ubuntu repositories provide Erlang/OTP but it is heavily sliced and diced into dozens of packages. In addition, unless the system has backport repositories enabled, the versions tend to be quite old. See Debian and Ubuntu installation guide for more information on the essential packages, dependencies, and alternative apt repositories.
Installing Erlang/OTP on RHEL, CentOS and Fedora
There are multiple RPM packages available for Erlang/OTP. The recommended option is the zero-dependency Erlang RPM from the RabbitMQ team. It closely follows the latest Erlang/OTP patch release schedule.
See CentOS, RHEL and Fedora installation guide for more information on the available options.
Erlang Versions in Clusters
It is highly recommended that the same major version of
Erlang is used across all cluster nodes
(e.g. 25.x
).
RabbitMQ will check for internal protocol versions of Erlang and its distributed libraries when a node joins a cluster, refusing to cluster if there's a potentially incompatible combination detected.
Outside of a reasonably long upgrade time window, it is recommended that all nodes use exactly the same version of Erlang.
Building Erlang from Source
If a sufficiently recent Erlang package is not available for a given operating system, Erlang/OTP can be built from source. This requires a build environment that satisfies the Erlang build dependencies, such as a modern OpenSSL version.
kerl makes building Erlang/OTP releases from source, including specific tags from GitHub, a much more pleasant experience.
Older RabbitMQ and Erlang Releases
Unsupported RabbitMQ Series
Unsupported RabbitMQ Series | Minimum required Erlang/OTP | Maximum supported Erlang/OTP | Notes |
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Last Version to Support R16B03
If you absolutely must use an older version of Erlang, RabbitMQ 3.6.14 is the newest version compatible with R16B03.
Last Version to Support R13B03
If you absolutely must use an older version of Erlang, RabbitMQ 3.5.8 is the newest version compatible with R13B03.