Using SSL certificate authentication for Amazon MQ for RabbitMQ

Create a new configuration using the create-configuration AWS CLI command as shown in the following example.

aws mq create-configuration \
  --name "rabbitmq-ssl-config" \
  --engine-type "RABBITMQ" \
  --engine-version "4.2"
                

This command returns a response similar to the following example.

{
    "Arn": "arn:aws:mq:us-west-2:123456789012:configuration:c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca",
    "AuthenticationStrategy": "simple",
    "Created": "2025-07-17T16:03:01.759943+00:00",
    "Id": "c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca",
    "LatestRevision": {
        "Created": "2025-07-17T16:03:01.759000+00:00",
        "Description": "Auto-generated default for rabbitmq-ssl-config on RabbitMQ 4.2",
        "Revision": 1
    },
    "Name": "rabbitmq-ssl-config"
}
                

Create a configuration file called rabbitmq.conf to use SSL certificate authentication, as shown in the following example. Replace all placeholder values in the template (marked with ${...}) with actual values from your deployed AWS CDK prerequisite stack outputs or equivalent infrastructure.

auth_mechanisms.1 = EXTERNAL
ssl_cert_login_from = common_name

auth_backends.1 = internal

# Reject if no client cert
ssl_options.verify = verify_peer
ssl_options.fail_if_no_peer_cert = true

# AWS integration for secure credential retrieval
# For more information, see https://github.com/amazon-mq/rabbitmq-aws

# FIXME: Replace the ${...} placeholders with actual ARN values
# from your deployed prerequisite CDK stack outputs.
aws.arns.assume_role_arn = ${AmazonMqAssumeRoleArn}
aws.arns.ssl_options.cacertfile = ${CaCertArn}
                

Update the configuration using the update-configuration AWS CLI command as shown in the following example. In this command, add the configuration ID you received in the response of Step 1 of this procedure. For example, c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca.

aws mq update-configuration \
  --configuration-id "<c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca>" \
  --data "$(cat rabbitmq.conf | base64 --wrap=0)"
                

This command returns a response similar to the following example.

{
    "Arn": "arn:aws:mq:us-west-2:123456789012:configuration:c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca",
    "Created": "2025-07-17T16:57:04.520931+00:00",
    "Id": "c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca",
    "LatestRevision": {
        "Created": "2025-07-17T16:57:39.172000+00:00",
        "Revision": 2
    },
    "Name": "rabbitmq-ssl-config",
    "Warnings": []
}
                

Create a broker with the SSL certificate authentication configuration you created in Step 2 of this procedure. To do this, use the create-broker AWS CLI command as shown in the following example. In this command, provide the configuration ID and revision number you obtained in the responses of Step 1 and 2 respectively. For example, c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca and 2.

aws mq create-broker \
  --broker-name "rabbitmq-ssl-test-1" \
  --engine-type "RABBITMQ" \
  --engine-version "4.2" \
  --host-instance-type "mq.m7g.large" \
  --deployment-mode "SINGLE_INSTANCE" \
  --logs '{"General": true}' \
  --publicly-accessible \
  --configuration '{"Id": "<c-fa3390a5-7e01-4559-ae0c-eb15b38b22ca>","Revision": <2>}' \
  --users '[{"Username":"testuser","Password":"testpassword"}]'
                

This command returns a response similar to the following example.

{
    "BrokerArn": "arn:aws:mq:us-west-2:123456789012:broker:rabbitmq-ssl-test-1:b-2a1b5133-a10c-49d2-879b-8c176c34cf73",
    "BrokerId": "b-2a1b5133-a10c-49d2-879b-8c176c34cf73"
}
                

Verify that the broker's status transitions from CREATION_IN_PROGRESS to RUNNING, using the describe-broker AWS CLI command as shown in the following example. In this command, provide the broker ID you obtained in the result of the previous step. For example, b-2a1b5133-a10c-49d2-879b-8c176c34cf73.

aws mq describe-broker \
  --broker-id "<b-2a1b5133-a10c-49d2-879b-8c176c34cf73>"
                

This command returns a response similar to the following example. The following response is an abbreviated version of the complete output that the describe-broker command returns. This response shows the broker status and the authentication strategy used to secure the broker. In this case, the config_managed authentication strategy indicates that the broker uses SSL certificate authentication method.

{
    "AuthenticationStrategy": "config_managed",
    ...,
    "BrokerState": "RUNNING",
    ...
}
                

Verify SSL certificate authentication with the following ssl.sh script.

Use this bash script to test connectivity to your Amazon MQ for RabbitMQ broker. This script uses your client certificate for authentication and verifies if the connection was properly configured. If it's successfully configured, you'll see your broker publish and consume messages.

If you receive an ACCESS_REFUSED error, you can troubleshoot your configuration settings by using the CloudWatch logs for your broker. You can find the link for the CloudWatch log group for your broker in the Amazon MQ console.

In this script, you'll need to provide the following values:

#! /bin/bash
set -e

# Client information
## FIXME: Update this value with the client ID and secret of your confidential application client
USERNAME=<client_cert_common_name>
CLIENT_KEYSTORE=$(pwd)/certs/client-keystore.p12
KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=changeit

BROKER_DNS=<broker_dns>
CONNECTION_STRING=amqps://${BROKER_DNS}:5671 

# Produce/consume messages using the above connection string
QUEUES_COUNT=1
PRODUCERS_COUNT=1
CONSUMERS_COUNT=1
PRODUCER_RATE=1

finch run --rm --ulimit nofile=40960:40960 \
    -v ${CLIENT_KEYSTORE}:/certs/client-keystore.p12:ro \
    -e JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-Djavax.net.ssl.keyStore=/certs/client-keystore.p12 -Djavax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword=${KEYSTORE_PASSWORD} -Djavax.net.ssl.keyStoreType=PKCS12" \
    pivotalrabbitmq/perf-test:latest \
    --queue-pattern 'test-queue-cert-%d' --queue-pattern-from 1 --queue-pattern-to $QUEUES_COUNT \
    --producers $PRODUCERS_COUNT --consumers $CONSUMERS_COUNT \
    --id "cert-test${QUEUES_COUNT}q${PRODUCERS_COUNT}p${CONSUMERS_COUNT}c${PRODUCER_RATE}r" \
    --uri ${CONNECTION_STRING} \
    --sasl-external \
    --use-default-ssl-context \
    --flag persistent --rate $PRODUCER_RATE