Can't change RabbitMQ's .erlang.cookie

[w Day]

Hi Team,

I tried many ways to change .erlang.cookie, but RabbitMQ still use previous .erlang.cookie content, not use new cookie. 

could anyone help me?

------------------------------------------------------------

OS: windows 10 enterprise

RabiitMQ: rabbitmq-server-3.8.16

erl: otp_win64_24.0.4

%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%:   U:\

%USERPROFILE%  C:\Users\XXXX

------------------------------

after install RabbitMQ, it generated new .erlang.cookie file in U:\.erlang.cookie ( cookie1)

in the RabbitMQ log:

 node           : rabbit@XXXX-XXXX

 home dir       : C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile

 cookie hash    : yWFYYsoIQN0E+UKpRPbRfA==

I changed(or add) below position .erlang.cookie with new cookie2.

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.erlang.cookie

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\.erlang.cookie

C:\Users\XXXX\.erlang.cookie

U:\.erlang.cookie

C:\Windows\.erlang.cookie

then restart computer(also tried to restart service). but seem the RabbitMQ still use previous .erlang.cookie. (cookie1)

1. in the log, cookie hash never changed.

Line 28:  cookie hash    : yWFYYsoIQN0E+UKpRPbRfA==

Line 491:  cookie hash    : yWFYYsoIQN0E+UKpRPbRfA==

.....

Line 3091:  cookie hash    : yWFYYsoIQN0E+UKpRPbRfA==

Line 3366:  cookie hash    : yWFYYsoIQN0E+UKpRPbRfA==

2. CLI with new cookie2 will fail, but CLI with previous cookie1 can success.

rabbitmq-diagnostics status --erlang-cookie "cookie2"

Error: unable to perform an operation on node 'rabbit@ XXXX-XXXX'. Please see diagnostics information and suggestions below.

Most common reasons for this are:

 * Target node is unreachable (e.g. due to hostname resolution, TCP connection or firewall issues)

 * CLI tool fails to authenticate with the server (e.g. due to CLI tool's Erlang cookie not matching that of the server)

 * Target node is not running

In addition to the diagnostics info below:

 * See the CLI, clustering and networking guides on https://rabbitmq.com/documentation.html to learn more

 * Consult server logs on node rabbit@XXXX-XXXX

 * If target node is configured to use long node names, don't forget to use --longnames with CLI tools

DIAGNOSTICS

===========

attempted to contact: ['rabbit@ XXXX-XXXX  ']

rabbit@ XXXX-XXXX:

  * connected to epmd (port 4369) on XXXX-XXXX

  * epmd reports node 'rabbit' uses port 25672 for inter-node and CLI tool traffic

  * TCP connection succeeded but Erlang distribution failed

  * suggestion: check if the Erlang cookie identical for all server nodes and CLI tools

  * suggestion: check if all server nodes and CLI tools use consistent hostnames when addressing each other

  * suggestion: check if inter-node connections may be configured to use TLS. If so, all nodes and CLI tools must do that

   * suggestion: see the CLI, clustering and networking guides on https://rabbitmq.com/documentation.html to learn more

Current node details:

 * node name: 'rabbitmqcli-918-rabbit@XXXX-XXXX'

 * effective user's home directory: U:\

 * Erlang cookie hash: RmzKErjVZUcsMU8wSgBGbA==

rabbitmq-diagnostics status --erlang-cookie "cookie1"

Status of node rabbit@ XXXX-XXXX   ...

←[1mRuntime←[0m

OS PID: 2108

OS: Windows

Uptime (seconds): 14

Is under maintenance?: false

RabbitMQ version: 3.8.16

Node name: rabbit@XXXX-XXXX

Erlang configuration: Erlang/OTP 24 [erts-12.0.3] [source] [64-bit] [smp:16:16] [ds:16:16:10] [async-threads:1] [jit]

Erlang processes: 474 used, 1048576 limit

Scheduler run queue: 1

Cluster heartbeat timeout (net_ticktime): 60

....

[w Day]

oh, my god. Notepad++ problem. 

I haven't written the new cookie into the file  C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.erlang.cookie

I saved file and reloaded, notepad++ show new value....

I use notepad to open it today, it show old cookie. after change it, this problem is resolved.