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Fix ActiveMQ Destination Full

Resolve ActiveMQ destination full errors by configuring memory limits, producer flow control, and message TTL policies.

Published: Apr 4, 20266 min readBy FixWikiHub Editorial Team

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Introduction

ActiveMQ destinations (queues and topics) have memory limits. When a destination reaches its limit, producers are blocked if producer flow control is enabled, preventing new messages from being sent until space is available.

Symptoms

Producer blocked:

```bash $ tail -f /var/log/activemq/activemq.log

[WARN] Usage Manager Memory Limit (1048576) reached on queue://orders.queue. Producers will be blocked until memory is freed up. [WARN] Sending message to queue://orders.queue blocked for 30 seconds ```

JMS exception:

java

javax.jms.ResourceAllocationException: Usage Manager Memory Limit reached.
  at org.apache.activemq.broker.region.BaseDestination.blockProducerFlowControl(BaseDestination.java:555)

Client timeout:

bash

JMSException: Timed out waiting for space to send message to queue://orders.queue

Common Causes

1.Memory limit too low - Destination limit insufficient for message volume
2.Slow consumers - Messages pile up because consumers are slow
3.No message TTL - Messages never expire, filling up the queue
4.Producer flow control enabled - Producers blocked when limit reached
5.Large message size - Individual messages consume significant memory
6.Dead letter queue overflow - Failed messages accumulating in DLQ

Step-by-Step Fix

Step 1: Check Destination Statistics

```bash # Check queue sizes via JMX activemq-admin query --objname type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=* --attribute QueueSize,MemoryPercentUsage

# Via HTTP API curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=orders.queue/QueueSize

# Check memory usage curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost/MemoryPercentUsage

# List all destinations with stats activemq-admin query --objname type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=* --attribute Name,QueueSize,MemoryPercentUsage ```

Step 2: Check Producer Flow Control

```bash # Check if producer flow control is enabled curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=orders.queue/ProducerFlowControl

# View current configuration grep -r "producerFlowControl" /etc/activemq/

# In activemq.xml: <policyEntry queue=">" producerFlowControl="true" memoryLimit="10mb"/> ```

Step 3: Increase Memory Limits

```xml  <destinationPolicy> <policyMap> <policyEntries>  <policyEntry queue=">" producerFlowControl="true" memoryLimit="100mb" maxPageSize="1000"> <pendingQueuePolicy> <storeCursor/> </pendingQueuePolicy> </policyEntry>

<policyEntry topic=">" memoryLimit="50mb"> <pendingSubscriberPolicy> <storeDurableSubscriberCursor/> </pendingSubscriberPolicy> </policyEntry>

<policyEntry queue="orders.queue" memoryLimit="500mb" producerFlowControl="true"/> </policyEntries> </policyMap> </destinationPolicy>

<systemUsage> <systemUsage> <memoryUsage memoryLimit="1gb"/> <storeUsage storeLimit="10gb"/> <tempUsage tempLimit="500mb"/> </systemUsage> </systemUsage> ```

Step 4: Configure Message TTL

```xml  <policyEntry queue=">" producerFlowControl="true" memoryLimit="100mb" expireMessagesPeriod="30000"> <deadLetterStrategy> <individualDeadLetterStrategy queuePrefix="DLQ." useQueueForQueueMessages="true"/> </deadLetterStrategy> </policyEntry>

// In Java producer: MessageProducer producer = session.createProducer(queue); producer.setTimeToLive(60000); // 60 seconds producer.send(message);

<transportConnector name="openwire" uri="tcp://0.0.0.0:61616?wireFormat.maxInactivityDuration=30000"/> ```

Step 5: Disable Producer Flow Control (If Needed)

```xml  <policyEntry queue="urgent.queue" producerFlowControl="false" memoryLimit="50mb"> <pendingQueuePolicy> <storeCursor/> </pendingQueuePolicy> </policyEntry>

systemctl restart activemq ```

Step 6: Add More Consumers

```bash # Check consumer count curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=orders.queue/ConsumerCount

# Check consumer prefetch curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=orders.queue/MaxConsumer prefetchSize

# Adjust prefetch in consumer connection // Java consumer: connectionFactory.setPrefetchPolicy(new ActiveMQPrefetchPolicy()); connectionFactory.getPrefetchPolicy().setQueuePrefetch(100);

ConnectionFactory factory = new ActiveMQConnectionFactory("tcp://localhost:61616?jms.prefetchPolicy.queuePrefetch=100"); ```

Step 7: Configure Store Cursor

```xml  <policyEntry queue=">" memoryLimit="100mb" producerFlowControl="true"> <pendingQueuePolicy>  <storeCursor/>

</pendingQueuePolicy> </policyEntry>

```

Step 8: Purge Overflowing Queue

```bash # Purge queue via admin console curl -u admin:admin -X POST http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/exec/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=orders.queue/purge()

# Via activemq-admin activemq-admin purge --queue orders.queue

# Purge all queues activemq-admin purge --queue "*"

# Browse messages before purging activemq-admin browse --queue orders.queue ```

Step 9: Monitor Memory Usage

```bash # Enable JMX monitoring # In activemq.xml: <managementContext> <managementContext createConnector="true" connectorPort="1099"/> </managementContext>

# Monitor via JConsole jconsole service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://localhost:1099/jmxrmi

# Set up alerts for memory usage # Check memory percentage curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost/MemoryPercentUsage

# Alert when > 80% ```

Step 10: Optimize Message Size

```bash # Check message sizes activemq-admin browse --queue orders.queue --view BodyLength

# Enable message compression // In producer: ActiveMQConnectionFactory factory = new ActiveMQConnectionFactory("tcp://localhost:61616"); factory.setUseCompression(true);

<transportConnector name="openwire" uri="tcp://0.0.0.0:61616?wireFormat.useCompression=true"/>

# Reduce message payload size # - Remove unnecessary fields # - Use binary format instead of XML/JSON # - Split large messages ```

Destination Memory Settings

Setting	Default	Recommended
memoryLimit	64mb	100-500mb
producerFlowControl	true	true (or false for critical)
maxPageSize	200	1000
expireMessagesPeriod	30000ms	30000ms

Verification

```bash # After configuration changes # Restart ActiveMQ systemctl restart activemq

# Check destination memory usage curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8161/api/jolokia/read/org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=orders.queue/MemoryPercentUsage

# Should be below 80%

# Test message sending activemq-admin send --queue orders.queue --message "test message" --persistent true

# Verify no blocking tail -f /var/log/activemq/activemq.log | grep -i "blocked"

# Check queue statistics activemq-admin query --objname type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue --attribute QueueSize,MemoryPercentUsage ```

Prevention

To prevent ActiveMQ destination full issues from recurring, implement these proactive measures:

1. Monitor Queue Depth

yaml

groups:
- name: activemq-queues
  rules:
  - alert: ActiveMQQueueFull
    expr: |
      activemq_queue_size > 10000
    for: 5m
    labels:
      severity: warning
    annotations:
      summary: "ActiveMQ queue {{ $labels.queue }} depth exceeds 10000"

2. Configure Memory Limits

```xml  <systemUsage> <systemUsage> <memoryUsage memoryLimit="512 mb"/> <storeUsage storeLimit="10 gb"/> <tempUsage tempLimit="5 gb"/> </systemUsage> </systemUsageUsage>

<destinationPolicy> <policyMap> <policyEntries> <policyEntry queue=">" memoryLimit="100mb" producerFlowControl="true"/> </policyEntries> </policyMap> </destinationPolicy> ```

3. Implement Consumer Monitoring

```bash # Check for slow consumers activemq-admin query --objname type=Broker,brokerName=localhost,destinationType=Queue --attribute ConsumerCount,QueueSize

# Alert if consumer count is 0 and queue size > 0 ```

Best Practices Checklist

[ ] Monitor queue depth with alerts
[ ] Configure memory limits
[ ] Monitor consumer count
[ ] Set up dead letter queues
[ ] Use message expiration
[ ] Test under load regularly

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Last updated: Apr 4, 2026

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Fix ActiveMQ Destination Full

Introduction

Symptoms

Common Causes

Step-by-Step Fix

Step 1: Check Destination Statistics

Step 2: Check Producer Flow Control

Step 3: Increase Memory Limits

Step 4: Configure Message TTL

Step 5: Disable Producer Flow Control (If Needed)

Step 6: Add More Consumers

Step 7: Configure Store Cursor

Step 8: Purge Overflowing Queue

Step 9: Monitor Memory Usage

Step 10: Optimize Message Size

Destination Memory Settings

Verification

Prevention

1. Monitor Queue Depth

2. Configure Memory Limits

3. Implement Consumer Monitoring

Best Practices Checklist

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FixWikiHub Editorial Team

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Official Documentation & Further Reading

Fix ActiveMQ Destination Full

Introduction

Symptoms

Common Causes

Step-by-Step Fix

Step 1: Check Destination Statistics

Step 2: Check Producer Flow Control

Step 3: Increase Memory Limits

Step 4: Configure Message TTL

Step 5: Disable Producer Flow Control (If Needed)

Step 6: Add More Consumers

Step 7: Configure Store Cursor

Step 8: Purge Overflowing Queue

Step 9: Monitor Memory Usage

Step 10: Optimize Message Size

Destination Memory Settings

Verification

Prevention

1. Monitor Queue Depth

2. Configure Memory Limits

3. Implement Consumer Monitoring

Best Practices Checklist

Related Issues

Related Articles

People also search for

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