title: rabbitmqctl.bat on Windows XP: unable to connect to node rabbit@MYPCNAME: nodedown
body: <p>I have just installed RabbitMQ on my WindowsXP PC. I have fulfilled the Erlang OPC15 prereq as well.</p>
  
  <p>My rabitmq seems to be working. I did a simple test using pika in python and it seems to work. The service is urnning.</p>
  
  <p>The problem is that I cannot do anything with rabbitmqctl.bat. I always get the response:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Status of node rabbit@MYPCNAME ...
  Error: unable to connect to node rabbit@MYPCNAME: nodedown
  diagnostics:
  - nodes and their ports on MYPCNAME: [{rabbit,3097},{rabbitmqctl17251,1132}]
  - current node: rabbitmqctl17251@mypcname
  - current node home dir: C:\Documents and Settings\Myuser
  - current node cookie hash: NOTSUREIFTHISISSENSITIVESOREMOVED==
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In my rabbitmq log file I get:</p>
  
  <pre><code>=ERROR REPORT==== 12-Feb-2012::17:01:22 ===
  ** Connection attempt from disallowed node rabbitmqctl17251@mypcname **
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>From various forums I deduce this has something to do with cookies. What cookies are we talking about? What do I need to do to be able to manage my RabbitMQ instance using rabbitmqctl.bat? Please word your answer in a way that a non-erlang non-functional programmer would understand.</p>