The custom seems to be to ensure the directory is created on startup.

Author: Matthew Sackman

packaging/RPMS/Fedora/rabbitmq-server.spec

@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ make install TARGET_DIR=%{_maindir} \
 
 mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_localstatedir}/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia
 mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_localstatedir}/log/rabbitmq
-mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_localstatedir}/run/rabbitmq
 
 #Copy all necessary lib files etc.
 install -p -D -m 0755 %{S:1} %{buildroot}%{_initrddir}/rabbitmq-server
@@ -112,7 +111,6 @@ done
 %defattr(-,root,root,-)
 %attr(0750, rabbitmq, rabbitmq) %dir %{_localstatedir}/lib/rabbitmq
 %attr(0750, rabbitmq, rabbitmq) %dir %{_localstatedir}/log/rabbitmq
-%attr(0750, rabbitmq, rabbitmq) %dir %{_localstatedir}/run/rabbitmq
 %dir %{_sysconfdir}/rabbitmq
 %{_initrddir}/rabbitmq-server
 %config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/logrotate.d/rabbitmq-server

packaging/common/rabbitmq-server.init

@@ -34,12 +34,22 @@ test -x $CONTROL || exit 0
 RETVAL=0
 set -e
 
+ensure_pid_dir () {
+    PID_DIR=`dirname ${PID_FILE}`
+    if [ ! -d ${PID_DIR} ] ; then
+        mkdir -p ${PID_DIR}
+        chown -R ${USER}:${USER} ${PID_DIR}
+        chmod 755 ${PID_DIR}
+    fi
+}
+
 start_rabbitmq () {
     status_rabbitmq quiet
     if [ $RETVAL = 0 ] ; then
         echo RabbitMQ is currently running
     else
         RETVAL=0
+        ensure_pid_dir
         set +e
         setsid sh -c "RABBITMQ_PID_FILE=$PID_FILE $DAEMON > \
             ${INIT_LOG_DIR}/startup_log 2> ${INIT_LOG_DIR}/startup_err" &

packaging/common/rabbitmq-server.ocf

@@ -179,14 +179,24 @@ RABBITMQ_PID_FILE=$OCF_RESKEY_pid_file
 [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_NODENAME ] && NODENAME_ARG="-n $RABBITMQ_NODENAME"
 [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_NODENAME ]            && export RABBITMQ_NODENAME
 
+ensure_pid_dir () {
+    PID_DIR=`dirname ${RABBITMQ_PID_FILE}`
+    if [ ! -d ${PID_DIR} ] ; then
+        mkdir -p ${PID_DIR}
+        chown -R rabbitmq:rabbitmq ${PID_DIR}
+        chmod 755 ${PID_DIR}
+    fi
+    return $OCF_SUCCESS
+}
+
 export_vars() {
     [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_NODE_IP_ADDRESS ]     && export RABBITMQ_NODE_IP_ADDRESS
     [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_NODE_PORT ]           && export RABBITMQ_NODE_PORT
     [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_CONFIG_FILE ]         && export RABBITMQ_CONFIG_FILE
     [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_LOG_BASE ]            && export RABBITMQ_LOG_BASE
     [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_MNESIA_BASE ]         && export RABBITMQ_MNESIA_BASE
     [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_SERVER_START_ARGS ]   && export RABBITMQ_SERVER_START_ARGS
-    [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_PID_FILE ]            && export RABBITMQ_PID_FILE
+    [ ! -z $RABBITMQ_PID_FILE ]            && ensure_pid_dir && export RABBITMQ_PID_FILE
 }
 
 rabbit_validate_partial() {

packaging/debs/Debian/debian/dirs

@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ usr/sbin
 usr/share/man
 var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia
 var/log/rabbitmq
-var/run/rabbitmq
 etc/logrotate.d
 etc/rabbitmq
 

packaging/debs/Debian/debian/postinst

@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ fi
 
 chown -R rabbitmq:rabbitmq /var/lib/rabbitmq
 chown -R rabbitmq:rabbitmq /var/log/rabbitmq
-chown -R rabbitmq:rabbitmq /var/run/rabbitmq
 
 case "$1" in
     configure)