So we actually need to handle the case of starting from scratch separately, otherwise we never write out the version file, with fun consequences.

Author: Simon MacMullen

src/rabbit_mnesia.erl

@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ init_db(ClusterNodes, Force) ->
                   ok                    -> ok;
                   %% If we're just starting up a new node we won't have a
                   %% version
-                  version_not_available -> ok = rabbit_version:record_desired()
+                  starting_from_scratch -> ok = rabbit_version:record_desired()
               end
       end).
 

src/rabbit_upgrade.erl

@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ maybe_upgrade_mnesia() ->
     AllNodes = lists:usort(rabbit_mnesia:all_clustered_nodes() ++
                                rabbit_mnesia:read_cluster_nodes_config()),
     case rabbit_version:upgrades_required(mnesia) of
+        {error, starting_from_scratch} ->
+            ok;
         {error, version_not_available} ->
             case AllNodes of
                 [_] -> ok;
@@ -238,6 +240,7 @@ nodes_running(Nodes) ->
 maybe_upgrade_local() ->
     case rabbit_version:upgrades_required(local) of
         {error, version_not_available} -> version_not_available;
+        {error, starting_from_scratch} -> starting_from_scratch;
         {error, _} = Err               -> throw(Err);
         {ok, []}                       -> ensure_backup_removed(),
                                           ok;

src/rabbit_version.erl

@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ upgrades_required(Scope) ->
     case recorded_for_scope(Scope) of
         {error, enoent} ->
             case filelib:is_file(rabbit_guid:filename()) of
-                false -> {ok, []}; %% We're blank, no upgrade needed
+                false -> {error, starting_from_scratch};
                 true  -> {error, version_not_available}
             end;
         {ok, CurrentHeads} ->