How do I configure a Dead-Letter Queue Redrive Policy for SQS?

In this guide, we will configure an Amazon SQS (Simple Queue Service) queue with a Dead-Letter Queue (DLQ) redrive policy using Pulumi. A DLQ is used to store messages that cannot be processed (consumed) successfully. The redrive policy specifies the conditions under which messages are moved from the main queue to the DLQ.

Key Points

• Main Queue: The primary SQS queue where messages are initially sent.
• Dead-Letter Queue (DLQ): A secondary SQS queue to store messages that fail processing.
• Redrive Policy: Defines the conditions (e.g., the maximum number of receive attempts) under which messages are moved to the DLQ.

Below is the Pulumi program that demonstrates how to set up an SQS queue with a DLQ and configure the redrive policy.

import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as aws from "@pulumi/aws";

// Create the Dead-Letter Queue (DLQ)
const dlq = new aws.sqs.Queue("my-dlq", {
    messageRetentionSeconds: 1209600, // Retain messages for 14 days
});

// Create the main SQS queue with a redrive policy
const mainQueue = new aws.sqs.Queue("my-main-queue", {
    redrivePolicy: pulumi.interpolate`{
        "deadLetterTargetArn": "${dlq.arn}",
        "maxReceiveCount": "5"
    }`,
    messageRetentionSeconds: 345600, // Retain messages for 4 days
});

// Export the URLs of the queues
export const mainQueueUrl = mainQueue.url;
export const dlqUrl = dlq.url;

Summary

In this guide, we configured an Amazon SQS queue with a Dead-Letter Queue (DLQ) and a redrive policy using Pulumi. The main queue is created with a redrive policy that moves messages to the DLQ after 5 unsuccessful receive attempts. We also set the message retention period for both queues. This setup helps in managing failed message processing and ensures that problematic messages are isolated for further analysis and debugging.