private Channel openChannel(ChannelFuture channelFuture) throws Exception {
// wait until we got connection
channelFuture.awaitUninterruptibly();
if (!channelFuture.isSuccess()) {
throw new CamelException("Cannot connect to " + configuration.getAddress(), channelFuture.getCause());
}
Channel channel = channelFuture.getChannel();
// to keep track of all channels in use
ALL_CHANNELS.add(channel);