Ways of administering IBM MQ queue managers and associated resources

There are several different options for administering IBM MQ queue managers and associated resources.


IBM MQ control commands

We can perform administrative tasks on queue managers themselves by using IBM MQ Control commands.

IBM MQ for Windows, UNIX and Linux systems provide the control commands issued at the system command line.

The control commands are described in Create and manage queue managers on Multiplatforms.


IBM MQ Script (MQSC) commands

Use MQSC commands to manage queue manager objects, including the queue manager itself, queues, process definitions, namelists, channels, client connection channels, listeners, services, and authentication information objects.

You issue MQSC commands to a queue manager by using the runmqsc command. You can do this interactively, issuing commands from a keyboard, or we can redirect the standard input device (stdin) to run a sequence of commands from an ASCII text file. In both cases, the format of the commands is the same.

We can run the runmqsc command in three modes, depending on the flags set on the command:

  • Verification mode, where the MQSC commands are verified on a local queue manager, but are not run.
  • Direct mode, where the MQSC commands are run on a local queue manager.
  • Indirect mode, where the MQSC commands are run on a remote queue manager.

MQSC commands are available on all platforms, including IBM i, and z/OS. MQSC commands are summarized in Comparing command sets.

On UNIX, Linux, and Windows, we can use the MQSC as single commands issued at the system command line. To issue more complicated, or multiple commands, the MQSC can be built into a file that you run from the command line. MQSC commands can be sent to a remote queue manager. For full details, see Running MQSC commands from text files.

To issue the commands on an IBM i server, create a list of commands in a Script file, then run the file by using the STRMQMMQSC command.

Notes:

  1. Do not use the QTEMP library as the input library to STRMQMMQSC, as the usage of the QTEMP library is limited. We must use another library as an input file to the command.
  2. On IBM i, MQSC responses to commands that are issued from a script file are returned in a spool file.


Programmable Command Formats (PCFs)

Programmable Command Formats (PCFs) define command and reply messages that can be exchanged between a program and any queue manager (that supports PCFs) in a network. We can use PCF commands in a systems management application program for administration of IBM MQ objects: authentication information objects, channels, channel listeners, namelists, process definitions, queue managers, queues, services, and storage classes. The application can operate from a single point in the network to communicate command and reply information with any queue manager, local, or remote, using the local queue manager.

See


The administrative REST API

The administrative REST API provides a RESTful interface used to administer IBM MQ. When using the administrative REST API, we invoke an HTTP method on a URL that represents an IBM MQ object. For example, we can request information about IBM MQ installations by using the HTTP method GET on the following URL:

    https://localhost:9443/ibmmq/rest/v1/admin/installation

We can use the administrative REST API with the HTTP/REST implementation of a programming language, or by using tools such as cURL, or a REST client browser add-on.


IBM i Control Language (CL)

The IBM MQ for IBM i CL commands can be used to issue administration commands to IBM MQ for IBM i. The commands can be issued either at the command line or by writing a CL program. These commands perform similar functions to PCF commands, but the format is different. CL commands are designed exclusively for servers and CL responses are human-readable, whereas PCF commands are platform independent and both command and response formats are intended for program use.


The IBM MQ Explorer

Using the IBM MQ Explorer, we can perform the following actions:

  • Define and control various resources, such as queue managers, queues, process definitions, namelists, channels, client connection channels, listeners, services, and clusters.
  • Start or stop a local queue manager and its associated processes.
  • View queue managers and their associated objects on your workstation or from other workstations.
  • Check the status of queue managers, clusters, and channels.
  • Check to see which applications, users, or channels have a particular queue open, from the queue status.

On Windows and Linux systems, we can start IBM MQ Explorer by using the system menu, the MQExplorer executable file, or the strmqcfg command.

On Linux, to start the IBM MQ Explorer successfully, we must be able to write a file to your home directory, and the home directory must exist.

We can use IBM MQ Explorer to administer remote queue managers on other platforms including z/OS.

IBM MQ Explorer can be installed either as part of the product installation (see Installing and uninstalling IBM MQ), or from the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer download available from Fix Central (see Install and uninstall IBM MQ Explorer as a stand-alone application on Linux and Windows).


The IBM MQ Console

We can use the IBM MQ Web Console to administer IBM MQ from a web browser.


The Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)

Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) enables you to connect servers into a cluster, giving higher availability of data and applications, and making it easier to manage the system. MSCS can automatically detect and recover from server or application failures.

It is important not to confuse clusters in the MSCS sense with IBM MQ clusters. The distinction is as follows:

    IBM MQ clusters
    These are groups of two or more queue managers on one or more computers, providing automatic interconnection, and allowing queues to be shared among them for load balancing and redundancy.

    MSCS clusters
    These are groups of computers, which are connected together and configured in such a way that, if one fails, MSCS performs a failover, transferring the state data of applications from the failing computer to another computer in the cluster and re-initiating their operation there.

See: Supporting the Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) Parent topic: Administer IBM MQ