Set up IBM MQ for MSCS clustering

You configure IBM MQ for clustering by making the queue manager the unit of failover to MSCS. You define a queue manager as a resource to MSCS, which can then monitor it, and transfer it to another computer in the cluster if there is a problem.

To set the system up for this, you start by installing IBM MQ on each computer in the cluster.

As the queue manager is associated with the IBM MQ installation name, the IBM MQ installation name on all the computers in the cluster should be the same. See Install and uninstall.

The queue managers themselves need to exist only on the computer on which you create them. In the event of a failover, the MSCS initiates the queue managers on the other computer. The queue managers, however, must have their log and data files on a cluster shared disk, and not on a local drive. If we have a queue manager already installed on a local drive, we can migrate it using a tool provided with IBM MQ; see Moving a queue manager to MSCS storage. To create new queue managers for use with MSCS, see Create a queue manager for use with MSCS.

After installation and migration, use the MSCS Cluster Administrator to make MSCS aware of our queue managers; see Put a queue manager under MSCS control.

If you decide to remove a queue manager from MSCS control, use the procedure described in Removing a queue manager from MSCS control.

• Setup symmetry and MSCS
  When an application switches from one node to the other it must behave in the same way, regardless of node. The best way of ensuring this is to make the environments identical.
• MSCS security
  For successful MSCS security, follow these guidelines.
• Use multiple queue managers with MSCS
  If we are running more than one queue manager on a computer, we can choose one of these setups.
• Cluster modes and MSCS
  There are two modes in which you might run a cluster system with IBM MQ on Windows: Active/Passive or Active/Active.

Parent topic: Supporting the Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)