Removing a queue manager from MSCS control

We can remove queue managers from MSCS control, and return them to manual administration.

You do not need to remove queue managers from MSCS control for maintenance operations. We can do that by taking a queue manager offline temporarily, using the MSCS Cluster Administrator. Removing a queue manager from MSCS control is a more permanent change; only do it if you decide that you no longer want MSCS to have any further control of the queue manager.

If the queue manager is being removed uses TSL connections modify the queue manager attribute, SSLKEYR, using the IBM MQ Explorer or the MQSC command ALTER QMGR, to point to the TLS key repository file on the local directory.

The procedure is:

Take the queue manager resource offline using the MSCS Cluster Administrator, as described in Taking a queue manager offline from MSCS
Destroy the resource instance. This does not destroy the queue manager.
Optionally, migrate the queue manager files back from shared drives to local drives. To do this, see Returning a queue manager from MSCS storage.
Test the queue manager.

Taking a queue manager offline from MSCS

To take a queue manager offline from MSCS, perform the following steps:

Start the MSCS Cluster Administrator.
Open a connection to the cluster.
Select Groups, or Role if we are using Windows 2012, and open the group containing the queue manager to be moved.
Select the queue manager resource.
Right-click it and select Offline.
Wait for completion.

Returning a queue manager from MSCS storage

This procedure configures the queue manager to be back on its computer's local drive, that is, it becomes a normal IBM MQ queue manager. To achieve this, you move the log files and data files from the shared disks. For example, the existing queue manager might have paths such as E:\WebSphere MQ\log\QMname and E:\WebSphere MQ\qmgrs\QMname. Do not try to move the files by hand; use the hamvmqm utility program supplied as part of IBM MQ MSCS Support:

Make a full media backup of the queue files and log files and store the backup in a safe place (see Queue manager log files for why this is important).
Decide which local drive to use and ensure that it has sufficient capacity to store the queue manager log files and data (queue) files.
Make sure that the shared disk on which the files currently reside is online on the cluster node to which to move the queue manager log and data files.
Run the utility program to move the queue manager as follows:
```
hamvmqm /m qmname /dd " c:\ 
IBM MQ " /ld "c:\ 
IBM MQ \log"
```
substituting your queue manager name for qmname, your local disk drive letter for c, and your chosen directory for IBM MQ (the directories are created if they do not already exist).
Test the queue manager to ensure that it works (as described in Moving a queue manager to MSCS storage ).

Parent topic: Supporting the Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)