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Installation location on Multiplatforms

We can install IBM MQ into the default location. Alternatively, we can install into a custom location during the installation process. The location where IBM MQ is installed is known as the MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH.


Default location

The default location for the IBM MQ product code is shown in the following table:

Platform Installation location
AIX /usr/mqm
IBM i /QIBM/ProdData/mqm
Linux /opt/mqm
Windows systems C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ
Windows data directories C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ
Important: For Windows installations, the directories are as stated, unless there is a previous installation of the product that still contains registry entries or queue managers, or both. In this situation, the new installation uses the old data directory location. For more information, see Program and data directory locations.

On IBM i, IBM MQ can only be installed in the default location. For more information about the directory structure of IBM i, see Directory structure on IBM i

On UNIX and Linux systems, working data is stored in /var/mqm, but we cannot change this location. For more information about the directory structure of UNIX and Linux systems, see Directory structure on UNIX and Linux systems.


Custom location installation

For an installation into a custom location, the path specified must either be an empty directory, or a path that does not exist. The length of the path is limited to 256 bytes. Permissions on the path must be such that the user mqm and users in the mqm group can access the directories.

  • On UNIX and Linux systems, the path must not contain spaces.
  • On AIX, the product is installed into a User Specified Installation Location (USIL), which can be either an existing USIL or a new USIL that is automatically created by the installation process. If a custom location is specified, the product location is the path specified during installation, plus /usr/mqm.

    For example, the path specified is /usr/custom_location. The MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH is /usr/custom_location/usr/mqm.

    Access permissions for the USIL directory should be set to rwx for user and r-x for group and others (755).

  • On the following platforms, the product location is the same path as specified during installation:

    • Linux
    • Windows

    For example, on Linux, the path specified is /opt/custom_location. The MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH is /opt/custom_location.

  • On the following platforms, we can install IBM MQ into a non empty MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH directory:

    • Linux

    On Linux, you do this by setting the environment variable AMQ_OVERRIDE_EMPTY_INSTALL_PATH to 1 before starting the installation.

    Note, that a non empty directory in this context, indicates a directory which contains system files and directories.

For each installation, all of the IBM MQ components that you require must be installed in the same location.

For more information about how to install to a custom location, see the installation topics for the appropriate platform.


Additional location restrictions

New IBM MQ installations should not be located in the following paths:

  • In a path that is a subdirectory of another existing installation.
  • In a path that is part of the direct path to an existing installation.

    If IBM MQ is installed in /opt/IBM/MQ/installations/1, we cannot install in /opt/IBM/MQ/installations/1/a. Additionally, we should not install a new installation to /opt/IBM/MQ. However, we can install a new installation in /opt/IBM/MQ/installations/2 or /opt/IBM/MQnew because neither of these is a part of the direct path /opt/IBM/MQ/installations/1.

  • In a path that is a subdirectory of the default location, for example:

    • /usr/mqm on AIX.
    • /opt/mqm on Linux.

    The reason an installation should not be located in a path that is a subdirectory of the default location is to avoid the risk if you later decide to install IBM MQ into the default location, and cannot then do so. If you do subsequently install into the default location, because IBM MQ has full access rights over the installation directory, existing files might be replaced or deleted. Scripts that you might subsequently run to uninstall IBM MQ might remove the installation directory at the end of the script.

  • In a directory or subdirectory that is, or might later be used by another product, for example, an IBM Db2 installation, or operating system component.

    We must not install to any directory located under /opt/IBM/db2 where /opt/IBM/db2 is an example.

  • In a directory or subdirectory that the mqm user or mqm group does not have authority to write to.

Parent topic: Plan considerations for installation on Multiplatforms


Related concepts

Last updated: 2020-10-04