Managed File Transfer product options

Managed File Transfer can be installed as four different options, depending on your operating system and overall setup. These options are Managed File Transfer Agent, Managed File Transfer Service, Managed File Transfer Logger, or Managed File Transfer Tools.


Managed File Transfer Agent

A file transfer agent connects to an IBM MQ queue manager, and transfers file data, as messages, to other file transfer agents.

You install an agent through either the Managed File Transfer Agent or Managed File Transfer Service installation options.

The Managed File Transfer Agent option installs an agent that has the following capabilities:

  • Make client or bindings mode connections to queue managers. Note: When the file transfer agent and queue manager are on the same system, consider using the bindings mode connections.
  • Transfer files to and from other Managed File Transfer agents.
  • Transfer files to and from Connect:Direct® nodes.

The Managed File Transfer Service option, described in the next section, installs a file transfer agent that also has additional capability to transfer files to and from legacy FTP, FTPS, or SFTP protocol servers.


Managed File Transfer Service

The Managed File Transfer Service option installs an agent that has the following capabilities:

  • Make client or bindings mode connections to queue managers. Note: When the file transfer agent and queue manager are on the same system, consider using the bindings mode connections.
  • Transfer files to and from other Managed File Transfer agents.
  • Transfer files to and from Connect:Direct nodes.
  • Create protocol bridge agents that transfer files to and from legacy SFTP, FTP, or FTPS protocol servers.

Some capabilities are available on only a subset of supported platforms. For more information, see IBM MQ System Requirements.

A Managed File Transfer Service can only be installed on systems where the IBM MQ Server option is already installed.


Managed File Transfer Logger

A file transfer logger connects to an MQ queue manager, often the queue manager that is designated as the coordination queue manager, and logs audit-related file transfer data to either a database or a file. A logger can only be installed on systems where the IBM MQ Server installation option is already installed.


Managed File Transfer Tools

The Managed File Transfer Tools are command line tools that we use to interact with file transfer agents. The tools allow you to start file transfers, schedule file transfers and create resource monitors from the command line. The Managed File Transfer Tools need not be installed on the same system as the file transfer agents that they interact with.

Managed File Transfer Base

On UNIX platforms, there is an additional Managed File Transfer Base installation component. This component contains files common to all of the installation options. You must install the Managed File Transfer Base component before installing any of the Agent, Logger, Service, or Tools components.