Plan to migrate IBM MQ to a later version on Windows

Before migrating IBM MQ to a later version on Windows, review the system requirements information, and the information about any changes that might affect migration, then create a migration plan.

Before you begin

If there are concepts about migration we do not understand, see Migration concepts and methods.

If you are migrating to Version 9.0 from Version 7.0.1, you must first migrate to an interim version. See Migration paths.

Before we use side-by-side or multi-stage migration to migrate from Version 7.0.1, check that your Version 7.0.1 installation is at Fix Pack 6 or later.

Use the following steps as a guide to creating a migration plan.

Procedure

1. Review the IBM MQ system requirements for the later version of the product.

   See System Requirements for IBM MQ.

2. Decide whether to run the earlier version and the later version of the product on the same server, and also which migration method you want to use.

   Choices are single-stage migration, side-by-side migration, or multi-stage migration. See Migration methods on IBM MQ for Multiplatforms.

3. Review all the changes in IBM MQ that affect you.

   See Changes that affect migration.

4. Review performance changes.

   See IBM MQ Family - Performance Reports.

5. Review the readme file for the later version of IBM MQ.

   See IBM MQ, WebSphere MQ, and MQSeries® product readmes.

6. Plan the sequence and timing of queue manager migrations.
   • If the queue manager is part of a queue manager cluster, you must migrate the queue managers that are full repositories first.
   • If the queue manager is part of a high availability cluster, plan the migration to minimize downtime and maximize availability; see Migrating a queue manager in a high-availability configuration.
7. Plan to migrate your queue manager to the later version.

   See Migrating a queue manager to a later version on Windows.

   Backing up queue manager data is part of the queue manager migration task. An alternative approach is to install and configure a new server, then test the later version with a new queue manager on the new server. When you are ready to go into production on the later version, copy the queue manager configuration and data to the new server.

8. Plan to update any manual or automated procedures we have written with changes to messages and codes.
9. Decide on what regression tests to perform before putting the queue manager into production on the later version. Include in your regression tests the procedures and applications you identified in previous steps.
10. Plan to migrate your IBM MQ MQI client installations to the later version.
11. Plan to migrate your client and server applications to use new functions in the later version.