IBM MQ license information

What we can purchase with IBM MQ and what each purchase entitles you to install.


What we can purchase with IBM MQ

    5724-H72 IBM MQ for Multiplatforms
    For IBM MQ for Multiplatforms, the product offering contains the following chargeable components that can be independently purchased:

    • IBM MQ
    • IBM MQ High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Idle Standby)
    • IBM MQ Advanced
    • IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Advanced Idle Standby)
    • IBM MQ Advanced for Developers (Free download but support may optionally be obtained.)
    For the following chargeable components, existing Subscription and Support can be renewed. No new entitlement can be purchased. See the Announcement Letter for more information.

    • IBM MQ Telemetry
    • IBM MQ Advanced Message Security
    • IBM MQ Advanced Message Security High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Advanced Message Security Idle Standby)
    • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service
    • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service Idle Standby)
    • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Agent

    z/OS®
    On z/OS, IBM MQ offers the following Programs that can be purchased independently:

    • 5655-MQ9 IBM MQ for z/OS 1
    • 5655-AV1 IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS, Value Unit Edition 2
    • 5655-AV9 IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS
    • 5655-VU9 IBM MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition 3
    For the following chargeable components, existing Subscription and Support can be renewed. No new entitlement can be purchased. See the Announcement Letter for more information:

    • 5655-MF9 IBM MQ Managed File Transfer for z/OS
    • 5655-AM9 IBM MQ Advanced Message Security for z/OS

Redistributable license updates:

  1. If you are purchasing IBM MQ for z/OS V9.0 after 1 October 2019, you may find the package includes the Licensed Program Specifications DVD without clarification of these terms (DVD form number GC34-7352-00). Please refer to this softcopy publication for GC34-7352-01 https://www-05.ibm.com/e-business/linkweb/publications/servlet/pbi.wss?CTY=US&FNC=SRX&PBL=GC34-7352-01, available in pdf format to download or print, for the most up to date license terms which govern any use of Redistributables in the software.
  2. If you are purchasing IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS, Value Unit Edition V9.0 after 1 October 2019, you may find the package includes the License Information DVD without clarification of these LI terms (DVD form number GC34-7463-01). Please refer to this softcopy publication for GC34-7463-02 https://www-05.ibm.com/e-business/linkweb/publications/servlet/pbi.wss?CTY=US&FNC=SRX&PBL=GC34-7463-02, available in pdf format to download or print, or the SLA website for the most up to date license terms which govern any use of Redistributables in the software.
  3. If you are purchasing IBM MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition V9.0 after 1 October 2019, you may find the package includes the License Information DVD without clarification of these LI terms (DVD form number GC34-7356-00). Please refer to this softcopy publication for GC34-7356-01 https://www-05.ibm.com/e-business/linkweb/publications/servlet/pbi.wss?CTY=US&FNC=SRX&PBL=GC34-7356-01, available in pdf format to download or print, or the SLA website for the most up to date license terms which govern any use of Redistributables in the software.


What is my enterprise entitled to install?

Important: For IBM MQ for Multiplatforms, the IBM MQ installation media contains all the components, but you must only install the subset that we have purchased entitlement for.

Any component marked as ‘unlimited installs' is a client component and as many copies as required may be installed on client systems. These will not be counted against your purchased IBM MQ entitlement.

IBM MQ and IBM MQ Advanced

In the following table, IBM MQ product features are listed in the first column, and the IBM MQ product offerings are in the remaining columns of the table. For each product feature, a tick in the column for a product offering indicates which product offering entitlement you need to use a product feature.

Table 1. Product offering entitlement for IBM MQ and IBM MQ Advanced
IBM MQ product feature IBM MQ IBM MQ Advanced IBM MQ for z/OS IBM MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS, Value Unit Edition IBM MQ Advanced for Developers IBM MQ Appliance
IBM MQ client (unlimited installs)
Telemetry Service (unlimited installs)          
Advanced Message Security      
Managed File Transfer Service        
Managed File Transfer Agent (unlimited installs) 1      
Managed File Transfer Tools (unlimited installs)      
Managed File Transfer Database Logger component (unlimited installs) 1       2
Replicated Data Queue Manager (RedHat x86-64 only)          
Bridge to blockchain (unlimited installs) 1   3     3 3  
Bridge to Salesforce (unlimited installs) 3 3       3  
IBM MQ Advanced container image for IBM Cloud   4       4  
All other IBM MQ components from the install media not explicitly mentioned above
Notes:
  1. May only connect to an IBM MQ Advanced or IBM MQ Appliance entitled queue manager. Managed File Transfer components may also connect to queue managers with IBM MQ Managed File Transfer entitlement.
  2. FILE mode only as a client connection.
  3. Linux x86-64 only.
  4. Developer container images are on Docker Hub. The production image is supported in IBM Cloud Private or IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service.
Managed File Transfer, Advanced Message Security, and Telemetry

In the following table, IBM MQ product features are listed in the first column, and the IBM MQ product offerings are in the remaining columns of the table. For each product feature, a tick in the column for a product offering indicates which product offering entitlement you need to use a product feature.

Table 2. Product offering entitlement for Managed File Transfer, Advanced Message Security, and Telemetry
IBM MQ product feature IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service1 IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Agent1 IBM MQ Advanced Message Security1 IBM MQ Telemetry1 IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS2 IBM MQ Managed File Transfer for z/OS IBM MQ Advanced Message Security for z/OS
IBM MQ client (unlimited installs)              
Telemetry Service            
Advanced Message Security        
Managed File Transfer Service        
Managed File Transfer Agent (unlimited installs)     3  
Managed File Transfer Tools (unlimited installs)      
Managed File Transfer Database Logger component (unlimited installs)    
Replicated Data Queue Manager (RedHat x86-64 only)              
Bridge to blockchain (unlimited installs)          
Bridge to Salesforce (unlimited installs)        
IBM MQ Advanced container image for IBM Cloud          
All other IBM MQ components from the install media not explicitly mentioned above        
Notes:
  1. New entitlement can no longer be purchased for these Programs.
  2. IBM MQ for z/OS entitlement must be separately purchased.
  3. May only connect to an IBM MQ Advanced, IBM MQ Appliance, or IBM MQ Managed File Transfer entitled queue manager.
IBM MQ Advanced for Developers

IBM MQ Advanced for Developers is available as a free download for development purposes and provides the full set of capability available with IBM MQ Advanced. This is a free download but support may optionally be obtained.

Attention: The IBM MQ license defines what is considered as development purposes.

Additionally, your enterprise can mix and match IBM MQ versions as required. Therefore, your 100 PVUs of IBM MQ (Server) entitlement could be split into 50 PVUs of the IBM MQ Version 8.0 version and 50 PVUs of the IBM MQ Version 9.0 version of this component.


What are High Availability Replica chargeable components?

High Availability Replica (formerly Idle Standby) parts have been introduced to cater for high availability environments, where multiple systems are configured to provide redundancy. In this case, not all systems will be utilized to full capacity and a lower charge might be applicable to reflect that.

For most scenarios of failover systems where IBM MQ is installed:

  • If failover is automatic, and there is no other active use of IBM MQ, then license the failover system as IBM MQ High Availability Replica or IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica.
  • If failover is manual (for example, for Disaster Recovery), and there is no other active use of IBM MQ, then no IBM MQ or IBM MQ High Availability Replica licenses (or their IBM MQ Advanced equivalents) are required. See Backup Licensing documents.
Notes:
  1. Use of the IBM MQ multi-instance queue manager and Replicated Data Queue Manager features require High Availability Replica entitlement.
  2. There is no High Availability Replica part for the MQ Telemetry component. The same MQ Telemetry part needs to be purchased for the active and passive system, unless we have IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica, in which case it is included.

License terms for IBM MQ High Availability Replica components are defined in the Program license terms.

Attention: Always check the Program license agreement for the latest licensing terms.

License terms as of IBM MQ Version 9.0.5:

A. Licensee's use of the Program is limited to use of the following two features as stated below or as stated in the Other High Availability Solutions section.
  1. Multi-Instance Queue Manager Feature

    Licensee is permitted to use the multi-instance queue manager feature of the Program for Stand-by Purposes only. Stand-by Purposes are defined as having the Program started, but ensuring that the Program remains idle unless the active and separately entitled IBM MQ copy of the program fails over to the high availability replica Program. If this occurs, the high availability replica Program may be used to carry out productive work during the period of failover. The Program is considered "idle" if, until a failover takes place, it is not used to carry out productive work of any kind and is used exclusively for administrative actions.

  2. Replicated Data Queue Manager Feature

    Licensee's use of the replicated data queue manager feature of the Program requires configuration on three servers and requires that all queue managers on the three servers be Replicated Data Queue Managers. Two of the servers may be configured and entitled as high availability replicas of the Program, but the copy of IBM MQ on the third configured server must be licensed separately by obtaining entitlements to IBM MQ Advanced.

B. Other High Availability Solutions

If Licensee chooses to use other high availability solutions along with the Program, Licensee is permitted to use the Program as a high availability replica so long as it resides for backup purposes on a standby server and the Program is not started. The Program may be started automatically by the high availability components in the event of the active server failing, in which event the Program may be used to carry out productive work during the period of failover.


Other questions

In a IBM MQ network using IBM MQ Advanced features, such as Managed File Transfer and Advanced Message Security, which MQ queue managers require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement?

  • For Advanced Message Security, only the end-point queue managers where AMS Policies are defined require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement.
  • For Managed File Transfer, only the queue managers where MFT components (Agent and Logger) connect require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement.
  • Intermediary queue managers that are just routing messages, but perform no IBM MQ Advanced processing, only require IBM MQ entitlement.