Installing IBM MQ Explorer into Eclipse environments

We can install IBM MQ Explorer into your own Eclipse environment or Eclipse-based product to help with developing Java applications or to develop your own extensions.


Before starting

If we are using a version of Windows with User Account Control (UAC) enabled and your Eclipse-based product is installed into a directory under UAC such as C:\Program Files, then we must run the Eclipse-based product with elevated authority (Run as Administrator) before you install the IBM MQ Explorer feature into it. When installed, the product can then be run without elevated authority.

For information about the Eclipse level that IBM MQ Explorer is built on, see What's new and what's changed in IBM MQ Explorer.

Note: Before you place the IBM MQ Explorer plug-ins into your own Eclipse environment or Eclipse-based product, consult the Detailed System Requirements report for the platform and your version of IBM MQ (see System Requirements for IBM MQ).

For information about the environments in which IBM MQ Explorer plug-ins are supported, see the Development tools section of the Supported Software tab of the IBM MQ Detailed System Requirements report.

To use the full set of CipherSuites, and to operate with certified FIPS 140-2 or Suite-B compliance, a suitable Java runtime environment (JRE) is required. IBM Java 7 Service Refresh 4, Fix Pack 2 or a higher level of the IBM JRE provides the appropriate support. For more information, see the Java section of the Supported Software tab of the IBM MQ Detailed System Requirements report.


About this task

IBM MQ Explorer is built on Eclipse as a stand-alone application using the Eclipse Rich Client Platform. We can also install IBM MQ Explorer into your own compatible Eclipse environment or an Eclipse-based product, to aid with developing Java applications with IBM MQ, or developing your own extensions to IBM MQ Explorer.


Procedure

To install IBM MQ Explorer into a compatible Eclipse-based environment:

  1. Click Help and then click Install New Software in the Eclipse environment.
  2. Click Add and then click Archive, and then browse to the mqexplorer/eclipse directory inside the IBM MQ installation directory. Select the file MQExplorerSDK.zip.
  3. Click OK after optionally typing a name for the local site.
  4. A category of MQ Explorer is displayed. Expand this category and select MQ Explorer and optionally, the translations.
  5. Click Next and follow the instructions. Then, click the button to restart Eclipse (or the Eclipse-based product). If the installation fails due to a missing bundle, for example, org.eclipse.draw2d, we must install the Eclipse Graphical Editing Framework (GEF) tools.
  6. IBM MQ Explorer is available as a separate perspective. To view, click Open perspective, and then click Other.


What to do next

For local queue managers, this procedure is sufficient if IBM MQ Explorer is being used to administer remote queue managers. If there are local queue managers to administer, we must run the Eclipse-based product with the required environment settings for the operating system. In addition, the Eclipse-based product must be a 64-bit application to match the 64-bit local queue managers.

On Windows, set the PATH environment variable to include the bin64 and java/lib64 directories of the IBM MQ installation. We can use the setmqenv command to do this before you start the Eclipse-based product from the same command line. For example, if IBM MQ is installed in directory C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ, enter the following command: 
C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ\bin\setmqenv -s
On Linux x86_64 systems, set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to include the java/lib64 and lib64 directories of the IBM MQ installation before you run the Eclipse-based product. For example, if IBM MQ is installed in /opt/mqm: 
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/mqm/java/lib64:/opt/mqm/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
Parent topic: Introduction to IBM MQ Explorer


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