Uninstalling IBM MQ on Windows

We can uninstall the IBM MQ MQI clients and servers on Windows systems by using the control panel, the command line ( msiexec ), MQParms, or by using the installation media, in which case we can optionally remove queue managers as well.

Before starting

By default, uninstallation logging is not enabled on Windows. To ensure that you receive an uninstallation log, carry out the following procedure:

1. In a command prompt, open the registry editor by issuing the command regedit.
2. Create, or edit, the appropriate registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
3. Under this registry key add the following information:

   Name

   Logging

   Data type

   REG_SZ

   Value

   voicewarmup

4. Save the updated registry key.

Procedure

The first part of the procedure ensures that there are no IBM MQ programs or processes running:

1. If we are running IBM MQ with the Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS), remove the queue managers from MSCS control before uninstalling IBM MQ. Perform the following steps for each queue manager currently under MSCS control :
   1. Take the queue manager resource offline.
   2. Destroy the resource instance.
   3. Migrate the queue manager files back from shared drives. This step is shown as optional in Removing a queue manager from MSCS control. However, it is mandatory in this case.

2. Stop all IBM MQ applications associated with the installation we are uninstalling.
3. Close all Managed File Transfer agents. If we have a Managed File Transfer Agent running, close it by using the fteStopAgent command; see fteStopAgent (stop a Managed File Transfer Agent).
4. For a server installation, end all IBM MQ activity:
   1. Log in as a user in the group mqm.
   2. Stop all running queue managers and listeners by using the IBM MQ Explorer, or by entering the following commands:
      1. Set up the environment to work with the installation we want to uninstall by entering the following command:

          MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH\bin\setmqenv -s
         

         where MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH is the location where IBM MQ is installed.
      2. For each queue manager, enter the following command to stop the queue manager:

         endmqm queue_manager_name
         

      3. For each queue manager, enter the following command to stop any listeners associated with the queue manager:

         endmqlsr -m queue_manager_name
         

5. Stop IBM MQ. To do this right-click the IBM MQ icon in the system tray, then select Stop IBM MQ.
6. Close all IBM MQ windows.
7. Stop any monitoring service.

When all processes associated with IBM MQ are no longer running, we can uninstall IBM MQ:

8. Uninstall IBM MQ by using one of the following methods:
   • Use the Windows Control Panel. This process is described in: Uninstalling IBM MQ using the control panel. This method does not remove the queue manager data.
   • Use the command line by running the msiexec command as described in: Uninstalling IBM MQ using the command line. This method does not remove the queue manager data.
   • Use the appropriate parameters with MQParms. This process is described in Uninstalling IBM MQ using MQParms. This method does not remove the queue manager data.
   • Use the installation media, by selecting the appropriate option as described in: Uninstalling IBM MQ on Windows using the installation media. The option to remove queue manager data is displayed in the Removing Server feature panel, if appropriate.

   If we have to cancel the uninstallation process before it is finished, you might have to reconfigure IBM MQ with the Prepare IBM MQ wizard because the rollback of the deletion of the IBM MQ service is unable to set the service's user account password. Use the following command to reconfigure IBM MQ:

   MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH\bin\amqmjpse.exe -r
   

   For more information about the Prepare IBM MQ Wizard, see Configure IBM MQ with the Prepare IBM MQ Wizard.
9. Check the Windows event log and restart the system if necessary. If event ID 10005 is written to the Windows event log, we must restart the system to complete the uninstallation process.
10. Optional: If we are uninstalling the last or only installation of IBM MQ, we can remove all the information about previous installations that is retained on the system, if we want to. Two registry values remain after uninstallation:
    • 32 bit systems:
      • My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\WebSphere MQ\LogDefaultPath
      • My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\WebSphere MQ\WorkPath

    • 64 bit systems:
      • My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\IBM\WebSphere MQ\LogDefaultPath
      • My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\IBM\WebSphere MQ\WorkPath

    Data folders will also remain and are located at MQ_DATA_PATH\Config, where MQ_DATA_PATH is the location of the IBM MQ data directory. Most of the remaining files contain text such as INI files, error logs, and FDC files. The executable shared library mqzsd.dll also remains.

    If a client is installed on a system where the LogDefaultPath registry value remains from a previous server installation, a client installation will attempt to create this directory if it does not already exist. If this behavior is not wanted, remove the LogDefaultPath registry value before installing the client.

• Uninstalling IBM MQ using the control panel
  We can uninstall IBM MQ by using the control panel to remove all currently installed features.
• Uninstalling IBM MQ using the command line
  We can uninstall IBM MQ by running the msiexec command from the command line to remove all currently installed features.
• Uninstalling IBM MQ using MQParms
  We can uninstall IBM MQ by running the MQParms command from the command line to remove all currently installed features.
• Uninstalling IBM MQ on Windows using the installation media
  We can uninstall IBM MQ by using the installation media to remove all currently installed features and optionally remove existing queue managers and their data.

Parent topic: Install and uninstall IBM MQ on Windows