Plan to install IBM MQ on Windows

Before you install IBM MQ on Windows, we must choose which components to install and where to install them. We must also make some platform-specific choices.

About this task

The following steps provide links to additional information to help you with planning your installation of IBM MQ on Windows.

As part of our planning activities, make sure that you review the information on hardware and software requirements for the platform on which we are planning to install IBM MQ. For more information, see Check requirements on Windows.

Procedure

1. Decide which IBM MQ components and features to install. See IBM MQ components and features.Important: Ensure that your enterprise has the correct license, or licenses, for the components that we are going to install. For more information, see License requirements and IBM MQ license information.
2. Review the options for naming your installation. In some cases, we can choose an installation name to use instead of the default name. See Installation name on UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
3. Review the options and restrictions for choosing an installation location for IBM MQ. For more information, see Installation location on Multiplatforms.
4. If we plan to install multiple copies of IBM MQ, see Multiple installations on UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
5. If you already have a primary installation, or plan to have one, see Primary installation on UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
6. Make sure that the communications protocol needed for server-to-server verification is installed and configured on both systems that we plan to use. For more information, see Server-to-server links on UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
7. Determine whether we need to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). From Version 9.1.0, if we are not using Java in your messaging applications, and we are not using portions of IBM MQ that are written in Java, you have the option to not install the JRE (or to remove the JRE if it was already installed). Attention: If you choose not to install the JRE, or to remove the JRE if it was already installed:
   • We must perform your key management by using the runmqakm command line tool rather than the strmqikm GUI tool, or the runmqckm command line tool.
   • The IBM Key Management shortcut is still installed. Clicking the shortcut has no effect. We should use the runmqakm command line tool instead.
   • Use of the runmqras command fails unless a JRE at version 7, or later, is available on the system path.

   On Windows, before Version 9.1.0, the JRE was a hidden installation feature that was always installed. From Version 9.1.0, the JRE becomes an independently installable feature. The feature can be installed or omitted, either silently or though the GUI installer, as long as we are not installing other features that require the presence of the JRE. For more information, see Install features that require the Server or JRE.

   Upgrading from an earlier version of IBM MQ to Version 9.1.0 (or later) adds the separately installed JRE feature to the installed product.

   For more information, see Use runmqckm, runmqakm, and strmqikm to manage digital certificates.

• Additional Windows features prerequisite checking
  There are two Windows installation features that have additional prerequisite checking enabled in the Windows IBM MQ installer from IBM MQ Version 9.1. These are the Server feature and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) feature. These features are required by other features and installing those features, without these prerequisite checks, would cause those features to be unusable.
• Installation methods for Windows
  When you install IBM MQ on Windows, there are several different installation types to choose from.
• Considerations when installing IBM MQ server on Windows
  There are some considerations relating to security that we should take into account when installing an IBM MQ server on Windows. There are some additional considerations relating to the object naming rules and logging.

Parent topic: Install and uninstall IBM MQ on Windows