Understanding WebSphere MQ IFS directories and files

The OS/400 Integrated File System (IFS) is used extensively by WebSphere MQ to store data. For more information about the IFS see the Integrated File System Introduction.

Each WebSphere MQ queue, queue manager, namelist, and process object is represented by a file. Because object names are not necessarily valid file names, the queue manager converts the object name into a valid file name where necessary.

The path to a queue manager directory is formed from the following:

• A prefix, which is defined in the queue manager configuration file, qm.ini. The default prefix is

  /QIBM/UserData/mqm.

• A literal,

  qmgrs.

• A coded queue manager name, which is the queue manager name transformed into a valid directory name. For example, the queue manager

  queue/manager is represented by queue&manager.

This process is referred to as name transformation.