Many years ago if you wanted to install MQ Explorer, you had to have a copy of MQ Server for Windows. That was how IBM delivered Explorer at the time. I was an MQ Support Team Lead at a large bank the time and we didn't need MQ for Windows but I had to buy a license anyway, just to get the Explorer installation media - thousands of dollars. Some said that license purchase was a big and undeserved win for IBM but what happened was that as we passed that disc around from team to team, dozens of unlicensed copies of MQ Server popped up, creating a potential license compliance issue in the process. While the compliance issue was a concern, what I took away was that building deep skill requires hands-on experience and people whose paychecks depend on that will go to great lengths to get it.
Well, the great news is that thanks to new licensing options, IBM MQ running on Red Hat Linux in a virtual machine on the desktop, all fully licensed, is now available to everyone at no cost.
As an example of how this is useful, the image below shows the setup I used for the CONNAUTH/CHLAUTH testing I've posted about recently. There is one virtual MQ server each for every combination of MQ and Fix Pack from v8.0.0.0 through v9.0.0.0, all running simultaneously. You can run as many virtual machines on the desktop as memory and CPU will allow.
If you'd like to build your own MQ sandbox, the tutorial below walks through the process start to finish. The video is 36 minutes long because I fast-forward through some of the longer install sequences. In real time it takes about an hour to install and configure RHEL 7.2, install MQ 9.0, and edit the kernel parm settings. That's end-to-end from bare metal to putting a Hello World message onto S.D.L.Q. Once you build the base image, back up the files or use the virtualization's Clone feature so you can quickly revert back to a known, good, clean image. Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of a very capable yet disposable and reusable MQ sandbox.
Download Links
Oracle Virtualbox
https://www.oracle.com/virtualization/virtualbox/
Red Hat Linux for Developers
https://developers.redhat.com
IBM MQ Advanced for Developers
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/messaging/entry/downloads?lang=en
Put this one in the Win column
On a historical note, I remember an IBM product management call where the possibility of an MQ Developers License was discussed and the big concern was that people would use the software in Production if IBM made it available for free. My argument was that a software vendor worried about people stealing their product is worried about the wrong thing. People could at the time already steal it. I had verified this by downloading MQ Server from about 5 different warez sites and checksumming to verify the pirated copies hadn't been modified. What IBM should be worried about, I argued on the call, was whether the people who were willing to steal were stealing IBM's product or someone else's. After all, if they are getting the software for free and aren't using IBM's MQ that's a worse problem
I mentioned above how unlicensed MQ kept popping up as the MQ Server/Explorer disc made the rounds at my the bank where I was working. Later after joining IBM as a consultant I saw that unlicensed personal installs for training and sandboxing was actually quite common, despite the licensing compliance risks. Among the other benefits of MQ Advanced for Developers is that it confers amnesty on all these formerly unlicensed copies. (Download the current version and click through the new license in order to qualify.) When virtual machines are as disposable as tissues we aren't afraid to experiment and that translates to faster and deeper skill building. They are essential to prototyping and training.
I've been walking this road from the days when I was lobbying IBM to move Explorer to a stand-alone distribution because it was hosing up my license compliance, so when IBM made MQ Advanced For Developers available I counted it as a personal victory. Yet Red Hat still didn't have a free version and Microsoft probably never will, so plenty of barriers remained to doing the one thing an MQ SME most needs - hands-on practice in a virtual environment that can be trashed and restored at will. We have our desktops of course but generally you don't want to risk trashing the place where you do most of your work. The trifecta of free MQ, free Red Hat Linux, and free virtualization finally put cheap, disposable, but fully functional MQ sandboxes in the hands of anyone who needs it.
Am I the only person in the world for whom this was a bucket list item? Probably. But I don't care. It is incredibly satisfying to finally be able to write this post, to make the video, and to help grow professional skills in the best middleware, JMS, async messaging community in the world. It's been a long road to this milestone but getting here makes the product and community that much more valuable and that in turn means there will be plenty of road ahead of us left to explore. So go build your MQ sandbox and have fun!