IBM MQ 9.2.3 is our next Continuous Delivery update. Here are your MQ and MQ Appliance options at this point:
New MQ Appliance M2002 models will ship with the 9.2 LTS firmware onboard by default, but you can move at any time to the CD firmware if there is function of interest.
Where can I get IBM MQ 9.2.3 from?
MQ 9.2.3 delivers concurrently on distributed platforms, MQ for z/OS, MQ Appliance and IBM MQ on IBM Cloud managed service platforms. For any queries about what each Program entitles you to install check out the MQ license information page.
- Distributed platforms: Download instructions for AIX, Linux and Windows
- z/OS
- shopZ for z/OS - will be available on 6th August 2021
- PTFs are available now - PH38286 (MQ base), PH38287 (MQ Advanced for z/OS VUE).
Note that on z/OS there are CD and LTS orderable features in shopZ. They are functionally identical at 9.2.0 but you must ensure you install the one that matches the upgrade path you wish to follow - LTS or CD.
- z/OS offerings are:
- 5655-MQ9 – IBM MQ for z/OS
- 5655-VU9 – IBM MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition
- 5655-AV9 – IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS
This is a bundle of MQ Advanced Message Security and MQ Managed File Transfer capability (no MQ entitlement included)
- 5655-AV1 – IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS Value Unit Edition
This is a bundle of MQ Advanced Message Security, MQ Managed File Transfer and MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition capability
- MQ Appliance: On Fix Central and applied to the M2002 and M2001 hardware models.
- IBM MQ Advanced certified container: Deployment instructions
- IBM MQ on IBM Cloud: IBM MQ on IBM Cloud managed service, which has different T-shirt size plans and options for placing the queue manager in an IBM Cloud or AWS data center.
[link to top]
What’s new in the MQ 9.2.3 CD release?
IBM MQ and MQ Appliance 9.2.3 announcement letters:
Note the Statement of general direction on the intended minimum operating system levels for the next Long Term Support release.
MQ 9.2.3 has been a busy release, adding a few nice features to the IBM MQ family of products. Read the overview from Amy McCormick, our Principal MQ Product Manager here. There is also a What's New and What's next webinar coming up on 27th July with David Ware, IBM MQ Chief Architect & Senior Technical Staff Member which you can register for.
MQ updates on distributed platforms
- MQ Console remote queue manager support
This enables clients to view and manage their MQ estate from a single user interface, regardless of whether queue managers are deployed in distributed, IBM z/OS®, MQ Appliance, or cloud environments
- Streaming queues
These enable customers to tap into the value of data flowing over MQ. Streaming queues enable you to make message data available to Apache Kafka, AI, and analytics applications for real-time processing. There are no architectural changes required to your existing queues and, importantly, zero impact to existing applications.
- Uniform clusters
Our incremental updates to Uniform Cluster capability continue in this release. Uniform clusters are a specific pattern of MQ cluster that provides a highly available and horizontally scaled small collection of queue managers. These queue managers are configured almost identically, enabling an application to interact with them as a single group. MQ is designed to ensure that application instances are spread evenly across the queue managers. Enhancements in version 9.2.3 enable clients to automate the rebalancing of messages from JEE applications.
- Security enhancements
The password in the qm.ini SSL stanza can be encrypted.
- Dead Letter Queue handler (runmqdlq) client connectivity
Messages that cannot be delivered to their correct destination are stored on a DLQ for later retrieval and are processed or removed by a DLQ handler. In version 9.2.3, the DLQ handler is now also included in the MQ client package and can be connected as a client application, in addition to the server package in which it is already available. This means that the DLQ handler can now connect to either a local or remote queue manager, including an MQ Appliance or cloud environment.
- New AMQP channel attributes - TMPMODEL and TMPQPRFX
Additional channel attributes for the open-standard AMQP are introduced to enable interoperability between systems, regardless of vendor or platform.
- Native High Availability
This is an embedded solution for clients deploying container-based queue managers to Cloud Pak for Integration on Red Hat OpenShift using the MQ container. Native HA is designed to deliver efficient and secure replication of data for redundancy, integrated with quorum controlled failover for safe and fast recovery from failures. Native HA does not require any changes to your applications or restrictions to their behaviour. Delivered in version 9.2.2 under an Early Access license, Native HA becomes generally available in the MQ Advanced 9.2.3 pre-build container image for Cloud Pak for Integration.
- Replicated Data Queue Manager (RDQM)
This feature of MQ Advanced relies on a kernel module to provide data replication. In MQ Advanced 9.2.3, enhancements are delivered to help clients ensure they have loaded the correct kernel module and to improve diagnostics.
- Build your own container - Little Endian Power and zLinux support for development purposes
The unzippable MQ product code to support build your own container scenarios is available for Linux PPCLE and z in addition to x86-64 at no charge for Development usage. All these platforms are already available for production usage.
MQ for z/OS
IBM intends to deliver:
- MQ Console remote queue manager support
This enables clients to view and manage their MQ estate from a single user interface, regardless of whether queue managers are deployed in distributed, IBM z/OS®, MQ Appliance, or cloud environments
- Ansible® sample playbooks
Ansible, which is an IT automation tool that provides a simple and consistent way of orchestrating the configuration and management of IT infrastructure. Ansible sample playbooks have been provided to orchestrate configuration of MQ on z/OS. They enable clients to provision new queues on a queue manager, manage existing queues, and automate backup of application structures within a Coupling Facility. The sample playbooks are available at IBM Z® Ansible collections.
MQ Appliance
- The MQ Appliance 9.2.3 firmware update includes the streaming queues, uniform clusters and AMQP channel attribute capabilities mentioned above. The Dead Letter Queue handler (runmqdlq) in the client package can now also be used with the MQ Appliance.
[link to top]
Can I get a copy of IBM MQ for development purposes?
The LearnMQ site is regularly updated with a mix of tutorials and essential getting started information, and offers you the opportunity to earn an IBM MQ Developer Essentials badge.
The full list of Developer download options are below.
[link to top]
Downloadable resources
A number of MQ components are made available on IBM Fix Central and elsewhere for ease of download. Below are the links to the available components. Where applicable, they will show the latest 9.2 Continuous Delivery (CD) and Long Term Support (LTS) updates for each component. Be sure to know which you require!
Main product:
Fix packs:
Clients:
Components:
Containers:
Development:
Tip: Try opening the links in a private browsing tab if they don’t correctly resolve.
[link to top]
MQ System Requirements and documentation
The system requirements are documented at the links below. IBM MQ Continuous Delivery releases are being made available on z/OS, Microsoft Windows, Linux on x86-64, Linux on IBM z Systems, Linux on Little Endian Power (RHEL, SLES and Ubuntu) and AIX.
Further information can be found in the IBM MQ Documentation and the IBM MQ Appliance DocumentationMQ 9.2 operating system support
|
MQ 9.2.2 CD |
MQ 9.2 LTS |
Removed compared to MQ 9.1 |
| AIX |
|
7.1 TL5, 7.2 TL3 |
7.2 TL2 |
| IBM i |
|
7.3, 7.4 |
7.2 |
| Linux |
Added Ubuntu 20.04
|
RHEL 7.6+, 8.0+
SLES 12 SP4, 15 SP1
Ubuntu 18.04
|
RHEL 7.3, 7.4, 7.5
SLES 12 SP2, SP3, 15 SP0
Ubuntu 16.04 |
| Windows |
|
Windows Server 2016, 2019
Windows 10 |
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows 8.1 |
| z/OS |
|
2.3, 2.4 |
2.2 |
[link to top]
What function has released in previous updates?
IBM MQ and IBM MQ Appliance 9.2 Long Term Support Release
IBM MQ and IBM MQ Appliance 9.2.1 Continuous Delivery Release
IBM MQ and IBM MQ Appliance 9.2.2 Continuous Delivery Release
[link to top]
Remind me how the Continuous Delivery support model works…
Its worth reminding you what the Continuous Delivery support model means for MQ.
- MQ 9.2 LTS is supported for a minimum of 5 years from its availability in July 2020, and will receive fix only updates through fixpacks versioned 9.2.0.1, 9.2.0.2 and so on.
- MQ CD updates will be delivered with the 3rd digit change – 9.2.1, 9.2.2 and so on. Defect support for a CD release is available for 12 months from the availability of the release or while it remains one of the two most recent CD releases, whichever is longer, so you need to keep moving forward with the MQ CD releases.
- MQ CD updates will be delivered with new function enabled by default.
- The IBM MQ FAQ for Long Term Support and Continuous Delivery Releases will hopefully answer most of your questions.
[link to top]