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IBM MQ 9.4 Long Term Support is available

By Ian Harwood posted Tue June 18, 2024 08:14 AM

  

Two years on from the release of IBM MQ 9.3, IBM MQ 9.4 is the latest Long Term Support, rolling up product capabilities delivered in continuous delivery releases over the last two years into great step forward in LTS capabilities that will be supported for the next 5 years.

Updated 5th July 2024 to add MQ for z/OS and MQ Appliance 9.4 firmware releases.

Here are your MQ and MQ Appliance supported options at this point:


Where can I get IBM MQ 9.4.0 from?

For further information about what each Program entitles you to install check out the MQ license information page.  

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What’s new in the MQ 9.4.0 release?

Prefer a video format? Take a look at the 3 minute IBM MQ 9.4: Built for change for a summary of the release content and Introducing IBM MQ for z/OS 9.4.

MQ updates

The MQ 9.4 Announcement letter contains information and the new capabilities added in the MQ 9.4 release and a summary of all the capabilities rolled up from the 9.3.x continuous delivery releases in to the next MQ Long Term Support release. 

The IBM MQ for z/OS 9.4 and IBM MQ Appliance 9.4 firmware announcement letter (2nd July 2024) covers the new content added in these releases.

 What's new/changed - IBM MQ 9.4 (incl. z/OS).

 What's new/changed - IBM MQ Appliance 9.4.

  • IBM MQ for multi-platforms
    • MQ 9.3.x rollup of capabilities delivered in Continuous Delivery releases
       The summary below covers the new items delivered between 9.3.5 and 9.4.0. For a comprehensive update on the capabilities added in the  9.3.x continuous delivery continuous releases and rolled up into MQ 9.4 LTS see the What's new/changed information above.

    • IBM MQ 9.4 follows the Support Cycle-5 policy
      IBM MQ continues to offer 5 years standard support from the initial release date and Extended support is available for up to 4 years after end of standard support.

    • New method for applying maintenance updates
      On Windows and Linux platforms future maintenance updates will be applied by upgrading IBM MQ. This enables IBM MQ to work better with platform installers, such as rpm, yum, dpkg and apt, it reduces the footprint size of the install because IBM MQ will no longer backup the product binaries from the previously installed maintenance level and it will ensure that upgraded files are not kept in a backup to be flagged by vulnerability scanners.

    • Using the IBM MQ Java runtime for MQ client applications
      With recent changes to the Java LTS lifecycle it is likely IBM MQ maintenance releases will need to occasionally update the Java runtime used by IBM MQ product components. Any applications also using the Java runtime included with IBM MQ may be affected by these updates. To avoid disruption it is recommended that the Java runtime included with MQ is not used for also running applications. Instead refer to the supported Java runtimes on the IBM MQ system requirements pages. An IBM Semeru runtime can be obtained from the IBM Semeru Runtimes download page. When used for the purposes of running an IBM MQ Java/JMS applications support can be obtained via your IBM MQ product entitlement. 

    • Simplified administration of token based authentication with JWKS key management
      For queue managers running on AIX or Linux IBM MQ now support JWKS key management. JWKS simplifies key management because it is no longer necessary to maintain a local keystores and the issuer will seamlessly update keys as they expire with IBM MQ administrator intervention being required.

    • New commands to manage keys and certificates for IBM MQ and MQ IPT
      For MQ, runmqktool replaces runmqckm, and for MQ IPT mqiptKeytool replaces mqiptKeycmd. See runmqakm and runmqktool commands on AIX, Linux, and Windows and Managing MQIPT keystores.

    • Skip TLS server certificate validation for IBM MQ C and JMS clients
      This mode allows applications to connect to a TLS-secured endpoint without the need for a truststore or pre-exchanged certificate chain. For users who want the security of TLS communication, but do not require the MQ client to authenticate the server to which it is connecting.

    • JSON formatted logs for AMQP and MQTT
      IBM MQ 9.4 adds the option to to enable JSON formatted logs for AMQP and MQTT, making it simpler for these logs to be consumed by other services for monitoring and analysis. 

    • LZ4 compression option for MQ channels
      LZ4 compression can now be specified on channels to implement a fast, lossless algorithm to compress data that is being sent across a network. There are additional options to choose whether to prioritize for speed or compression to enable the system to be tuned for the workload.

    • .NET 8 application support for IBM MQ classes for .NET and IBM MQ Classes for XMS.NET
      .NET 8 applications can now use the IBM MQ classes for .NET and IBM MQ classes for XMS.NET. NET 6 applications can also be run without recompilation by changing the targetframeworkversion to .NET 8.

    • MQ Managed File Transfer support for additional secure ciphers
      MQ Managed File Transfer has updated the secure ciphers available to add aes128-gcm and aes256-gcm. 

    • MQIPT now rejects HTTP connections by default
      If HTTP is required then be sure to configure the AllowedProtocols property before migrating to MQIPT 9.4.

    • Changes to startup of the AMQP Service
      From MQ 9.4 the AMQP Service does not automatically start as part of the queue manager startup process. This behaviour can be changed to enable the pre-MQ9.4 behaviour of the service starting automatically with the queue manger.

    • Deprecations and removals
      Take a look at the IBM MQ Deprecated, Stabilized and Removed features page to understand what has changed in the MQ 9.4 release. There have been a few changes in the area of security with CMS Keystores, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0 and weak ciphers being deprecated, plus new commands for managing MQ and MQIPT keys and certificates (covered above).
      Use of XL C/C++ for AIX® 16 for compiling applications is deprecated and Read/Write serialization/deserialization methods on .NET and XMS.NET classes have been deprecated. 
      32-bit application support has been deprecated since MQ 9.3 LTS because some underlying operating systems are making 32-bit libraries for building applications an optional component. 

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Can I get a copy of IBM MQ for development purposes?

  • An IBM MQ Advanced for Developers container image is also available on IBM Container Registry

  • An IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Agent for Developers container image on IBM Container Registry

The IBM Developer site for MQ is regularly updated with a mix of learning paths, tutorials, essential getting started information, and patterns for application development.

There is also the opportunity to obtain recognition for MQ skills you have gained by completing the IBM MQ Developer Essentials badge or the IBM MQ on AWS Cloud Developer Essentials badge.

The full list of  Developer download options are below.

 IBM%2BMQ%2BDeveloper%2BEssentials.png
IBM MQ on AWS Cloud Developer Essentials badge

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    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 9.3 Continuous Delivery (CD) and Long Term Support (LTS) updates for each component. Be sure to know which you require.

    Main product install image and fix pack download documentation:


    Maintenance quick links:


    Checksums and Signatures:

    Clients:

    Components:


    Containers:


    Development:

    Tip: Try opening the links in a private browsing tab if they don’t correctly resolve.
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    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 IBM MQ Appliance Documentation.


    MQ 9.4 operating system support

    MQ 9.4 LTS Removed compared to MQ 9.3 LTS
    AIX 7.2 TL5, 7.3 TL1 7.3 TL0
    IBM i 7.4, 7.5 7.3
    Linux

    RHEL 8.8+, 9.2+
    SLES 15 SP4
    Ubuntu 22.04

    		 RHEL 7.9, 8.4, 8.6. 9.0
    SLES 12, 15 SP2 & SP3
    Ubuntu 20.04
    Windows Windows Server 2019, 2022
    Windows 11 23H2 or later    		 Windows 10
    z/OS 2.5, 3.1 2.4


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    What function has released in previous updates?

    IBM MQ and IBM MQ Appliance 9.3.5 Continuous Delivery Release
    IBM MQ and IBM MQ Appliance 9.3 Long Term Support Release

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    Remind me how the Continuous Delivery support model works…

    It's worth reminding you what the Continuous Delivery support model means for MQ.

    • MQ 9.4 LTS is supported for a minimum of 5 years from its availability in June 2024, and will receive fix only maintenance through updates versioned 9.3.0.1, 9.3.0.2 and so on.
    • MQ CD updates will be delivered with the 3rd digit change – 9.4.1, 9.4.2 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.

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