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  • 1.  IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 09:32 AM

    Dears,
    I'm new to IBM MQ world, and I'm working with my team to upgrade MQ service from an old version to the latest one.
    I need your support to identify the correct upgrade road map and steps (in IBM Documentation) to upgrade from ( "MQ 9.1.4" AND "IBM MQ 7.5") to IBM MQ version 9.3.0 LTS.

    Thanks a lot and appreciate your support.


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    Mohammed Elashry
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  • 2.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    IBM Champion
    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 11:02 AM

    I think the most relevant page for you to read is this one:

    IBM Docs: Migration paths

    which has a table that shows to migrate MQ V7.5 to MQ V9.3 you must first migrate to V8.0 or V9.0 and then from either of those you can go straight to V9.3

    For any version at MQ V8.0 or later (e.g. V9.1.4) you can go straight to V9.3.

    Cheers,
    Morag



    ------------------------------
    Morag Hughson
    MQ Technical Education Specialist
    MQGem Software Limited
    Website: https://www.mqgem.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 12:01 PM
    The information on the page referred to is a bit contradictory.
    One the one hand it states
    "Before each new version of the product is released, it is tested for migration from earlier versions that are in support at that time. Direct migration from a version that is out of support might also work, but is neither tested nor supported. Therefore, to migrate to the latest version from a version that is out of support, you should first migrate to an interim version that was released before the earlier version went out of support."
    and then it goes on to state
    "It does not matter what versions of IBM MQ are installed between when a queue manager was last started and when it is next started."

    The ability to back off an install when a queue manager has not been started under the newly installed release implies that the data associated with the queue manager isn't modified by the install. Thus the two statements in conjunction seem to imply that it's only the install process itself which isn't guaranteed to be from any earlier release to any later release, which I assume could be overcome by uninstalling 7.5 and then installing 9.3 and thus avoiding the intermediate install.

    This has always been a bit of a mess, and I'd suggest the real concern here is the statement "Direct migration from a version that is out of support might also work, but is neither tested nor supported". The second quote above would seem to require IBM to resolve any issue with the queue manager data in a 7.5->9.3 migration, but in the event of this potentially untested path not working would you really want to wait for an APAR to be raised and fixed. The path with the least risk is probably therefore to perform a supported migration, at a minimum including starting each queue manager at any interim release. 



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    Andrew Hickson
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    IBM Champion
    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 02:49 PM

    It's always best to follow the migration doc.  Migrate to the required version first, start the queue manager, back it up again, shut it down and then migrate again to the required version.

    I always do the validation after each upgrade.

     

    Start the queue manager

    Run some commands such as dspmqver, etc.

    Create a queue

    Run the sample  program to put messages on the queue

    runmqsc to check  how many messages on the queue

    Run the sample program to get messages from a queue

    Delete the queue

    End the queue manager

    Check the log files for errors

     

    Susan Barker

    Lead MQ, ACE, ITX, Kafka, WAS Architect

    Victory is nothing without humility, respect and charity...unknown

    Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier...Mother Theresa

    Logo, company name Description automatically generated

    IBM WAS Advisory Board

    IBM ACEvNext Beta Program

    IBM MQvNext Beta Program

     

     

     




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    Posted Wed April 12, 2023 11:05 AM

    Hi Morag. hope you are well. I'm embarking on 9.1.0.4 to 9.3.2 and saw the above comment. The thing is it seems to contradict

    https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/ibm-mq/9.3?topic=mq-upgrading-installation-linux

    From IBM® MQ 9.3.0, you can upgrade an IBM MQ installation on Linux® systems without uninstalling the earlier version. The version that you are upgrading from must be IBM MQ 9.2.0, or later


    Which is correct.

    Andrew
    greetings from Scotland



    ------------------------------
    Andrew 'Windy' Miller
    Engineering Lead
    Tesco Bank
    Edinburgh
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    IBM Champion
    Posted Wed April 12, 2023 06:05 PM

    Hi Andrew,

    I don't see any contradiction in those two pages. You highlight a new feature that the upgrade no longer has to be done by uninstalling and re-installing, but this does not negate the ability to upgrade from older releases, it just has more steps.

    Perhaps I am not understanding the contradiction you are seeing. Could you elaborate more?

    Cheers,
    Morag



    ------------------------------
    Morag Hughson
    MQ Technical Education Specialist
    MQGem Software Limited
    Website: https://www.mqgem.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    IBM Champion
    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 11:43 AM

    Mohammed,

     

    Since you have a very old version of MQ, MQ 7.5, this may suggest there are applications that use this queue manager and perhaps the reason the migration was not possible is that these applications may not be able to function properly with newer versions.  First thing I suggest is mapping out all applications and connections to MQ. 

     

    If the application/s connections to MQ v7.5 are "unknown" as to whether or not they can successfully connect to MQ 9.3.0 then I suggest you do a POC with MQ 9.3.0 installed and the application installed to see if a connection is successful or not.  If not then 1) the application must be migrated along with the MQ version or 2) rewrite/redo/get-rid-of that app that cannot migrate or 3) continue with MQ 7.5 as long as it functions properly with the application/s that use it.

     

    For the other applications you should be fine.  But if in doubt, always do some test cases to make sure.

     

    I strongly suggest making a backup of the MQ configuration before attempting any migration.  There are a lot of steps to follow. 

     

    This chart should get you started in the right direction (see  https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/ibm-mq/9.2?topic=mq-migration-paths

     

    As you can see from the chart from IBM MQ 7.5 you must first migrate to IBM MQ 8.0 or IBM MQ 9.0. (study the chart below)

     

     

    Also, open a PMR with IBM or bring an IBM MQ consultant onsite for a short duration.  IBM Support is one of the best worldwide and you will find they are not only competent in the subject matter but friendly and kind as well.

     

    Susan Barker

    Lead MQ, ACE, ITX, Kafka, WAS Architect

    Victory is nothing without humility, respect and charity...unknown

    Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier...Mother Theresa

    Logo, company name Description automatically generated

    IBM WAS Advisory Board

    IBM ACEvNext Beta Program

    IBM MQvNext Beta Program

     

     

     




    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 12:09 PM
    It's a very big thing within IBM that applications continue to function unchanged between releases.
    Migrating via an interim release will do nothing to help in this regard.

    I agree that it should be considered essential to back up all MQ data before performing a migration. As soon as you've attempted to start a queue manager under the new release it's impossible guarantee to be able to revert (in the event of any issue) to the old release without such a backup.  In my experience issues are much more likely to be related to the system configuration, rather than to application behaviour. For example security continues to get tighter with each release.

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    Andrew Hickson
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: IBM MQ upgrade from 9.1.4 to 9.3.0

    Posted Tue September 06, 2022 12:12 PM
    Just to clarify that my comments apply to MQ on the distributed platforms only.
    MQ on Z has its own rules regarding migration, including backwards migration.

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    Andrew Hickson
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    Original Message