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 Automating RQSTR Channel Restart After Vendor Security Refresh

Peter Folger's profile image
Peter Folger posted Tue March 04, 2025 07:40 PM

Hi, my MQ server (QMINE) is behind a NAT, so it is not directly reachable from the network. However, my vendor’s MQ server (QVENDOR) is publicly accessible, allowing me to connect from QMINE → QVENDOR without issues.

Since traffic needs to flow in both directions, I have configured a Requester (RQSTR) channel on my side and a Server (SVR) channel on QVENDOR. The default Sender/Receiver (SDR/RCVR) channel setup would not work because QMINE has no public IP and is not reachable externally.

Issue:

QVENDOR shares its MQ server with other systems and occasionally updates its certificates. When they do this, they run REFRESH SECURITY, which disrupts the connection. Afterward, I have to manually stop and restart the RQSTR channel for it to reconnect.

Question:

Is there a way to automate this process so I don’t have to manually restart the RQSTR channel each time QVENDOR refreshes its security settings?

Thanks!

Peter

Morag Hughson's profile image
Morag Hughson IBM Champion

Hi Peter,

It would be interesting to know whether your RQSTR channel notices the disruption? In other words, is the problem we need to focus on the stopping of the RQSTR channel or the starting of it.

As you have probably noticed, a RQSTR channel does not have RETRYing abilities. However, as long as the RQSTR ends because it notices what has happened at the other end of the channel, then you can catch the "Channel Ended" event message and automate the restart of the RQSTR channel, including some sort of retry capability by monitoring that it is running again. Talk to your current event monitoring vender, or if you don't have one, take a look at the following for an idea of the sorts of things you should be able to do (blog post, blog post).

If the RQSTR is not noticing the ending of the SVR, then first you must help that detection process, which I points to making use of RecvTimeOut. You don't mention which platform QMINE is on, but some platforms have this on by default and some do not.

Cheers,
Morag