Although IBM MQ (WebSphere MQ) provides many monitoring techniques to help you get statistics about your queue manager, would it be better to be alerted when something goes wrong and the problematic data is directly presented on the user interface? If your answer is YES, then you should try the Monitoring Agent for WebSphere MQ delivered as part of IBM Performance Management.
Where does the WebSphere MQ agent come from?
The first version of IBM PM, the only application performance management (APM) solution to support the full IBM Middleware stack, was released back in the first half of 2015. The Monitoring Agent for WebSphere MQ has been part of this product since then, however this agent has a much longer history. The predecessor of this agent is ITCAM Agent for WebSphere MQ on distributed systems and OMEGAMON XE for WebSphere MQ Monitoring on z/OS systems. The agent capabilities are similar, but the monitoring infrastructure and agent installation/configuration is greatly simplified in the IBM Performance Management offerings.
WebSphere MQ agent functions
As the name indicates, the WebSphere MQ agent can help you collect and analyze data that is specific to IBM MQ for the queue managers from a single vantage point. You can then track trends in the data that is collected and troubleshot system problems by using the predefined dashboards on APM UI. The WebSphere MQ agent can provide the following key capabilities in the IBM Performance Management offerings:
- Resource monitoring (IBM MQ KPIs)
- Transaction tracking (message queues as part of IBM integration stack)
Getting alerts when something happens
Thresholds will test for certain conditions on your managed systems, such as a full queue or a channel in doubt, and raise an event when the conditions have been met. The WebSphere MQ agent provides dozens of predefined thresholds to alert you of abnormal situations in your queue manager network. You can also use the predefined eventing thresholds as a starting point for event monitoring, and create your own eventing thresholds as conditions arise.
Easy setup
If you used any predecessor of the WebSphere MQ agent, you will find the installation and configuration process has been greatly simplified in IBM Performance Management. It takes only a few minutes to install the agent on the target host, issue some MQSC commands to enable IBM MQ KPIs you want to monitor, and create an agent instance by simply telling it the name of the queue manager to be monitored. Then everything is available in the centralized Application Performance Dashboard.
Integration with ITM agent
If you are still using the ITCAM Agent for WebSphere MQ or OMEGAMON XE for WebSphere MQ Monitoring, you can decide whether to integrate the existing ITM monitoring infrastructure with IBM Performance Management. After integration, you can view monitoring data from both agents in the single user interface, Application Performance Dashboard. To integrate with ITCAM Agent for WebSphere MQ, you will need to install IBM Performance Management Hybrid Gateway. To integrate with OMEGAMON XE for WebSphere MQ Monitoring, you will need IBM OMEGAMON for Application Performance Management.
Learn more
Ready to get started monitoring applications? Visit IBM Middleware learning site to explore Application Performance Management at http://ibm.co/2adAJx0, or IBM Marketplace at http://ibm.co/1SDvOV3.
If you are already using IBM Performance Management, join the Application Performance Management group to connect with other members and collaborate with the experts by accessing blogs, forums, and wikis at https://ibm.biz/BdFBdh.