Interoperation using a WebSphere MQ server

A WebSphere® MQ server represents a WebSphere MQ queue manager or (for WebSphere MQ for z/OS®) queue-sharing group. Service integration can communicate directly with a WebSphere MQ queue manager or queue sharing group where a WebSphere MQ queue is located. You can configure a service integration queue-type destination to add messages directly onto the WebSphere MQ queue, and retrieve messages directly from the queue.

For interoperation with WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 or later, the version of WebSphere MQ must be WebSphere MQ for z/OS Version 6 or later, or WebSphere MQ (distributed platforms) Version 7 or later.

To configure WebSphere Application Server for this style of interoperation with WebSphere MQ, you define a WebSphere MQ server. This definition represents the WebSphere MQ queue manager or queue sharing group that hosts the queue which you want to access. The definition has cell scope. The same WebSphere MQ server definition works for all queues in the queue manager or queue sharing group.

Next, you add the WebSphere MQ server as a member of the service integration bus (or buses) that require access to the queues that the WebSphere MQ server hosts. If you have several service integration buses in your cell, you can add the same WebSphere MQ server as a bus member into more than one of these buses.

After you have done this, you can define queue-type destinations in the service integration bus so that service integration adds messages directly onto a WebSphere MQ queue located on the WebSphere MQ server, or retrieves messages directly from that queue, or both. To help you define your service integration destinations, you can (optionally) select the WebSphere MQ queue you want to use from a list which the administrative console gets directly from the WebSphere MQ queue manager or queue sharing group. This facility is called "queue discovery".

If you want to mediate a service integration queue-type destination, then you must define two queues within the destination. One is used to queue messages arriving at the destination ready for mediation; this is called the mediation point. The other is used to queue messages after mediation is complete and the messages are ready to be consumed; this is called the queue point. Either the mediation point, or the queue point, or both, can be defined as WebSphere MQ queues (as previously described).

You can create and configure a WebSphere MQ server by using the administrative console or by using the wsadmin tool. If you use the administrative console, the server creation wizard can automatically discover resources in the WebSphere MQ network.