Choosing what to install

You can select the components or features that you require when you install IBM® MQ.

Important: Ensure that your enterprise has the correct license, or licenses, for the components that you are going to install. See IBM MQ license information for more details.

IBM MQ can be installed as a server or a client. The installation images can be downloaded, or IBM MQ can be installed from a DVD.

An IBM MQ server is an installation of one or more queue managers that provide queuing services to one or more clients. All the IBM MQ objects, for example queues, exist only on the queue manager machine (the IBM MQ server machine), and not the client. An IBM MQ server can also support local IBM MQ applications. To install an IBM MQ server, see Installing an IBM MQ server.

An IBM MQ MQI client is a component that allows an application running on one system to communicate with a queue manager running on another system. The output from the call is sent back to the client, which passes it back to the application. To install an IBM MQ MQI client, see Installing an IBM MQ client.

It is possible to have both a server and a client installation on the same system. See Installing an IBM MQ client.

IBM MQ Advanced Message Security is a separately installed and licensed component of IBM MQ and is another option on the IBM MQ installer. To install IBM MQ Advanced Message Security, see Installing IBM MQ Advanced Message Security.

For detailed explanations of all the components that you can install, see the following platform-specific topics.