Upgrade, migration, and maintenance of IBM MQ (On platforms other than z/OS )
You can install new releases of IBM® MQ to upgrade IBM MQ to a new maintenance, release, or version level. Multiple installations at the same or different levels can coexist on the same UNIX, Linux®, and Windows server. You can apply maintenance level upgrades to upgrade the maintenance or fix level. Applying maintenance level upgrades cannot change the version or release level of IBM MQ. Maintenance level upgrades can be reversed, installations cannot be reversed.
On different platforms, you employ different mechanisms to install and maintain software releases. Installing a release at a new maintenance level, and applying maintenance level upgrades to upgrade an earlier release to the same maintenance level, have different results.
If you start a queue manager running on a later release level, then migration of the queue manager to that release level is required. The migration tasks you must perform to migrate from one release to another are documented in Migrating a queue manager to the latest release ; see also Changes that affect migration.
When you upgrade the maintenance or fix level of IBM MQ by applying a regular maintenance level upgrade, you can reverse the upgrade by removing the fix. When you upgrade the maintenance or fix level of IBM MQ by applying a maintenance level upgrade containing a new function, you can reverse that upgrade and all previously reversible upgrades until a queue manager associated with the installation enables the new function.
You cannot easily revert to a previous level of IBM MQ after installation. If you install a copy of IBM MQ obtained from Passport Advantage® or from physical media, the installer uninstalls IBM MQ, if it is present. It then installs the new level of IBM MQ. To revert to the previous level of IBM MQ, you must keep the earlier installation image and any fixes you applied. Then you must uninstall the new level, reinstall the previous release level, and reapply the required fixes. If you have started any queue managers at the later level, they will not work with the restored level of IBM MQ 1 . To restore IBM MQ to its previous level, after starting any queue managers, you must first back up the queue managers. You can then restore the backup queue managers after restoring the previous level of IBM MQ.
Maintenance levels and fix levels are both supplied from the service site, Fix Central. Fix central has a function to tell you what upgrades you can apply to the current level of your system. If you back out a maintenance level upgrade, it returns IBM MQ code to the same level of code as before applying the maintenance level upgrade.
Characteristics of different types of upgrade
When you upgrade from one release to another, or apply maintenance refresh packs, fix packs, or interim fixes, the impact of the change depends on the extent of the change in VRMF level. The VRM codes are explained in The version naming scheme for IBM MQ (On platforms other than z/OS ).
| Upgrade type | Examples | Suggested testing | Type of installation | Manufacturing refresh | New features | IBM MQ Migration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | 7.0 | Full testing of all applications | Full or upgrade installation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Modification | 7.0.1 | Regression test critical applications | Full, or upgrade installation, or maintenance package | Minor | No | |
| Enabled new-function fix pack | No example yet | Regression test critical applications | Maintenance package & queue manager migration | No | ||
| No-function or not enabled new-function fix pack | 7.0.1.3 | Brief test of critical applications | Maintenance package | No | ||
| Interim fix | 7.0.0.1-WS-MQ-Windows-LAIZ50784 | Test affected applications | Manual |