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Creating a multi-instance queue manager for WebSphere MQ on Linux

Chaitra Sampige (csampige@in.ibm.com), Software Engineer, Websphere MQ Test Team, IBM
Chaitra Sampige is a Software Engineer on the Websphere MQ Test Team at the IBM India Software Lab in Bangalore. She has three years of testing experience with the Websphere MQ Test Team and she also handles TXSeries and interoperability testing. She is a certified CSTE and she has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Information Science from Viswesvaraya Technological University in India. You can contact Chaitra at csampige@in.ibm.com.

Summary:  This article shows you how to implement the new WebSphere MQ V7 multi-instance queue manager feature on Linux. It provides high availability without using an HA Coordinator, by automatically switching to a standby server if the active server fails. The active and standby servers are multiple instances of the same queue manager and share the same messages and data, which reside on networked storage accessed via a network file system (NFS) protocol, such as NFS V4.

Date:  09 Jun 2010
Level:  Intermediate

Activity:  11466 views
Comments:  

Introduction

IBM® WebSphere® MQ V7 can increase messaging availability out-of-the-box without specialized skills or hardware. In the event of an unplanned outage, it provides automatic failover via multi-instance queue managers, and you can initiate planned outages such as to apply software maintenance via controlled switchovers.

Messages and data for multi-instance queue managers are held on networked storage accessed via a modern network file system protocol,such as Network File System (NFS) V4. You can define and start multiple instances of the queue manager on different machines, with one active and one standby instance. The active queue manager instance processes messages and accepts connections from applications and from other queue managers. It holds a lock on the queue manager data to ensure that there is only one active instance of the queue manager. The standby queue manager instance periodically checks whether the active queue manager instance is still running. If the active queue manager instance fails or is no longer connected, the standby instance acquires the lock on the queue manager data as soon as it is released, performs queue manager restart processing, and becomes the active queue manager instance.

Prerequisites

Install Websphere MQ V7.0.1.0

  1. Install Websphere MQ V7.0.1.0) on both machines.
  2. Run the File System Check tool (amqmfsck ) to verify that the file system is compliant with POSIX standards and capable of sharing queue manager data to support multi-instance queue managers.
  3. Before running the File System Check tool, create new directories on both machines and start the NFS server on Server 1:
    1. Create a directory HA under root.
    2. Create another directory mqdata under HA.
    3. Add the following user and group ownership to the HA directory recursively: chown -R mqm:mqm /HA .
    4. Add the following permissions to the HA directory recursively: chmod -R ug+rwx /HA.

Setting up NFS share

NFS server (Server 1)

  1. Use the following command to check whether NFS is on: 
    chkconfig --list nfs
For example: 
[root@lins shared]# chkconfig --list nfs
nfs    0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off

  2. If Fields 2, 3, 4, and 5 are off in the above output, then it means that NFS is turned off and you need to turn it on: chkconfig nfs on.
  3. To verify whether NFS is on: 
    [root@lins shared]#  chkconfig --list nfs 
nfs      0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off

  4. To export mount point (/HA) to another node: 
    Add /HA *(rw,sync,no_wdelay,fsid=0) to /etc/exports
Start the NFS daemon on Server 1.
/etc/init.d/nfs start 

For example: 
root@lins shared]# /etc/init.d/nfs start
Starting NFS services:                                [  OK  ]
Starting NFS quotas:                                  [  OK  ]
Starting NFS daemon:                                  [  OK  ]
Starting NFS mountd:                                  [  OK  ]

  5. To verify the mount point that is being exported from this server to another server, use the following command: 
    showmount -e
For example: [root@lins shared]# showmount -e
Export list for lins.in.ibm.com: /HA *

NFS client (Server 2)

  1. To mount the exported file system on Server 2, find the IP address of Server 1 by using the command ifconfig a on Server 1.
  2. Mount the file system as NFS4 from Server 1 to Server 2: mount -t nfs4 -o hard,intr 9.122.163.105:/ /HA.
  3. Run the command mount v to check whether the NFS mount was successful: 
    For example: 
[root@gtstress42 ~]# mount -v
/dev/sdb2 on /testpool type ext3 (rw)
/dev/sda5 on /usr type ext3 (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
sunrpc on /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw)
9.122.163.105:/ on /HA type nfs4 (rw,hard,intr,addr=9.122.163.105)

Running the WebSphere MQ File System Check tool

  1. Change the login to mqtest on both machines to run the amqmfsck tool: 
    su - mqtest
export PATH=/opt/mqm/bin:$PATH
amqmfsck /HA/mqdata

For example: 
Server 1: [mqst@lins root]$ amqmfsck /HA/mqdata
The tests on the directory completed successfully.
Server 2: [mqst@gtstress42 /]$ amqmfsck /HA/mqdata
The tests on the directory completed successfully.
	
amqmfsck -c /HA/mqdata

For example: 
Server 1: [mqst@lins root]$ amqmfsck -c /HA/mqdata
Start a second copy of this program with the same parameters on another server.
Writing to test file. This will normally complete within about 60 seconds...
The tests on the directory completed successfully.

For example: 
Server 2: [mqst@gtstress42 /]$ amqmfsck -c /HA/mqdata
Writing to test file. This will normally complete within about 60 seconds..
The tests on the directly completed successfully

amqmfsck -wv /HA/mqdata (Run this command at the same time on the machines)
            
For example: 
Server 1: [mqst@lins root]$ amqmfsck -wv /HA/mqdata
System call: stat("/HA/mqdata",&statbuf)
System call: fd = open("/HA/mqdata/amqmfsck.lkw",O_RDWR,0666)
System call: fchmod(fd,0666)
System call: fstat(fd,&statbuf)
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Start a second copy of this program with the same parameters on another server.
File lock acquired.
Press Enter or terminate this process to release the lock.
System call: close(fd)
File lock released.
The tests on the directory completed successfully.

For example: 
Server 2 : [mqst@gtstress42 /]$ amqmfsck -wv /HA/mqdata
System call: stat("/HA/mqdata",&statbuf)
System call: fd =open("/HA/mqdata/amqmfsck.lkw",O_RDWR,0666)
System call: fchmod(fd,0666)
System call: fstat(fd,&statbuf)
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Waiting for the file lock.
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Waiting for the file lock.
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Waiting for the file lock.
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Waiting for the file lock.
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Waiting for the file lock.
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
Waiting for the file lock.
System call: fcntl(fd,F_SETLK,F_WRLCK)
File lock acquired.
Press Enter or terminate this process to release the lock.
System call: close(fd)
File lock released.
The tests on the directory completed successfully

  2. After verifying the file system for file locking, you can create a multi instance queue manager on the selected machine:
  3. On Server 1: 
    cd  HA
mkdir logs
mkdir qmgrs
chown -R mqm:mqm /HA
chmod -R ug+rwx /HA
crtmqm -ld /HA/logs -md /HA/qmgrs -q QM1

  4. Copy the queue manager details from Server 1 to Server 2: 
    dspmqinf -o command QM1
(Run this command on Server 1)
For example: addmqinf -s QueueManager -v Name=QM1 -v Directory=QM1 -v 
Prefix=/var/mqm -v DataPath=/HA/qmgrs/QM1



    Multi-instance queue manager setup

  5. Start the active instance of the queue manager on Server 1. Copy the output below and run it on Server 2: 
    strmqm -x QM1
		
For example: 
[mqst@lins HA]$ strmqm -x QM1
WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1' starting.
5 log records accessed on queue manager 'QM1' during the log replay phase.
Log replay for queue manager 'QM1' complete.
Transaction manager state recovered for queue manager 'QM1'.
WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1' started.
[mqst@lins HA]$ dspmq
QMNAME(QM1)           STATUS(Running)
[mqst@lins HA]$ dspmq -x -o standby
QMNAME(QM1)           STANDBY(Permitted)
INSTANCE(lins.in.ibm.com) MODE(Active)
INSTANCE(gtstress42.in.ibm.com) MODE(Standby)

Server 2:
[mqst@gtstress42 /]$ strmqm -x QM1
WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1' starting.
A standby instance of queue manager 'QM1' has been started. 
The active instance is running elsewhere.
[mqst@gtstress42 /]$ dspmq
QMNAME(QM1)           STATUS(Running as standby)
[mqst@gtstress42 /]$ dspmq -x -o standby
QMNAME(QM1)           STANDBY(Permitted)
INSTANCE(lins.in.ibm.com) MODE(Active)
INSTANCE(gtstress42.in.ibm.com) MODE(Standby)

  6. To completely stop a multi-instance queue manager, issue a normal endmqm command on the active instance on Server 1: 
    endmqm -i QM1
WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1’' ended.
Both instances end

  7. To stop just the standby instance on Server 2, use this command: 
    endmqm -x QM1
WebSphere MQ standby queue manager instance 'QM1’' ended.



    Failing Queue Manager A

  8. To switch servers from active to standby, on machine A, enter: endmqm -is QM1 WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1' ended, permitting switchover to a standby instance. Once the active instance has ended, the standby instance will try to become the active instance: 
    Server 1:
[mqst@lins HA]$ endmqm -is QM1
WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1' ending.
WebSphere MQ queue manager 'QM1' ended, permitting switchover to a standby instance.
[mqst@lins HA]$ dspmq
QMNAME(QM1)
STATUS(Running elsewhere)

Server 2:
[mqst@gtstress42 /]$ dspmq
QMNAME(QM1)           
STATUS(Running)



    Clients connecting through standby instance

Checking and creating users and groups

  1. The UID and GID of mqm and mqtest must be the same on both machines before installing WebSphere MQ. If they are different on the two nodes, change them to be the same and reboot the machine to reflect the changes. Here are the steps to change the UID and GID of mqm and mqmtestr:
    1. For example, if UID and GID of mqm are 501 on Server 1, then you need to set the UID and GID of mqm on Server 2 to 501: 
      groupmod -g 501 mqm
usermod -u 501 -g 501 mqm

    2. Reboot Server 2 to reflect the changes.
    3. The same step applies to mqtest, and mqtest needs to be a part of mqm group.
    4. To create new mqm and mqtest ids on a system, use the commands below: 
      groupadd -g <GID> mqm
useradd -u  <UID> mqm -g mqm
useradd -u  <UID> mqtest -g mqm

  2. To check that the ids have been created correctly on both machines, use the commands below: 
    id mqm
For example: 
Server 1: uid=501(mqm) gid=501(mqm) groups=501(mqm)
Server 2: uid=501(mqm) gid=501(mqm) groups=501(mqm)

id mqtest
For example: Server 1: uid=550(mqtest) gid=501(mqm) groups=501(mqm)
Server 2: uid=550(mqtest) gid=501(mqm) groups=501(mqm)

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Ummahesh Ponnuswamy of IBM Software Group and Swetha Vb Prabhakar of IBM Global Business Services for their help with this article.


Resources

About the author

Chaitra Sampige is a Software Engineer on the Websphere MQ Test Team at the IBM India Software Lab in Bangalore. She has three years of testing experience with the Websphere MQ Test Team and she also handles TXSeries and interoperability testing. She is a certified CSTE and she has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Information Science from Viswesvaraya Technological University in India. You can contact Chaitra at csampige@in.ibm.com.

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