IBM Support

IT34217: MQ Explorer fails to connect to a remote Managed File Transfer (MFT) configuration

Subscribe to this APAR

By subscribing, you receive periodic emails alerting you to the status of the APAR, along with a link to the fix after it becomes available. You can track this item individually or track all items by product.

Notify me when this APAR changes.

Notify me when an APAR for this component changes.

 

APAR status

  • Closed as program error.

Error description

  • The MQ Explorer has been configured to connect to remotely
    access the coordination queue manager and command queue manager
    for an MQ Managed File Transfer topology. When the MQ Explorer
    Managed File Transfer plugin is set up to use these remote queue
    managers, it is unable to connect to the Managed File Transfer
    configuration. No errors are displayed, and the error message:
    
    !ENTRY org.eclipse.ui 4 0 2020-09-10 08:33:31.505
    !MESSAGE Unhandled event loop exception
    !STACK 0
    java.lang.NullPointerException
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.data.Subscription.updateProperties(Subsc
    ription.java:385)
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.treenode.CoordTreeNode.connect(CoordTree
    Node.java:264)
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.treenode.CoordTreeNode.connect(CoordTree
    Node.java:249)
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.treenode.CoordTreeNode$3.run(CoordTreeNo
    de.java:162)
      at
    org.eclipse.jface.action.Action.runWithEvent(Action.java:474)
    .......
    
    is written to the MQ Explorer log file:
    
     %USERPROFILE%/\IBM\WebSphereMQ\workspace-<Installation
    Name>\.metadata\.log
    

Local fix

Problem summary

  • ****************************************************************
    USERS AFFECTED:
    This issue affects users of the IBM MQ Explorer Managed File
    Transfer plugin. who are using it to connect to a remote Managed
    File Transfer configuration.
    
    
    Platforms affected:
    Linux on x86-64, Windows
    
    ****************************************************************
    PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
    IBM MQ 9.2 Managed File Transfer introduced some improvements to
    the way that credentials were protected and accessed. More
    information on these improvements can be found in the
    "Improvements to Managed File Transfer security from IBM MQ
    Version 9.2" topic in the MQ 9.2.x section of IBM Knowledge
    Center. The URI for this topic is
    https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSFKSJ_9.2.0/com.
    ibm.mq.sec.doc/q137430_.htm.
    
    As a result of these changes, the MQ Explorer Managed File
    Transfer plugin expected to be able to locate and use MQ Managed
    File Transfer configuration files on the system where it was
    running. This meant that:
    
    - If MQExplorer has been installed on its own or as part of an
    MQ Server installation.
    - And had been configured to remotely access the coordination
    and command queue managers for a Managed File Transfer topology.
    - And the MQ Managed File Transfer plugin had been configured to
    use these remote queue managers.
    
    then the MQ Managed File Transfer plugin would fail to connect
    to the Managed File Transfer configuration, as it could not find
    the configuration files.
    
    When the issue occurred, no errors would be reported. However,
    the MQ Explorer log file:
    
    %USERPROFILE%/\IBM\WebSphereMQ\workspace-<Installation
    Name>\.metadata\.log
    
    would contain the following entry:
    
    !ENTRY org.eclipse.ui 4 0 2020-09-10 08:33:31.505
    !MESSAGE Unhandled event loop exception
    !STACK 0
    java.lang.NullPointerException
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.data.Subscription.updateProperties(Subsc
    ription.java:385)
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.treenode.CoordTreeNode.connect(CoordTree
    Node.java:264)
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.treenode.CoordTreeNode.connect(CoordTree
    Node.java:249)
      at
    com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer.treenode.CoordTreeNode$3.run(CoordTreeNo
    de.java:162)
      at
    org.eclipse.jface.action.Action.runWithEvent(Action.java:474)
    .......
    

Problem conclusion

  • The IBM MQ Explorer Managed File Transfer plugin has been
    updated so that it only tries to read MQ Managed File Transfer
    configuration files if the user interface is running on a system
    that also includes a MQ Managed File Transfer installation. This
    prevents the NullPointerException seen in the MQ Explorer log
    file from occurring, and allows the plugin to successfully
    connect to a remote Managed File Transfer configuration.
    
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    The fix is targeted for delivery in the following PTFs:
    
    Version    Maintenance Level
    v9.2 LTS   9.2.0.2
    
    The latest available maintenance can be obtained from
    'WebSphere MQ Recommended Fixes'
    http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=171&uid=swg27006037
    
    If the maintenance level is not yet available information on
    its planned availability can be found in 'WebSphere MQ
    Planned Maintenance Release Dates'
    http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=171&uid=swg27006309
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

  • APAR number

    IT34217

  • Reported component name

    MQ BASE V9.2

  • Reported component ID

    5724H7281

  • Reported release

    920

  • Status

    CLOSED PER

  • PE

    NoPE

  • HIPER

    NoHIPER

  • Special Attention

    NoSpecatt / Xsystem

  • Submitted date

    2020-09-15

  • Closed date

    2020-10-05

  • Last modified date

    2020-10-05

  • APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

  • APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

  • Fixed component name

    MQ BASE V9.2

  • Fixed component ID

    5724H7281

Applicable component levels

[{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Product":{"code":"SSYHRD","label":"IBM MQ"},"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"920"}]

Document Information

Modified date:
25 March 2021