Configuring connections between the client and server

To configure the communication links between WebSphere® MQ MQI clients and servers, decide on your communication protocol, define the connections at both ends of the link, start a listener, and define channels.

In WebSphere MQ, the logical communication links between objects are called channels. The channels used to connect WebSphere MQ MQI clients to servers are called MQI channels. You set up channel definitions at each end of your link so that your WebSphere MQ application on the WebSphere MQ MQI client can communicate with the queue manager on the server. For a detailed description of how to do this, see User defined channels.

Before you define your MQI channels, you must:
  1. Decide on the form of communication you are going to use. See Which communication type to use.
  2. Define the connection at each end of the channel:

    To define the connection, you must:

    • Configure the connection.
    • Record the values of the parameters that you need for the channel definitions.
    • Enable the server to detect incoming network requests from your WebSphere MQ MQI client, by starting a listener.

Which communication type to use

Different platforms support different transmission protocols. Your choice of transmission protocol depends on your combination of WebSphere MQ MQI client and server platforms.

There are up to four types of transmission protocol for MQI channels depending on your client and server platforms:
  • LU 6.2
  • NetBIOS
  • SPX
  • TCP/IP

When you define your MQI channels, each channel definition must specify a transmission protocol (transport type) attribute. A server is not restricted to one protocol, so different channel definitions can specify different protocols. For WebSphere MQ MQI clients, it might be useful to have alternative MQI channels using different transmission protocols.

Your choice of transmission protocol might be restricted by your particular combination of WebSphere MQ MQI client and server platforms. The possible combinations are shown in the following table.

Table 1. Transmission protocols - combination of WebSphere MQ MQI client and server platforms
Transmission protocol
WebSphere MQ MQI client
WebSphere MQ server
TCP/IP
UNIX systems
Windows
UNIX systems
Windows
z/OS
LU 6.2
UNIX systems1
Windows
UNIX systems1
Windows
NetBIOS
Windows
Windows
SPX
Windows
Windows
Note:
  1. Except Linux® for Power Systems
For more about setting up different types of connections, see the following links: