MQ Telemetry Transport format and protocol

MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is a lightweight publish/subscribe protocol flowing over TCP/IP to connect large numbers of remote sensors and control devices. MQTT is used by specialized applications on small footprint devices that must tolerate low bandwidth and unreliable communication. You can use MQTT client apps from a business partner, or write your own client apps to use the published protocols. You can get sample client apps and supporting libraries from the Eclipse Paho project.

IBM® MQ Telemetry in IBM MQ supports client apps that use the MQTT protocol. There are currently two specifications of this protocol:

The MQTT 3.1.1 Oasis standard
The MQTT.org Protocol Specification from mqtt.org

The Oasis standard is more recent. The functionality is almost identical to the mqtt.org specification. The MQTT 3.1.1 Oasis standard is supported in IBM MQ 8.0.0 Fix Pack 3 and later versions.

If your MQTT client comes from a source other than the Eclipse Paho project, or the (no longer available) IBM Messaging Telemetry Clients SupportPac, check the version of the MQTT protocol supported by the client. If your client supports a different level of the MQTT protocol, and does not work correctly with the IBM MQ Telemetry service, a thin conversion layer is required. Check with the source of your client to see if the conversion layer is available as an update to the client you intend to use.