IBM MQ license information

What you can purchase with IBM® MQ and what each purchase entitles you to install.

Notice: This License Guide provides supplementary information to assist you in deploying the Programs you licensed from IBM within your purchased entitlement. Your license agreement (such as the IBM International Program License Agreement (IPLA) or equivalent, and its transaction documents, including the License Information for the IBM MQ product offering) is the sole and complete agreement between you and IBM regarding use of the Program.

What you can purchase with IBM MQ

[UNIX, Linux, Windows, IBM i]5724-H72 IBM MQ for Multiplatforms
For IBM MQ for Multiplatforms, the product offering contains the following chargeable components that can be independently purchased:
  • IBM MQ
  • IBM MQ High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Idle Standby) 1
  • IBM MQ Advanced
  • IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Advanced Idle Standby) 1
  • IBM MQ Advanced for Developers (Non-warranted, free download)
  • IBM MQ Advanced for Non-Production Environment
Attention:
  1. Prior to IBM MQ 9.1.4, IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) reports need to be manually corrected to indicate if a detected installation is IBM MQ High Availability Replica or IBM MQ Advanced Advanced High Availability Replica entitled. From IBM MQ 9.1.4, it is possible to use the setmqinst command -l and -e options to correctly set the High Availability Replica entitlement for ILMT to automatically detect. For further information see the setmqinst and dspmqinst commands.
For the following chargeable components, existing Subscription and Support can be renewed. No new entitlement can be purchased. See the Withdrawal Announcement Letter for more information.
  • IBM MQ Telemetry
  • IBM MQ Advanced Message Security
  • IBM MQ Advanced Message Security High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Advanced Message Security Idle Standby)
  • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service
  • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service High Availability Replica (formerly IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service Idle Standby)
  • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Agent
[z/OS]z/OS®
On z/OS, IBM MQ offers the following Programs that can be purchased independently:
  • 5655-MQ9 IBM MQ for z/OS
  • 5655-AV1 IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS Value Unit Edition
  • 5655-AV9 IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS
  • 5655-VU9 IBM MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition
For the following chargeable components, existing Subscription and Support can be renewed. No new entitlement can be purchased. See the Withdrawal Announcement Letter for more information:
  • 5655-MF9 IBM MQ Managed File Transfer for z/OS
  • 5655-AM9 IBM MQ Advanced Message Security for z/OS

What is my enterprise entitled to install?

Important: For IBM MQ for Multiplatforms, the IBM MQ installation media contains all the components, but you must only install the subset that you have purchased entitlement for.

Any component marked as 'unlimited installs' is a client component and as many copies as required may be installed on client systems. These will not be counted against your purchased IBM MQ entitlement.

IBM MQ, IBM MQ Advanced, and IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration

In the following table, IBM MQ product features are listed in the first column, and the IBM MQ product offerings are in the remaining columns of the table. For each product feature, a tick in the column for a product offering indicates which product offering entitlement you need to use a product feature.

Table 1. Product offering entitlement for IBM MQ, IBM MQ Advanced, and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration
IBM MQ product feature IBM MQ IBM MQ Advanced and[MQ 9.2.2 Mar 2021][MQ 9.2.0.3 Jul 2021]IBM MQ Advanced for Non-Production Environment IBM MQ for z/OS IBM MQ for z/OS Value Unit Edition IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS Value Unit Edition IBM MQ Appliance [MQ 9.2.2 Mar 2021]IBM Cloud Pak for Integration
IBM MQ client (unlimited installs) X X X X X X X
Telemetry Service (unlimited installs)   X         X
Advanced Message Security   X     X X X
Managed File Transfer Service   X     X   X
Managed File Transfer Agent (unlimited installs) 1   X     X X X
Managed File Transfer Tools (unlimited installs)   X     X X X
Managed File Transfer Database Logger component (unlimited installs) 1   X     X X 2 X
Replicated Data Queue Manager (RedHat x86-64 only)   X 3         X
[Deprecated]Bridge to blockchain (unlimited installs) 1 8 9   X 4     X4   X4
[Deprecated]Bridge to Salesforce (unlimited installs) 10 X 4 X 4         X4
IBM MQ Advanced container   X 5         X
[MQ 9.2.0 Jul 2020]IBM MQ Internet Pass-Thru (unlimited installs) 6 X X X X X X X
[MQ 9.2.0 Jul 2020]IBM Aspera fasp.io Gateway   X     X X X
AMQP X X       X X
[MQ 9.2.2 Mar 2021]Native HA             [MQ 9.2.2 Mar 2021]X 7
All other IBM MQ components from the install media not explicitly mentioned above X X X X X X X
Notes:
  1. May only connect to an IBM MQ Advanced or IBM MQ Appliance entitled queue manager. Managed File Transfer components may also connect to queue managers with IBM MQ Managed File Transfer entitlement.
  2. FILE mode only as a client connection.
  3. Requires IBM MQ Advanced entitlement on one node and IBM MQ Advanced or IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica entitlement on the other two nodes.
  4. [Linux]Linux® x86-64 only.
  5. Developer container images are on Docker Hub. The production images are delivered as Continuous Delivery updates only with no Long Term Support.
  6. [MQ 9.2.0 Jul 2020]Cryptographic hardware support is an advanced feature that may only be used if one of the queue managers connected to MQIPT has IBM MQ Advanced, IBM MQ Appliance or IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS Value Unit Edition entitlement. For more information, see EnableAdvancedCapabilities.
    • [MQ 9.2.3 Jul 2021]A Native HA capability preview was delivered in IBM MQ 9.2.2, for clients deploying container-based queue managers to IBM Cloud Pak for Integration 2021.1.1 in Red Hat® OpenShift® using the IBM MQ container. In IBM MQ 9.2.3, Native HA is available for production use for customers with entitlement to IBM Cloud Pak for Integration deploying IBM MQ Advanced conversion entitlement ratios. The Native HA capability is also included in the free IBM MQ Advanced for Developers download.
    • [MQ 9.2.4 Nov 2021]From IBM MQ 9.2.4, customers are supported under their IBM Cloud Pak for Integration entitlement to use Native HA in custom containers. The Native HA capability will be supported in custom built images running in Kubernetes v1.18 onwards, across public and private cloud environments. IBM provides as-is reference implementations on GitHub for building the custom container image, and a helm chart for deploying it. These together show how Native HA can be deployed in a common Kubernetes environment. Customers are recommended to verify that this functions correctly within their intended Kubernetes environment.
  8. [Deprecated]IBM MQ Bridge to blockchain is deprecated across all releases (see US Announcement letter 222-341).
  9. [Removed][MQ 9.2.0.21 Dec 2023]For Long Term Support, IBM MQ Bridge to blockchain is removed at IBM MQ 9.2.0 CSU 21.
  10. [Deprecated]IBM MQ Bridge to Salesforce is deprecated across all releases (see US Announcement letter 222-341).
Managed File Transfer, Advanced Message Security, and Telemetry

In the following table, IBM MQ product features are listed in the first column, and the IBM MQ product offerings are in the remaining columns of the table. For each product feature, a tick in the column for a product offering indicates which product offering entitlement you need to use a product feature.

Table 2. Product offering entitlement for Managed File Transfer, Advanced Message Security, and Telemetry
IBM MQ product feature IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Service1 IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Agent1 IBM MQ Advanced Message Security1 IBM MQ Telemetry1 IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS2 IBM MQ Managed File Transfer for z/OS1 IBM MQ Advanced Message Security for z/OS1
IBM MQ client (unlimited installs)              
Telemetry Service       X      
Advanced Message Security     X   X   X
Managed File Transfer Service X       X X  
Managed File Transfer Agent (unlimited installs) X X     X 3 X  
Managed File Transfer Tools (unlimited installs) X X     X X  
Managed File Transfer Logger component (unlimited installs) X X     X X
Replicated Data Queue Manager (RedHat x86-64 only)              
[Deprecated]Bridge to blockchain (unlimited installs) 8 9          
[Deprecated]Bridge to Salesforce (unlimited installs) 10        
IBM MQ Advanced container          
[MQ 9.2.0 Jul 2020]IBM MQ Internet Pass-Thru              
AMQP              
All other IBM MQ components from the install media not explicitly mentioned above         X X X
Notes:
  1. New entitlement can no longer be purchased for these Programs.
  2. IBM MQ for z/OS entitlement must be separately purchased.
  3. May only connect to an IBM MQ Advanced, IBM MQ Appliance, or IBM MQ Managed File Transfer entitled queue manager.
IBM MQ Advanced for Developers (non-warranted)
IBM MQ Advanced for Developers is available as a free download for development purposes, and provides the full set of capability available with IBM MQ Advanced. To get the download, complete the following steps:
  1. Go to Downloading IBM MQ 9.2.
  2. Click the tab for the latest Fix Pack.
  3. Near the end of the document, find Other useful links > Development > IBM MQ Advanced for Developers.
  4. Click the link for your preferred platform (Windows / Linux / Ubuntu / Raspberry Pi).
This is a free download. Support for development, test and staging environments may be obtained through purchasing IBM MQ Advanced for Non-Production Environment entitlement.
Attention: The IBM MQ license defines what is considered as development purposes.

Additionally, your enterprise can mix and match IBM MQ versions as required. Therefore, your 100 PVUs of IBM MQ (Server) entitlement could be split into 50 PVUs of the IBM MQ 9.1 version and 50 PVUs of the IBM MQ 9.2 version of this component.

What are High Availability Replica chargeable components?

High Availability Replica (formerly Idle Standby) parts have been introduced to cater for high availability environments, where multiple systems are configured to provide redundancy. In this case, not all systems will be utilized to full capacity and a lower charge might be applicable to reflect that.

For most scenarios of failover systems where IBM MQ is installed:
  • If failover is automatic, and there is no other active use of IBM MQ, then license the failover system as IBM MQ High Availability Replica or IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica.
  • If failover is manual (for example, for Disaster Recovery), and there is no other active use of IBM MQ, then no IBM MQ or IBM MQ High Availability Replica licenses (or their IBM MQ Advanced equivalents) are required. See Backup Licensing documents.
  • The IBM MQ Replicated Data Queue Manager High Availability and Disaster Recovery Features require entitlement as described in the license terms. A copy of the terms are below.

[MQ 9.2.0 Jul 2020]You must use the setmqinst command to specify that an installation is a High Availability Replica. This action applies tags to the installation such that it can be identified by the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT). For more information, see setmqinst.

Notes:
  1. Use of the IBM MQ multi-instance queue manager and Replicated Data Queue Manager features require High Availability Replica entitlement.
  2. There is no High Availability Replica part for the MQ Telemetry component. The same MQ Telemetry part needs to be purchased for the active and passive system, unless you have IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica, in which case it is included.

License terms for IBM MQ High Availability Replica components are defined in the Program license terms.

Attention: Always check the Program license agreement for the latest licensing terms.

License terms as of IBM MQ 9.2:

A. Licensee's use of the Program is limited to use of the following features as stated below or as stated in the Other High Availability Solutions section.
  1. Multi-Instance Queue Manager Feature

    Licensee is permitted to use the multi-instance queue manager feature of the Program for Stand-by Purposes only. Stand-by Purposes are defined as having the Program started, but ensuring that the Program remains idle unless the active and separately entitled IBM MQ copy of the program fails over to the high availability replica Program. If this occurs, the high availability replica Program may be used to carry out productive work during the period of failover. The Program is considered "idle" if, until a failover takes place, it is not used to carry out productive work of any kind and is used exclusively for administrative actions.

  2. Replicated Data Queue Manager High Availability Feature

    Licensee's use of this replicated data queue manager feature of the Program requires configuration on three servers and requires that all queue managers on the three servers be Replicated Data Queue Managers. Two of the servers may be configured and entitled as IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica, but the copy of IBM MQ on the third configured server must be licensed separately by obtaining entitlements to IBM MQ Advanced. When using this high availability feature in conjunction with replication to a disaster recovery site, the three high availability servers at the disaster recovery site must also be entitled as described above.

  3. Replicated Data Queue Manager Disaster Recovery Feature

    Licensee's use of this replicated data queue manager feature of the Program requires configuration on two servers and requires that all queue managers on the two servers be Replicated Data Queue Managers. One of the servers may be configured and entitled as an IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica, but the copy of IBM MQ on the second configured server must be licensed separately by obtaining entitlements to IBM MQ Advanced. This disaster recovery configuration of two servers is a separate configuration to using three servers as a high availability configuration, even when that is used with replication to a disaster recovery site.

B. Other High Availability Solutions

If Licensee chooses to use other high availability solutions along with the Program, Licensee is permitted to use the Program as a high availability replica so long as it resides for backup purposes on a standby server and the Program is not started. The Program may be started automatically by the high availability components in the event of the active server failing, in which event the Program may be used to carry out productive work during the period of failover.

[MQ 9.2.2 Mar 2021][MQ 9.2.0.3 Jul 2021]

How do I configure IBM MQ Advanced for Non-Production Environment?

IBM MQ Advanced for Non-Production Environment is an entitlement option for internal development and test systems for non-production activities.

You must use the setmqinst command to specify that an installation is a Non-Production Environment. This action applies tags to the installation such that it can be identified by the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT). For more information, see setmqinst.

Which components of IBM MQ can I install separately from the queue manager?

Some components of IBM MQ are designed to be for client or administrator usage and are intended to be installed on systems that are remote from an IBM MQ queue manager, but connected over a network to an IBM MQ queue manager. The following list shows the IBM MQ components that are in this category and can be installed on remote systems in accordance with the license terms:
IBM MQ/IBM MQ Appliance
  • IBM MQ C, C++ and .NET clients
  • IBM MQ Java/JMS client
  • IBM MQ Resource Adapter
  • IBM MQ Internet Pass-Thru (IPT)
  • IBM MQ Explorer
  • [Deprecated]IBM MQ Bridge to Salesforce
IBM MQ Advanced/IBM MQ Appliance
  • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Agent
  • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Database Logger
  • IBM MQ Managed File Transfer Tools
  • IBM Aspera fasp.io Gateway
  • [Deprecated]IBM MQ Bridge to blockchain

    [Removed][MQ 9.2.0.21 Dec 2023]For Long Term Support, IBM MQ Bridge to blockchain is removed at IBM MQ 9.2.0 CSU 21.

Further to this, a subset of these components are licensed to be redistributable with 3rd party applications. For more information, see IBM MQ Redistributable Components.

Other questions

In an IBM MQ network using IBM MQ Advanced features, such as Managed File Transfer and Advanced Message Security, which MQ queue managers require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement?
  • For Advanced Message Security, only the end-point queue managers where AMS Policies are defined require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement.
  • For Managed File Transfer, only the queue managers where MFT components (Agent and Logger) connect require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement.
  • Intermediary queue managers that are just routing messages, but perform no IBM MQ Advanced processing, only require IBM MQ entitlement.
Questions about High Availability and the Replicated Data Queue Manager capability:
  • Q: When configuring the RDQM High Availability feature can I place all the queue managers under RDQM control on the same system?

    A: Yes. Queue managers can run on any node in the HA group, including all three queue managers on one node. This is not an optimal configuration for making best use of system resources across the three nodes, but our licensing does not prohibit this.

  • Q: Do all nodes in a RDQM HA or DR configuration need to have the same memory, disk and CPU capacity?

    A: No, but our recommendation is that all nodes have the same resource allocation. RDQM maximum disk storage capacity is limited to the maximum capacity of the smallest system in the configuration and queue manager creation will fail if RDQM cannot allocate the required disk capacity up front. For CPU and memory, if a well resourced, high performing, system fails over to system with less memory and CPU then there could be undesirable performance consequences because maximum message throughput rates will be reduced.

  • Q: Can I place both a RDQM HA queue manager and RDQM DR queue manager on the same system?

    A: This would not be in compliance with the IBM MQ Advanced High Availability Replica license terms because a system must be either a dedicated RDQM HA or DR node. It cannot be both. It is technically possible, but this configuration would require IBM MQ Advanced entitlement.

Supporting Programs

The following Supporting Program is licensed with IBM MQ Advanced 9.2, IBM MQ Advanced for Non-Production Environment 9.2, IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS Value Unit Edition 9.2, [Long Term Support]and IBM MQ Advanced for z/OS 9.2:
  • IBM Aspera fasp.io Gateway 1.2