Program and data directory locations on Windows

The installation location for IBM® MQ program binary and data files on Windows depends on the IBM MQ version you are installing, and whether this is the first time IBM MQ is being installed.

Windows program directory security permissions

From IBM MQ 9.1.0 Fix Pack 2 and IBM MQ 9.1.2, the IBM MQ installer on Windows sets additional permission restrictions as part of the security configuration of the MQ installation directories. The logic that does this is run at installation, upgrade, modification, and fix pack installation time.

You might find that, due to the increased security, you are unable to do certain things exactly the same way you used to do them. For example:

An MQ Administrator (who is not also a member of the Administrators group) can no longer edit or recompile the sample programs in the Tools subdirectory. If you wish to do this, take a copy of the directory (or the portions you are interested in) and change your copies of the build scripts to reflect the new location.

In normal use, however, you should be unaware of the change, except for the little extra time required by the installer to make the changes. During this period the message Initializing security... will be displayed. A similar short pause will occur when installing the fix pack files or applying a patch.

The update of the security writes a log (amqidsec-<Installationname>.txt) to the TEMP directory on the machine. If you see the main install failing in custom action 'iwiLaunchAmqidsec', you should consult this file.

First-time installations

When you install IBM MQ for the first time, you can accept default installation locations. You can also select the custom installation option by choosing the location for the IBM MQ binary files, and the location for the IBM MQ data and logs.

Before IBM MQ 8.0, if the default option was chosen, both the IBM MQ program binary and the data files were installed in the same directory. From IBM MQ 8.0, the default location for the program binary files is different from the default location for the data files.

Table 1. Default program and data directory locations on different versions of IBM MQ on Windows
IBM MQ version	IBM MQ program binary files installation location	IBM MQ data files location
IBM WebSphere® MQ 7.5	Program and data files are in one location: C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\WebSphere MQ
IBM MQ 8.0	C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere MQ	C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ
IBM MQ 9.0 and later	C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ	C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ

Subsequent installations and reinstallations

After the data directory is specified, during the installation process of any installation, it cannot be changed for subsequent installations. IBM MQ is only installed as a 64-bit version when it is installed on a 64-bit operating system.

For IBM MQ 9.0 and later, the default data directory is C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ, unless a version of the product was previously installed, in which case the new installation continues to use the existing data directory.

Existing IBM MQ 9.0 installation

The default program and data directory locations are the same for IBM MQ 9.0 and later versions. Therefore you do not need to change the specification of the program and data directories when upgrading from IBM MQ 9.0 to a later version.

Existing IBM MQ 8.0 installation

Three upgrade paths are possible:

Uninstall IBM MQ 8.0 first and then install IBM MQ 9.0 or later.
Upgrade IBM MQ 8.0 at the beginning of the IBM MQ 9.0 or later installation process, without first uninstalling the earlier version.
Install IBM MQ 9.0 or later alongside IBM MQ 8.0 and then uninstall IBM MQ 8.0.

When IBM MQ 8.0 is installed, the product binary files are put by default into C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere MQ and the product data and logs are put by default into C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ.

When you uninstall IBM MQ 8.0, information about the location of the data directory is left in the registry. After uninstalling IBM MQ 8.0 and before installing IBM MQ 9.0 or later, you can run the ResetMQ.cmd script to tidy up files and data left behind by the uninstallation process.

Important: You should use this script with caution. ResetMQ.cmd can remove the existing queue manager configuration. For more information, see Clearing IBM MQ installation settings.

Installing IBM MQ 9.0 or later after uninstalling IBM MQ 8.0: After uninstalling IBM MQ 8.0, IBM MQ 9.0 or later is installed using the same installation name but using the IBM MQ 9.0 and later default program binary files location C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ. That is, the program files change location after the upgrade.
Optional: You can use the custom installation option to modify the installation path, including modifying it back to C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\WebSphere MQ.

The default data path is C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ.
Upgrading IBM MQ 8.0 at the beginning of the IBM MQ 9.0 or later installation process: If you install IBM MQ 9.0 or later without uninstalling IBM MQ 8.0 and choose to upgrade the IBM MQ 8.0 installation, the new program binary files replace the IBM MQ 8.0 binary files so, by default, the new binary files are in C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\WebSphere MQ. The existing data path is kept so, by default, the data path is C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ.
Installing IBM MQ 9.0 or later to coexist with IBM MQ 8.0: If you install IBM MQ 9.0 or later alongside IBM MQ 8.0, a unique path is chosen, which by default is C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ. The existing data path is kept so, by default, the data path is C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQ.

Existing IBM WebSphere MQ 7.5, IBM WebSphere MQ 7.1, or IBM WebSphere MQ 7.0.1 installation

If you are migrating to IBM MQ 9.2 from IBM WebSphere MQ 7.5 or earlier, you must first migrate to an interim version. See Migration paths.

For IBM WebSphere MQ 7.5 or IBM WebSphere MQ 7.1, the interim version you use can be either IBM MQ 9.0 or IBM MQ 8.0. For information about specifying program and data directories when upgrading, see either of the following topics:

Program and data directory locations on Windows in the IBM MQ 9.0 product documentation.
Windows: Program and data directory locations in the IBM MQ 8.0 product documentation.

For IBM WebSphere MQ 7.0.1, the interim version you use can only be IBM MQ 8.0. For information about specifying program and data directories when upgrading to IBM MQ 8.0, see Windows: Program and data directory locations in the IBM MQ 8.0 product documentation.