Upgrading and downgrading firmware

To upgrade your IBM® MQ Appliance, you install the latest level of firmware on the appliance.

New function, security updates, and maintenance fixes for the IBM MQ Appliance are made available through firmware releases. Additional maintenance through iFixes are made available, as necessary, on the most recent firmware level release.

You can also downgrade your appliance, if required, either by reverting to the previous level of firmware or by installing a specific firmware version.

The firmware that you install must be in support. Appliance long term service (LTS) firmware remains in support for at least three years, and upgrades are required to remain in support. Appliance continuous delivery (CD) remains in support for one year, or for so long as it is one of the two most recent releases (whichever is longer). Note that the lifecycle is different to that for IBM MQ software and for the appliance hardware. For more information about LTS and CD releases, see IBM MQ FAQ for Long Term Support and Continuous Delivery releases, for more information about lifecycles see IBM Appliance Support Guide, MQ Appliance firmware lifecycle, and MQ Appliance hardware lifecycle.

Fixes are cumulative, so you should always download the most recent firmware that is available on the IBM Fix Central website.

All queue manager information persists through upgrades and rollbacks.

Both appliances in a high availability pair should have the same firmware level. Appliances can operate at different levels to allow time to upgrade the appliances separately, but you should avoid configuring HA queue managers during this period.

Both appliances in a disaster recovery configuration should have the same firmware level. Appliances can operate at different levels to allow time to upgrade the appliances separately, but you should avoid configuring DR queue managers during this period.

The standard rules of applying upgrades to IBM MQ apply when firmware is upgraded and queue managers restarted. If the new firmware moves the IBM MQ installation to a new command level, any queue managers that are started at the new command level are no longer able to start under a lower command level, even following a firmware rollback.

If you have a high availability (HA) configuration, you must ensure that you update both appliances to the new command level at the same time. Queue managers running at one command level are not able to run on an appliance with a different command level.

If you have a disaster recovery (DR) configuration, you must update the recovery appliance to the new command at the same time that you update the main appliance. This ensures that a queue manager that has run on the main appliance can be started on the recovery appliance if required.