Troubleshooting queue manager file systems

If you encounter problems with queue manager file systems, try taking some of the following steps to resolve your problems.

Encrypted queue manager file system is not available

This problem might present with one or more of the following symptoms:

The status of a queue manager is reported as not available, for example, when using the dspmq command or the show qm-status command:
```
mqa(mqcli)# dspmq
QMNAME(QM1)                              STATUS(Status not available)
```

The status command reports that the queue manager file system is not available:

mqa(mqcli)# status QM1
QM(QM1)                                  Status(Status not available)
Queue manager file system:               0.0GB total, 0MB used [100%] [encrypted, not available, passphrase not stored]

Control commands fail with an error indicating that the queue manager file system is not available:

mqa(mqcli)# listcert -m QM1
5724-H72 (C) Copyright IBM Corp. 1994, 2025.
AMQ7151E: The request could not be processed as the file system for queue
manager 'QM1' is unavailable.

Control commands fail with an error indicating that the file system passphrase is not valid or not available:

mqa(mqcli)# strmqm QM1
AMQ6330E: The operation could not be completed as a filesystem passphrase is
not available.

An HA queue manager is not running, or it is not running on its preferred node, and an HA failed resource action exists for the Encryption resource:

mqa(mqcli)# status HA2 -a
QM(HA2)                                  Status(Running elsewhere)
HA role:                                 Secondary
HA status:                               Normal
HA control:                              Enabled
HA preferred location:                   This appliance
HA blocked location:                     This appliance

Failed resource action:                  Start
Resource type:                           Encryption
Failure location:                        This appliance
Failure time:                            2022-01-01 17:23:18
Failure reason:                          The file system passphrase is not available
Blocked location:                        This appliance

To resolve this problem, use the setfspass command to store the passphrase for the file system on the internal flash. The queue manager file system is automatically mounted when the passphrase is stored unless the queue manager is configured for HA or DR and it has the secondary role. See setfspass (manage encryption file system passphrases). For example:

mqa(mqcli)# setfspass -m QM1 -s -p red-white-blue
File system passphrase stored.

mqa(mqcli)# status QM1
QM(QM1)                                  Status(Ended normally)
Queue manager file system:               0.3GB total, 57MB used [23%] [encrypted]

For an HA queue manager, the setfspass command attempts to clear any failed action for the Encryption resource. If the failed action persists, or other failed resource actions exist, then the cleanha command can be used to clear them. See cleanha (clear HA failed resource actions).

IBM MQ backup file system is reported as not allocated

If you have not allocated back up storage on the appliance for IBM® MQ, you might encounter one or more of the following situations:

The status command reports that the IBM MQ backup file system is not allocated:

mqa(mqcli)# status
Memory:                                  187.8GB total, 3498MB used [2%]
CPU:                                     2%
CPU load:                                1.41, 1.42, 0.61
Internal disk:                           2979.9GB total, 134144MB used [4%]
System volume:                           29.4GB total, 6619MB used [22%]
MQ root file system:                     15.8GB total, 175MB used [1%]
MQ backup file system:                   0.0GB total, 0MB used [100%] [not allocated]
MQ diagnostics file system:              63.0GB total, 196MB used [0%]
MQ errors file system:                   15.8GB total, 172MB used [1%], 0 FDCs
MQ trace file system:                    31.5GB total, 183MB used [1%]

The mqbackup command fails because backup storage does not exist:

mqa(mqcli)# mqbackup -m QM1
AMQ3997E: The command failed because backup storage does not exist.

To resolve the problem, use the createbackupfs command to allocate a file system for storing queue manager backups. See createbackupfs: create appliance storage location for back up.

Forgotten file system passphrase

An encrypted file system is reported as not available because its passphrase is not stored, or the stored passphrase is incorrect. The file system passphrase cannot be provided to the appliance because it is not known.

The data in an encrypted file system cannot be recovered if its passphrase has been lost.

If the file system is for a queue manager then you can delete the queue manager by using the dltmqm command. The queue manager can then be recreated or it can be restored from a backup if one is available. If the queue manager is configured for disaster recovery then use the makedrsecondary and dltdrsecondary commands to remove the queue manager instead.

The queue manager backup file system can be recreated by using the deletebackupfs and createbackupfs commands.

For other IBM MQ system file systems, such as mqdiag: and mqtrace:, contact IBM Support for assistance.

Note: If you have forgotten the passphrase for an encrypted file system, but the file system is still available, then you should back up the file system content as soon as possible and contact IBM Support for assistance. Do not reboot the appliance, or clear the stored passphrase for the file system if it is still available on the appliance internal flash. Rebooting the appliance or clearing the stored passphrase might result in permanent loss of access to the file system data.