Using the IBM MQ resource adapter

The resource adapter allows applications that are running in an application server to access IBM® MQ resources. It supports inbound and outbound communication.

What the resource adapter contains

The Java Platform, Enterprise Edition Connector Architecture (JCA) provides a standard way of connecting applications that are running in a Java EE environment to an Enterprise Information System (EIS) such as IBM MQ or Db2®. The IBM MQ resource adapter implements the JCA 1.7 interfaces and contains the IBM MQ classes for JMS. It allows JMS applications and message driven beans (MDBs), running in an application server, to access the resources of an IBM MQ queue manager. The resource adapter supports both the point-to-point domain and the publish/subscribe domain.

The IBM MQ resource adapter supports two types of communication between an application and a queue manager:

Outbound communication: An application starts a connection to a queue manager, and then sends JMS messages to JMS destinations and receives JMS messages from JMS destinations in a synchronous manner.
Inbound communication: A JMS message that arrives at a JMS destination is delivered to an MDB, which processes the message asynchronously.

The resource adapter also contains the IBM MQ classes for Java. The classes are automatically available to applications that are running in an application server that the resource adapter has been deployed into, and allow applications that are running in that application server to use the IBM MQ classes for Java API when they are accessing resources of an IBM MQ queue manager.

The use of the IBM MQ classes for Java within a Java EE environment is supported with restrictions. For information about these restrictions, see Running IBM MQ classes for Java applications within Java EE.

Which version of the resource adapter to use

The Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) version of the application server that you are using determines the version of the resource adapter that you must use:

Java EE 7: The IBM MQ 8.0 and IBM MQ 9.0 resource adapter supports JCA v1.7 and provides JMS 2.0 support. This resource adapter needs to be deployed within a Java EE 7 and later application server (see IBM MQ resource adapter statement of support).; You can install the IBM MQ 8.0 or later resource adapter on any application server that is certified as compliant with the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 7 specification. Using the IBM MQ 8.0 or later resource adapter, an application can connect to an IBM WebSphere® MQ 7.0 or later queue manager using either the BINDINGS or CLIENT transport, or to an IBM WebSphere MQ 6.0 queue manager using the CLIENT transport only.
Important: The IBM MQ 8.0 or later resource adapter can be deployed only into an application server that supports JMS 2.0.
Java EE 5 and Java EE 6: The IBM WebSphere MQ 7.5 resource adapter supports Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) v1.5 and provides JMS 1.1 support. To provide full integration with WebSphere Application Server Liberty, the IBM WebSphere MQ 7.5 resource adapter is updated to APAR IC92914 from IBM WebSphere MQ 7.5.0 Fix Pack 2. This resource adapter retains full compatibility with other Java EE 5 and later application servers (see WebSphere MQ resource adapter 7.1 and later statement of support).

Using the resource adapter with WebSphere Application Server traditional

The IBM MQ 9.0 resource adapter is pre-installed within WebSphere Application Server traditional 9.0. Therefore, there is no requirement to install a new resource adapter.

Note: An IBM MQ 9.0 resource adapter can connect in CLIENT or BINDINGS transport mode to any in-service IBM MQ queue manager.

Using the resource adapter with WebSphere Application Server Liberty

To connect to IBM MQ from WebSphere Application Server Liberty, you must use the IBM MQ resource adapter. Since Liberty does not contain the IBM MQ resource adapter, you must obtain it separately from Fix Central. The version of the resource adapter that you use depends on the Java EE version of the application server.

For more information about how to download and install the resource adapter, see Installing the resource adapter in Liberty.