Installing an IBM MQ client on Windows

This topic describes how to install IBM® MQ client on Windows systems. This procedure can be used for installing a first or a subsequent installation.

Before you begin

To install an IBM MQ client, you must be logged on to Windows as an administrator.

About this task

Follow these instructions to perform an interactive compact, typical, or custom installation of IBM MQ. To view all the installation types and the features that are installed with each option consult Features installed with each type of interactive installation.

Attention: From IBM MQ 9.0, if you are using msiexec to install the client, the installation is automatically set to be the primary installation.

Procedure

Access the IBM MQ installation image. The location might be the mount point of the DVD, a network location, or a local file system directory.
Locate setup.exe in the Windows directory of the IBM MQ installation image.
- From a DVD, this location might be:
```
E:\Windows\setup.exe
```
- From a network location, this location might be:
```
m:\instmqs\Windows\setup.exe
```
- From a local file system directory, this location might be:
```
C:\instmqs\Windows\setup.exe
```
Double-click the Setup icon to start the installation process. It is possible to run either by:
- Running setup.exe from the command prompt. Or
- Double-clicking setup.exe from Windows Explorer.
If you are installing on a Windows system with UAC enabled, accept the Windows prompt to allow the launchpad to run as elevated. During installation, you might also see Open File - Security Warning dialog boxes that list International Business Machines Limited as the publisher. Click Run to allow the installation to continue.

The IBM MQ Installation window is displayed.
Continue to follow the instructions as shown on screen.

Results

A new sample IBM MQ MQI client configuration file is created in the IBM MQ installation directory (for example C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ\, by the IBM MQ MQI client package, during installation, but only if this file does not exist. This file contains the ClientExitPath stanza. An example mqclient.ini file is shown in Configuring a client using a configuration file.

Note:

If you are using a common configuration file for multiple clients, either in the IBM MQ installation directory or in another location using the MQCLNTCF environment variable, you must grant read access to all user identifiers under which the IBM MQ client applications run. If the file cannot be read, the failure is traced and the search logic continues as if the file had not existed.

What to do next

If you have chosen this installation to be the primary installation on the system, when using setup.exe, you must now set it as the primary installation. Enter the following command at the command prompt:
```
 
MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH\bin\setmqinst -i -p MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH
```
You can have only one primary installation on a system. If there is already a primary installation on the system, you must unset it before you can set another installation as the primary installation. For more information, see Changing the primary installation.
You might want to set up the environment to work with this installation. You can use the setmqenv or crtmqenv command to set various environment variables for a particular installation of IBM MQ. For more information, see setmqenv and crtmqenv.
For instructions on how to verify your installation, see Testing communication between a client and a server on Windows.