The IBM WebSphere MQ configuration file, mqs.ini

The IBM® WebSphere® MQ configuration file, mqs.ini, contains information relevant to all the queue managers on the node. It is created automatically during installation.

On IBM WebSphere MQ for UNIX and Linux® products, the data directory and log directory are always /var/mqm and /var/mqm/log respectively.

On Windows systems, the location of the data directory mqs.ini, and the location of the log directory, are stored in the registry, as their location can vary.

In addition, on Windows systems, the installation configuration information (contained in mqinst.ini on IBM WebSphere MQ for UNIX and Linux systems) is in the registry, as there is no mqinst.ini file on Windows.

The mqs.ini file for Windows systems is given by the WorkPath specified in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\IBM\WepSphere MQ key. It contains:
  • The names of the queue managers
  • The name of the default queue manager
  • The location of the files associated with each of them

The supplied LogDefaults stanza for a new IBM WebSphere MQ installation does not contain any explicit values for the attributes. The lack of an attribute means that the default for this value is used upon creation of a new queue manager. The default values are shown for the LogDefaults stanza in Figure 1. A value of zero for the LogBufferPages attribute means 512.

If you require a non-default value, you must explicitly specify that value in the LogDefaults stanza.

Figure 1. Example of an IBM WebSphere MQ configuration file for UNIX systems

#***********************************************************************#
#* Module Name: mqs.ini                                                *#
#* Type       : WebSphere MQ Machine-wide Configuration File           *#
#* Function   : Define WebSphere MQ resources for an entire machine    *#
#***********************************************************************#
#* Notes      :                                                        *#
#* 1) This is the installation time default configuration              *#
#*                                                                     *#
#***********************************************************************#
AllQueueManagers:
#***********************************************************************#
#* The path to the qmgrs directory, below which queue manager data     *#
#* is stored                                                           *#
#***********************************************************************#
DefaultPrefix=/var/mqm

LogDefaults:
   LogPrimaryFiles=3
   LogSecondaryFiles=2
   LogFilePages=4096
   LogType=CIRCULAR
   LogBufferPages=0
   LogDefaultPath=/var/mqm/log

QueueManager:
   Name=saturn.queue.manager
   Prefix=/var/mqm
   Directory=saturn!queue!manager
   InstallationName=Installation1

QueueManager:
   Name=pluto.queue.manager
   Prefix=/var/mqm
   Directory=pluto!queue!manager
   InstallationName=Installation2

DefaultQueueManager:
   Name=saturn.queue.manager

ApiExitTemplate:
   Name=OurPayrollQueueAuditor
   Sequence=2
   Function=EntryPoint
   Module=/usr/ABC/auditor
   Data=123

ApiExitCommon:
   Name=MQPoliceman
   Sequence=1
   Function=EntryPoint
   Module=/usr/MQPolice/tmqp
   Data=CheckEverything