Launching IBM MQ Explorer

You can launch IBM® MQ Explorer from the system menu on Linux®, or the start menu on Windows. Alternatively, you can use the MQExplorer command.

Before you begin

[MQ 9.3.0 Jun 2022] From IBM MQ 9.3.0, IBM MQ Explorer has been removed from the IBM MQ installation package. It remains available as a separate download, and can be installed from the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer download available from Fix Central.

Procedure

To launch IBM MQ Explorer by using the system menu on Linux, or the start menu on Windows, left-click the installation that you want to launch.
On Linux, the system menu entry for IBM MQ Explorer is added to the Development category; where it appears within the system menu is dependent on your Linux distribution (SUSE or Red Hat®), and your desktop environment (GNOME or KDE).
- On SUSE, left-click Computer > More Applications..., and find the installation of IBM MQ Explorer that you want to launch under the Development category.
- On Red Hat, the installation of IBM MQ Explorer that you want to launch can be found under Applications > Programming.
On Windows, open the start menu, and select the IBM MQ Explorer installation entry under the IBM MQ group that corresponds to the installation that you want to launch. Each instance of IBM MQ Explorer listed is identified by the name that you chose for its installation.
To launch IBM MQ Explorer from the command line, enter the MQExplorer command.

The MQExplorer command is in MQ_EXPLORER_INSTALLATION_PATH, where MQ_EXPLORER_INSTALLATION_PATH is the installation path for the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer.

MQExplorer.exe (the launch MQExplorer command) supports standard Eclipse runtime options including the following options:

-clean

Clean the caches used by the eclipse runtime to store bundle dependency resolution and eclipse extension registry data. Using this option forces eclipse to reinitialize these caches.

-initialize

Initializes the configuration being run. All runtime-related data structures and caches are refreshed. Any user/plugin defined configuration data is not purged. No application is run, any product specifications are ignored and no UI is presented (for example, the splash screen is not drawn).

For more information about the MQExplorer command, see MQExplorer (launch IBM MQ Explorer).

What to do next

After the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer is installed, you can immediately administer remote queue managers. However, to administer local queue managers some additional configuration is required.

You can configure the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer on Linux to administer local queue managers by setting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable, and then using the setmqenv command.
- Set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to include the java/lib64 and lib64 directories of your IBM MQ installation before you run the IBM MQ Explorer. For example, if IBM MQ is installed in /opt/mqm, run the following command:
```
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/mqm/java/lib64:/opt/mqm/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
```
- Next, from the same command line, run the setmqenv command to configure your IBM MQ environment. For example, if IBM MQ is installed in directory /opt/mqm, enter the following command:
```
. /opt/mqm/bin/setmqenv -s
```
- Start the IBM MQ Explorer from the same command line. For example, if IBM MQ Explorer is installed in directory /opt/mqexplorer enter the following command:
```
. /opt/mqexplorer/MQExplorer
```
You can configure the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer on Windows to administer local queue managers by using the setmqenv command before you start the IBM MQ Explorer from the same command line.
For example, if IBM MQ is installed in directory C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ, and the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer is installed in directory C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ Explorer, enter the following commands:
```
"C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ\bin\setmqenv" -s
"C:\Program Files\IBM\MQ Explorer\MQExplorer.exe"
```
If you frequently open the stand-alone IBM MQ Explorer on Windows to administer local queue managers, you might consider creating a batch file that runs the commands. Then you can add the batch file to the Windows Start menu for quicker access.

To trace IBM MQ Explorer, use one of the following commands:

On Linux use the runwithtrace command.
On Windows use the runwithtrace.cmd command.

For more information, see Troubleshooting problems with IBM MQ Explorer.