Readme for IBM MQ 9.3 and its maintenance

The main sections of this document describe product limitations and known problems.

In addition to this document, you can find more information on the IBM MQ website: https://www.ibm.com/products/mq.

The SupportPac web page is here: https://ibm.biz/mqsupportpacs.

For current information about known problems and available fixes, see the IBM MQ Support page: https://www.ibm.com/mysupport/s/topic/0TO5000000024cJGAQ/mq?language=en_US&productId=01t0z000006zdYXAAY.

Product documentation for all supported versions of IBM MQ is available through IBM Documentation: https://www.ibm.com/docs/ibm-mq. Specifically, the IBM MQ 9.3 product information is available in IBM Documentation: https://www.ibm.com/docs/ibm-mq/9.3.

Announcement letters

Update history

Installation instructions

Installation instructions are available as part of the IBM MQ 9.3 product information published in IBM Documentation: https://www.ibm.com/docs/SSFKSJ_9.3.0/install/q008250_.html

Limitations and known problems for Continuous Delivery releases

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.5.1 CSU

Support is removed for RSA key exchange in FIPS mode

The IBM Java 8 JRE removes support for RSA key exchange when operating in FIPS mode. This removal applies to the following CipherSuites:

• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
• TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA

To continue using FIPS mode, the following IBM MQ components should be changed to use a CipherSuite that is still supported:

• AMQP server
• Managed File Transfer (MFT)
• IBM MQ Console
• IBM MQ Explorer
• IBM MQ REST API
• IBM MQ Telemetry service

For details of supported CipherSuites, see TLS CipherSpecs and CipherSuites in IBM MQ classes for JMS in the IBM MQ product documentation.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.5

Invalid platform value in the ProtocolBridgeProperties.xml file is ignored silently

In the Managed File Transfer ProtocolBridgeProperties.xml file, the platform value must be OS400, UNIX or WINDOWS. However, if you provide a different value the Protocol Bridge Agent does not report an error and defaults to the agent's platform. This can cause unexpected behaviors.

This issue is addressed by APAR IT45102, which is included in IBM MQ 9.3.5 and 9.3.0 Fix Pack 20. This APAR adds error message BFGPR0156E, which tells you there is an invalid data value in an XML file that you loaded and gives details to help you fix it.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.4

License entitlement message is received when installing IBM MQ 9.3.4 Developer Edition on Red Hat

When installing the Developer Edition on Red Hat, you might receive the following message several times:

AMQ5770E: Licensed entitlement 'advanced' could not be set for installation at '/opt/mqm'.

This issue does not affect operation of IBM MQ 9.3.4 Developer Edition, and the message may be ignored.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.3

IBM MQ AMQP channel does not start automatically with AMQP service after upgrade

When a queue manager with a running AMQP channel is upgraded to IBM MQ 9.3, and the queue manager and associated AMQP service are restarted, the previously running AMQP channel does not start automatically.

This issue is fixed by APAR IT37842, which is included in IBM MQ 9.3.3.

Note that migration runs only once; the first time the queue manager is started after an upgrade. Therefore, after you apply IBM MQ 9.3.3:

• If, prior to installing IBM MQ 9.3.3, you have started the queue manager and AMQP channel on any previous IBM MQ 9.3 level, then the AMQP channel will start automatically. You do not need to take any additional action.
• If, prior to installing IBM MQ 9.3.3, you have not started the queue manager and AMQP channel on any previous IBM MQ 9.3 level, then any previously running AMQP channels must be restarted manually when the queue manager and associated AMQP service are restarted.

Linux: Empty directories left after uninstall

When you uninstall the product on Linux, empty directories are left in the MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH directory.

This issue is being addressed in a later release. Meanwhile, these empty directories cause no problems with running the product, and can be ignored.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.1 AND 9.3.2

There are no new limitations or known problems.

Limitations and known problems for Long Term Support releases

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.0, FIX PACK 20

Channel loops if a message on the transmit queue exceeds the MAXMSGL attribute of the queue manager

This fix pack adds the following return code (2491) that can appear in messages that are moved to the dead letter queue: A message was put to a remote queue but the channel was unable to process the full message from the transmission queue because the message has properties that cause its total size to exceed the maximum message length that is allowed by the queue manager. The message has been moved to the dead-letter queue.

Where possible, you should configure a dead letter queue handler to process any such messages. Or you can write an application to process each message. The application must use MQGET with option MQGMO_PROPERTIES_IN_HANDLE, to get the message with properties in a message handle and the message payload in the message buffer.

Invalid platform value in the ProtocolBridgeProperties.xml file is ignored silently

In the Managed File Transfer ProtocolBridgeProperties.xml file, the platform value must be OS400, UNIX or WINDOWS. However, if you provide a different value the Protocol Bridge Agent does not report an error and defaults to the agent's platform. This can cause unexpected behaviors.

This issue is addressed by APAR IT45102, which is included in IBM MQ 9.3.5 and 9.3.0 Fix Pack 20. This APAR adds error message BFGPR0156E, which tells you there is an invalid data value in an XML file that you loaded and gives details to help you fix it.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.0.17 CSU

Support is removed for RSA key exchange in FIPS mode

The IBM Java 8 JRE removes support for RSA key exchange when operating in FIPS mode. This JRE is used by the following IBM MQ components:

• AMQP server
• Managed File Transfer (MFT)
• IBM MQ Console
• IBM MQ Explorer
• IBM MQ REST API
• IBM MQ Telemetry service

For these components, you can no longer use the following CipherSuites:

• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256
• TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA
• TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA

You must use an alternative CipherSuite, or disable FIPS mode. For details of supported CipherSuites, see TLS CipherSpecs and CipherSuites in IBM MQ classes for JMS in the IBM MQ product documentation.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.0, FIX PACK 15

IBM MQ Bridge to blockchain is removed

The IBM MQ Bridge to blockchain was deprecated across all releases from November 22 2022, and is removed from the product at IBM MQ 9.3.0.15. If your system has the MQSeriesBCBridge component installed, remove it manually after this maintenance update has completed.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.0, FIX PACK 10

There are no new limitations or known problems.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.0, FIX PACK 5

IBM MQ AMQP channel does not start automatically with AMQP service after upgrade

When a queue manager with a running AMQP channel is upgraded to IBM MQ 9.3, and the queue manager and associated AMQP service are restarted, the previously running AMQP channel does not start automatically.

This issue is fixed by APAR IT37842, which is included in IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5.

Note that migration runs only once; the first time the queue manager is started after an upgrade. Therefore, after you apply IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5

• If, prior to installing IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5, you have started the queue manager and AMQP channel on any previous IBM MQ 9.3 level, then the AMQP channel will start automatically. You do not need to take any additional action.
• If, prior to installing IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5, you have not started the queue manager and AMQP channel on any previous IBM MQ 9.3 level, then any previously running AMQP channels must be restarted manually when the queue manager and associated AMQP service are restarted.

LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN PROBLEMS FOR IBM MQ 9.3.0, FIX PACKS 1 AND 2

There are no new limitations or known problems.

Limitations and known problems for the initial IBM MQ 9.3.0 release

Warning messages received from IBM MQ Explorer on Linux startup

When starting IBM MQ Explorer from a Linux shell, the following messages (or similar) might be seen:

(MQExplorer:76481): dbind-WARNING **: 18:20:00.523: Couldn't register with accessibility bus: Did not receive a reply. 
Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, 
the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.

(java:76601): dbind-WARNING **: 18:20:00.927: Couldn't register with accessibility bus: Did not receive a reply. 
Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, 
the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.
SWT SessionManagerDBus: Failed to connect to org.gnome.SessionManager: Could not connect: Permission denied
SWT SessionManagerDBus: Failed to connect to org.xfce.SessionManager: Could not connect: Permission denied

This issue does not affect operation of IBM MQ Explorer and can be suppressed by setting the following environment variable:

NO_AT_BRIDGE=1

This issue is fixed in IBM MQ Explorer 9.3.1.

Properties are missing from IBM MQ Explorer web console panels

For the IBM MQ Explorer, when you start a local queue manager, the INITKEY and KEYRPWD properties are missing from the web console panels.

This issue is fixed by APAR IT41181, which is included in IBM MQ Explorer 9.3.1.

Windows installer launchpad incorrectly flags Windows Server 2016 as a supported platform

The IBM MQ 9.3.0 Windows installer launchpad flags Windows Server 2016 as a supported platform. However, this is not correct. Windows Server 2016 is not supported by IBM MQ 9.3.

This issue is fixed by APAR IT41233, which is included in IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 1 and IBM MQ 9.3.1.

Many entries for message CSQM586E in the IBM MQ for z/OS job log

On IBM MQ for z/OS, if a queue is configured with a streaming queue and has STRMQOS(BESTEF) set, then any failure to MQOPEN, MQPUT or MQPUT1 to the streaming queue will result in message CSQM586E being output to the job log.

If the number of logged messages is deemed excessive, they can be suppressed using EXCLMSG.

Alternatively STRMQOS(MUSTDUP) can be used.

IBM MQ AMQP channel does not start automatically with AMQP service after upgrade

When a queue manager with a running AMQP channel is upgraded to IBM MQ 9.3, and the queue manager and associated AMQP service are restarted, the previously running AMQP channel does not start automatically.

This issue is fixed by APAR IT37842, which is included in IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5.

Note that migration runs only once; the first time the queue manager is started after an upgrade. Therefore, after you apply IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5

• If, prior to installing IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5, you have started the queue manager and AMQP channel on any previous IBM MQ 9.3 level, then the AMQP channel will start automatically. You do not need to take any additional action.
• If, prior to installing IBM MQ 9.3.0 Fix Pack 5, you have not started the queue manager and AMQP channel on any previous IBM MQ 9.3 level, then any previously running AMQP channels must be restarted manually when the queue manager and associated AMQP service are restarted.

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