Installation tasks

The following installation tasks must be performed to implement MQ intercommunication:

Planning the installation

Before you install and configure the Remote Agent, you should address a number of planning considerations, including the following:

Configuring the Remote Agent

The Remote Agent can be configured for use with either Native WebSphere MQ or HTTP/HTTPS protocols for communication over the internet. The Native WebSphere MQ option is configured using only the software delivered with the product. The HTTP option requires WebSphere MQ Internet pass-thru, which is not delivered and must be acquired separately. This section describes both configurations.

Note:
JMS is the only supported transport for both configurations.

Native WebSphere MQ

This configuration option uses the WebSphere MQ protocol, along with Security Socket Layer (SSL) to ensure secure communication over the internet. This configuration provides better performance; however, it requires that a port be opened on the firewall to allow WebSphere MQ across through the firewall. Figure 2. illustrates this configuration.

You must configure the WebSphere MQ channels for bidirectional communication between the broker and the adapter. Two channels are required--one for each direction.

Note:
The following steps assume that MQ1 and MQ2 are listening on port 1414.
To configure channels for Native WebSphere MQ
  1. Channel 1 (MQ1 is the sender and MQ2 is the receiver):
    1. Create the CHANNEL1 sender channel on MQ1.
    2. Create the CHANNEL1 receiver channel on MQ2.
  2. Channel 2 (MQ2 is the sender and MQ1 is the receiver):
    1. Create the CHANNEL2 sender channel on MQ2.
    2. Create the CHANNEL2 receiver channel on MQ1.
  3. Configure firewall 1 to forward traffic on port 1414 to MQ1 and configure firewall 2 to forward traffic on port 1414 to MQ2.
    Note:
    Assume that MQ1 and MQ2 are listening on port 1414 and that the firewall allows network traffic based on port forwarding. The actual configuration may change, depending on the type of firewall being used.
  4. Set the IpAddress of sender Channel 1 to the connection name of firewall 2.
  5. Set the IpAddress of sender Channel 2 to the connection name of firewall 1.
To configure queues for Native WebSphere MQ
  1. MQ1 (Q1 is used for communication from the hub site to the spoke site):
    1. Set Q1 as the remote queue and Q2 as the local queue.
    2. Set MQ2 as the remote queue manager for Q1.
  2. MQ2 (Q2 is used for communication from the spoke site to the hub site):
    1. Set Q2 as the remote queue and Q1 as the local queue.
    2. Set MQ1 as the remote queue manager for Q2.
  3. Set up a transmission queue on each queue manager.
  4. Set up a dead letter queue on each queue manager.
  5. Confirm that the fault queue is local to each queue manager.

Refer the RemoteAgentSample.mqsc and RemoteServerSample.mqsc sample scripts, located in ProductDir\mqseries to configure the queue managers.

Figure 2. Native WebSphere MQ Configuration

HTTP/HTTPS

This configuration option uses WebSphere MQ Internet pass-thru to pass information over the internet using HTTP. Figure 3 illustrates this configuration.

You must define routes to specify the port, IP address, and SSL details. Two routes must be configured for bidirectional communication between the hub and the spoke site. Two routes at each site are required--one for each direction.

Channels must be configured for bidirectional communication between the hub site and the spoke site. Two channels are required--one for each direction.

Note:
The following steps assume that MQ1 and MQ2 are listening on port 1414.
To configure channels for HTTP/HTTPS
  1. Channel 1 (MQ1 is the sender and MQ2 is the receiver):
    1. Create the CHANNEL1 sender channel on MQ1.
    2. Create the CHANNEL1 receiver channel on MQ2.
  2. Channel 2 (MQ2 is the sender and MQ1 is the receiver):
    1. Create the CHANNEL2 sender channel on MQ2.
    2. Create the CHANNEL2 receiver channel on MQ1.
  3. Set the ConnectionName of CHANNEL1 to the IpAddress and ListenerPort of MQIPT1.
  4. Set the ConnectionName of CHANNEL2 to the IpAddress and ListenerPort of MQIPT2.
  5. Set firewall 1 to forward all traffic on the ListenerPort to MQIPT1.
  6. Set firewall 2 to forward all traffic on the ListenerPort to MQIPT2.
To configure queues for HTTP/HTTPS
  1. MQ1 (Q1 is used for communication from the hub site to the spoke site):
    1. Set Q1 as the remote queue and Q2 as the local queue.
    2. Set MQ2 as the remote queue manager for Q1.
  2. MQ2 (Q2 is used for communication from the spoke site to the hub site):
    1. Set Q2 as the remote queue and Q1 as the local queue.
    2. Set MQ1 as the remote queue manager for Q2.
  3. Set up a transmission queue on each queue manager.
  4. Set up a dead letter queue on each queue manager.
  5. Confirm that the fault queue is local to each queue manager.

Refer the RemoteAgentSample.mqsc and RemoteServerSample.mqsc sample scripts, located in ProductDir\mqseries to configure the queue managers.

To configure routes for MQIPT1
To configure routes for MQIPT2

Figure 3. HTTP/HTTPS Configuration

Enabling the application to interact with the connector

You may have to perform configuration tasks in some applications for the connectors to be able to perform the necessary operations with this particular communication model. Refer to the guide for your adapter to determine if any such configuration tasks are necessary.

Starting the Remote Agent components

Remote Agent requires that the following be running:

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