Checking the operating environment

Before installing WebSphere® MQ Version 6.0, you must check that your system meets the hardware and software requirements set out in this topic.
Note: WebSphere MQ does not support host names that contain spaces. If you install WebSphere MQ on a computer with a host name that contains spaces, you will be unable to create any queue managers.

Hardware

WebSphere MQ for Linux®, Version 6.0 (x86 platform) runs on any machine that supports the x86 machine architecture. WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (POWER™ platform) runs on any machine that supports the POWER machine architecture. WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (zSeries® platform) runs on any machine that supports the zSeries machine architecture.

Operating System, WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (x86 platform)

WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (x86 platform) has been tested with the following distributions:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS V3.0 plus Update 2
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) V8 plus Service Pack 3
    Note: The MQ Explorer graphical interface is not supported on this operating system.
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) V9

Operating System, WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (POWER platform)

WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (POWER platform)) has been tested with the following distributions:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS V3.0 plus Update 2
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) V9

Operating System, WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (zSeries platform)

WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (zSeries platform) has been tested with the following distributions:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS V3.0 plus Update 2
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) V8 plus Service Pack 3
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) V9

Threading Models

The support for threads on Linux is provided by the pthreads library.

Both of these threading models are supported for use with the WebSphere MQ Queue Manager and applications which connect to WebSphere MQ.

Other threading libraries exist as replacements for these threading libraries, however, none of these replacements are supported for use with the WebSphere MQ Queue Manager or applications which connect to WebSphere MQ.

Connectivity Requirements

The network protocols supported by WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (x86 platform) and WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (zSeries platform) are TCP/IP and LU6.2 . TCP/IP is part of the WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (x86 platform) and WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (zSeries platform) operating systems. If you want to use the SNA LU6.2 support on WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (x86 platform) or WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (zSeries platform) you need the IBM® Communications Server for Linux Version 6.2. The Communications Server is available as a PRPQ product from IBM. For more details, see: http://www.ibm.com/software/network/commserver/about.

The network protocol supported by WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (POWER platform) is TCP/IP. You can use any communications hardware supporting TCP/IP.

Storage Requirements

The storage requirements for the WebSphere MQ for Linux depend on which components you install, and how much working space you need. This, in turn, depends on the number of queues that you use, the number and size of the messages on the queues, and whether the messages are persistent. You also require archiving capacity on disk, tape or other media. The approximate amount of storage required for each component is detailed in the table below.
Table 1. Storage requirements for WebSphere MQ filesets
Component Location of storage Storage Requirement in MB (x86 platform) Storage Requirement in MB (z/Series platform) Storage Requirement in MB (POWER platform)
Runtime /usr 25.2 25.1 30.8
Client /opt 2.8 2.9 5.0
Server /opt 14.3 14.5 32.8
SDK /opt 1.7 1.7 1.7
Sample programs /opt 4.8 4.8 5.3
Java™ messaging /opt 6.9 6.9 6.9
SSL support /opt 58.6 50.0 60.8
Extended Transactional Client /opt 0.1 0.1 0.2
Man pages /usr 0.7 0.8 0.8
German Message catalogs /usr 0.5 0.6 0.7
Spanish Message catalogs /usr 0.6 0.6 0.6
French Message catalogs /usr 0.6 0.6 0.7
Italian Message catalogs /usr 0.6 0.6 0.6
Japanese Message catalogs /usr 0.5 0.5 0.6
Korean Message catalogs /usr 0.5 0.5 0.5
Brazilian Portuguese Message catalogs /usr 0.6 0.6 0.6
Simplified Chinese Message catalogs /usr 0.4 0.4 0.4
Traditional Chinese Message catalogs /usr 0.4 0.4 0.4
WebSphere Eclipse Platform (x86 platform only) /opt 224.8 not applicable not applicable
WebSphere MQ Explorer (x86 platform only /opt 40.5 not applicable not applicable
WebSphere MQ File Transfer Application (x86 platform only) /opt 0.8 not applicable not applicable
Table 2. Storage requirements for prerequisite filesets
Component Location of storage Storage Requirement in MB (x86 platform) Storage Requirement in MB (z/Series platform) Storage Requirement in MB (POWER platform)
gsk7bas-7.0-x.x /usr 10.4 13.3 11.3
gsk7bas64-7.0-x.x /usr not applicable not applicable 12.5
IBMJava2-SDK-1.4.2-0.0 /opt 80.5 71.3 82.5
IBMJava2-SDK-ppc64-1.4.2-0.0 /opt not applicable not applicable 82.1
You can use the df command to determine the amount of free space on your system.
Disk storage is also required for
  • Prerequisite software
  • Optional software
  • Your application programs
If you want to use the WebSphere MQ Explorer (available for use with WebSphere MQ for Linux, Version 6.0 (x86 platform) only), you will need a minimum

After checking the requirements in this topic, proceed to Prerequisite software for using SSL.