What's new in Version 6.0?

This topic introduces you to the main new function in WebSphere Event Broker Version 6.0. See also New function added in Version 6.0 fix packs.
Extended platform support
The Configuration Manager is supported on all the broker platforms including z/OS, UNIX, Linux, and Windows, see Configuration Manager.

The Message Brokers Toolkit can be installed on Linux (x86 platform) in addition to Windows, see Client environment.

Database support on Linux (x86 platform) is extended to include Oracle in addition to UDB DB2, see Supported databases.

Simplified installation and migration
The installation of WebSphere Event Broker Version 6.0 is easier than the installation of WebSphere Business Integration Event Broker Version 5.0 because the number of prerequisite products has been reduced. For more information on installation, see the Installation Guide.

Configuration Managers no longer require a database.

A Default Configuration wizard is provided to quickly build a full environment for development or other simple configurations on Windows and Linux (x86 platform). For more information on the Default Configuration wizard, see Using the Default Configuration wizard, and the Installation Guide.

Migration from WebSphere MQ Event Broker Version 2.1 and WebSphere Business Integration Event Broker Version 5.0 are supported. Both Version 2.1 and Version 5.0 can Coexist with WebSphere Event Broker Version 6.0 allowing a phased migration. In addition the command mqsimigratecomponents is provided to migrate individual components from one codebase to another. For more information on migration, see Migrating and upgrading.

The installation of WebSphere Event Broker for z/OS Version 6.0 has been simplified in the following ways:
  • A single command can be used to create brokers, Configuration Managers, and User Name Servers.
  • All commands are JCL-based, meaning no UNIX shell is required.
For more information, see the Installation Guide.
Improved Message Brokers Toolkit
The Message Brokers Toolkit is based on the latest release of Rational Application Developer, powered by the Eclipse open source platform. The Message Brokers Toolkit includes the following new features:
  • Support on Linux (x86 platform) in addition to Windows.
  • XML editors.
  • Visual debugging is available with Message flows, which reduces the need for Eclipse perspective switching. For more information, see Flow debugger overview.

For more information about the Message Brokers Toolkit, see Client environment.

Improved performance and scalability
Performance of the broker runtime has been significantly improved by the following enhancements:
  • The path lengths of the major broker functions have been shortened.
  • The cost of parsing and streaming messages has been reduced.
  • Publish/subscribe functions have been improved.
  • The storage requirements of the XML parsers have been reduced so that larger messages can be accommodated.
Coexistence
WebSphere Event Broker Version 6.0 can coexist with either a Version 2.1 or a Version 5.0 product on the same computer. You can install WebSphere Event Broker Version 6.0 in a different location on the same computer, migrate your components and resources to WebSphere Event Broker Version 6.0, and uninstall the Version 2.1 or Version 5.0 product later when you are sure that you no longer need it.
With some restrictions, all Version 5.0 components can participate in a Version 6.0 broker domain, and all Version 6.0 components can participate in a Version 5.0 broker domain. A Version 2.1 broker is the only Version 2.1 component that can take part in a Version 6.0 broker domain.

For more information about coexistence, see Coexistence with previous versions and other products.

Driving message flows
Message flows can be driven by JMS transports. Supported JMS providers include the embedded JMS provider in WebSphere Application Server Version 6.0, see WebSphere Broker JMS Transport.
Improved management
Runtime versioning
The enhanced versioning capabilities introduced to the development environment in the last release have been extended to the runtime environment. All resources deployed can be tagged with version, author, and other useful information in addition to the standard compiled time and deployment time attributes. The new information is displayed in the administration interface making it easy to see which resources have been deployed to production systems. For more information on runtime versioning , see Message flow version and keywords.
More automation
New and extended command line utilities are provided to allow full automation of deployment of new resources to production environments.

The Configuration Manager Proxy (CMP) Java API is a new systems management application interface which is provided to allow WebSphere Event Broker to be fully managed by products and utilities besides the Message Brokers Toolkit and the command-line interface. For more information on the CMP, see Developing applications that use the Configuration Manager Proxy Java API.

Improved security

Communication between the Message Brokers Toolkit and a Configuration Manager has been extended to allow the use of SSL for added security.

User-defined nodes
You can deploy user-defined nodes that have been created and supplied by WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.0 users or by independent software vendors and other companies. Use these nodes in WebSphere Event Broker message flows, to add to the function provided by the supplied or built-in nodes.

For more information, see User-defined nodes.

License management
WebSphere Event Broker supports a new form of license management using IBM Tivoli License Manager (ITLM), Version 2.1, across all the WebSphere Event Broker platforms, with the exception of z/OS. Implementing ITLM allows sub-capacity pricing for eBusiness On Demand.

For more information on ITLM, see Installing Tivoli License Manager.

Code page conversion
The set of code page converters used by WebSphere Event Broker has been updated and is now comprised of code page converters from the International Components for Unicode (ICU) libraries for Unicode, Version 3.2. For the list of code page converters included in the set, see Supported code pages.

For information on how to add additional code page converters to the set, see Generating a new code page converter.

WebSphere MQ as a transaction manager
When using WebSphere MQ Version 6.0 as a transaction manager, data sources in coordinated message flows cannot connect to 32-bit DB2 instances. If data sources in your coordinated message flows connect to DB2, ensure that they only connect to 64-bit DB2 instances.
Related concepts
New in Version 5.0