How does WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition work?

WebSphere® MQ File Transfer Edition interacts in a number of ways with WebSphere MQ. This topic describes how the two products interact.

  • WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition transfers files between agent processes by dividing each file into one or more messages and transmitting the messages through your WebSphere MQ network.
  • The agent processes move file data by using nonpersistent messages to minimize the impact on your WebSphere MQ logs. By communicating with one another the agent processes regulate the flow of messages containing file data. This prevents messages containing file data building up on WebSphere MQ transmission queues and ensures that if any of the nonpersistent messages are not delivered, the file data is sent again.
  • WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition agents use a number of WebSphere MQ queues. For more information, see System queues and the system topic.
  • Although some of these queues are strictly for internal use, an agent can accept requests in the form of specially formatted command messages sent to a specific queue that the agent reads from. Both the command-line commands and the WebSphere MQ Explorer plug-in send WebSphere MQ messages to the agent to instruct the agent to perform the wanted action. You can write WebSphere MQ applications that interact with the agent in this way. For more information, see Controlling WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition by putting messages on the agent command queue.
  • WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition agents send information about their state and the progress and outcome of transfers to a WebSphere MQ queue manager that has been designated as the coordination queue manager. This information is published by the coordination queue manager and can be subscribed to by applications that want to monitor transfer progress or keep records of the transfers that have occurred. Both the command-line commands and the WebSphere MQ Explorer plug-in can use the information that is published. You can write WebSphere MQ applications that use this information. For more information about the topic that the information is published to, see The SYSTEM.FTE topic.
  • Key components of WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition take advantage of the capability of WebSphere MQ queue managers to store and forward messages. This means that if you suffer an outage, unaffected parts of your infrastructure can continue to transfer files. This extends to the coordination queue manager, where a combination of store and forward and durable subscriptions allow the coordination queue manager to tolerate becoming unavailable without losing key information about the file transfers that have taken place.

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Timestamp icon Last updated: Tuesday, 30 January 2018
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