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IBM MQ Series Adapter Configuration

IBM MQ Series Adapter Configuration


Overview

IBM MQ Transport Adapter (hereafter MQ TA) is an add-in for FIXServer that allows clients to communicate with FIXServer over IBM MQSeries middleware. The document contains full instructions on how to install MQ TA for testing.

Starting FixEdge version 6.10.0 it is recommended to use IBM MQ Client library version 8.x.

The older and newer versions may lead to MQ adapters failures

MQ TA is responsible for:

  • Establishing and maintaining sessions with MQ Series Server to communicate with Clients.
  • Transmitting messages to its clients.
  • Delivering messages from clients.
  • Facilitating monitoring and administration.

Monitoring and Administration

Information about the configured TA's session parameters list and dynamic state is sent to the subscribed monitoring application when FIXEdge starts.

When the TA session dynamic state is changed FIXEdge sends the update to the subscribed monitoring application.

MQ TA provides the following monitoring information:

  • Status
  • Number of messages sent
  • Number of messages received
  • Time of the last successful message sending
  • Time of the last successful message receiving
  • List of clients

Integration Guide

Installation

IBM MQ Transport Adapter is present on the FIXEdge C++ package in the bin directory.

MQ Adapter requires IBM MQ client libraries installed in the host with FIXEdge, the libraries can be found on the official IBM MQ site.

Make sure that path to IBM MQ client libraries is added to the path environment variable.

Configuration

IBM MQ Transport Adapter can be configured using FIXICC or directly by editing the FIXEdge.properties file of the correspondent FIX Edge instance. All properties to be set up are described in the table below. You can also use the FIXEdge.properties file from the package as an example.

Make sure that configuration of the adapter correlates with the MQ Series Server parameters.

Property NameDefault ValueDescription

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Description

MQ Transport Adapter DLLDescription of the transport adapter.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.DllName

bin/MQTAAddin.dllPath to the transport adapter module. In case this parameter is not specified, the TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.AdapterId is applied to define the adapter's library by ID.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.AdapterId


This parameter is applicable since FIXEdge C++ 6.14.0 version.

The parameter to define the adapter's library by ID. In case this parameter is not specified or TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.DllName parameter is specified too, the TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.DllName is applied.

Required value: MQ

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.TimeIntervalBeforeReconnect

1000Time interval in milliseconds between reconnect attempts.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.StorageDirectory

FixEdge1/logRequired. Logging directory for storage of outgoing messages.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.BufferSizeForMessage

65536Message buffer size. The max value is 4194304. 0 means a default value 64 * 1024.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_HOSTNAME

localhostMS Series Server hostname.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_PORT

1414MS Series Server port.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_MANAGER_NAME

TestMQMS Series manager name.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_CHANNEL_NAME

TestConnectionMS Series Channel name.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_CCSID

437MS Series Server CCSID. The coded character set identifier to use with the WebSphere MQ queue.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SslKeyRepository

/var/mqm/ssl/keyPath to SSL certificate storage file without extension (SCKR, MQSSLKEYR) e.g. /var/mqm/ssl/key or C:\\Program Files\\IBM\\WebSphere MQ\\ssl\\key.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SslCipherSpecification

TRIPLE_DES_SHA_USSSL CipherSpec name (SSLCIPH), required to use SSL, e.g. TRIPLE_DES_SHA_US.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SslClientAuthentication

falseRemote peer authentication (SSLCAUTH).

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SslPeerName

CN=QMGR.*, OU=IBM, OU=WEBSPHERERemote peer DN filter (SSLPEER).

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.WaitIntervalForGet

1000Time interval in milliseconds to wait between polling messages on MQ Series Server.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.NumAttemptReconnect

10The number of reconnect attempts to the MQ Series Server.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SessionNumber

1The number of sessions with MQ Series. Each session is a set of MQ Series queues.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.ClientID

MQClientMQ session ID.

TransportLayer.MQAdapter.Session.<SessionNumber>.FIXVersion

FIX44

In every session, FIX messages use a particular version of the FIX protocol. Use this parameter to set the version of the FIX protocol for a given session.

Valid values:

FIX40, FIX41, FIX42, FIX43, FIX44, FIX50, FIX50SP1, FIX50SP2.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.SmartXMLProcessor

trueEnables mode of processing XML/FIXML messages:
  • For outgoing FIX XML messages (MsgType = n) adapter extracts XML data and then sends data to the MQ client.
  • For incoming XML/FIXML raw data IBM MQ TA wraps data into a FIX XML message (MsgType = n) and then routes the message to FIXEdge C++.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.ToClientQueue

MQClient_toThe name for the Queue dedicated for messages coming from clients to MQ via FIXEdge C++.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.FromClientQueue

MQClient_fromThe name for the Queue dedicated for messages coming from MQ to clients via FIXEdge C++.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.ErrorQueue

MQClient_errorThe name for the Queue dedicated for messages, which cannot be handled because of errors.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.SenderID

-Optional. SenderCompID (Tag = 49) in the received message is set to the property value.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.TargetID

-Optional. TargetCompID (Tag = 56) in the received message is set to the property value.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.MessageDataFormat

MQFMT_NONE

This parameter is applicable since FIXEdge C++ 6.15.1 version.

Optional. Defines the format of the message data to be sent to IBM MQ via the IBM MQ TA session. Ignored for incoming messages.

Valid values: MQFMT_NONE | MQFMT_STRING

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.LogIncomingMessages

false

This parameter is applicable since FIXEdge C++ 6.15.1 version.

Optional. Defines whether incoming messages from IBM MQ that were correctly parsed and routed to BL will be stored in the MQ-<ClientID>-Incoming_<Timestamp>.out file.

The MQ-<ClientID>-Incoming_<Timestamp>.out file will be created in the TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.StorageDirectory directory regardless of the value of the LogIncomingMessages property.

Valid values: true | false

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.FromClientDropMessageFilter

-Optional. Defines a regular expression (perl syntax) to drop matched messages coming from MQ.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.SmartXMLProcessorFromClientMessageFilter

-Optional. Defines a regular expression (perl syntax) to apply SmartXMLProcessor to matched messages coming from MQ. Overrides default filter: case insensitive "<\?xml version.*|<FIXML.*"

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.SendForceCommitTimeMs

0

This parameter is applicable since FIXEdge C++ 6.16.1 version.

Optional. This property determines the maximum duration that can elapse before a transaction is forcibly committed to IBM MQ. It acts as a timer that starts after the start of the transaction. Once this timer exceeds the period defined by SendForceCommitTimeMs, if there are uncommitted messages, a commit operation is triggered.

Valid values:

  • Empty value: Indicates that this property is not set, and the default behavior (as if the value is 0) is in effect.
  • Integer Values (milliseconds):
    A whole number ranging from 0 to 60,000 inclusive. The value represents the duration in milliseconds for the force commit interval.

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.<SessionNumber>.ReceiveForceCommitTimeMs

0

This parameter is applicable since FIXEdge C++ 6.16.1 version.

Optional. This property determines the maximum duration that can elapse before a transaction is forcibly committed from IBM MQ. It acts as a timer that starts after the start of the transaction. Once this timer exceeds the period defined by ReceiveForceCommitTimeMs, if there are uncommitted messages, a commit operation is triggered.

Valid values:

  • Empty value: Indicates that this property is not set, and the default behavior (as if the value is 0) is in effect.
  • Integer Values (milliseconds):
    A whole number ranging from 0 to 60,000 inclusive. The value represents the duration in milliseconds for the force commit interval.

Configuration Sample

The following configuration describes the basic FIX to MQ conversion message flow.

FIX message from the SENDER session is converted to FIXML and pushed to the middleware via MQ.

All messages from MQ are converted from FIXML to FIX and send to the RECEIVER FIX session.

  1. Configure sessions in FIXEdge.properties

    FIXEdge.properties
    #------------------------------------------------------------
    # FIX Layer Section
    #------------------------------------------------------------
     
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Sessions = SENDER, RECEIVER
     
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.Version = FIX44
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.StorageType = persistentMM
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.Role = Acceptor
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.SenderCompID = FIXEDGE
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.TargetCompID = SENDER
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.EncryptMethod = 0
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.InSeqNum = 0
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.OutSeqNum = 0
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.Description = FIX session for test mq sender
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.StartTime = 08:00
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.TerminateTime = 23:59
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.RecreateOnLogout = true
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.IntradayLogoutTolerance = true
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.ForceSeqNumReset = false
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.SocketPriority = EVEN
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.SENDER.HandleSeqNumAtLogon = false
     
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.Version = FIX44
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.StorageType = persistentMM
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.Role = Acceptor
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.SenderCompID = FIXEDGE
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.TargetCompID = RECEIVER
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.EncryptMethod = 0
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.InSeqNum = 0
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.OutSeqNum = 0
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.Description = FIX session for test mq receiver
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.StartTime = 08:00
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.TerminateTime = 23:59
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.RecreateOnLogout = true
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.IntradayLogoutTolerance = true
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.ForceSeqNumReset = false
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.SocketPriority = EVEN
    FixLayer.FixEngine.Session.RECEIVER.HandleSeqNumAtLogon = false
  2. Configure IBM MQ Adapter

    FIXEdge.properties
    #------------------------------------------------------------
    # Transport Layer Section
    #------------------------------------------------------------
     
    #Comma separated list of identifiers of Transport Adapters should be loaded.
    TransportLayer.TransportAdapters = TransportLayer.MQAdaptor
     
    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
    # MQ Adaptor configuration
    #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Description = MQ Transport Adaptor DLL
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Type = DLL
     
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.DllName = bin/MQTAAddin-MD-x64.dll
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.TimeIntervalBeforeReconnect = 1000
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.BufferSizeForMessage = 65536
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_HOSTNAME = ecsa00400539.epam.com
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_MANAGER_NAME = FIXEdge
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_PORT = 1414
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_CCSID = 437
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.MQ_CHANNEL_NAME = TestConnection
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.WaitIntervalForGet = 1000
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.NumAttemptReconnect = 10  
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.StorageDirectory = FIXEdge1/log
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.UseTransactions = true
     
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SessionNumber = 2
     
    # MQ QA session
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SessionNumber = 1
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.ClientID = MQHub1
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.ToClientQueue = MQClient_test
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.FromClientQueue =
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.ErrorQueue = MQClient_error
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.SmartXMLProcessor = true
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.SendTransactionSize = 300
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.ReceiveTransactionSize = 1
     
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.SessionNumber = 2
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.ClientID = MQHub2
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.ToClientQueue =
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.FromClientQueue = MQClient_test
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.ErrorQueue = MQClient_error
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.SmartXMLProcessor = true
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.SendTransactionSize = 300
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.ReceiveTransactionSize = 1
  3. Configure BL 

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <FIXEdge>
        <BusinessLayer>
            <Rule Description="Convert ExecutionReport from FIX.4.4 to FIXML.4.4">
                <Source Name="SENDER" />
                <Action>
                    <Convert SourceProtocol="FIX.4.4" TargetProtocol="FIXML.4.4"/>
                    <Send Name="MQHub1"/>
                </Action>
            </Rule>
    		<Rule Description="Route MQ messages back to receiver and convert from FIXML.4.4 to FIX.4.4">
                <Source Name="MQHub2" />
                <Action>
    				<Convert SourceProtocol="FIXML.4.4" TargetProtocol="FIX.4.4"/>
                    <Send Name="RECEIVER"/>
                </Action>
            </Rule>
            <DefaultRule>
                <Action>
                    <DoNothing/>
                </Action>
            </DefaultRule>
        </BusinessLayer>
    </FIXEdge>
    
    

    Please refer to the Convert page for the full list of possible versions to convert.

  4. Configure Queues Managers on the IBM WebSphere server.

Error queue

An error queue is a local queue to which error messages can be sent by the WebSphere MQ connector when a message operation fails. For target queues, the error queue acts as a backup option for the target queue when messages cannot be written to the target queue

As per the solution diagram above, there are the following reasons for messages sent to the error queue:

  1. FIXEdge can't send data to MQ (e.g. when there is no connection to the MQ server).
  2. FIXEdge can't receive data from the MQ server.
  3. Other various MQ errors (e.g. configuration issues, or message content issues).

FIXEdge can't produce data to MQ

The reason for getting messages to ErrorQueue is diverse, it is necessary to analyze the logs.

To process messages from the queue, it's recommended:

  • Use different Error Queues per session. It would be easier to troubleshoot issues if the session would have its own error queue.
    It can be configured with the FIXEdge property:

    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.1.ErrorQueue = MQClient_error_1
    
    TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.Session.2.ErrorQueue = MQClient_error_2
  • Use the dmpmqmsg tool for moving messages from the error queue to the producer. All messages from the error queue should be replayed.

    dmpmqmsg -m MQClient -I MQClient_error -o MQClient_error_2 -s FIXEdge

    -m QueueManagerName.
    -I Input queue name.
    -o Output queue name.
    -s Message content, as all messages have senderCompId and TargetCompId can be used for filtering.

FIXEdge can't consume data from the MQ server and other various MQ errors

These cases are rare ones if there were no configuration changes. 

Issues not causing messages in the error queue

There are cases that do not lead to the messages in the Error queue.

E.g.: FIXEdge can't push the data to the FIX connection because the destination is down.

For troubleshooting, in this case, it's recommended to upgrade FIXEdge to version 6.9.0 with a Managed Queue feature.
It was designed for cases when messages should be pushed to the counterparty when they come back online and do not support recovery with resend requests.

Transactions in MQ

FIXEdge MQ Transport Adapter has a transaction mechanism. Before sending it to MQ the messages are persisted in the files.

A path to the files can be configured with a property:

FIXEdge.properties
TransportLayer.MQAdaptor.StorageDirectory = FIXEdge1/log

The file storages are needed for keeping undelivered messages that require resending after FIXEdge restart (e.g. in case of failure).

Each file represents an MQ Session and the name of the file contains the ID of the session, e.g.:

MQ Adapter propertyStorage file

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor1.Session.1.ClientID = MQHub1

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor1.Session.1.ErrorQueue = errQ

MQ-MQHub1_2005211210150121.out

MQ-MQHub1-Errors_2005211210150131.out

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor1.Session.2.ClientID = MQHub2

TransportLayer.MQAdaptor1.Session.2.ErrorQueue = errQ

MQ-MQHub2_2005211210150801.out

MQ-MQHub2-Errors_2005211210150801.out

MQ Session logs have data and corresponding transaction flag:

    • Status of the undelivered transaction: Record valid='Y'.
    • Status of the finished transaction. The message has been sent to MQ: Record valid='N'.

Examples of the log from MQ_<ClientID>_xxx.out:

MQ-<ClientID>_xxx.out
<Record valid='Y' size='Ó      ' data='8=FIX.4.4 9=3259 35=AE 49=FIXClient 56=FIXEdgeMQHub1 115=STRING 128=STRING 90=1 91=D 34=169 50=STRING 142=STRING 57=STRING...10=139'/>
...
<Record valid='N' size='Ó      ' data='8=FIX.4.4 9=3259 35=AE 49=FIXClient 56=FIXEdgeMQHub1 115=STRING 128=STRING 90=1 91=D 34=208 50=STRING 142=STRING 57=STRING...10=137'/>

Removing the storage files causes undelivered data will be deleted.

Start and Stop operations for IBM MQ TA