Through the WebSphere® MQ messaging provider in WebSphere Application Server, Java Message Service (JMS) messaging applications can use your WebSphere MQ system as an external provider of JMS messaging resources.
If your business uses WebSphere MQ, and you want to integrate WebSphere Application Server messaging applications into a predominantly WebSphere MQ network, the WebSphere MQ messaging provider is a logical choice. However, there can be benefits in using another provider. If you are not sure which provider combination is best suited to your requirements, see Choosing messaging providers for a mixed environment.
The WebSphere MQ messaging provider supports JMS 1.1 domain-independent interfaces (sometimes referred to as "unified" or "common" interfaces). This enables applications to use the same interfaces for both point-to-point and publish/subscribe messaging, and also enables both point-to-point and publish/subscribe messaging within the same transaction. With JMS 1.1, this approach is considered good practice for new applications. The domain-specific interfaces are supported for backwards compatibility for applications developed to use domain-specific queue interfaces, as described in section 1.5 of the JMS 1.1 specification.
The WebSphere MQ messaging provider also supports the Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) 1.5 activation specification mechanism for message-driven beans (MDBs) across all platforms supported by WebSphere Application Server.
You can use WebSphere Application Server to configure WebSphere MQ resources for applications (for example queue connection factories) and to manage messages and subscriptions associated with JMS destinations. You administer security through WebSphere MQ.
WebSphere Application Server Version
6.x contained a WebSphere MQ JMS
client to facilitate interaction with WebSphere MQ. For WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 and later this
has been replaced with the WebSphere MQ
resource adapter. The resource
adapter is included with WebSphere Application Server and
does not need to be installed separately. Service updates to the resource
adapter are usually applied automatically through WebSphere Application Server fix packs. For more information
about maintaining the resource adapter, see Maintaining the WebSphere MQ resource adapter.
For more information about using WebSphere MQ with WebSphere Application Server, see the white papers and IBM Redbooks® publications provided by WebSphere MQ; for example, through the WebSphere MQ library web page.