Write and run your first IBM MQ Jakarta application

Jakarta Messaging (formerly known as Java Message Service or JMS) is a standard API for accessing enterprise messaging systems from Java. It provides a common way for Java programs to create, send, receive, and read messages. Messaging providers such as IBM MQ implement the Jakarta Messaging API so that Jakarta-based client applications can communicate with their messaging service.

Since version 9.3.0, IBM MQ has included support for Jakarta Messaging 3.0. Jakarta Messaging 3.0 is functionally equivalent to JMS 2.0, but there are some differences in naming. The official name for version 3.0 is Jakarta Messaging rather than Java Message Service, and the package and constant names are prefixed with jakarta rather than javax. You can read more about these changes in the IBM MQ Documentation pages. The IBM MQ Jakarta samples are available in the mq-dev-patterns repository.

In this tutorial, you put and get a message from a queue using the Jakarta API with IBM MQ. You learn how Jakarta client objects map to MQ server objects, and then compile and run a working sample application.

Prerequisites

• Java Software Development Kit (JDK), Version 11, to develop and run applications.

• IBM MQ Queue Manager:

  • To connect the application to a Queue Manager in IBM Cloud, you need to follow the steps in the tutorial "Get an IBM MQ queue for development in IBM Cloud."
  • To connect the application to a Queue Manager running in a local container, you need to follow the steps in the tutorial "Get an IBM MQ queue for development in Container."

Developing a point-to-point app with Jakarta and IBM MQ

Your application will be able to do these things:

• Connect to the queue manager
• Open a queue
• Put a message
• Get a message
• Close the queue
• Disconnect from the queue manager

These MQ objects should be set up on the MQ server that you are connecting to:

• Queue manager QM1
• Queue DEV.QUEUE.1
• Channel DEV.APP.SVRCONN (For IBM Cloud users: Channel CLOUD.APP.SVRCONN)
• Port 1414 (For IBM Cloud users: refer to the connection_info file downloaded)

If you are using your own objects, you'll need to adjust these names accordingly. Or, you can go to a tutorial in the Ready, Set, Connect series to get started.

If you’ve already worked through a Ready, Set, Connect tutorial, your queue manager should already be configured correctly. If not, you'll need to set up authorization on the queue manager to accept connection from the application through a named channel and the application has to be authorized to put and get messages to and from the queue.

If you already have a Jakarta application and want help with performance or debugging, review the IBM MQ best practices article.

Set up your IBM MQ Jakarta development environment

In this first step, you install and set up the prerequisites. The following instructions assume Windows users are working with a PowerShell command prompt unless otherwise stated.

1. Create a directory to save the files needed for the sample, for example in your home directory.

    mkdir MQClient
    cd MQClient
   

2. From the MQClient folder, download the latest IBM MQ Jakarta client jar file by using curl.

    curl -o com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/ibm/mq/com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client/9.4.2.0/com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar
   

3. From the MQClient folder, download the Jakarta API file by using curl.

    curl -o jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/jakarta/jms/jakarta.jms-api/3.1.0/jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar
   

4. From the MQClient folder, download the JSON .jar file by using curl.

    curl -o json-20250107.jar https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/json/json/20250107/json-20250107.jar
   

Downloading the point-to-point Jakarta sample application

Get the sample from GitHub, save it on your local machine, and look through some of the key Jakarta constructs and where you can add the host, port, channel, and queue details so that your sample can connect to the queue manager.

1. In your MQClient directory, create the following directory structure: com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta.

   On Windows:

    md com\ibm\mq\samples\jakarta
    cd com\ibm\mq\samples\jakarta
   

   On Linux or Mac:

    mkdir -p com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta
    cd com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta
   

2. From the MQClient/com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta directory, download the JakartaPutGet.java sample from GitHub by using curl:

    curl -o JakartaPutGet.java https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ibm-messaging/mq-dev-samples/master/gettingStarted/jms/com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta/JakartaPutGet.java
   

3. Edit the Java file you downloaded. Replace the host, port, and app password variables to match your queue manager configuration. The CHANNEL will be DEV.APP.SVRCONN.

   For IBM Cloud users, you can find your hostname and port in the Connection Information file, called "connection_info". It will contain your host name and port number (under Listener port). Your APP_PASSWORD is the API key that you generated when you created your application username. The CHANNEL will be CLOUD.APP.SVRCONN.

    // Create variables for the connection to MQ
    private static final String HOST = "_YOUR_HOSTNAME_"; // Host name or IP address
    private static final int PORT = _YOUR_PORT_; // Listener port for your queue manager
    private static final String CHANNEL = "_DEV_OR_CLOUD_.APP.SVRCONN"; // Channel name
    private static final String QMGR = "QM1"; // Queue manager name
    private static final String APP_USER = "app"; // User name that application uses to connect to MQ
    private static final String APP_PASSWORD = "_APP_PASSWORD_"; // Password that the application uses to connect to MQ
    private static final String QUEUE_NAME = "DEV.QUEUE.1"; // Queue that the application uses to put and get messages to and from
   

Additional step for IBM Cloud

If you are running your IBM MQ queue manager in IBM Cloud, you need to also complete these steps to enable a TLS connection with the queue manager hosted on the public cloud:

Edit the JakartaPutGet.java file. Uncomment the following line, and then save the file.

  //cf.setStringProperty(WMQConstants.WMQ_SSL_CIPHER_SUITE, "*TLS12");

This line is required because the Queue Manager on the cloud is TLS-enabled, and its certificate is signed by a trusted certificate authority. Uncommenting this line allows the application and the Queue Manager to negotiate and select an appropriate cipher specification (cipherSpec) for the secure connection.

You should now be able to compile your application and run it.

Change your working directory back to the MQClient.

Compile and run your Jakarta application

This is where you connect your application to the queue manager and put and get messages to and from the queue.

1. From the MQClient directory, use javac to compile your application.

   On Windows:

    javac -cp .\com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar;.\jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar;.\json-20250107.jar com\ibm\mq\samples\jakarta\JakartaPutGet.java
   

   On Windows PowerShell:

    javac -cp ‘.\com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar;.\jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar;.\json-20250107.jar’ .\com\ibm\mq\samples\jakarta\JakartaPutGet.java
   

   On Linux or Mac:

    javac -cp ./com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar:./jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar:./json-20250107.jar com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta/JakartaPutGet.java
   

   To confirm that the sample is compiled, run one of these commands. You should now see a .class file accompanying the .java file.

   On Windows, run the dir command:

    dir com\ibm\mq\samples\jakarta\
   

   On Linux or Mac, run the ls command:

    ls -l com/ibm/mq/samples/jakarta/
   

   You should now see a .class file accompanying the .java file:

2. Run your application.

   On Windows:

    java -cp .\com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar;.\jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar;.\json-20250107.jar;. com.ibm.mq.samples.jakarta.JakartaPutGet
   

   On Windows PowerShell:

    java -cp ‘.\com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar;.\jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar;.\json-20250107.jar;.’ com.ibm.mq.samples.jakarta.JakartaPutGet
   

   On Linux or Mac:

    java -cp ./com.ibm.mq.jakarta.client-9.4.2.0.jar:./jakarta.jms-api-3.1.0.jar:./json-20250107.jar:. com.ibm.mq.samples.jakarta.JakartaPutGet
   

   You should see output like this:

   

Additional step for MQ on Cloud users

Log into your MQ Web Console. The link is provided in the Connection Information file, called "connection_info".

If you click on the message, it will provide you with more information related to it.

Summary

Congratulations! You edited and compiled your first Jakarta application, sent a message to an IBM MQ queue, and got that message from the queue. You also set up your environment with everything you need to develop with Jakarta and IBM MQ.

You have a basic understanding of what you're aiming to hit on the MQ server side with the objects in your Jakarta application and how Jakarta helps you achieve that.

If you want to make sure your Jakarta application performs reliably, review the IBM MQ best practices article.