qmgr

qmgr is an abbreviation for queue manager, a core software component in many message queuing systems. A queue manager provides the runtime environment for queues and the routing of messages between producers and consumers. It is responsible for creating and managing queue objects, storing messages (durably when configured), enforcing delivery semantics, and coordinating transactions across multiple queues or operations. A queue manager typically handles both local queues and remote queues, and participates in publish/subscribe or topic-based messaging through appropriate objects and subscriptions. In systems that support inter-queue-manager communication, the queue manager uses channels and transmission queues to move messages to other queue managers, and it may listen for client connections via configured listeners. Security and administration are central tasks: access control, authentication, encryption, auditing, and configuration of queues and channels.

A queue manager’s architecture usually includes a set of defined queues, topics/subscriptions, channels, and logs. It maintains a persistent log for recovery, supports failover or clustering for high availability, and may provide multi-instance operation where the queue manager runs on multiple hosts with shared storage.

Management tools and interfaces—such as command-line utilities, graphical consoles, or APIs—allow administrators to create, modify, start, stop, and monitor the queue manager and its objects, as well as to back up and restore data.

In IBM MQ, for example, the queue manager is the fundamental isolating container for queue objects and message delivery; its name identifies the instance, and administrators interact with it through commands like runmqsc or through MQ Explorer. Other middleware platforms use the same general concept under the term queue manager.