# IBM MQ Sink Connector for Confluent Cloud The fully managed IBM MQ Sink connector for Confluent Cloud reads messages from Kafka topics and writes them to IBM MQ queues or topics. The connector exports AVRO, JSON_SR (JSON Schema), PROTOBUF, JSON (schemaless), BYTES, or STRING data from Apache Kafka® topics to IBM MQ destinations in STRING, JSON, or BYTES format. #### NOTE * This Quick Start is for the fully managed Confluent Cloud connector. If you are installing the connector locally for Confluent Platform, see [IBM MQ Sink Connector for Confluent Platform](https://docs.confluent.io/kafka-connectors/ibmmq-sink/current/overview.html). * If you require private networking for fully managed connectors, make sure to set up the proper networking beforehand. For more information, see [Manage Networking for Confluent Cloud Connectors](networking/internet-resource.md#clusters-connect-cloud). ## Features * **At least once delivery**: The connector guarantees that records from Kafka topics are delivered at least once to IBM MQ destinations. * **Supports exactly once semantics (EOS)**: The connector supports exactly once semantics. For more information, see [Exactly once semantics](#cc-ibmmq-sink-eos). * **Supports multiple tasks**: The connector supports running one or more tasks. More tasks might improve performance. * **JMS message types**: The connector supports [TextMessage](https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/api/javax/jms/TextMessage.html) and [BytesMessage](https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/api/javax/jms/BytesMessage.html). It does not support [ObjectMessage](https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/api/javax/jms/ObjectMessage.html) or [StreamMessage](https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/api/javax/jms/StreamMessage.html). * **TLS/SSL security**: The connector supports TLS/SSL security for secure communication with IBM MQ servers, including full keystore and truststore configuration. * **Header forwarding**: The connector supports forwarding Kafka record headers and metadata to JMS message properties. The Kafka message key can also be forwarded as the `JMSCorrelationID` on the JMS message. * **Dead Letter Queue**: This connector supports the Dead Letter Queue (DLQ) functionality. For information about accessing and using the DLQ, see the [View Connector Dead Letter Queue Errors in Confluent Cloud](dead-letter-queue.md#ccloud-dlq-topics) docs. * **Flexible message formatting**: The connector supports multiple JMS message formats and character encodings, with configurable message time-to-live and delivery modes. * **Client-side encryption (CSFLE) support**: The connector supports CSFLE for sensitive data. For more information about CSFLE setup, see the [connector configuration](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-setup-connection). For more information and examples to use with the Confluent Cloud API for Connect, see the [Confluent Cloud API for Connect Usage Examples](connect-api-section.md#ccloud-connect-api) section. ## Exactly once semantics The connector supports exactly once delivery of messages to IBM MQ by using a dedicated IBM MQ queue to store offsets. This allows the connector to track progress and resume from the last processed record following a failure or restart. To enable exactly once semantics, you must manually create a unique queue for each connector to serve as its offset store. To ensure a single active consumer, the queue must be configured in exclusive mode by setting the `DEFSOPT` (Default open option) attribute to `EXCLUSIVE`. For more information, see the [Connector configuration](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-config-properties). Consider the following limitations while using exactly once semantics: - The connector does not auto create the offsets queue. You must create it in IBM MQ before starting the connector. - Sharing offset queues across multiple connectors is not supported. Each connector requires its own dedicated offsets queue. - Exactly once semantics is supported only when the connector is configured with a single task. It does not support multiple tasks. - The connector does not support custom offsets when exactly once behavior is enabled. ## Limitations Be sure to review the following information. * For connector limitations, see [IBM MQ Sink Connector](limits.md#cc-ibm-mq-sink-limits) limitations. * If you plan to use one or more Single Message Transformations (SMTs), see [SMT Limitations](single-message-transforms.md#cc-single-message-transforms-limitations). ## Quick Start Use this quick start to get up and running with the Confluent Cloud IBM MQ Sink connector. The quick start provides the basics of selecting the connector and configuring it to stream events from Apache Kafka® topics to IBM MQ queues or topics. Prerequisites : - Authorized access to a [Confluent Cloud](https://www.confluent.io/confluent-cloud/) cluster on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure (Azure), or Google Cloud. - The Confluent CLI installed and configured for the cluster. See [Install the Confluent CLI](https://docs.confluent.io/confluent-cli/current/install.html). - [Schema Registry](../get-started/schema-registry.md#cloud-sr-config) must be enabled to use a Schema Registry-based format (for example, **AVRO**, **JSON_SR** (JSON Schema), or **PROTOBUF**). - Access to an IBM MQ server with: * IBM MQ broker host and port * Queue manager name * Channel name * Username and password credentials * JMS destination (queue or topic) name - If using TLS/SSL, you’ll need the appropriate keystore and truststore files. - For networking considerations, see [Networking and DNS](overview.md#connect-internet-access-resources). To use a set of public egress IP addresses, see [Public Egress IP Addresses for Confluent Cloud Connectors](static-egress-ip.md#cc-static-egress-ips).
- Kafka cluster credentials. The following lists the different ways you can provide credentials. - Enter an existing [service account](service-account.md#s3-cloud-service-account) resource ID. - Create a Confluent Cloud [service account](service-account.md#s3-cloud-service-account) for the connector. Make sure to review the ACL entries required in the [service account documentation](service-account.md#s3-cloud-service-account). Some connectors have specific ACL requirements. - Create a Confluent Cloud API key and secret. To create a key and secret, you can use [confluent api-key create](https://docs.confluent.io/confluent-cli/current/command-reference/api-key/confluent_api-key_create.html) *or* you can autogenerate the API key and secret directly in the Cloud Console when setting up the connector. For additional information, see [Cloud connector limitations](limits.md#cc-ibm-mq-sink-limits). ### Using the Confluent Cloud Console #### Step 1: Launch your Confluent Cloud cluster To create and launch a Kafka cluster in Confluent Cloud, see [Create a kafka cluster in Confluent Cloud](../get-started/index.md#cloud-create-kafka-cluster). #### Step 2: Add a connector In the left navigation menu, click **Connectors**. If you already have connectors in your cluster, click **+ Add connector**. #### Step 3: Select your connector Click the **IBM MQ Sink** connector card.  #### Step 4: Enter the connector details #### NOTE * Ensure you have all your [prerequisites](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-prereqs) completed. * An asterisk ( \* ) designates a required entry. At the **Add IBM MQ Sink Connector** screen, complete the following: ### Topic selection If you’ve already populated your Kafka topics, select the topics you want to connect from the **Topics** list. To create a new topic, click **+Add new topic**. ### Kafka access 1. Select the way you want to provide **Kafka Cluster credentials**. You can choose one of the following options: - **My account**: This setting allows your connector to globally access everything that you have access to. With a user account, the connector uses an API key and secret to access the Kafka cluster. This option is not recommended for production. - **Service account**: This setting limits the access for your connector by using a [service account](service-account.md#s3-cloud-service-account). This option is recommended for production. - **Use an existing API key**: This setting allows you to specify an API key and a secret pair. You can use an existing pair or create a new one. This method is not recommended for production environments. #### NOTE Freight clusters support only service accounts for Kafka authentication. 2. Click **Continue**. ### Authentication 1. Configure the authentication properties: **IBM MQ Connection** - **Username**: The username to use when connecting to IBM MQ. - **Password**: The password to use when connecting to IBM MQ. - **IBM MQ broker host**: IBM MQ broker host. - **IBM MQ broker port**: IBM MQ broker port. - **Queue Manager**: The name of the queue manager. - **Channel**: The channel for client connections. - **Disable MQCSP Authentication**: Indicates whether to disable MQCSP authentication in the connector. By default, the connector uses MQCSP authentication, which is the recommended secure authentication method. Disabling MQCSP forces the connector to use legacy authentication mode. **WARNING: Legacy authentication mode is inherently insecure. Use legacy mode only when absolutely necessary. When MQCSP is disabled on connections without SSL or TLS, the connector transmits credentials in clear text, exposing them to potential interception and unauthorized access. |confluent| strongly recommends using MQCSP authentication (default) or, if legacy mode is required, configuring a secure connection using SSL or TLS with an appropriate cipher suite.** - **JMS Destination Name**: The name of the JMS destination that messages are written to. - **JMS Destination Type**: The type of JMS destination. **IBM MQ Secure Connection** - **SSL Cipher Suite**: The CipherSuite for SSL connections. - **SSL FIPS Required**: Whether SSL FIPS is required. - **SSL Peer Name**: Sets a distinguished name (DN) pattern. If `sslCipherSuite` is set, this pattern can ensure that the correct queue manager is used. The connection attempt fails if the distinguished name provided by the queue manager does not match this pattern. - **TLS Protocol**: The TLS protocol version for secure connections to IBM MQ. - **TLS Keystore Type**: The file format of the key store file. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS Keystore file**: The key store file. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS Keystore Password**: The store password for the key store file. This is optional for client and only needed if `TLS Keystore file` is configured. - **TLS Key Password**: The password of the private key used for secure TLS communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS Truststore Type**: The file format of the trust store file. This is required when using TLS and secure communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS Truststore file**: The trust store file. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS Truststore Password**: The password for the trust store file. - **TLS KeyManager Algorithm**: The algorithm used by key manager factory for SSL connections. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS TrustManager Algorithm**: The algorithm used by trust manager factory for SSL connections. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ. - **TLS Secure Random Implementation**: The `SecureRandom` PRNG implementation to use for SSL cryptography operations. 2. Click **Continue**. ### Configuration #### NOTE Configuration properties that are not shown in the Cloud Console use the default values. For all property values and definitions, see [Configuration Properties](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-config-properties). - **Input Kafka record value format**: Sets the input Kafka record value format. Valid entries are `AVRO`, `JSON_SR`, `PROTOBUF`, `JSON`, `BYTES`, or `STRING`. #### NOTE You need to have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if you use a schema-based message format like `AVRO`, `JSON_SR`, and `PROTOBUF`. For more information, see [Schema Registry](../get-started/schema-registry.md#cloud-sr-config). - **Enable Exactly-Once Delivery**: When enabled, uses transacted JMS sessions and stores Kafka offsets in IBM MQ to provide exactly-once delivery semantics. Requires `mq.offsets.queue.name` to be configured. - **Offsets Queue Name**: The name of the IBM MQ queue used to store Kafka offsets for exactly-once delivery. Required when `exactly.once.enabled` is set to true. **Data decryption** - Enable **Client-Side Field Level Encryption** for data decryption. Specify a **Service Account** to access the Schema Registry and associated encryption rules or keys with that schema. Select the connector behavior (`ERROR` or `NONE`) on data decryption failure. If set to `ERROR`, the connector fails and writes the encrypted data in the DLQ. If set to `NONE`, the connector writes the encrypted data in the target system without decryption. For more information on CSFLE or CSPE setup, see [Manage encryption for connectors](csfle.md#connect-csfle). ### **Show advanced configurations** - **Schema context**: Select a schema context to use for this connector, if using a schema-based data format. This property defaults to the **Default** context, which configures the connector to use the default schema set up for Schema Registry in your Confluent Cloud environment. A schema context allows you to use separate schemas (like schema sub-registries) tied to topics in different Kafka clusters that share the same Schema Registry environment. For example, if you select a non-default context, a **Source** connector uses only that schema context to register a schema and a **Sink** connector uses only that schema context to read from. For more information about setting up a schema context, see [What are schema contexts and when should you use them?](../sr/faqs-cc.md#faq-schema-contexts). - **Input Kafka record key format**: Sets the input Kafka record key format. Valid entries are `AVRO`, `BYTES`, `JSON`, `JSON_SR`, `PROTOBUF`, or `STRING`. #### NOTE You need to have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if you use a schema-based message format like `AVRO`, `JSON_SR`, and `PROTOBUF`. For more information, see [Schema Registry](../get-started/schema-registry.md#cloud-sr-config). - **Forward Kafka Record Key**: Convert the Kafka record key to a string and forward it on the JMS Message property `JMSCorrelationID`. - **Forward Kafka Record Metadata**: Forward the Kafka record metadata on the JMS Message properties. This includes the record topic, partition, and offset. - **Forward Kafka Record Headers**: Add the Kafka record headers to the JMS Message as string properties. - **Connection Max Retries**: Specify the maximum number of times a task attempts to connect to the JMS broker. Connecting to a JMS broker may fail for multiple reasons, this field retries connections based on the specified value. - **Connection Backoff MS**: Following a connection failure, this configuration parameter is the amount of time in milliseconds to wait before attempting to reconnect to the JMS broker. - **JMS Message Format**: The format of JMS message values. - **Character Encoding**: The character encoding to use while writing the message. - **Include schema for JSON formatter**: Include schemas within each of the serialized values and keys. - **JMS Message Time to Live (ms)**: Time to live (TTL) in milliseconds for messages sent to the JMS broker. - **JMS Producer Delivery Mode**: The `PERSISTENT` delivery mode (the default) instructs the JMS provider to take extra care to ensure that a message is not lost in transit in case of a JMS provider failure. The `NON_PERSISTENT` delivery mode does not require the JMS provider to store the message or otherwise guarantee that it is not lost if the provider fails. - **Suppress RFH2 Header**: Whether to suppress or allow the inclusion of RFH2 Header. When set to true, IBM MQ uses native MQ message format instead of JMS/RFH2 format. #### NOTE If `jms.forward.kafka.headers` is set to true while this property is enabled, all Kafka header names must be valid Java identifiers and it cannot contain dots or special characters. For example, a header with name `task.generation` causes failures as they are not valid Java identifiers per the JMS specification. - **JMS Producer Disable Message Timestamp**: Sets whether message timestamps are disabled in IBM MQ. **Additional Configs** - **Value Converter Replace Null With Default**: Specifies whether to replace fields that have a default value and that are null to the default value. When set to `true`, the connector uses the default value; otherwise, it uses `null`. Applies to the `JSON` converter. - **Value Converter Schema ID Deserializer**: Sets the class name of the schema ID deserializer for values. The deserializer reads schema IDs from message headers. - **Value Converter Reference Subject Name Strategy**: Sets the subject reference name strategy for values. Valid entries are `DefaultReferenceSubjectNameStrategy` or `QualifiedReferenceSubjectNameStrategy`. You can use this strategy only with `PROTOBUF` format; the default strategy is `DefaultReferenceSubjectNameStrategy`. - **Schema ID For Value Converter**: Sets the schema ID to use for deserialization when using `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. This lets you specify a fixed schema ID for deserializing message values. This property is applicable only when `value.converter.value.schema.id.deserializer` is set to `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. - **Value Converter Schemas Enable**: Includes schema within each of the serialized values. Input messages must contain `schema` and `payload` fields and must not contain additional fields. For plain `JSON` data, set this to `false`. Applies to the `JSON` converter. - **Errors Tolerance**: Use this property to configure the connector’s error handling behavior. #### WARNING Use this property with caution for sink connectors, as it can lead to data loss. If you set this property to `all`, the connector does not fail on errant records, but logs them (and sends to DLQ for sink connectors) and continues processing. If you set this property to `none`, the connector task fails on errant records. - **Value Converter Ignore Default For Nullables**: When set to `true`, this property ensures that the corresponding record in Kafka is `null`, instead of showing the default column value. Applies to the `AVRO`, `PROTOBUF`, and `JSON_SR` converters. - **Key Converter Schema ID Deserializer**: Sets the class name of the schema ID deserializer for keys. The deserializer reads schema IDs from message headers. - **Value Converter Decimal Format**: Specifies the `JSON` or `JSON_SR` serialization format for Connect `DECIMAL` logical type values with two allowed literals: `BASE64` to serialize `DECIMAL` logical types as base64 encoded binary data, and `NUMERIC` to serialize `DECIMAL` logical type values in `JSON` or `JSON_SR` as a number representing the decimal value. - **Schema GUID For Key Converter**: Sets the schema GUID to use for deserialization when using `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. This lets you specify a fixed schema GUID for deserializing message keys. This property is applicable only when `key.converter.key.schema.id.deserializer` is set to `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. - **Schema GUID For Value Converter**: Sets the schema GUID to use for deserialization when using `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. This lets you specify a fixed schema GUID for deserializing message values. This property is applicable only when `value.converter.value.schema.id.deserializer` is set to `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. - **Value Converter Connect Meta Data**: Enables the Connect converter to add its metadata to the output schema. Applies to Avro converters. - **Value Converter Value Subject Name Strategy**: Determines how to construct the subject name under which the value schema is registered with Schema Registry. - **Key Converter Key Subject Name Strategy**: Determines how to construct the subject name for key schema registration. - **Schema ID For Key Converter**: Sets the schema ID to use for deserialization when using `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. This lets you specify a fixed schema ID for deserializing message keys. This property is applicable only when `key.converter.key.schema.id.deserializer` is set to `ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer`. **Auto-restart policy** - **Enable Connector Auto-restart**: Enables the auto-restart behavior of the connector and its task in the event of user-actionable errors. Defaults to `true`, enabling the connector to automatically restart in case of user-actionable errors. Set this property to `false` to disable auto-restart for failed connectors. If disabled, you must manually restart the connector. **Consumer configuration** - **Max poll interval(ms)**: Sets the maximum delay between subsequent consume requests to Kafka. Use this property to improve connector performance in cases when the connector cannot send records to the sink system. The default is 300,000 milliseconds (5 minutes). - **Max poll records**: Sets the maximum number of records to consume from Kafka in a single request. Use this property to improve connector performance in cases when the connector cannot send records to the sink system. The default is 500 records. **Transforms** - **Single Message Transformations**: To add a new SMT, see [Add transforms](single-message-transforms.md#cc-single-message-transforms-ui). For more information about unsupported SMTs, see [Unsupported transformations](single-message-transforms.md#cc-single-message-transforms-unsupported-transforms). For all property values and definitions, see [Configuration Properties](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-config-properties). - Click **Continue**. ### Sizing Based on the number of topic partitions you select, Confluent Cloud provides a recommended number of tasks. 1. To change the number of recommended tasks, enter the number of [tasks](/platform/current/connect/concepts.html#tasks) for the connector to use in the **Tasks** field. 2. Click **Continue**. ### Review and Launch 1. Verify the connection details. 2. Click **Launch**. The status for the connector should go from **Provisioning** to **Running**. It might take a few minutes. #### Step 5: Check the IBM MQ destination After the connector is running, verify that messages from your Kafka topics are populating the configured IBM MQ destination (queue or topic). For more information and examples to use with the Confluent Cloud API for Connect, see the [Confluent Cloud API for Connect Usage Examples](connect-api-section.md#ccloud-connect-api) section. ### Use the Confluent CLI Complete the following steps to set up and run the connector using the Confluent CLI. #### NOTE Make sure you have all your [prerequisites](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-prereqs) completed. #### Step 1: List the available connectors Enter the following command to list available connectors: ```none confluent connect plugin list ``` #### Step 2: List the connector configuration properties Enter the following command to show the connector configuration properties: ```none confluent connect plugin describe ``` The command output shows the required and optional configuration properties. #### Step 3: Create the connector configuration file Create a JSON file that contains the connector configuration properties. The following example shows the required connector properties. ```none { "name": "IbmMqSinkConnector_0", "config": { "topics": "pageviews", "connector.class": "IbmMqSink", "name": "IbmMqSinkConnector_0", "input.data.format": "AVRO", "kafka.auth.mode": "KAFKA_API_KEY", "kafka.api.key": "", "kafka.api.secret": "", "ibm.mq.host": "ibm-mq-server.example.com", "ibm.mq.port": "1414", "ibm.mq.username": "", "ibm.mq.password": "", "ibm.mq.queue.manager": "", "ibm.mq.channel": "", "jms.destination.name": "", "jms.destination.type": "queue", "tasks.max": "1" } } ``` Note the following property definitions: * `"name"`: Sets a name for your new connector. * `"connector.class"`: Identifies the connector plugin name. * `"topics"`: Identifies the topic name or a comma-separated list of topic names. * `"input.data.format"`: Sets the input Kafka record value format (data coming from the Kafka topic). Valid entries are **AVRO**, **JSON_SR**, **PROTOBUF**, **JSON**, **BYTES**, or **STRING**. You must have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if you use a schema-based message format like **AVRO**, **JSON_SR**, and **PROTOBUF**. * `"kafka.auth.mode"`: Identifies the connector authentication mode you want to use. There are two options: `SERVICE_ACCOUNT` or `KAFKA_API_KEY` (the default). To use an API key and secret, specify the configuration properties `kafka.api.key` and `kafka.api.secret`, as shown in the example configuration (above). To use a [service account](service-account.md#s3-cloud-service-account), specify the **Resource ID** in the property `kafka.service.account.id=`. To list the available service account resource IDs, use the following command: ```bash confluent iam service-account list ``` For example: ```bash confluent iam service-account list Id | Resource ID | Name | Description +---------+-------------+-------------------+------------------- 123456 | sa-l1r23m | sa-1 | Service account 1 789101 | sa-l4d56p | sa-2 | Service account 2 ``` * `"ibm.mq.host"`: The IBM MQ broker hostname. * `"ibm.mq.port"`: The IBM MQ broker port (default is typically 1414). * `"ibm.mq.username"` and `"ibm.mq.password"`: Credentials for connecting to IBM MQ. * `"ibm.mq.queue.manager"`: The name of the IBM MQ queue manager. * `"ibm.mq.channel"`: The channel for client connections. * `"jms.destination.name"`: The name of the JMS destination (queue or topic) that messages are written to. * `"jms.destination.type"`: The type of JMS destination (`queue` or `topic`). * `"tasks.max"`: Maximum [tasks](/platform/current/connect/concepts.html#tasks) for the connector to use. More tasks might improve performance. #### NOTE To enable CSFLE or CSPE for data encryption, specify the following properties: * `csfle.enabled`: Flag to indicate whether the connector honors CSFLE or CSPE rules. * `sr.service.account.id`: A Service Account to access the Schema Registry and associated encryption rules or keys with that schema. * `csfle.onFailure`: Configures the connector behavior (`ERROR` or `NONE`) on data decryption failure. If set to `ERROR`, the connector fails and writes the encrypted data in the DLQ. If set to `NONE`, the connector writes the encrypted data in the target system without decryption. When using CSFLE or CSPE with connectors that route failed messages to a Dead Letter Queue (DLQ), be aware that data sent to the DLQ is written in unencrypted plaintext. This poses a significant security risk as sensitive data that should be encrypted may be exposed in the DLQ. Do not use DLQ with CSFLE or CSPE in the current version. If you need error handling for CSFLE- or CSPE-enabled data, use alternative approaches such as: * Setting the connector behavior to `ERROR` to throw exceptions instead of routing to DLQ * Implementing custom error handling in your applications * Using `NONE` to pass encrypted data through without decryption For more information on CSFLE or CSPE setup, see [Manage encryption for connectors](csfle.md#connect-csfle). **TLS/SSL Configuration**: For TLS connections, you must supply the keystore file contents, the truststore file contents, or both, along with the file passwords when creating the JSON connector configuration. The truststore and keystore files are binary files. For the keystore and truststore properties, you must do the following: 1. Encode the truststore or keystore file in base64. 2. Take the encoded string and add the `data:text/plain;base64,` prefix. 3. Use the entire string as the property entry. For example: ```bash "tls.keystore.file": "data:text/plain;base64,/u3+7QAAAAIAAAACAAAAAQAGY2xpZ...omitted...==", "tls.keystore.password": "", "tls.truststore.file": "data:text/plain;base64,/u3+7QAAAAIAAAACAAAAAQAGY2xpZ...omitted...==", "tls.truststore.password": "" ``` **SMTs**: For details about adding SMTs using the Confluent CLI, see the [Single Message Transformations](single-message-transforms.md#cc-single-message-transforms) documentation. For limitations on SMTs with the IBM MQ Sink connector, see [IBM MQ Sink Connector](limits.md#cc-ibm-mq-sink-limits) limitations. For all property values and definitions, see [Configuration Properties](#cc-ibm-mq-sink-config-properties). #### Step 4: Load the configuration file and create the connector Enter the following command to load the configuration and start the connector: ```none confluent connect cluster create --config-file .json ``` For example: ```none confluent connect cluster create --config-file ibm-mq-sink-config.json ``` Example output: ```none Created connector IbmMqSinkConnector_0 lcc-ix4dl ``` #### Step 5: Check the connector status Enter the following command to check the connector status: ```none confluent connect cluster list ``` Example output: ```none ID | Name | Status | Type +-----------+--------------------------+---------+------+ lcc-ix4dl | IbmMqSinkConnector_0 | RUNNING | sink ``` #### Step 6: Check the IBM MQ destination After the connector is running, verify that messages from your Kafka topics are populating the configured IBM MQ destination (queue or topic). For more information and examples to use with the Confluent Cloud API for Connect, see the [Confluent Cloud API for Connect Usage Examples](connect-api-section.md#ccloud-connect-api) section. ## Configuration Properties Use the following configuration properties with the fully managed connector. For self-managed connector property definitions and other details, see the connector docs in [Self-managed connectors for Confluent Platform](/platform/current/connect/kafka_connectors.html). ### How should we connect to your data? `name` : Sets a name for your connector.
* Type: string * Valid Values: A string at most 64 characters long * Importance: high ### Which topics do you want to get data from? `topics.regex` : A regular expression that matches the names of the topics to consume from. This is useful when you want to consume from multiple topics that match a certain pattern without having to list them all individually.
* Type: string * Importance: low `topics` : Identifies the topic name or a comma-separated list of topic names.
* Type: list * Importance: high `errors.deadletterqueue.topic.name` : The name of the topic to be used as the dead letter queue (DLQ) for messages that result in an error when processed by this sink connector, or its transformations or converters. Defaults to ‘dlq-${connector}’ if not set. The DLQ topic will be created automatically if it does not exist. You can provide `${connector}` in the value to use it as a placeholder for the logical cluster ID.
* Type: string * Default: dlq-${connector} * Importance: low ### Schema Config `schema.context.name` : Add a schema context name. A schema context represents an independent scope in Schema Registry. It is a separate sub-schema tied to topics in different Kafka clusters that share the same Schema Registry instance. If not used, the connector uses the default schema configured for Schema Registry in your Confluent Cloud environment.
* Type: string * Default: default * Importance: medium ### Input messages `input.data.format` : Sets the input Kafka record value format. Valid entries are AVRO, JSON_SR, PROTOBUF, JSON, BYTES or STRING. Note that you need to have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if using a schema-based message format like AVRO, JSON_SR, and PROTOBUF.
* Type: string * Default: JSON * Importance: high `input.key.format` : Sets the input Kafka record key format. Valid entries are AVRO, BYTES, JSON, JSON_SR, PROTOBUF, or STRING. Note that you need to have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry configured if using a schema-based message format like AVRO, JSON_SR, and PROTOBUF
* Type: string * Default: JSON * Valid Values: AVRO, BYTES, JSON, JSON_SR, PROTOBUF, STRING * Importance: high ### Kafka Cluster credentials `kafka.auth.mode` : Kafka Authentication mode. It can be one of KAFKA_API_KEY or SERVICE_ACCOUNT. It defaults to KAFKA_API_KEY mode, whenever possible.
* Type: string * Valid Values: SERVICE_ACCOUNT, KAFKA_API_KEY * Importance: high `kafka.api.key` : Kafka API Key. Required when kafka.auth.mode==KAFKA_API_KEY.
* Type: password * Importance: high `kafka.service.account.id` : The Service Account that will be used to generate the API keys to communicate with Kafka Cluster.
* Type: string * Importance: high `kafka.api.secret` : Secret associated with Kafka API key. Required when kafka.auth.mode==KAFKA_API_KEY.
* Type: password * Importance: high ### IBM MQ Connection `mq.username` : The username to use when connecting to IBM MQ.
* Type: string * Importance: high `mq.password` : The password to use when connecting to IBM MQ.
* Type: password * Importance: high `mq.hostname` : IBM MQ broker host
* Type: string * Importance: high `mq.port` : IBM MQ broker port
* Type: int * Default: 1414 * Importance: high `mq.queue.manager` : The name of the queue manager.
* Type: string * Importance: high `mq.channel` : The channel for client connections.
* Type: string * Default: “” * Importance: high `disable.mqcsp.authentication` : Whether to disable MQCSP authentication in the connector. By default, the connector uses MQCSP authentication, which is the recommended secure authentication method. Disabling MQCSP will make the connector use legacy authentication mode. **WARNING: The legacy authentication mode is inherently insecure and should only be used when absolutely necessary. When MQCSP is disabled on non-SSL/TLS connections, credentials are transmitted in clear text, exposing them to potential interception and unauthorized access. It is strongly recommended to use MQCSP authentication (default) or, if legacy mode is required, configure a secure connection using SSL/TLS with an appropriate cipher suite.**
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `jms.destination.name` : The name of the JMS destination that messages are written to.
* Type: string * Importance: high `jms.destination.type` : The type of JMS destination.
* Type: string * Default: queue * Valid Values: queue, topic * Importance: high ### IBM MQ Secure Connection `mq.ssl.cipher.suite` : The CipherSuite for SSL connections.
* Type: string * Default: “” * Importance: high `mq.ssl.fips.required` : Whether SSL FIPS is required.
* Type: boolean * Importance: high `mq.ssl.peer.name` : Sets a distinguished name (DN) pattern. If sslCipherSuite is set, this pattern can ensure that the correct queue manager is used. The connection attempt fails if the distinguished name provided by the queue manager does not match this pattern.
* Type: string * Default: “” * Importance: high `mq.tls.protocol` : The TLS protocol version for secure connections to IBM MQ.
* Type: string * Default: TLSv1.2 * Valid Values: TLSv1.2, TLSv1.3 * Importance: medium `mq.tls.keystore.type` : The file format of the key store file. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: string * Default: JKS * Importance: medium `mq.tls.keystore.location` : The key store file. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: password * Importance: high `mq.tls.keystore.password` : The store password for the key store file. This is optional for client and only needed if `TLS Keystore file` is configured.
* Type: password * Importance: high `mq.tls.key.password` : The password of the private key used for secure TLS communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: password * Importance: high `mq.tls.truststore.type` : The file format of the trust store file. This is required when using TLS and secure communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: string * Default: JKS * Importance: medium `mq.tls.truststore.location` : The trust store file. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: password * Importance: high `mq.tls.truststore.password` : The password for the trust store file.
* Type: password * Importance: high `mq.tls.keymanager.algorithm` : The algorithm used by key manager factory for SSL connections. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: string * Default: SunX509 * Valid Values: PKIX, SunX509 * Importance: low `mq.tls.trustmanager.algorithm` : The algorithm used by trust manager factory for SSL connections. This is required only when using secure TLS communication with IBM MQ.
* Type: string * Default: PKIX * Valid Values: PKIX, SunX509 * Importance: low `mq.tls.secure.random.implementation` : The SecureRandom PRNG implementation to use for SSL cryptography operations.
* Type: string * Valid Values: NativePRNG, NativePRNGBlocking, NativePRNGNonBlocking, PKCS11, SHA1PRNG, Windows-PRNG * Importance: low ### JMS details `jms.forward.kafka.key` : Convert the Kafka record key to a string and forward it on the JMS Message property JMSCorrelationID.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `jms.forward.kafka.metadata` : Forward the Kafka record metadata on the JMS Message properties. This includes the record topic, partition, and offset.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `jms.forward.kafka.headers` : Add the Kafka record headers to the JMS Message as string properties.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `jms.connection.max.retries` : Connecting to a JMS broker may fail for multiple reasons. This determines the maximum number of times a task attempts to connect to the JMS broker.
* Type: int * Default: 5 * Valid Values: [0,…,25] * Importance: medium `jms.connection.backoff.ms` : Following a connection failure, this configuration parameter is the amount of time in milliseconds to wait before attempting to reconnect to the JMS broker.
* Type: long * Default: 2000 (2 seconds) * Valid Values: [0,…,120000] * Importance: medium ### Exactly-once delivery `exactly.once.enabled` : When enabled, uses transacted JMS sessions and stores Kafka offsets in IBM MQ to provide exactly-once delivery semantics. Requires mq.offsets.queue.name to be configured.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: high `mq.offsets.queue.name` : The name of the IBM MQ queue used to store Kafka offsets for exactly-once delivery. Required when exactly.once.enabled is set to true.
* Type: string * Importance: high ### JMS formatter `jms.message.format` : The format of JMS message values.
* Type: string * Default: string * Valid Values: bytes, json, string * Importance: high `character.encoding` : The character encoding to use while writing the message.
* Type: string * Default: UTF-8 * Valid Values: UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, US-ASCII, UTF-16, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE * Importance: low `jms.message.format.schemas.enable` : Include schemas within each of the serialized values and keys.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: medium ### JMS MessageProducer `jms.producer.time.to.live.ms` : Time to live (TTL) in milliseconds for messages sent to the JMS broker.
* Type: long * Default: 0 * Importance: low `jms.producer.delivery.mode` : The `PERSISTENT` delivery mode (the default) instructs the JMS provider to take extra care to ensure that a message is not lost in transit in case of a JMS provider failure. The `NON_PERSISTENT` delivery mode does not require the JMS provider to store the message or otherwise guarantee that it is not lost if the provider fails.
* Type: string * Default: persistent * Valid Values: non_persistent, persistent * Importance: low `jms.producer.disable.message.timestamp` : Sets whether message timestamps are disabled in IBM MQ.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `mq.destination.suppress.rfh2` : Whether to suppress or allow the inclusion of RFH2 Header. When set to true, IBM MQ uses native MQ message format instead of JMS/RFH2 format. Note: If `jms.forward.kafka.headers` is set to true while this property is enabled, all Kafka header names must be valid Java identifiers and it cannot contain dots or special characters. For example, a header with name `task.generation` will cause failures as they are not valid Java identifiers per the JMS specification.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low ### Consumer configuration `max.poll.interval.ms` : The maximum delay between subsequent consume requests to Kafka. This configuration property may be used to improve the performance of the connector, if the connector cannot send records to the sink system. Defaults to 300000 milliseconds (5 minutes).
* Type: long * Default: 300000 (5 minutes) * Valid Values: [60000,…,1800000] for non-dedicated clusters and [60000,…] for dedicated clusters * Importance: low `max.poll.records` : The maximum number of records to consume from Kafka in a single request. This configuration property may be used to improve the performance of the connector, if the connector cannot send records to the sink system. Defaults to 500 records.
* Type: long * Default: 500 * Valid Values: [1,…,500] for non-dedicated clusters and [1,…] for dedicated clusters * Importance: low ### Number of tasks for this connector `tasks.max` : Maximum number of tasks for the connector.
* Type: int * Valid Values: [1,…] * Importance: high ### Additional Configs `consumer.override.auto.offset.reset` : Defines the behavior of the consumer when there is no committed position (which occurs when the group is first initialized) or when an offset is out of range. You can choose either to reset the position to the “earliest” offset (the default) or the “latest” offset. You can also select “none” if you would rather set the initial offset yourself and you are willing to handle out of range errors manually. More details: [https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/configuration/consumer-configs.html#auto-offset-reset](https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/configuration/consumer-configs.html#auto-offset-reset)
* Type: string * Importance: low `consumer.override.isolation.level` : Controls how to read messages written transactionally. If set to read_committed, consumer.poll() will only return transactional messages which have been committed. If set to read_uncommitted (the default), consumer.poll() will return all messages, even transactional messages which have been aborted. Non-transactional messages will be returned unconditionally in either mode. More details: [https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/configuration/consumer-configs.html#isolation-level](https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/configuration/consumer-configs.html#isolation-level)
* Type: string * Importance: low `header.converter` : The converter class for the headers. This is used to serialize and deserialize the headers of the messages.
* Type: string * Importance: low `key.converter.use.schema.guid` : The schema GUID to use for deserialization when using ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer. This allows you to specify a fixed schema GUID to be used for deserializing message keys. Only applicable when key.converter.key.schema.id.deserializer is set to ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer.
* Type: string * Importance: low `key.converter.use.schema.id` : The schema ID to use for deserialization when using ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer. This allows you to specify a fixed schema ID to be used for deserializing message keys. Only applicable when key.converter.key.schema.id.deserializer is set to ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer.
* Type: int * Importance: low `value.converter.allow.optional.map.keys` : Allow optional string map key when converting from Connect Schema to Avro Schema. Applicable for Avro Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.auto.register.schemas` : Specify if the Serializer should attempt to register the Schema.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.connect.meta.data` : Allow the Connect converter to add its metadata to the output schema. Applicable for Avro Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.enhanced.avro.schema.support` : Enable enhanced schema support to preserve package information and Enums. Applicable for Avro Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.enhanced.protobuf.schema.support` : Enable enhanced schema support to preserve package information. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.flatten.unions` : Whether to flatten unions (oneofs). Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.generate.index.for.unions` : Whether to generate an index suffix for unions. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.generate.struct.for.nulls` : Whether to generate a struct variable for null values. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.int.for.enums` : Whether to represent enums as integers. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.latest.compatibility.strict` : Verify latest subject version is backward compatible when use.latest.version is true.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.object.additional.properties` : Whether to allow additional properties for object schemas. Applicable for JSON_SR Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.optional.for.nullables` : Whether nullable fields should be specified with an optional label. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.optional.for.proto2` : Whether proto2 optionals are supported. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.scrub.invalid.names` : Whether to scrub invalid names by replacing invalid characters with valid characters. Applicable for Avro and Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.use.latest.version` : Use latest version of schema in subject for serialization when auto.register.schemas is false.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.use.optional.for.nonrequired` : Whether to set non-required properties to be optional. Applicable for JSON_SR Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.use.schema.guid` : The schema GUID to use for deserialization when using ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer. This allows you to specify a fixed schema GUID to be used for deserializing message values. Only applicable when value.converter.value.schema.id.deserializer is set to ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer.
* Type: string * Importance: low `value.converter.use.schema.id` : The schema ID to use for deserialization when using ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer. This allows you to specify a fixed schema ID to be used for deserializing message values. Only applicable when value.converter.value.schema.id.deserializer is set to ConfigSchemaIdDeserializer.
* Type: int * Importance: low `value.converter.wrapper.for.nullables` : Whether nullable fields should use primitive wrapper messages. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `value.converter.wrapper.for.raw.primitives` : Whether a wrapper message should be interpreted as a raw primitive at root level. Applicable for Protobuf Converters.
* Type: boolean * Importance: low `errors.tolerance` : Use this property if you would like to configure the connector’s error handling behavior. WARNING: This property should be used with CAUTION for SOURCE CONNECTORS as it may lead to dataloss. If you set this property to ‘all’, the connector will not fail on errant records, but will instead log them (and send to DLQ for Sink Connectors) and continue processing. If you set this property to ‘none’, the connector task will fail on errant records.
* Type: string * Default: all * Importance: low `key.converter.key.schema.id.deserializer` : The class name of the schema ID deserializer for keys. This is used to deserialize schema IDs from the message headers.
* Type: string * Default: io.confluent.kafka.serializers.schema.id.DualSchemaIdDeserializer * Importance: low `key.converter.key.subject.name.strategy` : How to construct the subject name for key schema registration.
* Type: string * Default: TopicNameStrategy * Importance: low `key.converter.replace.null.with.default` : Whether to replace fields that have a default value and that are null to the default value. When set to true, the default value is used, otherwise null is used. Applicable for JSON Key Converter.
* Type: boolean * Default: true * Importance: low `key.converter.schemas.enable` : Include schemas within each of the serialized keys. Input message keys must contain schema and payload fields and may not contain additional fields. For plain JSON data, set this to false. Applicable for JSON Key Converter.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `value.converter.decimal.format` : Specify the JSON/JSON_SR serialization format for Connect DECIMAL logical type values with two allowed literals:
BASE64 to serialize DECIMAL logical types as base64 encoded binary data and
NUMERIC to serialize Connect DECIMAL logical type values in JSON/JSON_SR as a number representing the decimal value.
* Type: string * Default: BASE64 * Importance: low `value.converter.flatten.singleton.unions` : Whether to flatten singleton unions. Applicable for Avro and JSON_SR Converters.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `value.converter.ignore.default.for.nullables` : When set to true, this property ensures that the corresponding record in Kafka is NULL, instead of showing the default column value. Applicable for AVRO,PROTOBUF and JSON_SR Converters.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `value.converter.reference.subject.name.strategy` : Set the subject reference name strategy for value. Valid entries are DefaultReferenceSubjectNameStrategy or QualifiedReferenceSubjectNameStrategy. Note that the subject reference name strategy can be selected only for PROTOBUF format with the default strategy being DefaultReferenceSubjectNameStrategy.
* Type: string * Default: DefaultReferenceSubjectNameStrategy * Importance: low `value.converter.replace.null.with.default` : Whether to replace fields that have a default value and that are null to the default value. When set to true, the default value is used, otherwise null is used. Applicable for JSON Converter.
* Type: boolean * Default: true * Importance: low `value.converter.schemas.enable` : Include schemas within each of the serialized values. Input messages must contain schema and payload fields and may not contain additional fields. For plain JSON data, set this to false. Applicable for JSON Converter.
* Type: boolean * Default: false * Importance: low `value.converter.value.schema.id.deserializer` : The class name of the schema ID deserializer for values. This is used to deserialize schema IDs from the message headers.
* Type: string * Default: io.confluent.kafka.serializers.schema.id.DualSchemaIdDeserializer * Importance: low `value.converter.value.subject.name.strategy` : Determines how to construct the subject name under which the value schema is registered with Schema Registry.
* Type: string * Default: TopicNameStrategy * Importance: low ### Auto-restart policy `auto.restart.on.user.error` : Enable connector to automatically restart on user-actionable errors.
* Type: boolean * Default: true * Importance: medium ## Frequently asked questions Find answers to frequently asked questions about the IBM MQ Sink connector for Confluent Cloud. ### Why does my connector fail when I try to configure the `mq.destination.suppress.rfh2` parameter? The `mq.destination.suppress.rfh2` configuration is exposed in the fully managed connector. #### NOTE If `jms.forward.kafka.headers` is set to true while this property is enabled, all Kafka header names must be valid Java identifiers and cannot contain dots or special characters. For example, a header with name `task.generation` will cause failures as they are not valid Java identifiers per the JMS specification. ### How do I rectify format incompatibility errors? * Ensure the input data format specified in the `input.data.format` parameter matches your Kafka topic data. * For schema-based formats, ensure that you have Confluent Cloud Schema Registry enabled. ### How can I improve the connector throughput? You can improve the connector throughput by increasing the number of tasks using the `tasks.max` parameter. ### My connector fails to write to IBM MQ with permission or queue errors. What should I check? Verify the following: - The target IBM MQ queue or topic specified in `jms.destination.name` exists and is correctly configured in your IBM MQ queue manager. - The credentials provided (`ibm.mq.username` and `ibm.mq.password`) have appropriate write permissions to the destination. - The `jms.destination.type` parameter is correctly set to `queue` or `topic` based on your IBM MQ configuration. - Your IBM MQ queue manager (`ibm.mq.queue.manager`) and channel (`ibm.mq.channel`) settings are correct. ## Next Steps For an example that shows fully managed Confluent Cloud connectors in action with Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink, see the [Cloud ETL Demo](/platform/current/tutorials/examples/cloud-etl/docs/index.html). This example also shows how to use Confluent CLI to manage your resources in Confluent Cloud. [](https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/tutorials/examples/cloud-etl/docs/index.html)