Ed has updated the Roadmap for OpenMQ with the information related to OpenMQ 4.4, targeted for GlassFish v3. Key features include: • JMS Bridge -- Connect to other Open MQ clusters, or other JMS products • STOMP -- use the Streaming Text Oriented Message Protocol in Open MQ • Embedding -- Use Open MQ as an embedded messaging provider in your own Java application Full details at OpenMQ 4.4 Feature Page.

Masoud has a nice Detailed Writeup explaining how to configure OpenMQ (the GlassFish JMS implementation) to run over HTTP. This is very useful in constrained situations, for example... An untrusted applet can communicate back to a server which it is initiated from (server which hosted the applet and delivered the .class and jar files). So your applet can either use mq protocol or it can use JMS over HTTP protocol which is shown in the sample.

BTW, Masoud also briely mentions the new UMS feature in OpenMQ and positions it relative to JMS over HTTP. Full details in Masoud's Writeup.

Linda has provided great information on OpenMQ in the past (see OpenMQ@TA and her Santa Webinar). I'm looking forward to new posts from Linda but, in the meantime, Nigel is Joining the Blogosphere. Nigel's first post is on Consumer flow control and Message-Driven Beans where he describes "how to configure consumer flow control for messages delivered to MDBs running in an application server such as Glassfish". The note is really a mini-article that covers Message pre-sending, Consumer Flow Control and Connection Flow Control and includes plenty of details and illustrative diagrams.

Welcome to the Blogosphere, Nigel!

Going back a little bit to the GlassFish v2.1 release (January 2009), if you're into JMS (the most under-used Java EE technology IMO) it's important to notice that OpenMQ 4.3 is now shipping with this latest version of the application server (full documentation here). The most obvious new feature listed in the Release Notes is UMS (Universal Message Service).

Universal Message Service (UMS) is documented here and offers access to Message Queue from any HTTP client. OpenMQ ships with C#, Python and Ajax examples which are also featured in this nice screencast demo (last in the series of videos). Performance-wise, UMS is not a replacement to the existing C and Java APIs but still a nice addition to GlassFish 2.1 and MQ 4.3.

OpenMQ was recently highlighted on The Aquarium TV (archive). You can find a quick overview of version 4.3 (and what led to this release) on the GlassFish Podcast in episode #26. Also, make sure you listen to Linda's "Santa Claus" presentation in the following episode (#27). Well worth the time for anyone interested in JMS architectures.

I've uploaded the multi-media recordings from the Jan 9th, 2009 presentation on OpenMQ 4.3 and the new Universal Messsaging System REST API. Video recordings are available as FLV, Quicktime, iPod/320x240 and Audio only, screencast as Quicktime/MP4, slides in PDF and SlideShare. Feedback always welcome.

PS. despite the fact that 6 of the last 9 entries are about webinars, we do carry other news too! :-)

Our first webinar of 2009 is this Friday (not Thursday!), Jan 9th, 11:00 am PT. Ed Bratt and Linda Schenider will provide an overview of the recent OpenMQ 4.3 release (to be included in GFv2.1 and GlassFish ESB) and will go into more details on the new Universal Messaging Service showing examples of its use from AJAX, C# and Python. Slides and other material will be posted to the Presentation Page - if you have any questions ahead of the presentation, please add them as comments there, or just ask them during the presentation via the chat.

OpenMQ 4.3 is now available (download). This release will be included in GlassFish v2.1 but also is useful on its own. One of the most interesting pieces is the new http-based Universal Messaging Service which can be used to access OpenMQ from a browser using AJAX, as well .Net, Python, Ruby, and many others (including Java!) - see Intro, Samples, Protocol and Configuration. Other functionality includes new platforms (AIX, Oracle 11g, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008), a new installer, and additional Samples for things like talking to HermesJMS and STOMP.

Sun's distribution of OpenMQ still uses the "Sun Java System" brand but it follows the standard GlassFish Enterprise Business Model - see Product Page, Documentation and Downloads. And you can can purchase Commercial Subscription Support.

Glenn has converted GroovyBlogs to a "(largely) message driven architecture" running on Grails on top of GlassFish Server using OpenMQ. Like in the Recent Note on GridDynamics, Glenn started using ActiveMQ and switched to OpenMQ for better stability. He used OpenMQ with HermesJMS for monitoring and with the JMS Plugin for Grails integration.

Check out the details in Glen's note; or check out the NetCraft Report on GroovyBlogs. Additional entries are tagged OpenMQ

Max Gorbunov, from Grid Dynamics has been testing scalability of GridGain Software for a Monte Carlo Simulation on Amazon EC2. Max initially used ActiveMQ but later switched to OpenMQ to address scalability and ease of use stability and robustness issues. The stack showed linear scalability up to 512 nodes. Check out Max's full report and the Press Release. Also check previous entries tagged as OpenMQ

OpenMQ, the high-quality and Open Source JMS implementation integrated into GlassFish and OpenESB has now reached 4.2 final. OpenMQ is rock-solid and now has wildcard topic destinations, XML message validation, C-API support tested with Tuxedo, support for MySQL Cluster Edition for HA, MySQL Enterprise Edition for standard JDBC message stores, and more.

If you are new to OpenMQ, check this features list. Full product documentation is available here, the user FAQ is there and the mailing list is at users-AT-mq.dev.java.net. And you're interested in what's coming next, be sure to checkout the roadmap: more APIs, especially scripting and .Net, but also "Better administration integration with GlassFish".

People are noticing the quality and Big references are coming. In the meantime, make sure you've listened to Wotif.com's and SNCF's production use of OpenMQ.

To track OpenMQ, follow the openmq tag.

Ed has announced the second Release Candidate for OpenMQ 4.2, now available at the Downloads Page. Features include: • Performance Improvements • Multiple Destinations for a Publisher or Subscriber • Schema Validation of XML Payload Messages • C-API Support for Distributed Transactions • Support for MySQL Database • Installer Support for Sun Connection Registration Full details at Release Notes and 4.2 Highlights. Earlier TA entries on OpenMQ are here.

Please send any feedback to USERS at mq dot dev dot java dot net.

Fresh from Ed and Linda: a OpenMQ Roadmap. The web site has also improved a lot recently and contains much more information.

The current release is 4.1; highlights included JDBC HA, Takeover and JMX interface. Downloads @Java.Net and @Sun.Com (that's under the Sun Java Message Queue brand). OpenMQ 4.2 is the latest release; beta is scheduled for late June and FCS for July. Highlights include Wildcards, XML Schema Validation, Registration, MySQL support, C-API for XA and Performance improvements. See content details and downloads. The "4.2.next" release is being planned now and is tentatively scheduled for end of 2008. The Roadmap lists the features being considered but Send your Feedback.

The OpenMQ team is always interested in hearing from you at the USERS@mq.dev.java.net alias (starting to grow nicely). Enjoy!

Alexis has collected a few good links on OpenMQ in his OpenMQ, the untold story. Noteworthy are the adoption stories from SNCF, TravelMuse, OakAir, RTL and Wotif, and the two uStream.TV videos from CommunityOne: video, part 1 and video, part 2. BTW, I can't find a public page with the roadmap for OpenMQ. I'll post it when I find it.

George joins Linda in writing about Open MQ. His first entry announced the latest SPEC benchmark: SPECjms2007. This benchmark is analogous to the SPECjAppServer 2004 we have reported regarding the GlassFish AppServer; hopefully OpenMQ will post as good numbers as GlassFish and the Sun WebServer - see TA entries. George's latest entry is a request for feedback from OpenMQ Users. Try OpenMQ through GlassFish or its Standalone Download and submit your comments through USERS@mq.dev.java.net.

Linda has two new posts; one builds on her popular JMS 101 introduction; in the Follow-up Entry she expands the hello world example to use JNDI and administered objects. The second entry is more advanced and covers High Availability in JMS. Linda talks about brokers, clusters, and stores in the OpenMQ implementation and points to the future directions for the project. The OpenMQ team is always interested in your comments at USERS@mq; the binaries are included in GlassFish and separately at their Download Page. Enjoy!