Sample Exam Questions

Sample exam questions turn tutorial reading into exam reflexes: you recognize why 2035 is authorization not network, why a sender channel in BINDING is not fixed by increasing MAXDEPTH, and why DISABLE CHLAUTH is almost never the right multiple-choice answer. IBM certification items often wrap these facts in short scenarios—a bank batch job, a channel after firewall change, a Java client after queue manager migration. This page provides original practice questions grouped for administrator and developer study, scenario-style prompts, answer explanations, and a large TutorialQuiz for repeated drills. These are not leaked real exam items; they mirror skills IBM lists in public objective guides. Use them after hands-on labs and before paying exam fees.

How to Practice

  1. Cover one objective domain per study session (security, channels, etc.).
  2. Answer without notes; mark misses for lab rework.
  3. Read explanation even when correct—wrong distractors teach patterns.
  4. Retry missed questions after 48 hours.
  5. Book exam when scores stay high across mixed sets.

Administrator-Style Questions

Question A1: Channel Security

A remote application connects to SVRCONN CHAN.APP on QM1. CHLAUTH is ENABLED. The client asserts user bob. BLOCKUSER lists bob. The connection fails before RUNNING. What is the best fix?

  • A) DISABLE CHLAUTH on QM1
  • B) Remove bob from BLOCKUSER or use a different asserted user allowed by CHLAUTH and OAM
  • C) Delete the listener
  • D) Set MAXDEPTH on SYSTEM.CHANNEL.SYNCQ to 999999

Answer: B. BLOCKUSER exists to block specific asserted IDs. Disabling CHLAUTH (A) removes enterprise controls. C and D do not address authentication policy.

Question A2: Transmission Queue

Messages on QREMOTE PAY.TO.PARTNER route to QM2. CURDEPTH on SYSTEM.TRANSMIT.QM2 grows. SDR channel to QM2 is INACTIVE. Applications successfully MQPUT to PAY.TO.PARTNER. What should the administrator do first?

  • A) Increase MAXDEPTH on PAY.TO.PARTNER only
  • B) START CHANNEL(SDR.QM2) or fix why channel does not auto-start
  • C) DELETE QLOCAL on QM2
  • D) Disable persistence globally

Answer: B. Messages accumulate on XMITQ until the sender channel moves them. PUT succeeds locally; movement is channel responsibility.

Question A3: Log Full

Producers receive MQRC indicating logging not available. DISPLAY QMSTATUS shows log utilization critical. Disk on log volume is full. Best immediate action pair?

  • A) Delete active log files manually
  • B) Extend disk or archive logs per procedure and investigate long uncommitted transactions
  • C) DISABLE CHLAUTH
  • D) Reinstall MQ without backup

Answer: B. Never delete active logs (A) without IBM support guidance. C and D are unrelated.

Developer-Style Questions

Question D1: Syncpoint

An application MQPUTs three messages under syncpoint, then calls MQBACK. What happens to the three messages?

  • A) Committed to queue
  • B) Not visible to other consumers—they are rolled back from the unit of work
  • C) Automatically sent to DLQ
  • D) Converted to non-persistent

Answer: B. MQBACK rolls back the UOW unless a broken transaction requires admin resolution.

Question D2: Request-Reply

A server program replies to requests. Clients report duplicate replies after restart. Which design weakness is most likely?

  • A) Server not using CorrelId to match request MsgId
  • B) Server using TLS 1.3
  • C) Queue manager named QM1
  • D) Using persistent messages only

Answer: A. Correlation ties reply to request; missing correlation causes wrong delivery or retries that look like duplicates when consumers are not idempotent.

Question D3: Reason Code

MQOPEN returns MQRC 2035. The application user should have access. The queue manager uses CHLAUTH on SVRCONN. What should the developer verify with the administrator?

  • A) Effective MCAUSER or adopted context and OAM profiles for that principal
  • B) BATCHSZ on sender channel only
  • C) Log file page size
  • D) COBOL compile options

Answer: A. 2035 is not authorized—effective identity after channel security may differ from the developer laptop username.

Scenario Table Drill

Match symptom to first investigation step
SymptomFirst step
2059 connection brokenChannel/listener status, host, port, firewall
2085 unknown objectDISPLAY QLOCAL, spelling, QM name
Channel RETRY loopAMQERR both sides, CHLAUTH, TLS
Poison message loopBACKOUTTHRESH, DLQ, consumer fix
Slow restart after crashLog replay size, checkpoint tuning

Timed Quiz Section

Use the quiz below as a ten-minute drill. Aim for eight of ten correct before mixing administrator and developer certifications in one sitting.

Explain Like I'm Five: Sample Exam Questions

Practice questions are flashcards for grown-ups—you see a problem story and pick the fix before the real test asks the same kind of story.

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1

Write five original scenario questions from your lab mistakes; swap with a study partner.

Exercise 2

Complete TutorialQuiz below twice; track score improvement.

Exercise 3

Map each missed quiz topic to one certification lab task.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Test Your Knowledge

Test Your Knowledge

1. A queue has DEFPSIST(YES). After unclean QM shutdown, messages:

  • Typically survive if committed persistent
  • Always deleted
  • Become non-persistent
  • Move to SMTP

2. CHLAUTH ENABLED blocks anonymous client. Fix:

  • Scoped ALLOW rule or valid auth
  • DISABLE CHLAUTH globally
  • Delete listener
  • Format disk

3. Application gets MQRC 2085 on OPEN. First check:

  • Queue name and QM resolution
  • DNS only
  • JCL class
  • COBOL AREA B

4. Sender channel stuck in BINDING. Likely:

  • Name mismatch or CHLAUTH/TLS
  • MAXDEPTH on QLOCAL
  • Only GET rate
  • Only log size

5. Syncpoint MQBACK after MQPUT:

  • Removes message from UOW
  • Commits message
  • Deletes queue manager
  • Starts channel
Published
Read time22 min
AuthorMainframeMaster
Verified: IBM MQ 9.4 documentation