The Apache Qpid Broker-J is an 100% Java implementation and as such it can be used on any operating system supporting Java 1.8 or higher^[3]. This includes Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, and Windows 7/8/10 etc.

The broker has been tested with Java implementations from both Oracle and IBM. Whatever platform you chose, it is recommended that you ensure it is patched with any critical updates made available from the vendor.

Verify that your JVM is installed properly by following these instructions.

The Broker installation requires approximately 20MB of free disk space.

The Broker also requires a working directory. The working directory is used for the message store, that is, the area of the file-system used to record messages whilst they are passing through the Broker. The working directory is also used for the default location of the log file. The size of the working directory will depend on the how the Broker is used.

The performance of the file system hosting the work directory is key to the performance of Broker as a whole. For best performance, choose a device that has low latency and one that is uncontended by other applications.

Be aware that there are additional considerations if you are considering hosting the working directory on NFS.

Qpid caches messages in memory for performance reasons, so in general, the Broker will benefit from as much memory as possible. However, on a 32bit JVM, the maximum addressable memory range for a process is 4GB, after leaving space for the JVM's own use this will give a maximum usable size of approximately ~3.7GB.

See Section 9.11, “Memory” for a full description of how memory is used.

Installation or operation of Qpid does not require a privileged account (i.e. root on UNIX platforms or Administrator on Windows). However it is suggested that you use an dedicated account (e.g. qpid) for the installation and operation of the Broker.