Hi all,

I am pretty sure not everybody is aware of our Software Logistics Idea Space, so I thought about how I could promote it and how to make it easier for you to profit from this direct channel to SAP development.

Now, this blog is one of the results of these considerations. It is intended a) to give a short overview of the latest submitted ideas in our space for software logistics and b) to list ideas with a high activity level – intention is to help you to find interesting topics and hopefully to motivate you to contribute by promoting existing ideas or raising new ones .

But let’s begin this first blog (in a possible series of regular updates of ongoing activities in our idea space) with a quick overview of the offering and concept.

What is the Software Logistics Idea Space all about?

By raising new ideas or collaborating on existing ones in the Software Logistics Idea Space, everyone can influence the future of software logistics procedures and processes. There, you can submit new ideas, vote for existing ideas and connect directly with the teams at SAP that are in charge of the software logistics procedures. For more information, also see the SCN document How to Influence the Development of Software Logistics Processes.

Current Activities in the Software Logistics Idea Space

A. Latest Submitted Ideas

In the last weeks, the following ideas were created:

• Category System Transformation:

  • D11903 - Several bugs in System Rename procedure: this idea was already accepted by SAP development - although SAP Idea Place is not intended as support channel (so we would normally have to decline such ideas), the development team anyhow intended to rework the procedure and plan to consider this issue as part of this, so they decided to accept this as an exception.

  • D11664 - Cross platform OS/DB migration using NZDT

• Category Maintenance and Upgrade Management:
  • D11749 - Shadow instance: configurable memory parameters

B. Ideas with High Activity Level

Here, you see the list of ideas with the highest number of votes that have the status submitted, under review, needs more info, for future consideration, or not planned (as these ideas are not accepted or offered by SAP yet):

Besides the listed ideas, there are several other ideas in the Software Logistics Idea Space, of course. So, use this as starting point for browsing through existing ideas about how the processes in the software logistics area could be improved – and feel free to submit new ideas based on your experience with our tools and processes!

I hope I could make you a little it curious and motivate you to use this – from my perspective – great channel where you can influence SAP development !

Have fun,

Boris

DMO will update and migrate your SAP system to the SAP HANA DB, so before starting DMO we need:

• Source database with application data and (productive) repository on source release
• Primary Application Server (PAS; fka central instance) with kernel on the SAP source release
• SAP HANA DB as target database on a separate host (as an appliance)
• Software Update Manager (SUM) on PAS host (SAPup is covering the ABAP part)
• SAP Host Agent on PAS host (updated to enable DMO communication)
• Browser on frontend to display user interface

In the web browser, we open the respective URL which sends an HTTP request to SAP Host Agent. After we have provided credentials, the request is forwarded to SAPup which is started on PAS host.

Uptime processing means the SAP system is still running and end users can work productively with the system. Still the SUM is preparing the system update by creating a shadow system: a shadow instance on the PAS host working on a shadow repository (on the new SAP release). The shadow instance is based on the shadow kernel, which is the new kernel (new SAP release) for the old (source) database.

After the shadow repository was created on the source database (without influencing the productive use of the system), the shadow repository is copied onto the SAP HANA database. It is the target repository now, as it is already on the new SAP release, and on the target database.

Now the system is being shut down, and the downtime processing starts. During this phase, the application data are migrated from the source to the target database. Like for a classical migration, the tool R3 load is used which is part of the kernel. R3load pairs are doing the export and import. The first R3 load (part of the shadow kernel) is exporting the data, the second R3load (part of the target kernel) is importing the data into SAP HANA DB.

Both R3loads are running in parallel on the same host. No export files (dump files) are created because the data transfer between the R3load pair happens throught the main memory of the host. This R3load option is called memory pipes (currently only for non-windows hosts).

Note that this procedure requires to have two additional kernel sets: shadow kernel (new release for source DB) and target kernel (new release on target DB). They will have to be selected manually during use of Maintenance Optimizer (MOpz).

After the migration is done, SUM will provide the target kernel for the SAP system (kernel switch) and finish the combined update and migration. The system is switched on and can be used.

Note that during the complete procedure, the source database continues to run and is not changed. In case of any reason to return to the source database, a simple reset procedure offered by SUM can be used, and the state before shutting down the system is restored (without the need for a manual database restore). The SUM will deleted the data from SAP HANA DB, will restore the old kernel, and will delete the shadow repository.

Overview on tools delivered with SL Toolset 1.0 SPS 10

Availability: SL Toolset 1.0 SPS 10 is available since March 17th 2014.

What's in:

• compared with SPS 09, no new tool joined the SL Toolset 1.0
• existing tools are improved and updated: some tools are delivered in a new SP, some without (when only minor fixes where done)
• “nZDM 1.0 for SAP NetWeaver Portal” has been renamed to “nZDM 1.0 for SAP NetWeaver Java”

Further information on the SL Toolset SPS 10:

• SAP Note 1871178 (Release Note for SL Toolset 1.0 SPS 10; logon required)
• Quick link /sltoolset on SAP Service Marketplace (logon required)
• Idea Space for the Software Logistics Toolset and its tools

"nZDM for SAP NetWeaver Java" 1.0 SP10

Offering

• implement Support Packages and patches for SAP NetWeaver Portal with minimal technical downtime of a few minutes
• Target Products: SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.02, 7.3x, 7.4

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• rename of tool: “nZDM 1.0 for SAP NetWeaver Portal” -> “nZDM 1.0 for SAP NetWeaver Java”
• nZDM functionality for SAP NetWeaver BPM available on request (SAP Note 1989052; logon required)

More information

• SAP Note 1900362

"nZDM for SAP NetWeaver PI" 1.0 SP04

Offering

• implement Support Packages for SAP Process Integration (SAP PI) with minimal technical downtime of app. 30 minutes
• Target Products: SAP NetWeaver PI dual stack 7.10, 7.11, 7.30, 7.31

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• (no changes)

More information

• SAP Note 1435235
• SCN content: Near Zero Downtime Management for SAP Netweaver Process Integration (nZDM/PI) available on Service Marketplace

Software Provisioning Manager 1.0 SP 05

Offering

Software provisioning manager 1.0 provides the latest SAPinst version that enables software provisioning processes for several products and releases for all platforms – as a result, you can just download the latest version of the software provisioning manager and automatically get support of the latest products, versions and platforms – including latest fixes in the tool and supported processes.

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• System rename of SAP systems running on Microsoft Windows offers change of domain
• Declustering and depooling offered for installation and copy of SAP systems on IBM DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows
• Installation support for further product versions (such as SAP NetWeaver  7.4 SR1)
• Installation of additional application server considers existing Kernel version of corresponding SAP system
• Diagnostics Agent does no longer get installed automatically with an SAP system per default
• Installation of SAP systems on SAP HANA considers time zone of database

More information

• SAP Note 1680045 (Central Release Note Software Provisioning Manager 1.0)
• SAP Note 1619720 on System Rename
• SAP Note 1797362 (Dual Stack Split for Systems based on SAP NetWeaver)
• SCN content Software Provisioning Manager 1.0
• SCN content System Rename
• SCN content Dual-Stack Split

Software Update Manager 1.0 SP 10

Offering

• Consolidation of different software logistics tools into one unified software logistics tool
• Runtime reduction: Higher degree of parallelization for certain phase types
• Downtime reduction: Enhanced Shadow System capabilities for specific use cases

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• Database Migration Option (DMO) may now include the Unicode Conversion (for single code pages)

More information

• SAP Note 1843776 (Central Release Note SUM SP10)
• SCN content: Software Update Manager (SUM): introducing the tool for software maintenance
• SCN content: Database Migration Option (DMO) of SUM - Introduction

Standalone Task Manager for Lifecycle Management Automation 1.0 SP 01

Offering

This is a light-weight and easy-to-use automation tool to validate and setup Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) based connections in the landscape. The tool validates the SSL configuration settings both, for ABAP and for Java environments and generates HTML reports that can be used for further analysis. It also performs SSL configuration automatically and describes required manual tasks.
The tool enables to establish connectivity between ERP system and CRM

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• No Changes

More information

• SAP Note 1891353 (Standalone Task Manager for LM Automation 1.0)
• SCN content: Secure Technical Configuration with the Lifecycle Management

SAPSetup 9.0

Offering

SAPSetup offers easy and reliable functionality for installations of different scales:

• Installation of frontend products without administrator permissions
• Configuration and export of installation packages containing multiple products
• Consistency check
• central log file analysis

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• SAPSetup with the latest corrections as outlined in the SAP Notes below

Further information:

• SAP Note 1583967 (Release Information Note for SAPSetup 9.0)
• SAP Note 1587566 (Installation Problems with SAPSetup 9.0)

CTS Plug-In 2.0 SP09

Offering

Generic CTS as part of CTS Plug-In is the extension of CTS so that you can connect your SAP or Non-SAP application with the change and transport management. CTS Plug-In offers new user interfaces and new features for CTS.

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 10:

• No Changes

More information

• SAP Note 1665940 (Central Release Note CTS Plug-In 2.0)
• CTS Plug-In 2.0 Tool Documentation: http://help.sap.com/nwcts
• SCN content:Resources on CTS+

• Both the heterogenous system copy of Software Provisioning Manager (SWPM) and DMO of SUM support the migration to SAP HANA Database
• Both SWPM and SUM trigger R3load for the export from the source DB and the import into the SAP HANA DB
• But DMO has both R3loads running on the same host: on the primary application server (PAS, fka central instance CI)
  (see DMO: technical background)

The "classical migration" (heterogenous system copy of SWPM) uses either the file mode or the socket mode.

Using the file mode, the data are exported, and written into a file, using compression. The file is transferred over the network:

Using the socket mode, the data are exported and transferred over the network:

Now with DMO, both R3load are running on the same host, and they communicate using the main memory of that host, using the pipe mode:

Even with DMO, it is possible to switch to the file mode. The R3load exports the data into a temporary file of limited size. As soon as this file is processed and the data are imported into the target DB, the temporary file is deleted.

• No compression is used for creating the file
• For windows OS, the pipe mode is currently not working, so the file mode is used per default
• Switch to file mode is possible by setting the parameter "/clone/method" to "file" in a (new) text file ?SUM\abap\bin\SAPup_add.par -
  but I have no scenario when you would want to switch from pipe to file mode

Note: for SUM SP09 and SP10, the parameter is "/clone/method" (for SUM SP11, it will be renamed to "/clonepar/method").

System copy is a fundamental task for the operation of SAP system landscapes. Originally designed to rename existing systems when hostnames or other parameters in the infrastructure change, the system rename procedure enables a faster alternative to the "classical homogeneous system copy" for certain scenarios.

The following picture outlines the offering of the system rename procedure:

Now, a Customer Engagement Initiative (CEI) was started, where you can engage with the SAP system rename experts on this topic - no matter if you are new to the sytem rename procedure (with the goal to learn more about it) or if you already used it (with the goal to share your experience and influence SAP development). We are interested both in standalone usage of the system rename procedure and the execution as integral part of the end-to-end provisioining process offered by SAP NetWeaver Landscape Virtualization Management.

Depending on the time and efforts you want to spend, your project could range from a one-time workshop with us to several working sessions, including the optional execution of one scenario in your landscape supported by SAP system rename experts. So, the offering should be interesting for everyone interested or involved in the system rename topic!

We are looking forward to work with you on this topic!

In case the software provisioning manager failed during the execution phase, the restart can take quite some time until it gets going again.

To accelerate the restart, I delete the file statistics.xml within the rundirectory of the software provisioning manager:

Doing this, the restart is much faster.

What is the purpose of this file?

Like the name says, the file contains statistic information about each step of the current procedure. At the end of the procedure, a file called INSTANA.XML is created that contains a collection of data about the whole procedure, including OS information, runtime, etc... INSTANA.XML also contains data from the file statistics.xml.

Hi all,

First, thanks a lot for all who visited our Software Logistics Idea Space after my first blog about this topic in January! Initially, I had planned to come up with the second blog later this year, but as quite a lot of ideas were submitted in the last weeks, I decided to get active earlier .

Again, intention of this blog is a) to give a short overview of the latest submitted ideas in our space for software logistics and b) to list ideas with a high activity level – with the goal to support you in finding interesting topics and to further increase the activity level in the space. If you should be new to SAP Idea Place, please see the short recap of its concept (and information how to use it) at the end of this blog.

For all others, I will start right away with the lastest activities:

Current Activities in the Software Logistics Idea Space

A. Latest Submitted Ideas

In the last weeks, the following ideas were created:

• Category Maintenance and Upgrade Management:

  • D12397 - Use of LVM to drive SUM tool on multiple SAP Instances in parallel

  • D12385 - SUM tool update on multiple instances (SIDs) in parallel for same support pack level

  • D12157 - Mobile app for Service Market Place activities

  • D12108 - Catch all exceptions//Extend CATCH

• Category Solution Implementation:
  • D12110 - New Program/Sceen Attribute: Controller Class
  • D12109 - Merge control PBO programming with layout editor in SAPGUI

B. Ideas with High Activity Level

Here, you see the list of ideas with the highest number of votes that have the status submitted, under review, needs more info, for future consideration, or not planned (as these ideas are not accepted or offered by SAP yet):

Again: besides the listed ideas, there are several other ideas in the Software Logistics Idea Space, of course. So, use this as starting point for browsing through existing ideas about how the processes in the software logistics area could be improved – and feel free to submit new ideas based on your experience with our tools and processes!

Recap: What is the Software Logistics Idea Space all about?

Here is a short recap of the SAP Idea Space concept already outlined in the first blog: by raising new ideas or collaborating on existing ones in the Software Logistics Idea Space, everyone can influence the future of software logistics procedures and processes. There, you can submit new ideas, vote for existing ideas and connect directly with the teams at SAP that are in charge of the software logistics procedures.

For more information, also see the SCN document How to Influence the Development of Software Logistics Processes.

Have fun,

Boris

The goal of this blog is to explain the usage of a shadow system during the maintenance of ABAP based systems. This is in close correlation of the preconfiguration mode which is set in a SUM dialog during the configuration of a maintenance:

Comparing system maintenance with updating a house

If you want to renovate the house you live in, you may have a period of time during which the usage of the house is not possible.

The "downtime" of the house may be long. And after the renovation has started, there is no easy reset to the initial state of your house.

Advantage is that you do not need additional resources for a shadow house (see below).

Now if you want to reduce the downtime in which you have no house available (imagine all your familiy members living in one tent instead ...) you may consider to use a shadow house for your renovation/maintenance. Before starting the renovation, you create the shadow house, and then conduct the changes on the shadow house, while still living in your initial house. Once the renovation is done, you have only a short period of downtime for the move into the new house.

Using the shadow means

• short downtime (only for the move)
• simple reset possible (skip the move)
• additional resources required: area and workers for shadow

There are two different ways to create the shadow: either you copy your (customized) house, or you create a new house from blueprint.

Explaining the shadow system

A shadow (SHD) system can be used during system maintenance (or update) parallel to the existing ABAP system.

A shadow system uses the same system-ID as the original system, but has a separate instance (shadow instance, own instance number) and a separate repository (shadow repository).

The shadow repository contains selected tables: basis tables, some customizing tables, but no application tables. The advantage is that the shadow instance is working on the shadow repository to update these tables to the new software level (target release) already during uptime processing so that the downtime processing is faster.

The shadow system has the advantage that the downtime is reduced, but you have to consider additional resources: memory on the application server for running the additional instance, and space on the database for the additional tables of the shadow repository. (Remember that the repository is typically only a very small part of the database content, and it is independent on the total DB size.)

The work on the shadow repository makes it necessary to prohibit changes on the original repository. That is why transport and development of ABAP objects are forbidden once the creation of the shadow repository started..

When and how a shadow system is used

If you now think that the preconfiguration modeSingle System (see first figure above) means that no shadow system is being used, you may or may not be correct, as this depends on the type of system maintenace you are executing (explained below). All we can say right now is that both preconfiguration mode Standard and Advanced do use the shadow system.

Remember the two possibilities above to create the shadow house: "copy your house, or create from blueprint"?

For system maintenance, this is equivalent to the difference between update and upgrade:

An upgrade

• is a release change (like SAP ERP 5.0 to 6.0)
• creates the shadow repository from DVD

An update

• is an implementation of EHP or SPs (like SAP ERP 6.0 EHP3 -> EHP7)
• creates the shadow repository from the existing repository

Single System Mode

If you choose single system mode in the preconfiguration mode (see first screenshot above), this means:

• An update (implementing SPs or EHPs) does not create or use a shadow system at all
  This maintenance type is sometimes also referred to as "transport like"
• An upgrade (release change) creates a shadow repository (from DVD) and a shadow instance,
  but the original instance is stopped as long as the shadow instance works on the shadow repository;
  only a single system (instance) is running at a time -> "Single System Mode"

Difference between Standard and Advanced Mode

• Both use a shadow system to minimize the downtime
• Choosing Advanced Mode sets the default parameters for the number of processes to higher values
  (which could be achieved manually with Standard Mode as well)
• But only the Advanced Mode offers the option near Zero Downtime Maintenance (nZDM),
  as described in the following blog Near-Zero Downtime Maintenance for SAP Business Suite Systems
• Further differences go beyond the scope of this introduction

Hi all,

In this blog, get a quick overview of the latest ideas submitted in the Software Logistics Idea Space and a list of ideas with high activity level (if you should be new to SAP Idea Place, please see the short recap of its concept and information how to use it at the end of this blog):

Current Activities in the Software Logistics Idea Space

A. Latest Submitted Ideas

In the last weeks, the following ideas were created:

• Category Maintenance and Upgrade Management:
  • D12606 - SUM disclaimer & (sid)adm requirements
  • D12781 - ACT_UPG Phase customization
  • D15557 - Standalone MOPZ Tool
  • D16210 - SUM tool enhancement
• Category Solution Implementation:
  • D12425 - Ulimit - Not Set by SWPM tool
  • D17235 - HANA DB Installation in SWPM
  • D17236 - CI/Application Server Parameter Tool
  • D19960 - ASCS Splitting from PAS/CI matrix for all SAP Products (Business Products)

B. Ideas with High Activity Level

Here, you see the list of ideas with the highest number of votes that have the status submitted, under review, needs more info, for future consideration, or not planned (as these ideas are not accepted or offered by SAP yet):

Again: besides the listed ideas, there are several other ideas in the Software Logistics Idea Space, of course. So, use this as starting point for browsing through existing ideas about how the processes in the software logistics area could be improved – and feel free to submit new ideas based on your experience with our tools and processes!

Recap: What is the Software Logistics Idea Space all about?

Here is a short recap of the SAP Idea Space concept: by raising new ideas or collaborating on existing ones in the Software Logistics Idea Space, everyone can influence the future of software logistics procedures and processes. There, you can submit new ideas, vote for existing ideas and connect directly with the teams at SAP that are in charge of the software logistics procedures.

For more information, also see the SCN document How to Influence the Development of Software Logistics Processes.

Have fun,

Boris

The next step to reduce overall business downtime for updates is scheduled for fall 2014.

The zero downtime option of Software Update Manager (SUM) abolishes the technical downtime and enables a business downtime finally down to zero. So it is a big step to serve the increased business requirements of logistics system availability.

With zero technical downtime and almost zero business downtime the costs of maintenance windows will be reduced significantly. It is easier to schedule additional maintenance windows, e.g. to install a feature pack or a new release when the business requires a new functionality. With Zero Downtime Option, upgrades can be executed at any time and any frequency. Thus the maintenance planning can react more flexible and the innovation adoption timeline becomes shorter.

How does it work?

The Zero Downtime maintenance functionality is embedded in the standard SAP Update tool, the Software Update Manager (SUM).
With ZDO the SAP architects found a smart solution to manage the conflicting database table access between update and user without the need of a system copy. Only a small subset of DB tables has to be copied. The additional DB space is in the range of the existing downtime minimization features in SUM.
The huge difference with ZDO however is, that end users now run their business while the upgrade is executed until the end. The conflicting database table access between update and user is managed on the database layer and is completely hidden from the end users as well as from the administrator.

Which products and maintenance activities are supported?

The following graphic shows the technical details about the first shipment of zero downtime in SUM:

The first focus of the zero downtime option of SUM is the SAP EWM and the SAP ECC. Support of further products and databases are planned in 2015. If you are missing an option here, it is very appreciated when you could tell us your planning.

How to get the new functionality for ECC and EWM?

As already mentioned the zero downtime will be an option of the Software Update Manager (SUM).  There are no additional license costs for ZDO.
In the fourth quarter of this year the zero downtime functionality will be available on project basis for EWM update projects.

What does “on project basis” mean?

The “available on project basis” is similar to a restricted ramp up phase. It ensures a perfect support for the customer and the development gets the feedback which is needed to validate and improve the new technology. The update project with ZDO is based on a service contract. This means SAP Support (AGS) or SAP Consulting have to be involved. The software lifecycle development team will support directly in close cooperation with SAP Service / SAP Consulting and the customer.

Do you want a deeper insight?

When you want to get further information how zero downtime for ECC and EWM works in detail and would like to be one of the pilot projects you only need to get in contact with me, Martin Herrmann (Product Manager Zero Downtime Maintenance of Lifecycle Management)

To help you in finding the right content (such as blogs, documents and discussions) about a certain topic in our space easier, we introduced the following categories of Software Logistics topics:

• Change and Transport System
  All topics dealing with the transport of ABAP and non-ABAP objects through system landscapes (via CTS, CTS+, central CTS)
• Downtime Minimization
  All topics covering or touching aspects to minimize the downtime of SAP-NetWeaver-based systems, such as during a maintenance process (near-Zero Downtime Maintenance)
• Installation
  Covers both the installation of SAP-NetWeaver-based systems with software provisioning manager/SAPinst and the installation and distribution of SAP frontends with SAPSetup        
• SAP HANA Lifecycle Management
  Any content dealing with the lifecycle management of the SAP HANA platform (such as installation and update
  of SAP HANA) and with the management of SAP HANA content products, applications and transports
• System Copy & Migration
  All topics dealing with the homogeneous and the heterogeneous copy of SAP-NetWeaver-based systems (such as with software provisioning manager), including special procedures (such as the Database Migration Option of Software Update Manager for the migration to SAP HANA)
• System Transformation
  Covers mainly system rename and dual-stack split of SAP NetWeaver-based systems
• System Upgrade & Update
  Content about updating SAP-NetWeaver-based systems by implementing corrections, SP stacks, Enhancement Packages, or new releases
• Technical Configuration
  Content about automated processes for the reliable, fast and error-prone setting of technical parameters for SAP-NetWeaver-based systems, such as for the initial setup or for the post-copy automation

Where can you find the categories? The categories are listed:

• In the left column of the Software Logistics overview page:
  
• As filter criteria under the Content tab:
  

For more information how you can use these categories (in addition to the other options), see the blog How to find content in the Software Logistics SCN space.

We hope that these categories support you in finding the right content for the Software Logistics topics you are interested in quickly!

Please remember to select relevant categories whenever you create new content in our space (such as blogs, documents and discussions) - for this, the categories are listed at the end of the content creation pages. You can select more than one category, if required.

Thanks a lot!

To help you in finding the right content (such as blogs, documents and discussions) about a certain topic in our space, we offer different structuring methods and meta-information that I want to describe briefly here:

• The Get Started with Software Logisticsoverview document provides an entry point with a structured overview of the topics covered in the Software Logistics SCN space:
  

• Additionally, content gets tagged by the authors.
  • This helps to find content with the SCN search available on the top right of the SCN page (and with external search engines, of course ):
    
    So, you can search for titles or used tags/key words (or author).
  • Popular tags for our area are displayed on the space overview page in the lower right corner:
    
    Click on any of these terms to get a list of correspondingly tagged content.

• Via the Content tab, you can get a list of all available content. You can filter this list by text, by type, by category – see below:
  

• NEW: in addition, we introduced eight categories for our Software Logistics SCN space:
  • Get a description of our categories here.
  • These categories can be used as filter in the Content view, as shown above.
  • The categories are displayed on the space overview page, in the left column:
    
    
    Click on a category to get a list of correspondingly categorized content.

• Another method would be to browse by author via the People tab:
  
  Click on any author’s name to see the corresponding profile and content created by her/him.

Altogether, we hope that this supports you in finding the right content for the Software Logistics topics you are interested in.

Authors

If you create new content, please remember to provide tags and to select relevant categories:

You can select more than one category, if required.

This way, you help others to find your content more easily.

Maybe you have read about the new user interface (UI) that the Software Update Manager (SUM) offers, currently only for a new scenario: the database migration option (DMO) of SUM. A short introduction can be found in the following blog DMO: introducing the new UI .

Now as a next step, another SUM scenario can potentially be run using the new UI: updating AS Java based systems (upgrades, updates, applying SPs, and patches). The new UI is named SL Common Graphic User Interface, it is based on SAPUI5 (running in a browser), and it does not require any java UI component (see figure below).

The usage is “available on request”, that means that currently you will have to register to use the new UI. If you would like to take part in the piloting, create an incident on component BC-UPG-TLS-TLJ with title “Registration request for new UI”, and specify the system data (OS, DB type and size, project time line).

Boris Rubarth

[Product Management SAP SE, Software Logistics]

Overview on tools delivered with SL Toolset 1.0 SPS 11

Availability: SL Toolset 1.0 SPS 11 is available since July 8th 2014.

What's in:

• compared with SPS 10, no new tool joined the SL Toolset 1.0
• existing tools are improved and updated: some tools are delivered in a new SP, some without (when only minor fixes where done)

Further information on the SL Toolset SPS 11:

• SAP Note 1922474 (Release Note for SL Toolset 1.0 SPS 11; logon required)
• Quick link /sltoolset on SAP Service Marketplace (logon required)
• Idea Space for the Software Logistics Toolset and its tools

"nZDM for SAP NetWeaver Java" 1.0 SP11

Offering

• implement Support Packages and patches for SAP Enterprise Portal with minimal technical downtime of a few minutes
• Target Products: SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.02, 7.3x, 7.4

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• (no changes)

More information

• SAP Note 1987597

"nZDM for SAP NetWeaver PI" 1.0 SP05

Offering

• implement Support Packages for SAP Process Integration (SAP PI) with minimal technical downtime of app. 30 minutes
• Target Products: SAP NetWeaver PI dual stack 7.10, 7.11, 7.30, 7.31

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• (no changes)

More information

• SAP Note 1435235
• SCN content: Near Zero Downtime Management for SAP Netweaver Process Integration (nZDM/PI) available on Service Marketplace

Software Provisioning Manager 1.0 SP 06

Offering

Software provisioning manager 1.0 provides the latest SAPinst version that enables software provisioning processes for several products and releases for all platforms – as a result, you can just download the latest version of the software provisioning manager and automatically get support of the latest products, versions and platforms – including latest fixes in the tool and supported processes.

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• Eased process for initial installation combined with the update to a higher support package
• Option to check digital signatures of media
• Declustering/depooling also offered for installation + copy of SAP systems on Microsoft SQL Server and SAP ASE
• Installation of distributed systems based on SAP NetWeaver 7.0x now also comprises ASCS instance as default
• New installation options
  • Activate registration of sapstartsrv in System Landscape Directory
  • Specify custom key for secure store of SAP NetWeaver ABAP 7.40 systems
  • Install SAP ABAP system and SAP HANA on one host
• For system copies, you can optionally use table comparison with SUM instead of table checker

More information

• SAP Note 1680045 (Central Release Note Software Provisioning Manager 1.0)
• SAP Note 1619720 on System Rename
• SAP Note 1797362 (Dual Stack Split for Systems based on SAP NetWeaver)
• SCN content Software Provisioning Manager 1.0
• SCN content System Rename
• SCN content Dual-Stack Split

Software Update Manager 1.0 SP 11

Offering

• Consolidation of different software logistics tools into one unified software logistics tool
• Runtime reduction: Higher degree of parallelization for certain phase types
• Downtime reduction: Enhanced Shadow System capabilities for specific use cases

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• SUM ABAP: Support for Unicode Conversion in EHP scenario (CU&UC for EHP, see SAP Note 928729)
• SUM Java: Inclusion of customer components during SP or EHP maintenance
• DMO: start release SAP ECC 5.0 (Basis 6.40) supported
• DMO: table comparison with SUM (works standalone as well) - see DMO Guide

More information

• SAP Note 1926261 (Central Release Note SUM SP11)
• SCN content: Software Update Manager (SUM): introducing the tool for software maintenance
• SCN content: Database Migration Option (DMO) of SUM - Introduction

Standalone Task Manager for Lifecycle Management Automation 1.0 SP 01

Offering

This is a light-weight and easy-to-use automation tool to validate and setup Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) based connections in the landscape. The tool validates the SSL configuration settings both, for ABAP and for Java environments and generates HTML reports that can be used for further analysis. It also performs SSL configuration automatically and describes required manual tasks.
The tool enables to establish connectivity between ERP system and CRM

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• No Changes

More information

• SAP Note 1891353: SAP Note for Standalone Task Manager for LM Automation-1.0 (Framework)
• SAP Note 1783372: Central Release SAP Note Standalone Task Manager for LM Automation -1.0
• SCN content: Secure Technical Configuration with the Lifecycle Management

SAPSetup 9.0

Offering

SAPSetup offers easy and reliable functionality for installations of different scales:

• Installation of frontend products without administrator permissions
• Configuration and export of installation packages containing multiple products
• Consistency check
• central log file analysis

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• SAPSetup with the latest corrections as outlined in the SAP Notes below

Further information:

• SAP Note 1583967 (Release Information Note for SAPSetup 9.0)
• SAP Note 1587566 (Installation Problems with SAPSetup 9.0)

CTS Plug-In 2.0 SP12

Offering

Generic CTS as part of CTS Plug-In is the extension of CTS so that you can connect your SAP or Non-SAP application with the change and transport management. CTS Plug-In offers new user interfaces and new features for CTS.

Changes with SL Toolset SPS 11:

• No Changes

More information

• SAP Note 1665940 (Central Release Note CTS Plug-In 2.0)
• CTS Plug-In 2.0 Tool Documentation: http://help.sap.com/nwcts
• SCN content:Resources on CTS+

New scenario "Unified Consumption Experience"

This scenario is not a new tool, but important to mention:
Unified Consumption Experience (UCE) aims at simplifying the process of installation for a new system on a specific target software level.

See the following blog for more information: Unified Consumption Experience

Boris Rubarth

Product Management SAP SE, Software Logistics

Scope

Downtime optimized DMO will reduce the downtime of the DMO procedure. It integrates the SLT technology to enable the migration of selected (big) application tables during uptime processing of DMO, thereby reducing the downtime migration time.

Technology

During uptime processing, the source system is still available for end users. End user activity in the system may change application tables, so if these tables have already been migrated to the target database (SAP HANA database), the changes have to be recorded and transferred to the target database as well. The SLT technology (SAP LT REPLICATION SERVER) offers the required technology to set triggers on the respective application tables to create log entries, frequently analyze the logs, and transfer the delta to the target database. The SLT technology is part of the DMIS AddOn.

Specific considerations compared to "standard" DMO

• The DMIS AddOn (SP06) has to be selected when creating the stack.xml in Maintenance Optimizer
• A text file has to be created containing the application tables to be migrated during uptime (each table name in a separate line)
• The allowed target release of SAP_BASIS is 740 SP5 or higher

Known limitations

• The Unicode conversion for downtime-optimized DMO is not yet supported
• Selection of application tables for uptime migration is currently a manual process
• No monitoring of delta transfer ratio is offered yet
• The following tables are not allowed:
  - Cluster or pool tables
  - Tables to be converted
  - Tables without primary key
  - Tables which start with /BI in the name
  - Basis tables and application exchange tables
     (Basis tables: tables part of software components SAP_BASIS, SAP_GWFND, or SAP_UI)

Registration for customers

Interested customers have to create an incident for component BC-UPG-TLS-TLA, specify their project details, and ask for pilot registration. Development will decide if conditions are met and if the project can be supported.

Abbreviations

• SLT: SAP Landscape Transformation Server
• PAS: Primary Application Server (fka CI)
• PRD: Productive
• SHD: Shadow
• TGT: Target

Technical background

The initial situation is like for the "standard" DMO:

Again, like in standard DMO, the shadow repository is created by the shadow instance:

The shadow repository is copied from the source database to the target database, the SAP HANA database.

Note that the shadow instance is still existing, although currently not used, but not deleted as in the standard DMO.

Now the trigger for the selected application tables is set up, and the initial transfer of the triggered tables starts.

The triggers are set by the integrated DMIS technology.

Still in uptime, the delta transfer of the application tables is then done. Therefore, a job starts the DMIS reader (part of SLT) on the shadow instance to check for trigger logs, and transfer the delta to the DMIS writer. For the DMIS writer to write the data to the SAP HANA database, we need an additional instance

that uses the target version kernel for the SAP HANA database. This instance is called TMP instance (temporary).

Downtime starts, now the remaining delta of the application tables are migrated.

Now the remaining application tables (that have not been triggered) have to be migrated as in the standard DMO.

The target kernel is now applied to the PRD instance, the system is started to allow the update of the application tables. This is still business downtime.

Once the application tables are updated and the procedure is finished, the system is available again.

Software provisioning manager (abbreviated with SWPM in this blog) offers many different processes, such as installation, system copy and system rename. Although we have a clear understanding how often our tools were downloaded, it is hard for us at SAP to tell which processes are used how often and with which runtime – which would help us to invest our efforts into improving those procedures you are using most.

To better understand how you are using the tool and to be able to identify possible hot spots concerning the runtime that we should investigate, we introduced a new option into the latest version of software provisioning manager. With this, the tool gathers statistical data of the runtime and offers you to send them to SAP.

In detail, as of SAPinst version 2014.09 (available as of September 2014), the success dialog of software provisioning manager offers a link to send feedback and statistical runtime data to SAP:

This is the case for all processes supported by software provisioning manager, such as installation, system copy or system rename, as long as you are using the latest version of software provisioning manager (updated in September or earlier). Also, we are offering similar feedback options for other software logistics tools already today and plan to enable further software logistics tools accordingly.

But back to software provisioning manager - by clicking the feedback button on the success dialog pop-up window, an evaluation form is opened in your Web browser:

Now, if you should be willing to support SAP in gaining more knowledge about the usage of our processes, you could read through the disclaimer, accept it by clicking the corresponding box and press the Send to SAP button, which would send the anonymous statistical runtime data gathered during the execution of software provisioning manager to SAP via email (prerequisite: the host where the GUI runs has access to the Internet – feedback cannot be sent when you run software provisioning manager in dark mode).

Optionally, you could enrich this statistical data with your feedback about the executed process by entering it in the fields below the send button. If you like, you could also enter a contact email address, so that we could contact you in case of questions concerning your feedback (once your feedback is dealt with, we would delete your email address from our records, so that no personal data is stored also in the final feedback).

What data is sent?

For us, it is important to provide full transparency about what information would be sent to SAP. So, before pressing the Send to SAP button, you can take a look at the Process XML field at the end of the form, listing the exact statistical runtime data that got collected during the run and that would be sent to SAP, if you press the button:

Of course, sending any feedback or runtime statistics to SAP is completely voluntary and does not have any impact for you on support or in any other form.

In this course, we do not gather or send any business data or data that falls under data privacy protection (such as the IP address), but technical data about the actual procedure, the runtime and the used platform – for example:

• Platform (OS/DB) -
  such as Linux plx291 2.6.32.36-0.5-default #1 SMP 2011-04-14 10:12:31 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linuxand HDB for SAP HANA
• Start + end date of the executed process
• Used SAPinst version
• Executed service -
  such as SAP NetWeaver 7.4 Support Release 1 > SAP HANA Database > SAP Systems > Application Server Java > Standard System
• Number of CPUs and CPU family -
  such as 24/x86_64
• Statistical runtime data -
  such as
  <startdate>1396606912</startdate>
  <enddate>1396608552</enddate>
  <runtime>1640</runtime>
  

For what is this data used?

First, as mentioned above, we at SAP want to better understand how our tools are used– that is, which processes offered by software provisioning manager are used more often than others.

Also, we want to identify possible hot spots, such as procedures that run especially long, so that we could analyze them for issues or optimization potential.

And finally, we want to build up a knowledge base concerning expected runtimes our processes take on the supported platforms and products – think of something like an anonymous statistical database of executed processes.

With this, we plan to better prioritize where to invest and where to optimize (for example, as one process is used very often or as it has a very long runtime that we would like to optimize).

In addition, this knowledge could allow us in the future to make predictions concerning the runtimes to be expected for the processes offered by our tools. Wouldn’t it be great, if you could start software provisioning manager, select a service and the tool would tell you in what range the runtime could be expected according to our knowledge of similar procedures on similar platforms and boundary conditions? This would help you to better plan the processes and with this, we hope that we can improve your satisfaction with the tools and processes we offer.

Also, you can directly influence our development by providing feedback to the teams responsible for the procedures you were just using.

Overall, I want to encourage you to support us to increase the predictability and the quality of our processes by sending statistics and personal feedback to SAP after a run – it should not be much effort for you and I am confident that it will have an impact on our prioritizations, so that we can further optimize the procedures you are relying on. Thanks a lot for your support in advance!

What do you think of this option? Do you plan to use it?

We from SAP’s Software Logistics team are looking forward to share the latest news with you at the upcoming SAP TechEd && d-code 2014. Here’s a short guide to highlight some of these sessions (with links to the corresponding session in the session catalog - LV = Las Vegas, BER = Berlin):

Moving to SAP HANA

Operating SAP HANA

Selection of Further Software Logistics Sessions and Related Sessions

You can find the complete list of our sessions here:

• Sessions in Las Vegas
• Sessions in Berlin

We are looking forward to welcome you in our sessions in Las Vegas and Berlin!

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide a list of the top knowledge base articles (KBA's) from the Upgrade component.  I'll be including the top KBAs of the month and also the most recently added/updated KBAs and SAP Notes.  The goal here is to keep you up to date on the most frequently searched and the most recent added/updated UPGRADE issues that we are seeing in Product Support.

Please leave any feedback in the comments section.

Top Upgrade KBAs for September 2014

** The top KBA notes does not include SNotes because of a limitation on the system.

Recently Added/Updated Upgrade KBAs/SAP Notes

** The hyperlinks will require access to the SAP Service Marketplace **

Read this blog to get a general understanding on the difference between SAP Note and SAP Knowledge Base Article (KBA).

Both SAP Notes and SAP Knowledge Base Articles are support documents to help you to find answers to questions arising from your daily work with SAP software products. SAP Notes are the standard tool for coding corrections and contain beside the description from business point of view also the technical solution, whereas SAP Knowledge Base Articles complementing the SAP Notes by describing additional issues in business language. Both SAP Notes and SAP Knowledge Base Articles will be found via SAP Notes and Knowledge Base Article Search and the SAP Incident Wizard. Containing screenshot, SAP Knowledge Base Articles combine compact information with additional visualizations and references to other knowledge sources within SAP. With the rating option in the upper right hand corner of all SAP Knowledge Base Articles you are able to provide feedback, and this rating will help improve the general quality of SAP Knowledge Base Articles.

Comparison chart SAP Notes vs. SAP Knowledge Base Articles

SAP Notes

• 80% of SAP Notes contain coding corrections
• Solve technical issues
• Most of the SAP Notes contain beside the description of the issue from a business perspective also a technical solution
• SAP Notes must pass several Quality Checks like dual control principle and implementation/validation tests
• Implementation tool for the coding corrections is available to help customer to implement SAP Notes
• Translated into English, German and Japanese

SAP Knowledge Base Articles

• No coding corrections
• Incident-specific documents
• Description and resolution in reference to customer incidents
• Instant publishing
• Enriched content (embedded screenshots)
• Rating features to provide feedback on the quality of a KBA

Best regards,

James Wong

Hi All,

The SAP Support Portal is your one stop for all support and service-related needs: Use it to access your software, request license keys, get technical support, and find the documentation you need to run your business better.

The existing version had gotten rather long, so we've launched a brand new one based on your feedback. With the availability of the new SAP Support Portal, the Upgrade
Information Center has also moved.

SAP Upgrade & Innovations Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest information and insight related to SAP Business Suite application upgrades, SAP innovations, support and maintenance and other related SAP offerings

Get started with the new SAP Support Portal

Access the new Upgrade Information Center

Best regards,

James Wong