Category: Basis

basis

SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA upgrades

The SAP readiness check is normally used to asses the impact of an ECC to an S4HANA system upgrade or conversion (read this blog).

It can also be used to asses the impact of an upgrade of a lower S4HANA version to a newer S4HANA version.

Preparation for the S4HANA readiness check

First apply the notes listed in master note 3059197 – SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA upgrades. If you have a short dump after start of program RC_COLLECT_ANALYSIS_DATA, follow the instructions in OSS note 3093810 – Executing report RC_VALUE_DISCOVERY_COLL_DATA immediately results in an ABAP Dump CX_SY_DYN_CALL_ILLEGAL_FUNC.

Also apply the notes mentioned in OSS note 3061414 – Enabling extended integration impact analysis for SAP Readiness Check, if you want to include ALE scenario’s in your analysis.

If you have to upgrade to a newer version, apply the latest version of the 305197 note and afterwards use the “Update latest version form SAP catalog”, as explained in OSS note 3213713 – SAP S/4HANA Readiness check report do not show latest S/4HANA target releases.

Running the check

Start program RC_COLLECT_ANALYSIS_DATA:

Start the batch job and wait until it is done.

Start program RC_COLLECT_ANALYSIS_DATA again and push button Download Analysis Data.

This file you need to upload on the SAP Readiness check site.

Result

After you have uploaded the results SAP needs about 1 hour to process the results. Then you can look at the items you need to consider for your S4HANA release upgrade:

Remark: the amount of items will be far less than the ECC to S4HANA conversion readiness check.

Bug fix notes

Bug fix notes:

Test drive SAP Cloud ALM demo system

SAP Cloud ALM is a solution offered by SAP for managing cloud products of SAP.

The tool is still in build up, but is looking promising. If you are interested in what Cloud ALM can do, you can read the documentation, but also try out in the online Cloud ALM demo system.

Questions that will be answered in this blog are:

  • How can I see online in a demo system what SAP Cloud ALM can do?
  • Where can I find more information on SAP Cloud ALM?
  • Does SAP Cloud ALM require a license or is it free for use?

If you look for a SAP solution manager demo system: read this blog.

The SAP Cloud ALM demo system

The SAP Cloud ALM demo system can be accessed on the ALM demo tenant page:

Use one of the users listed to logon:

Background information on Cloud ALM

General information about Cloud ALM can be found on this link.

All technical background and implementation information on Cloud ALM can be found at the SAP Cloud ALM expert portal:

SAP Cloud ALM license

According to this SAP blog, the use of SAP Cloud ALM is part of the general SAP license, just like SAP solution manager. It’s use is free of license cost, but off course, time you need to spend on implementation and activation is not.

SAP GUI default change to Edge

After upgrading to SAP GUI 7.70 you can change the default browser from Internet Explorer to Edge.

More on SAP support for browsers in general can be found in this blog.

Prerequisite: install WebView2

First read OSS note 2913405 – SAP GUI for Windows: Dependencies to browsers / browser controls. This note describes the need for you to download and install the Microsoft WebView2 framework:

Impact of WebView2: 2901278 – SAP GUI HTML Control based on Chromium Edge: Legacy HTML does not work (correctly) / present limitations.

Switch browser setting for SAP GUI

Now you can go to the settings of you SAP 7.70 GUI and change the default browser in the Interaction Design/ Control Settings:

If fallback to Internet Explorer is still required, read this note: 2957665 – SAP GUI HTML Control: Browser Control Fallback Configuration.

In case the option is locked: 3191784 – Edge (based on Chromium) HTML control option is locked in the SAP GUI Control Settings.

If you need to build a workstation package with the default Edge setting, read this OSS note: 3221242 – How to set the Edge (based on Chromium) as the default browser control in single file Installer aiming SAP GUI distribution on multiple workstations.

Switch browser setting for SAP Business Client

For SAP business client the settings are in the Settings/Browser section:

Here you can choose the browser and download location to be used.

Chromium security updates

There might be a lot of hotnews and security OSS notes on the Chromium part. Main OSS note: 2622660 – Security updates for the browser control Google Chromium delivered with SAP Business Client.

OSS notes

Relevant OSS notes:

Relevant blogs on browsers and SAP web technology

More blogs on browsers and browsing technology:

  • HTTP/2 support for FIORI and ABAP web applications: read this blog.
  • TLS v1.2 setup in ABAP system: read this blog.
  • Webadmin pages disablement: read this blog.
  • More on SAP support for browsers in general can be found in this blog.
  • How to check HTTP usage in your system: read this blog.
  • FIORI gateway timeout settings: read this blog.
  • FIORI cache refresh: read this blog.
  • FIORI gateway tips and tricks: read this blog.
  • Webdynpro Unified Rendering updates: read this blog.

Reducing S4HANA upgrade downtime: ZDO, zero downtime option

Next to nZDTM (near zero downtime) there is now a new option called ZDO (Zero Downtime Option). This new option even further reduces the downtime of an upgrade to a newer version.

The ZDO option is primarily available for S4HANA upgrades (for example upgrade from S4HANA 2020 to S4HANA 20201), but is also available for products based on the same ABAP version, like SAP Focused Run.

How does the ZDO work?

ZDO is the next evolution of the shadow system. Now not only the code is duplicated, but also the data and settings. This is done in a so called bridge system. Postings are duplicated in the main and in the bridge system.

In this way the business downtime is further reduced:

A ramp down, restart and ramp up is still required.

Technical background

All the technical background and restrictions are listed in OSS note 2707731 – Prerequisites and restrictions of Zero Downtime Option of SUM for SAP S/4HANA and training ADM330e.

The note states as well that the basis person must have followed the training ADM330e before the customer is allowed to perform the ZDO option. The option is released for customer, after training. Why is training required? The option is technically very nice, but also complex (updates are done in both the old and new release). The restrictions and execution must be done correctly and in high quality fashion. This cannot be done without proper training.

You should also do a full dress rehearsal of the ZDO upgrade including people posting data in the system during the bridge phase.

The most common use case is an S4HANA upgrade. But the ZDO upgrade can be used in other used cases as well. For example SAP Focused Run can also be upgraded with ZDO. There are special notes, instructions and restrictions: 3269755 – SAP Focused Run 4.0 Support Package 00 – Update Preparation and Postprocessing Documentation. Check the notes carefully for your specific use case.

Memory

ZDO will use more memory since it will have 2 database schemas. Check and monitor this carefully on your test upgrades and extrapolate to production. A ZDO upgrade does require a test run on full production copy size.

Execution of ZDO issues

During execution of ZDO, you will get far more issues and errors as compared to the downtime optimized scenarios. For this reason, the first ZDO upgrade you execute should be on a sandbox system. Preferably as a copy of your productive system. You will learn a lot of things on the sandbox upgrade, to make the real upgrade later on go smooth.

Addons

Some addons might block the upgrade. Some can still be allowed in the upgrade, but cannot be upgraded along with the upgrade and have to remain at the same version. At the bottom of note 2707731 there is an always up to date excel file containing the Allow List for addons.

OSS notes in ZDO checks phase

During the prechecks and later even in shadow system build up, SUM will come with list of OSS notes that need to be applied in main system or in shadow.

For the real upgrade: already apply all the notes on the development system before the upgrade and transport these to production.

Database inconsistencies

All database inconsistencies must be resolved. Repair via SE14, see blog.

BI system settings

ZDO is currently only supported for embedded BI scenario. This might mean you need to get help from your BI team on de-activating some BI content.

To find out what is blocking: go to transaction SE24 and enter class CL_RS_UTILITIES. Start the test tool and launch method GET_SYSTEM_SCOPE. If the answer is DATA_WAREHOUSE, this will block the upgrade. Use your debug skills (or ask ABAP developer) to see which items are throwing roadblocks. Then de-activate or delete that content (with help of your BI team).

Old HANA transport containers

Some old HANA content might block the ZDO upgrade. Read more on this in OSS note 2982320 – HTA for HDI: Error in execution of HDI call: insufficient privilege. Steps to solve: repair privileges on the ABAP HANA user. Run program SCTS_HTA_ADMIN in repair mode.

Background

Background blog from SAP: read here.

SNOTE revamp

After many years of faithful service, SNOTE got a revamp from SAP.

Questions that will be answered in this blog are:

  • How does the new revamp of SNOTE look like?
  • How can I get this new revamp of SNOTE?
  • Can I download latest versions of OSS notes in batch mode?

If you update main SNOTE OSS note 1668882 – Note Assistant: Important notes for SAP_BASIS 730,731,740,750,751,752,753,754,755,756, you will get this message:

New revamp SNOTE

OSS note 3051466 – Simplified Note Assistant: SNOTE Revamp describes the main functions and background of the revamp of SNOTE.

Main changes listed in the note:

  • A new Home screen, where the user work list and Note Browser is integrated in a single screen. The work list and search results are displayed in tabs to improve usability
  • Possibility to perform a Note Search for Valid Notes in SAP ONE Support Launchpad, and then download it from the search results 
  • Provision to mark/unmark Notes as your ‘Favorite’
  • Option to set up background jobs which will automatically look for and if required, download newer version of Notes which are already in your system
  • Implementation of Notes has been streamlined with lesser pop-ups and better error handling
  • Improved display of Manual Text during a Note implementation. It will now also be displayed during de-implementation of a Note.
  • Changes in the Note Display screen, including a compact header section, provision to display only valid corrections and only the actions that will be possible for the given Note will be displayed
  • An improved display of Note Log 
  • Provision to launch reports which will show the details of all the prerequisite and successor Notes, or the list of repository objects affected by the Note
  • Ability to customize the Note Assistant using the ‘Note Assistant User Settings’. The Note download procedure can also be provided here
  • Additionally, the tool will now automatically remember some of the user choices made in the user interface

Starting SNOTE now looks like this:

The settings button shows easily you can set your own preferences:

Updating OSS notes versions is possible now via the menu Download latest version of Notes, and then you can choose to run in foreground or (new great function) in background.

For the last update run you now can get a nice overview of the results of the updates:

Installation of new SNOTE revamp version

The new revamp version of SNOTE is standard in S4HANA 2021. You can also install it separately.

Steps to follow:

  1. First apply the prerequisite notes listed in OSS note 3051466
  2. Make sure the TCI file of OSS note 3051466 is placed in your system (read more on TCI notes in this blog)
  3. Apply OSS note 3051466
  4. Apply OSS note 3092620 – SNOTE – Adapting Download of Latest Version of SAP Notes in Background for Revamped Note assistant
  5. Check if newer bug fix notes are present (search for SNOTE Revamp as key word in component BC-UPG-NA)

Regularly update note 3093855 – Note Assistant: Important SAP Notes for the Revamped Note Assistant as well. This is containing all fixes for the revamped SNOTE.

EWA tips & tricks

SAP early watch (EWA) contains information on your system that might already or in the future impact performance and security.

A periodical review of the EWA is needed.

This blog contains tips & tricks for the technical working of the EWA reports.

For other frequently asked questions, read the note 1257308 – FAQ: Using EarlyWatch Alert.

SAP EWA generation

The EWA can be generated from SAP solution manager itself. Or you can use SAP Focused Run or Solution manager as data collection system, and than relay the information to SAP. The end result can then be seen on the online EWA workspace in the SAP support portal. More information on the EWA workspace can be found in this blog.

Since most new functions are added in the EWA workspace it is the best way forward. It is also less maintenance work. The only thing to do is to keep sending the data. Any new reporting function is done by SAP. SAP will also take care to have the content updated.

So all in all, if you are currently doing the EWA generation directly in SAP solution manager, consider to switch to the model where you send the data to the SAP EWA workspace via solution manager or via SAP Focused Run.

Setup in SAP Focused Run

A good manual for SAP Focused Run for EWA setup can be found on these reference sites:

Troubleshooting guide for EWA in SAP Focused Run, follow this link.

Also check OSS note 2715504 – Configure Early Watch Alert Job.

EWA in solution manager

General activation process of EWA in solution manager is described in OSS note 2729186 – General Process of EWA Generation in SAP Solution Manager 7.2. If an add hoc extra EWA needs to be generated, follow the steps in OSS note 2357073 – How to Create an Ad Hoc EarlyWatch Alert SAP – Solution Manager 7.2.

Adding email receivers is explained in OSS note 2282944 – EarlyWatch Alert: Solution Manager 7.2 how to setup/configure EWA reports or add email recipients.

Content update of SAP EWA content in SAP solution manager is required at regular intervals. The procedure is described in OSS note 2732608 – How to replace the Service Content (AGS_UPDATE).

Known issue list for EWA

The known issue for EWA is kept as list by SAP on this page. And OSS note 3138592 – Known Issues with the EarlyWatch Alert (EWA).

Troubleshooting when EWA is not sent to SAP

When you have issues that the EWA data is not sent to SAP properly, follow the checks in OSS note 1684537 – EarlyWatch Alert not sent to SAP: troubleshooting guide.

Removing unwanted secondary HANA database from the EWA

If you setup a secondary HANA database in DBCO, that database might appear in the EWA of the primary system. To get this unwanted information out of the EWA follow the steps as described by SAP in this page. Basically add the description NON_EWA_ in the secondary connection:

Setting up the BKF section in the EWA

OSS note 2282310 – Business Key Figures for EWA report contains the steps to get the BKF chapter activated.

Make sure in the managed system the user running the EWA data collection has the special role SAP_MANAGED_BPOANA_DIS. This is cause number 1 of issues.

If you make the settings, you would have to wait 3 weeks before the data is filled properly.

To gain speed, you can use the Express option. This option is explained in OSS note 2821062 – BKF Express Option/Manually running the BPMON job.

The UI of Business key figures Chapter Setting settings in the EWA is terrible. Please use the scroll bars to go to the right part. And the instruction mentions that you need to double click on a button or tab. This is correct. If you click once, nothing will happen. You really need to double click. This is completely counter-intuitive. But if you don't do it, it will not work, and you loose a lot of time.

If it still does not work, don’t hesitate to raise a message to SAP for component SV-SMG-SER-EWA.

SAP might ask you to apply the note 2477832 – SAP EWA Special Content BKF – on demand data collection (routine update & ZReport) as a workaround.

Generic background information

EWA wiki of SAP: link.

Generic background information on EWA can be found in these OSS notes and blogs:

SE16S: generic table and value search

SE16 and SE16N can be used to search specific tables. FIORI search can be used by end users to search business documents for predefined scenarios.

In some cases you might need to search multiple table for a certain value or string. This can be needed from IT point of view or business point of view.

Then transaction SE16S can be your solution: generic table and value search.

Questions that will be answered in this blog are:

  • How does the generic table and value search transaction SE16S work?

Use of SE16S

As example we want to search for the string DE01 in T tables (customizing).

After starting transaction SE16S you are confronted with a big selection screen. In the top part enter the search string:

In the search type select Create Ad Hoc Search String. If you have to execute repetitive searches, you can setup predefined searches with transaction SE16S_CUST.

In the search section enter the search tables you want to search:

In the technical block make the technical settings:

Best to use parallel processing to speed up and also best to show only the tables with hit.

Now start the query by pressing execute and wait a couple of minutes for this query to end.

Results are shown:

Per item you can drill down to the details:

Transaction SE16SL and SE16H

Also transaction SE16SL exists for searching content. This one is bit faster, but less accurate.

SE16H is the HANA based implementation of SE16N and has specific search functions which might be very useful for your use case. More on SE16H in this blog.

Checking usage of SE16 transactions is explained in this blog.

Background

Master reference note: 2002588 – CO-OM Tools: Documentation for SE16S, SE16SL, and SE16S_CUST. This note has a full explanation of all the options.

Setting FIORI gateway time-out and time-out warning

FIORI user use the browser. For security it is important that the browser session has a limited life time. The end user is normally annoyed by this, since when he clicks after a long time, the user gets a server error, which is difficult to understand.

This blog explains how to set up a more user friendly time-out and warning for the FIORI pages.

Questions that will be answered in this blog are:

  • How can I set a time-out for my FIORI tiles?
  • How can I set a warning time for the end users that their FIORI session is about to time-out?
  • Can I limit the amount of FIORI sessions?

Time-out settings for FIORI

Start transaction /UI2/FLP_SYS_CONF and enter values for these 2 parameters: SESSION_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL_IN_MINUTES and SESSION_TIMEOUT_REMINDER_IN_MINUTES:

Give these the values that are good for your company and press Save.

OSS note 2955208 – How to set automatic Fiori Launchpad Sign-Out explains also there is a server logout possible.

This function is available as of SAP_UI 7.54 version (see OSS note 3248472 – Why is it not possible to limit browser Fiori sessions?).

Time-out for end user

The end result for the end user is a more graceful warning and choice to continue or log out:

Read OSS note 3034757 – Fiori session timeout setting SESSION_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL_IN_MINUTES does not appear to work accurately to see which actions cause the timer reset.

Limiting amount of sessions

Limiting amount of browser sessions and FIORI sessions per user is not possible. See OSS note 3248472 – Why is it not possible to limit browser Fiori sessions?.

ABAP system license verification program

SAP has a bit of a hidden program to verify licenses on an ABAP system: RSUVM080. You can use this program yourself as well to prepare for license measurement and discussion on licenses.

Questions that will be answered in this blog are:

  • How to set up the User Type validation program RSUVM080?
  • How to use it for validation of your licenses?

Installation of program RSUVM080

In very new versions program RSUVM080 is present already. For older versions implement it by applying OSS note 2339166 – Validation of the user classification.

Also check bug fixes notes:

Use of program RSUVM080

If you start program RSUVM080 you see that a file is required for the validation rules:

The file has a specific format. The picture below is an example we use here:

In XLS format:

LincensesInputDownload

The actual definition of the file content, you have to do yourself by using common sense! When having discussions with SAP, they might provide the file and ask you to run it.

Now run the tool in productive system. Output looks like this:

Explanation of the checks

In the details of the input you can see we have provided several checks:

  1. Authorization checks: first 4 lines (check for * in users management, or change or create. 4th line is check for development rights)
  2. Transaction code checks: check for VA01, SE38 and SE11

The checks are shown in the columns on top.

You can see that transaction codes VA01, SE38 and SE11 were executed by the users. When you click on the green icon in the AC check column you can see the details for the AC (anti cheating) checks (more on the AC checks in this blog):

You can see that the user did not only execute VA01, but also did updates to VBAK table. So the user did execute the transaction and created records. Therefore for this user the right license type should be assigned. If the user has rights for VA01, and started it, but never made a posting, this is off course different.

If a user has a DEVACCESS entry, it is marked in the SSCR column. If the user was involved in transports, the transport column is marked.

In the #steps column you can see what other transactions were performed by the user:

Selection of users

It is important to realize that the program only selects the user as Green if one or more of the criteria was met. This can help you focus on the discussion points you are having with SAP (for example around use of VA01 for sales order creation).

You can start with a limited set of rules, and then expand.

First you can give all users the lowest classification. Then you start. For example: start with only the rule for transaction VA01. Assign the users the correct license type. On the selection screen, don’t select the users you already classified, by excluding them in the selection. Then focus on the AC checks: learn from them and see which transactions lead to them. Add this to the rules, and again classify the users correctly. In the next run the classified users are excluded again. This you can do until no AC check box is there. Then randomly validate that the actions left, which are executed by the other users, are indeed part of the lowest license type.

Setup of LOCL printing

This blog will explain the setup of the LOCL printer in SAP. Any output send to the LOCL printer will use the SAP GUI to call the windows printer list on your laptop or desktop and send the print there.

Setup of LOCL printer

Start transaction SPAD and create printer LOCL (with short name as well LOCL):

And on the access method tab enter this information:

Save now and the LOCL printer is ready to use.

Set up background can be found in SAP help pages.

Use of LOCL printer

If you print, choose the LOCL printer. The screen will refresh and give a dropdown list for the printers installed on you local laptop or desktop:

Restrictions of LOCL printer

LOCL needs a connection to the SAP GUI. It can therefore not be used for:

  • Printing spool in the background
  • Printing in RFC

If you still try to spool to LOCL printer, this is the output:

See oss note 2244868 – Front-end printing spool request is not printed.