Blog for SAP technical guru's: SAP basis, SAP security and authorization, SAP ABAP, SAP Focused Run
SAP IGS is a built in graphics server for ABAP.
To determine the version of IGS running start transaction SIGS (or run program GRAPHICS_IGS_ADMIN):
Press execute:
The RFC itself can be tested in SM59 with connection IGS_RFC_DEST.
Background OSS note: 995471 – IGS administration via ABAP.
To test the graphics start program BW_IGS_CHART_TEST. Output should be:
SQVI is a tool to quickly build ad-hoc queries.
Start transaction SQVI:
Enter a QuikView name and press create. Now choose the type (in this case we will make a table join):
First add the table:
And add the second table:
The join between the tables is in this simple cases created automatically. In more complex cases you have to define the join conditions yourself.
Press the back button to go back.
Now enter the output fields:
And the selection fields:
Save the SQVI query.
Now you can start to Execute the query:
Enter the input criteria and press execute to get the wanted results:
Bug fix OSS notes for SQVI:
SAP has a nice framework to handle interface errors: AIF (application integration framework).
The framework is quite old already but was not very popular. Not to the fact that it is not good (it is in fact quite good), but it is because it is a licensed product and too expensive for the value it brings.
The framework is now split into 2 parts:
For reference you can read the formal help file from SAP on activating AIF content.
Extract the content using SE38 report /AIF/CONTENT_EXTRACT.
Then start transaction /AIF/CUST to maintain the customizing for errors. The input is given on this SAP help page.
And define the error handling levels:
Transaction /AIF/ERR can be used for the error handling monitoring:
SAP generates a lot of change documents for a lot of objects. Unfortunately for classification (for example for materials), this is not enabled by default.
The procedure to activate change documents for classification is described in OSS note 1705101 – How to Activate Classification Change Documents.
First you need to run program RCCLUKA2 as described in OSS note 942691 – Information about using RCCLUKA2. Depending on the amount of records this program runs minutes to several hours.
Program RCCLUKA2 convert the key of the classification. Any custom code reading KSSK and AUSP directly might need to be updated!
Once the program is done, you can use transaction O1CL to activate the change documents:
In the material master classification screen the menu option Environment/Change Documents is now enabled and will show the changes to classification done:
This blog will explain the technical activation and usage of RUM (real user monitoring) in SAP Focused Run.
First go to the Fiori settings tile:
If the RUM function is not active yet, activate it and Save:
Now go to the FRUN backend ABAP system and start transaction STC01 and select task list SAP_FRUN_SETUP_USECASE and variant SAP&FRUN_AUM (advanced user monitoring):
In the task list setup also select the batch jobs:
Now run the task list. This should not take longer than 1 minute. Result green is ok:
Per system for which you want to activate the RUM function proceed as follows:
Go to the SSI Fiori tile:
Select the system:
Now press the Configure manually button and new screen opens:
On top first select Step 2 for Execute configuration. And select the Configure Real user monitoring step. Press the Execute Selected button and wait for the log to show success:
Alternatively you can also do the SSI completely new on the first screen by selecting the Configure Automatically button.
Background: RUM is an intense function. If it is not active, the agent does not have to do anything. The re-do of the SSI is needed to tell the agent on the system to start sending RUM data once it is activated in FRUN configuration.
With this step the managed system is prepared.
Now we can go to the RUM Fiori tile:
After scope selection nothing is active yet:
On top right choose the Configuration button and start with the housekeeping settings:
WARNING: RUM can use a lot of data in your database. It can also consume a lot of your Focused Run licensing. If you use too much; reduce amount of systems for which you activate RUM and reduce the retention periods in the screen above. See blog on Focused Run license measurement.
Go to the Systems section and toggle the Activation for the system to On:
Wait for the configuration and data collection to happen. Take 5 to 10 minutes patience for this step.
After the step, refresh the screen and it should look like this:
Data should appear on the left. On top, select the icon Data Quality. This shows the data collection status per host. The icon will be red at start and turn green after 30 minutes.
Now the setup is done, we can start to use the tool. The main screen is the requests tool:
From the start screen you can zoom into the task type you are interested in. As example we zoom in to the task type Dialog:
Drill down all the way:
Here you can see for which user and when the action was done. Unfortunately the action description is pretty technical: action 2000 in transaction CJ8G still might leave you a bit puzzled.
The second tool is the cards tool:
Here the entry point is the task type or trend in card format.
The front end tool gives an overview of front end response times and on clients used on your system:
The back end tool gives an overview of the back end performance and distribution of the response times:
The hot request tool gives a cross section for high usage and performance.
If a part is used more, the block size is larger. In this caser, zooming in on the less used red part might be useful. But is it also interesting to analyze the large used orange blocks, since a lot of users are impacted.
The 24 hour profile tool can be used to see if there are hours of the day where performance is worse than others. Some might be expected. But also: you might want to put in extra capacity to deal with peak loads. Or schedule some intense batch jobs at different times.
The topology tool can help you to analyze where data flow to and from your system are running and with which performance quality:
In some cases a specific user is complaining about poor performance. You can use the execution flow tool to filter on a specific user ID. After opening the tool, press the filter button to detail the user ID:
RUM has many more tools. Just explore the menu on the left side if another tool is useful for your situation.
This blog will explain the steps to activate SAP Cloud ALM.
Check the use cases of Cloud ALM on the Cloud ALM expert portal.
This might be taking the most time in larger organizations. SAP will allow 1 Cloud ALM per customer. But the customer might have multiple SAP systems managed by multiple SAP competence centers. In this case, you need to align who will call off the Cloud ALM system.
You can use Cloud ALM with integration to your own corporate identity provider or use the SAP IAS (Identity Authentication Service).
Changing can be done later on. See OSS note 3020352 – How to specify a different IAS tenant for your SAP Cloud ALM tenant. But keep in mind here that there is no migration of user and access data (so you have to redo it manually).
When choosing your own identity provider, you can end up in a weird maintenance issue, that you have to create a SAP support ID and e-mail in your own identity provider to give SAP access to your Cloud ALM system. See OSS note 3032960 – Steps for Providing an SAP Cloud ALM user for Development to Access the SAP Cloud ALM Tenant.
Read and understand the usage rights of cloud ALM. Most important here is the limit of maximum 8 GB data usage.
Read and understand the “Setup and admin guide for Cloud ALM“.
Setting up multiple admins if required: 3248116 – How can the Initial user who provisioned SAP Cloud ALM setup additional SAP Cloud ALM Admins?.
After the preparation follow the steps in the guide for the actual call off. The process can be completed in a working day.
<< This blog was originally posted on SAP Focused Run Guru by Frank Umans. Repost done with permission. >>
SAP Cloud ALM on the SAP Focused Run blog? Why?
SAP Cloud ALM and SAP Focused Run have a lot of overlapping capabilities.
The goal is not to push a tool, but to monitor, safeguard and secure SAP system running by customers. The tool is a means and not the goal.
What we will discuss:
This positioning blog is for the year 2024. Next year when new functions and insights are available the positioning and considerations can change.
The below picture is the best one and is taken from the Focused Run overview presentation:
Positioning:
Cloud ALM is a standardized SAP service. It has certain capabilities, but no extensions. Due to its standardized setup is can be made working very fast with a few clicks. The functions will work fast, but configuration options are limited to the use cases provided by SAP. Data volumes on Cloud ALM are not to be too high, since the UI’s are still designed for small and medium customers with lower amount of systems, alerts, etc.
Focused Run admins will be quick to adopt SAP Cloud ALM since there is a large similarity in concepts and UI.
Comparison table:
| Dimension | Cloud ALM | Focused Run |
| Technical setup complexity | Low | Medium for ABAP, High for non-ABAP |
| Technical setup time | Low | Low to medium |
| Maintenance effort | Low | Medium |
| Upgrading to unlock new functions | No effort, SAP takes care | High effort to upgrade |
| Volume of data that can be handled | Low to medium | High to very high |
| Complexity of scenario’s that can be handled | Low | Low, medium, high |
| Extension possibilities | Very limited | Possible with API and custom code |
| Feature extensions | Fast, bi-weekly | Every half year major and minor features will be added |
| Current features | Limited, but growing fast | Extensive, don’t expect major extensions |
If you have functions running on SAP solution manager, first consideration is the move to SAP Cloud ALM. SAP solution manager hosts normally EWA, CHARM, documentation/implementation and/or monitoring functions. An SAP readiness check is available to check your move from SAP solution manager to Cloud ALM. Read this blog on the how.
If you are currently running SAP Focused Run, you most likely will keep it the next few years. But still do keep track of the SAP Cloud ALM functions, and try them out.
SAP Cloud ALM might be a good solution to monitor less important systems with lower demand like sandboxes, development and test systems. These system typically don’t need intense monitoring, but mostly availability monitoring.
SAP Cloud ALM might be a good solution to monitor your SAP Cloud hosted and SAP BTP scenarios. Setup in Cloud ALM for these scenarios is far simpler than setting these up in SAP Focused Run.
SAP Focused Run will never be enabled for business process monitoring. That functionality is now available in SAP Solution manager and will only be available in the future in SAP Cloud ALM.
If you have a running SAP installation and are looking for a good monitoring solution, then it is wise to check both SAP Cloud ALM and SAP Focused Run. Depending on your needs you can choose between both.
Check the road map of SAP Cloud ALM as well to see if missing gaps will be addressed in the upcoming year.
The business case for a monitoring solution is different per line of business. The main business case is roughly: “We will avoid or solve much faster Y major incidents per year. Each major incident costs is about xxx.xxx USD/EUR”.
For new SAP solutions: first consider using SAP Cloud ALM. Only when expecting high volume and high monitoring requirements, set up SAP Focused Run.
Cloud ALM is in principle for free within the usage rights. The usage rights can be found on this link.
Important restrictions: 8 GB in size (in 2024) and only 1 Cloud ALM per customer (see OSS note 3343265 – When provisioning SAP Cloud ALM in SAP for Me your company is “Not Entitled/No Data” and SAP Cloud ALM cannot be provisioned).
Extensions can be procured: SAP blog.
You can use the SAP Cloud ALM demo system to test drive Cloud ALM and see if it would potentially meet your needs. Read more in this blog.
More background material on Cloud ALM can be found on:
SAP Cloud ALM functions are growing fast and are definitely worth using. SAP Cloud ALM is a highly standardized function. This makes it for SAP possible to deliver new functions fast and easy to integrate and easy to use. The highly standardized functions comes with a setback that the solution cannot be extended to any particular need you might have.
It is out-of-the-box what you get, and nothing more.
<< This blog was originally posted on SAP Focused Run Guru by Frank Umans. Repost done with permission. >>
Focused Run has functions to fetch ST03N data from ABAP backend systems and use the data for analysis in SAP Focused Run System Analysis functions.
First step is to switch on the general functions for system analysis during SSI activation. Full help link from SAP can be found here.
In Focused Run start SM30 for table RCA_SSI_CONF and add entry for activation:
For the system that you want to have ST03N data collected, you need to repeat the SSI.
Check the detailed step in the SSI for the Statistical records aggregation:
Next step is to activate it per system in System Analysis:
Go to the settings per system and make sure Performance (aggregated statistical records) is activated:
In System Analysis, go to the bottom left tool section to open the Aggregation Configuration tool:
The overview page opens:
Now you can see both configuration and data collection is ok.
Go to the System Analysis tile and select the scope:
On the left side menu switch to the ABAP performance view:
In the new view in the ABAP frontend workload, push expand the screen button:
Now you get a list of all transactions. To make it simple we filter on EntryID (in this case we filter on ME to search for the procurement transactions):
Top right, there is the download to xls button. This is a very useful tool! In XLS you can post process the data.
You can also filter and sort on other elements like amount of executions.
To get a trend, click on the trend graph, in this example the trend for ME23N transaction:
If you have a specific query that is not met with the out-of-the-box reports, you can use SE16 on the Focused Run backend for table STATDBUSERTCODE. In this table the raw data is stored.
<< This blog was originally posted on SAP Focused Run Guru by Frank Umans. Repost done with permission. >>
All new functions and innovations for SAP Focused Run are delivered in either upgrades or feature packs. This blog will explain how to plan and execute upgrade for SAP Focused Run.
Questions that will be answered in this blog are:
In the SAP Focused Run overview document created by SAP there is one slide containing the SAP Focused Run release strategy:
All new functions and innovations are delivered in either upgrades or feature packs.
The generic release strategy of SAP Focused Run is published in OSS note 3551322 – Release Strategy SAP Focused Run.
First look up the specific upgrade OSS note. In case of upgrade to Focused Run 4.0 SP02 these are OSS notes SAP Note 3374888: Focused Run 4.0 FP02 and 3394504 – SAP Focused Run 4.0 Feature Pack 02 – Update Preparation and Postprocessing Documentation.
For Focused Run 5.0: OSS note 3529562 – Release Information Note for SAP Focused Run 5.0 SP00.
In this note you will find:
The HANA database can be upgraded before the actual upgrade or can be combined with the upgrade. The same applies for the SDA agent.
Best practice is to execute the HANA and SDA upgrades before. Upgrade your Focused Run test system first, leave the versions there for a few weeks to prove stability, then deploy on productive Focused Run system.
In case of changes to authorizations in the connected systems, you can already update these before the upgrade.
In case you use custom descriptions in the metrics, you must download them before the upgrade and upload them again after the upgrade. More information in OSS note 3077162 – Backup and Restore of MAI Custom description BEFORE and AFTER system Update/Upgrade.
As of Focused Run 3.0 you have the choice to go for a ZDO (Zero Downtime Option) upgrade to reduce the downtime of the upgrade.
Read the following notes carefully before deciding to go for this option:
Start your upgrade first on your SAP Focused Run development system and write down all the steps you execute. You will need to repeat all steps in your productive system later on.
During the technical upgrade, you will have to perform with the SUM tool, you will need to execute the SPDD and SPAU technical upgrade actions. Store the actions in transport to be used in productive upgrade. After SPUA is done, also apply the updated collective notes listed in the central note 3374888 – Release Information Note for SAP Focused Run 4.0 FP02.
After the technical upgrade has been completed, follow and document carefully all the steps in the OSS upgrade note. For example running extra tasks lists, programs, redo SSI for JAVA, etc.
It can also be you come across items and issues that are not documented in the OSS note. Please write them down in your own runbook for production. When upgrading to SAP Focused Run 3.0 we found that the standard jobs are switched to the technical job repository SJOBREPO (since the 3.0 ABAP stack is based on the S4HANA 1909 version).
Apply all collective notes for all functions you are using. The collective note numbers are listed in the Release Information Note.
After the documented steps, update the authorizations in SAP Focused Run to get the new tiles for new functions available.
Rerun the task lists for the initial setup in STC01 (SAP_FRUN_SETUP_FOUNDATION and SAP_FRUN_SETUP_USECASE) with the variants of the use cases that you are using.
Update the monitoring content according to OSS note 2991255 – Manual content update for FRUN-CONT 300 in SAP Focused Run (FRUN-CONT). For the steps in detail, read this blog.
Check in the upgrade manual if any SSI needs to be redone. This is often the case with JAVA systems.
Finally when all actions are done, refresh your browser cache and backend FIORI cache (follow all steps from this blog).
For every upgrade also check if there is a post processing note released. For FRUN 5.0: 3540663 – SAP Focused Run 5.0 Support Package 00 – Update Preparation and Postprocessing Documentation.
Before deploying the Focused Run upgrade in production, you must test all your functions in the Focused Run development system. It is very helpful if you have a set of documented test cases that you can easily repeat each upgrade. With testing first focus on testing the current functions you are using. In a later stage you can explore, activate and test new functions.
While testing you will find issues. Solutions are normally:
Capture all fixes in either transports or in your runbook.
If you still have key issues with bugs, you will need to raise a message to SAP.
<< This blog was originally posted on SAP Focused Run Guru by Frank Umans. Repost done with permission. >>
As ABAP developer you can be asked to help out with issues in standard SAP to help debug the issue.
First of all, you normally use the ANST tool to check if there are any standard SAP notes available.
The second step is to search for user-exits and BADI’s for a transaction.
The third step you can do is use the new ABAP debugger script to search for customer enhancements during debugging. To do this, load the new script by applying OSS note 3415810 – New ABAP Debugger Script RSTPDA_SCRIPT_MODIFICATION.
Now start debugging like usual and go to the Script tab:
Then load the script RSTPDA_SCRIPT_MODIFICATION:
Then start the script and choose your break-point stop conditions:
Now you can check if there is any modification or custom coding interfering with standard SAP.
When no custom coding involved and issues is still persisting, you can debug, but will still be forced to file a case at me.sap.com for an SAP solution.
