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).

EWA workspace

EWA’s can be found the SAP EWA workspace. Read more in this blog.

EWA alert solutions

If you are only interested in the alerts from the EWA’s, there is a dedicated SAP tool for this: the EWA alert solutions page on the me.sap.com space. Read more in this blog.

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:

EWA workspace

SAP Eearly Watch Alerts (EWA) has always been a primary tool delivered by SAP for system administrators to get an automated report on their SAP system.

The last few years SAP has been working very hard to get the EWA online as part of the support.sap.com pages. This development is now so far and good, that you can consider to switch using the online EWA workspace in stead of the EWA’s generated by your local solution manager system.

Questions that will be answered in this blog are:

  • How to access the online EWA workspace?
  • Can I still get my EWA in PDF or word format?
  • What are extra functions the online EWA workspace offers versus the traditional EWA?
  • Can I set up e-mails for EWA workspace to receive early watches?
  • Can I get an overview of all the alerts across all EWA’s?

EWA workspace

The EWA workspace can be reached on this URL: https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/ewaworkspace.

The first page is the overview page:

By clicking on the tiles you can zoom in on the diverse topics.

EWA for single system

In the overall rating tile, you can click on the donut graph to goto the list of separate EWA’s:

Here you can open the word or PDF doc, or by clicking on the line goto the online EWA for the single system:

On each topic you can zoom in by clicking on the line:

Sending EWA data to SAP

To get the information to SAP still the local SAP solution manager system (or Focused Run, see this blog) is used to collect the data, and submit it to the SAP market place. In the past the sending was once per month. With the switch to the new backbone infrastructure this is now once per week. If the EWA is not received on SAP EWA workspace page, please check the reference OSS notes in OSS note 1684537 – EarlyWatch Alert not sent to SAP: troubleshooting guide.

Setting up mails on EWA workspace

Follow the instructions of OSS note 2530034 – How to set up e-mail, SMS, and/or launchpad notifications – SAP ONE Support Launchpad to setup mail notifications for the SAP early alert workspace. You can also read these instructions from the SAP Focused Run expert portal, which are very clear: link.

EWA Alert solutions

In me.sap.com there is a special tile which has an overview of all the alerts of all EWA’s: the EWA alert solution page. Read more on this useful tool in this blog.

Background on EWA workspace

The primary background site about the EWA workspace can be found here.

A great start for first users is this blog on the effective use of EWA workspace.

One of the functions on EWA workspace that add value over the traditional EWA is the performance evaluation. Read more on this SAP blog.

EWA tips & tricks

More on EWA tips & tricks in this dedicated blog.