SAP HANA Cloud Portal: How to start?

[alvaro_guzman]

Note: SAP HANA Cloud Portal was renamed to "SAP HANA Cloud Platform, portal service" in May 2016.

Hi Portal guys!

I was recently involved in a HANA Cloud Portal project and I realized that despite SAP has provide everything we need to start configuring and developing our Portals not many people are taking advantage of it. SAP is putting a lot of effort to give the necessary information and access to end users and developers including a Trial account given for free (yes, for free!!! ).

I decided to share my knowledge with this community, especially in how to start so you can then build your own path to become an expert on the matter.

First thing first. Let’s get answers to some questions that you may have about this post:

Who should read this article?

R: Anyone who is interested to work with the SAP HANA Cloud Portal.

Do I need development skills?

R: Not necessary. The design of your site only requires you to have the basic knowledge of web sites building. The HANA Cloud Portal makes it so easy for end users that you don’t need a technical background at all.

Do I need to install some development/design tool in my computer?

R: No. To start using the Portal you only need a web browser (isn't the Cloud nice??? )

After reading this article I’ll be an expert in the HANA Cloud Portal?

R: Not really. The purpose of this post is to give you the tools to start your own self-study process. SAP had a great documentation site that provides a guide on how to build your Portal.

Everything is clear now so let’s start!

I’m assuming that if you reading this post is because you already have an account in SDN, if you don’t you should open one now by registering yourself into the SDN Community. Having this is a good starting point for two reasons:

• You are ready to request access to your HANA Cloud Portal trial account
• You have access to the forums and post about the HANA Cloud Platform

Please follow these steps and you’ll end doing your own test in a bit:

Step 1: Sign up for a Developer account

Even if you’re not a developer you still need one. Basically it will open the door for you to your own Portal. To get the developer account check out this link and follow the given steps: https://help.HANA.ondemand.com/help/frameset.htm?65d74d39cb3a4bf8910cd36ec54d2b99.html

Note: Keep in mind that you need to have your User ID (not your user name). If you don’t know it then once you are logged in to the SDN go to the Update Profile page (https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/updateprofilecom) and in the upper right corner you’ll see it.

Step 2: Access your HANA Cloud Portal trial account

After creating your own account in the Trial system go to https://account.HANAtrial.ondemand.com/ and once again log on with your SDN credentials:

Agree with the terms and conditions and click in Register; after a few seconds your account should be successfully created and ready to use:

Click Continue and you’ll entering to your own HANA Cloud Platform Cockpit which is more focused on the Development side (allowing you create your applications including Portal Widgets but that will be covered in a different article) but still necessary:

Step 3: Access your HANA Cloud Portal Administration Site

In the Cockpit go to the Account Information -> Services section and select the SAP HANA Cloud Portal link to access your Portal instance:

Then you’ll log in as Administrator to your own Administration site. It should be empty the first time you entered waiting for you to create your own site:

Hint: Save this link to your browser’s favorites!

Step 4: Start building your site!

You’re set! Now you’re ready to start building your site!

For that check the HANA Cloud Portal Documentation site: https://help.hana.ondemand.com/cloud_portal/frameset.htm

Here you’ll find 2 main sections:

• Developer Guide
• User Guide

My suggestion is to start with the User Guide where you’ll find information about how to build your site, grant access, create your own pages and use standard functionality like the Widgets. Then you can move on to the Developer guide to create your own Widgets (for this one you need to have a Developer background).

If everything went right you can now be able to play around in the Portal and take advantage of all the power of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.

Buckle your seat belts and enjoy the ride!

Cheers!