Change Project Types – Remote or Local
This blog series is designed to help in understanding the concept and usage of change projects in business configuration. The idea of this series is to explain the features of the change projects, and some do’s and dont’s while working on it. This blog series will contain following articles:
- Introduction – Concept and Usage
- Change Project Types – Remote or Local
- Change Project – Merge and Sync with Production
- Change Project Life Cycle
- Change Project FAQ Page
In this blog, we concentrate on the the different types of Change Projects.
How do I create a Change Project?
This is a Change Project created and present locally in the Production Tenant throughout its life cycle. It can be created by clicking on the “New” in the Business Configuration->Implementation Projects view.
What are the different Types of Change Projects?
There are essentially 2 types of Change Projects
-
Local Change Project
Can I test the changes made in the Change Project?
No, any Scoping and Fine Tuning changes made in the Local Change Project are not deployed into the runtime of the system until it is merged back to the Productive Workspace.
The reason for this is, there is only leading Implementation Project in every tenant and in the Productive tenant, it would be the “Live” project. Business Configuration->Overview view can be used to find out what has been scoped and fine-tuned in the Productive tenant.
When will I be able to use the changes done in the Change Project productively?
You can productively use the changes in the Change Project when you merge the Change Project to Production.
When do I create a Local Change Project?
You would create a Local Change Project only if you are absolutely sure of the changes to be done and the impact on Productive system.
2. Remote Change Project
How do I move the Change Project to the Test tenant?
- Go to Service Control Center workcenter, and the view Systems.
- Click on Copy Solution Profile button
Can I test the changes made in the Change Project?
Yes, you can test the change project in the Test Tenant to which it has been moved. The Change Project would be the leading project in the Test Tenant, hence, any changes (Scoping or Fine-tuning) is deployed into the runtime of the Test Tenant and can be used for Testing.
What happens to Change Project in Production when it is moved to Test Tenant? Can I still work with the project in Production?
Once the Change Project has been moved to the Test Tenant, you would not be able to work on the project only in the Test Tenant. There is only a reference shown in the Implementation Projects OWL in the production
Can I move one Change Project to multiple test tenants?
One Change Project can be moved only to one test tenant
Do I need a new test system or I can move to an existing test system?
Depending on the contract, you can have only one test tenant or multiple test tenants. You can move the Change Project to existing test tenant using “Copy Solution Profile” in Service Control Center. If the existing test tenant is unusable, a decommissioning request can be created through an incident and a new test tenant can be requested using the Service Control Center
What will happen to my existing Test Tenant if I move a Change Project there?
Once a Change Project is moved to a Test Tenant, the tenant would be in the same level as Production Tenant in terms of Business Configuration (Scoping and Fine Tuning)[Assumption here is that there has been no further changes in the Production after the creation of the Change Project]
When will I be able to use the changes done in the Change Project productively?
You will be able to use the changes in the Change Project productively after you merge the changes to the Production. The changes would be available in the Production after merge and then can be used productively.
When do we create a Remote Change Project?
You would create a Remote Change Project, to completely test the changes to be made (eg. Add additional functionality etc) completely before patching the changes to production.
Can I have multiple Change Projects in parallel at the same time?
Yes,there is no restriction on creation of multiple change projects. However, the best practice is to have only one Change Project running in the system as multiple conflicting Change Projects may cause issues during merge.
Apart from Change Projects, can I make configuration changes that are effective immediately in Production?
Yes, for some fine tuning settings (pre-defined by SAP), you can make changes directly in Production through Business Configuration->Overview. Search for the required setting and “Change Immediately”.
Scoping Changes can only be done through a Change Project.
With this we come to the end of the second blog in the blog series. The third blog would concentrate on the Sync and the Merge process.
Regards
Geetha
Hi Geetha -
great stuff - thanks for this! So, in the first blog we learned that the production tenant is often a copy of production, and once in production you finalize any business configuration then set the project to live. So, this blog has the assumption that I'm creating the change project from production. Is this always the case? i'm wondering if we ever get the change project totally working in test, do the tenant, and don't do any further changes there. So, the change project would start in test. Or maybe this never happens? Like - could I just aways make changes in test and just move the scoping to production? Or it's always from production because that is where you set the live flag?
Thanks - so much to learn on this topic!
-ginger
Hi Ginger,
No, we cannot create a change project in the Test Tenant. It has to be always created in the Production Tenant and moved to the Test Tenant. Technically, during this process, a connection Is set up between the tenants which is used during merge back of the Change Project to the Production.
It is not possible to create a Change Project in the Test tenant and merge the changes to the Production, even from the UI. The "New" button would be disabled in the Test Tenant.
Regards
Geetha
Hi Geetha,
Great job in this post!
As far as I know when we create a test system using the copy scenario "Copy of Source System" (Very first option) we can create new change projects. It works like a clone of production system and we can create as many change projects we want in order to test it locally in the test system. However we cannot merge these change projects back to production.
In this scenario, would be possible to use the function "Copy solution Profile" from this "permanent" test system to Production ?
Is this a valid scenario?
Again, thanks a lot for this post.
Regards,
Guilherme Steyer
Hi Guilherme,
No, it is not a valid scenario. You cannot "Copy Solution Profile" from a Test Tenant to a Production Tenant.
Regards,
Geetha
Hi Geetha,
Thank you very much for the information. I have a slightly different scenario. I have one Test tenant copied from Production, which will be used as stand alone for roll out projects and no plan to merge it in the production. I have created a change project and added one of the standard countries in the scope. Now, I am unable to get the newly activated country under the logon drop down. Is it due to a change project created directly in Test tenant ?
Thank you for your help.
Regards
Arumita.
Hi Arumita,
In this case, I assume that the Change Project was created in the test tenant itself.
If my assumption is right, the tenant behaves like a Production Tenant as far as Change Projects are concerned. The Change Project is a Local Change Project in the Test Tenant.
You would have to merge the Change Project for the new Country to be visbile in the Test Tenant.
Regards
Geetha
Hi Geetha,
Thank you very much for your reply. Indeed, it's a local change project in Test tenant. I have an option for the change project as simulate merge, but no option to 'merge'. Will there some further activity required for the merge project in test tenant.
Regards
Arumita.
Hi Arumita,
The "Merge Changes to Production" is available in the Activity List. You would have to do it from the Activity List.
Regards
Geetha
Hi Geetha,
I have tried from the Activity list too, however it's not allowing me to progress.
Regards
Arumita
Hi Arumita,
Please raise an incident for the same.
Regards
Geetha
Hi Geetha,
I should've read this blog series first! I was trying to do some scoping changes to my Productive tenant by creating a change project in my Test tenant and then hoping I could merge it in to Production.
You mentioned that the 'New' button would be greyed out in the UI of my Test tenant under Change Projects, but for my Test tenant it is not? Why is that.
Also, I think I understand now that what I should've done is:
1) Go to my 'Live' Production tenant
2) Create a remote change project
3) Copy Solution Profile from Production to Test
4) Finish testing in Test
5) If all is good, then Merge Changes to Production
Is that correct?
Hi Geetha,
thanks for this great Blog Series. I have one question, you are saying that "One Change Project can be moved only to one test tenant".
We have the following 3-system landscape:
What we want to achieve is, that future change projects were realized by our technical experts on our Development/Implementation Tenant. Therefore we would move the change project created in the Productive Tenant to this Development/Implementation Tenant, as described by you. But before we merge the Change Projekt back to the Productive Tenant we want to have an acceptance test on our Test Tenant.
Is such an scenario possible? How can we copy the changes made in the Development/Implementation Tenant first to the Test Tenant, before we make the merge to the Productive Tenant?
I would be grateful for any hint.
Regards,
Steffen
Hi Steffen,
You would not be able to move the Change Project to the "Test Tenant" from the "Development Tenant". As I understand, you would be using the "Development Tenant" purely for SDK development and not for the Business Testing which will be done on the "Test Tenant". So my proposal is as follows
1) Develop in the "Development Tenant". Unit Testing can be done in the tenant. If your requirement is to have the Development Tenant in sync with the Production Tenant with respect to Configuration changes, you can have move a Change Project to this tenant specifically for this purpose (without merging back). You can sync the Change Project ("Update Project from Production") to Productive system so that it is in sync for Unit Testing.
2) Create a Change Project in Production and move it to the "Test Tenant".
3) Assemble the solution in the "Development Tenant" and upload to the "Test Tenant"
4) Complete the Business Testing in the "Test Tenant"
5) Once done, upload the assembled solution in the Production Tenant
6) Merge the Change Project from "Test Tenant" to the Production Tenant.
Hope I have answered your question.
Regards,
Geetha
2 questions:
a. In the Step 1 above, are you saying to create a New Change project (call this B) to move config changes to Dev tenant (and NEVER merge back) ?
What happens if the Change project in QA tenant is merged back to PROD ? Do we delete the Change Project B, and create Change project C to send to Dev to get latest config changes?
b. What are the choices to keep the Dev tenant configuration in sync with Test (not Prod as in your suggestion) ? Would a solution profile copy accomplish that ?
Thanks!
Hi Tim,
Answer to your questions
a. In the Step 1 above, are you saying to create a New Change project (call this B) to move config changes to Dev tenant (and NEVER merge back) ? What happens if the Change project in QA tenant is merged back to PROD ? Do we delete the Change Project B, and create Change project C to send to Dev to get latest config changes?
You can always keep your change project in sync with the Production by Syncing the Change Project to Production. Details are already given in the blog post series.
b. What are the choices to keep the Dev tenant configuration in sync with Test (not Prod as in your suggestion) ? Would a solution profile copy accomplish that ?
You cannot automatically sync between the dev tenant and Test Tenant (Both are Test Tenants). Changes would have to be done manually or sync the Change Project in dev tenant after the merge to production from Test Tenant.
Regards
Geetha
Dear Experts!
We are about to make some SDK changes and i wonder if i need to have a Change project for that or if these types of changes are transported seperatly?
BR
Fredrik Stennert
Hi,
what kind of SDK changes you have made, only code or it also includes some new configuration related objects?
Is your productive system already live?
Regards,
Suarabh
Hello Mr. Saurabh
The productive system is Live!
I do not believe we are going to do any changes to neither the Scope nor in the Activity list if that is what you mean with configuration related Objects...
BR
Fredrik
Hi,
in case your changes in solution does not carry any new configuration artifacts, you do not need change projects to deploy/transport your solution.
Regards,
Saurabh
Thank you for the answer,
realized that we need to do some minor config in the defaul ownership of a quote so i created a project in prod but when i thy to send it to Test i get this error:
Hi Stennert,
What was the source of that error and how did you fix it??
Regards,
Kartik Saini
Hi Kartik,
SDK solution versions on all the tenants must be the same to avoid this error.
Regards,
Ambuja
Hi Geetha,
We have an interesting situation in which our customer is live with a non-integrated landscape and we have completed a remote change project and merged it back to production. We are now switching to a 3 tier integrated landscape and i'd like to confirm that there should be no complications to continue with the remote change project approach as opposed to the local change project. I know if we request for a copy of production we would have to recreate the communication arrangements but if we use our existing test tenant that is already integrated with test on-prem, and just copy the solution profile of our change project do you see any complications that could arise?
Thanks!
Regards,
Avanti Katkam
Hi Avanti,
By a 3 Tier approach, I understand that you have a Production Tenant (P) and a Test Tenant (T1) currently. You want to add a new Test Tenant (T2) maybe specifically for PDI development. Is this the scenario?
If yes, then
1) Merge all the change projects in the T1 to production. I understand this has already been done.
2) Request the tenant T2 from Production.
3) Assemble and move the PDI solutions from T1 to T2. Do not develop further in T1.
4) Develop in T2 by creating Patch solutions.
T1 would then be used as purely a Test tenant before moving the developments to production. You can have the integration set up as is in T1 and continue to use it as a Test Tenant.All further change projects should also be moved only to T1 and merge to production after test. T2 should be used for development.
Regards
Geetha
Hi guys,
I am in the process of configuring a remote project, and therefore need to copy the solution profile from production to test tenant. When trying to copy I receive and error that copy is not allowed as the target system (test tenant) has an add-on that is not active on the prod system. Our PDI developer has in deed made some extension after requesting the production system with a solution profile, however has deleted the solution now. Is there any other thing that might block the process?
BR,
Bartosz
Hi Bartosz,
Both the Production and Test Tenant should be at the same level with respect to Add Ons for the copy to work.
however, if you say that you have no differences and the solution was deleted, then please raise an incident for this issue.
Regards,
Geetha
Hi,
How long does it usually take for SAP to provide the copy of a solution profile? I requested a solution copy from the production system to the test system yesterday and it is still in process.
BR,
Bartosz
Hi Bartosz,
Ideally, it should not take such a long time. Please raise an incident for the same to check if there is any issue.
Regards
Geetha
Hi Geetha,
After copying the solution profile from Production to Test, I have now 2 implementation projects in Business configuration. One old project (first implementation) with status tested, and the new change project with status open. Does that mean the that any changes done (like adding extension fields) will affect only the Remote project? Is a SDK solution an independent object, that once tested, I will have to upload manually afert merging back with the Production system?
Shouldn't the transactional data be copied from PROD to Test as well?
Hope I did not ask too many questions at once 🙂
BR,
Bart
Hi Bartosz,
Any configuration changes have to be done on the Change Project Implementation Project.
Any other changes that are not configuration related like extension fields created in SDK or KUT changes will not be transferred to the Production on Merge. The KUT changes will have to be transferrd through download and upload of Page Layouts. The SDK changes will have to be transferred through the solution transfer. The merge is possible only when the production and the test tehants are at the same level with respect to SDK solutions.
Transactional Data is not copied when only the Solution Profile is copied.
Regards
Geetha
Thanks Geetha,
Can you clarify what you mean by same level with respect to SDK solutions? In case there are SDK-solutions (a new field with a business logic) on the test tenant, what would be the procedure for making the two tenants equal assuming that there have been some changes done in the BC?
Hi Bartosz,
By same level, we mean that all the Solutions in Production and Test should be at the same version level. If the new SDK extension is dont in Patch 3 of Solution X in the Test Tenant, the Patch 3 should have already been uploaded to the Production Tenant so that SOlution X in Production is also at the same level as Test before, the change project is merged, so that any BC configuration made in Change Project related to Patch 3 in Test Tenant is merged back to Production.
Regards,
Geetha
Hi Geetha
Great article, can you clarify one thing for me?
If we create a remote change project in Production, then copy the solution profile down to Test...then realize a day later that we need an additional scoping item, is that possible? Or what do we do with the solution profile that has been copied to Test?
Thanks in advance
Hi Sandico,
Yes. You can do additional changes (scoping & Fine tuning) in the Change Project in the test system.
It is possible.,