Activating FIORI-Apps in S/4 HANA – not so hard after all!

I used to think that activating FIORI apps is a cumbersome task and I have to admit I had to give it a few attempts before I got some success.

But today I got four of them running in a short time, so I really got “in the flow”. Now I think that it’s not that hard, after all.

I’ll share with you what I did / my general approach here:

[Please note: I’m working on an sandbox system, that is not even accessible from the “outside world” – if you’re in a productive environment you probably have to pay a lot more attention to security-concerns.

(Like, thinking twice and checking back with others, before activation services in SICF; or fine-tuning the authorizations)]

Have your systems installed / up to date

We are running a backend with S/4 HANA 1511, SP1:

S4CORE          100       0001     SAPK-10001INS4CORE            S4CORE

Our frontend (gateway server) has SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA 1511 installed:

UIS4HOP1        100       0000     –           UI for S/4HANA On Premise

For configuring those systems, I use a document called “SAP Fiori Technical Foundation Configuration(EE0)” (I got it from a colleague, I couldn’t find a link to provide to you, maybe someone can help me out with that?)

[Edit: there you go: https://fioriapps-rds.dispatcher.hana.ondemand.com/docu/EE0_NWG20_BB_ConfigGuide_EN_XX.pdf ]

Other prerequisites:

• Have a equally named user in both the front- and the backend.
• For testing, I give them quit a lot of authorization in fron- and backend (like SAP_ALL). 
• In the backend, let it have role SAP_SM_S_RFCACL .

After this is done, to activate an app what I do is this:

(if not mentioned otherwise, things are done on the front end = gateway server).

1. Find your App in the App-Libraray (https://fioriappslibrary.hana.ondemand.com/sap/fix/externalViewer/)

     I’ll take “Manage Purchase Orders” (https://fioriappslibrary.hana.ondemand.com/sap/fix/externalViewer/#/detail/Apps(‘F0842’)/S3OP) as an example.

2. Check that the needed front- and backend-components are installed.

3. Activate the UI5-application in SICF.

The path is allways: /default_host/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/

The appslibrary will tell you the service name (MM_PO_CRES1)

-> just right-click and activate.

4. Activate OData services:

In /IWFND/MAIN_SERVICE, publish the OData servic(es) mentioned in the appslibrary (MM_PUR_PO_MAINTAIN).

Also make sure that it’s activated in SICF as well:

Here the path is: /default_host/sap/opu/odata/sap/

5. Assign the role given in “PFCG role for Business Catalog” (SAP_BR_PURCHASER) to your user and start testing:

6. Log on to the Fiori-launchpad.

It’s usually located at [server:port]/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/ushell/shells/abap/FioriLaunchpad.html .

Tipp: use Chrome as your browser.

7. You now should see the Apps as provided by the PFCG-Role.

8. Find the one you wanted (Manage Purchase Orders) and klick on it.

9. It’s quite possible that it will not work right away, but don’t let that stop you:

The F12-Key is your friend!

-> switch to the Console.

Press F5 to reload the launchpad again.

Then click the App again.

-> Watch the error messages in the console!

There are usually 2 main error sources you can identify by those messages:

a)

A service is not running!

GET http://[hotsname]/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/mm_purdoc_lsts1/~29C6FEC22735BB70BBE819198D78D~5/Component.js 403 (Forbidden)

-> go to the SICF-Node given in the URL (here: /sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/mm_purdoc_lsts1) and activate it.

b)

An OData service is not available:

GET http://[hostname]/sap/opu/odata/sap/ME2STAR_OD_SRV/$metadata?sap-language=DE 403 (Forbidden)

-> go to /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE and publish it!

(don’t forget to to activate the respective SICF-Node as well!)

You probably have to repeat those steps (reload, Click, Look, activate something in b) a few times, but in the end you should have your running app:

Bonus-steps:

You already see the other apps (provided by the PFCG-Role) so why not make the usable, too!?

-> you can use the same “klick, look, activate”-cycle for it.

Conclusion:

As always you have to invest some time and get acquainted with the problem domain. As you gain experience, the solution hidden behind an error message will get more and more obvious to you.

F12 is key when trying to find out what’s wrong!

So what do you think of this approach? What steps do you go when implementing Fiori-Apps (in S/4 HANA or elsewhere)?

Your comments are most welcome!