Introducing the SUM MailNotifier - you have been waiting for this!

[Boris_Rubarth]

MailNotifier in a nutshell:

By using MailNotifier, you can now get notified via email when Software Update Manager (SUM) ABAP displays a dialog, so you do not have to frequently check the user interface (UI) during long running phases.

Scenario

You are running an update, an upgrade, a conversion to SAP S/4HANA, or a DMO process with SUM ABAP. During long running phases, you have to frequently check the UI to see if the tool requires any action, like configuration or handling issues. Instead of manually checking the UI, you can now configure the MailNotifier of SUM to get notified as soon as a dialog is waiting for your input. The MailNotifier is an executable jar archive and delivered with SUM 1.0 SP 18 (and higher).

Prerequisites

Tool: The MailNotifier is part of SUM 1.0 SP 18 (or higher)

Host: You need a PC or host that is able to connect to both the SUM ABAP process via HTTP(s) and your SMTP mail server. The PC or host has to have Java 6 installed so that the MailNotifier can run on it. Note that you may have to ask your mail provider to enable SMTP connections. If the Primary Application Server (PAS) host fulfills these conditions, it can be chosen as host for the MailNotifier, but it does not have to be that host.

How to use MailNotifier:

1. Choose PC or host and provide it with MailNotifier files
   After extracting the SUM archive, you find the MailNotifier in the folder SUM\ABAP\mailNotifier. It consists of an executable jar file MailNotifierApp.jar and a property file MailNotifierApp.props. You copy both files to your PC or host of choice that fulfills the requirements listed above.


2. Configure MailNotifier
   You fill all configuration parameters in the property file MailNotifierApp.props. This file contains a description for all parameters such as for mail server and SUM host. For security reasons, we recommend to not enter passwords into the property file. Instead of using the property file, you can provide the parameters on the command line (property=value) when starting the jar file, but again: You should not provide the password parameters on the command line.


3. Start MailNotifier
   You start the tool via command line, either by referencing the properties file:
      java –jar MailNotifierApp.jar properties=<path-to-props-file>
   or by providing the parameters in the command line:
      java –jar MailNotifierApp.jar sum.sid=ABC sum.user=abcadm …
   The tool asks for the password parameters, and you enter the passwords into the console.Example:
   ...\SUM\abap\mailNotifier>java -jar MailNotifierApp.jar properties=MyMailNotifierApp.props[24.12.2016 09:16:22]   INFO SumMailNotifier (Version 1.4.5) - starting ...
   [24.12.2016 09:16:22]   INFO Reading properties from classpath "com/sap/lm/sl/upg/notifier/MailNotifierApp.props"
   [24.12.2016 09:16:22]   INFO Reading properties from file "MyMailNotifierApp.props"
   [24.12.2016 09:16:22]   INFO Requesting missing mandatory properties:
   Property mail.pwd:
   Property sum.pwd:The MailNotifier checks the completeness of parameters, and checks if it is able to reach the SUM process. Then the tool sends an initial email, so that you can check if the configuration is working.
   Finally, the tool starts checking the SUM process frequently. If SUM is waiting for user input, it will send an email as notification.

The parameter check.interval defines the interval in which the MailNotifier checks the status of the SUM ABAP process, and the parameter check.tries defines how often the dialog status has to be provided by SUM before the MailNotifier sends the email. This involves that if you are immediately handling the SUM dialog (and thus the MailNotifier will receive the SUM dialog status e.g. only once), the tool sends no email.

Note:

• At present, the MailNotifier has only been tested for SUM ABAP scenarios

[Added on April 23 2020:]

Collaboration platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams became very popular. Both tools offer email interfaces that can be used to integrate the SUM mailNotifier into existing channels and teams.

Integration into Slack

Add the email app to your Slack channel which should be used for the integration. Sign in and add the app to the workspace: https://slack.com/apps/A0F81496D-email

• Click in “Add to Slack”


• Then, enter the channel you want to use for the notification. In this example, the channel “#zerodowntime” is used. Click on “Add Email Integration”. In the next screen, the email address is displayed which can be entered in the properties file as described above.

Output:

Integration into Microsoft Teams

In Microsoft Teams, the email address can be retrieved by click on the three dots on the channel level. Then, select “Get email address”. Similar to Slack, use the provided email address to adjusted the properties file as described above.

Output:

 

Boris Rubarth

Product Manager Software Logistics, SAP SE