Set up and run ABAP dev/trial editions in the Cloud

The following document provides links to the most important guides and tutorials for creating, running and operating the various developer and trial editions provided as virtual appliances by the SAP Cloud Appliance Library (CAL).
For a list of currently available versions, please see the following blog:
SAP AS ABAP and SAP BW: Developer and trial editions
If you have any questions or problems, please check the following archive thread:

AS ABAP 7.4, 7.5 trial / dev. editions as virtual appliances: Questions and feedback

If your question is not answered, please start a new question here in SAP Community; remember to add the #ABAP_Trial hashtag.

Setting up: Cloud Provider and SAP CAL Instance

What you need to do as an administrator to get started with SAP Cloud Appliance Library (CAL):

1. Understand the key concepts: SAP Cloud Appliance Library: Key Concepts
2. Decide on your SAP solution type and charging model: FAQ: Solution types and charging model
3. Decide on your Cloud provider. See this video for details (00:00 – 02:30)
   The currently supported cloud providers are Amazon Web Services™ (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. For more information about the supported cloud providers, see the SAP CAL FAQ page.
   .
4. Navigate to SAP Cloud Appliance Library: https://cal.sap.com
5. Create an account for yourself in SAP CAL.
6. Navigate to the solution and create an instance of it: SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP and SAP BW 7.50 SP02 on ASE (CAL)
7. For a great, step-by-step tutorial for these 3 steps, see this short video (7 minutes):
   Quick start in the Cloud with ABAP on HANA Dev. Edition
   .
8. Allow your employees to apply for a user.

For more information, see the SAP Cloud Appliance Library FAQ (SCN Wiki).

Setting up a virtual private cloud (VPC) with VPN access on (AWS)

One secure possibiliity is to set up a virtual private cloud (VPC) with VPN access on AWS (Amazon Web Services) and launch your trial instance into the private subnet of this VPC. The following guide explains how: Creating a VPC with VPN access for running virtual appliances on AWS

Alternatively, this step-by-step tutorial describes how to get your trial instance up and running on AWS with minimal effort – but less secure.

What’s the difference between public network access and corporate network access in the instance creation wizard?
In simplified terms, with the public network option you get a public IP address to directly access your trial instance (no VPN required) with all implications on privacy and security. With the corporate network option you get a private IP address from the address range of a subnet within your virtual private cloud (VPC). For more information please consult the VPC user guide.

Next Steps

Once you have set up your CAL instance,  see the following :

Guide: ABAP AS 750 SP02 on ASE

Guide: ABAP AS 750 SP01 on SAP HANA

These two guides cover the basic procedure above and much more, including:

• Connecting to the front end;
• Connecting to the back end;
• Transporting copies of development objects;
• Additional information

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it completely free to use the trial editions of these virtual appliances?
To be precise: SAP offers you to instantiate and run these virtual appliances using the SAP CAL test drive center completely for free (according to the terms and conditions). But you have to pay the charges of your cloud service provider hosting these trial instances (without any involvement of SAP).

Do the different trial variants have an impact on the charges of my cloud service provider?
Yes, as an AS ABAP on SAP HANA trial instance requires more virtual CPUs and memory than an AS ABAP on MaxDB trial instance you should use the appropriate instance type/size recommended by the instance creation wizard. This has an impact on the charges of your cloud service provider as shown in the cost forecast of your SAP CAL account.

Ok, but how do I find out what my cloud service provider charges for these trial instances?
You have two options:
a) The instance creation wizard of the SAP Cloud Appliance Library offers a detailed cost forecast (you could still cancel the creation process).
b) You can take a look at the Amazon EC2 price list for the recommended instance types: x2.4xlarge (AS ABAP on SAP HANA), m1.large (AS ABAP on SAP MaxDB)

So how do I run these trial instances cost-effectively on AWS?
Hosting the trial instances on AWS comprises EC2 services (Elastic Compute Cloud) and EBS services (Elastic Block Store). If you suspend the trial instance there are no costs for EC2 services anymore, but still low costs for EBS services. If you terminate your trial instances, there are also no costs for EBS services anymore. Thus, we recommend to use the ‘activate and suspend manually’ option, which is part of the instance creation wizard or available within the properties of your existing instance. To be on the safe side, you can also activate a billing alarm in your AWS account.

How often do you plan to update the trial editions of these virtual appliances?
We plan to offer a new virtual appliance for every major release and enhancement package of AS ABAP. But we are not going to build and publish new trial appliances for every upcoming support package – maybe some major/important ones.

The virtual appliance has been updated, what does this mean for me?
Your existing CAL test drive center subscription is still valid and all created instances remain unaffected. Only if you create a new instance the latest version of the trial edition will be instantiated.