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RolandKramer
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert

Last changed 6th of August, 2020




Since BW/4HANA is available from 7th of September 2016 and we already saw how the Road to SAP BW/4HANA can look like:



It is now time to go on the actual Road for SAP BW/4HANA to get more details about the technical and application specific tasks to do.

This Blog is not talking at this time in detail how to convert your customer specific objects rather than to understand the e2e process of the BW/4HANA migration.

 




In-Place conversion of SAP BW 7.50 on HANA


the following example describes the In-place conversion to BW/4HANA. The SAP Note also contains the necessary steps for the shell and remote conversion to SAP BW/4HANA as well.

Note 2383530 - Conversion to SAP BW/4HANA - Step by Step Description


conversion process to SAP BW/4HANA


Note 2189708 - SAP BW/4HANA Add-On Handling and Usage
Note 2285440 - Technical prerequisites in BW for "SAP BW Edition for SAP HANA" add-on
Note 2283111 - "SAP BW, edition for SAP" SAP HANA add-on - B4H mode

Note 2448571 - BW4HANA: Starter Add-on(checks) => included in BW 7.50 SP08

 


conversion process with SEM-BCS Add-On


 

You can use the SAP Notes Analyzer Report (Z_SAP_BW_NOTE_ANALYZER) to find all necessary Notes for the correct usage of the BW/4HANA Starter Add-On


Note 1614266 - System Copy: Post-Copy Automation (PCA) / LVM
BASIS_Content_V21.xml and Report Source Code
Note 1707321 - BW System Copy: Post Copy Automation (BW-PCA)
BW_and_SAPI_Content.xml

 






 




Report RS_B4HANA_RC


SAP Help: SAP Readiness Check - Plan your journey to SAP S/4HANA
Note 2575059 - SAP Readiness Check for SAP BW/4HANA

Before you start to convert your SAP BW 7.x system (releases 7.0 to 7.5) to SAP BW/4HANA, you want to use the SAP Readiness Check for SAP BW/4HANA to check the following aspects of your SAP BW Source System:

  • Relevant simplification items

  • SAP BW/4HANA sizing

  • Compatibility of BW objects with SAP BW/4HANA

  • Compatibility of installed Add-Ons with SAP BW/4HANA


To perform the check, install some supporting APIs in the managed system, where the necessary information is collected.


Note 2876006 - Revision 12 - PRECHECK
Note 2876014 - Revision 12 - SOURCE and PREPARE
Note 2876015 - Revision 12 - ADDON_750, INPLACE and TARGET

Note 2908611 - Revision 13 - SOURCE and PREPARE
Note 2908621 - Revision 13 - ADDON_750, INPLACE and TARGET

Note 2940373 - Revision 14 - SOURCE and PREPARE

Note 2941565 - Transfer Tool DTP & RSSM (34) - Precheck Filter PSA RSDS
Note 2946808 - Transfer Tool DTP & RSSM (35) - better logging of errors in DTP conversion (TRFN Path...

Note 2933246 - Run SAP_BW4_TRANSFER_INPLACE_* contains objects of current scope

Note 2577045 - B4H conversion: Code scan report
Note 2585743 - Corrections Code Scan Report
Note 2749972 - B4H conversion: Code scan report (revision 9)

 




Transaction RSB4HCONV


(aka Report RS_B4HANA_CONVERSION_CONTROL). The Report can run without having the SAP BW/4HANA Starter Add-On Installed.

Note 2555582 - Version 1.5 (Revision 5) of the SAP BW/4HANA Transfer Preparation Tasks
Note 2555584 - Version 1.5 (Revision 5) of the SAP BW/4HANA Transfer In-Place Tasks
Note 2560592 - SAP BW/4HANA Conversion: Transfer of Authorization Roles
Note 2594459 - Revision 5: ADDON4750 (Checks only)





Starting with SAP BW 7.50 SP08 the "BW mode" option is added to the Report, to switch back to the original state of the system without de-installing the Starter Add-On.

To avoid any unwanted side effects in the TCI usage, use the current SPAM Version 750/0068 and at least SAP BASIS_750 SP10 or higher. If you are on BW 7.50 SP10 or higher, the usage of the TCI is not necessary anymore for the Toolbox usage.

Note 2358953 - SAP BW/4HANA Conversion: Preparation Tasks
Note 2371120 - SAP BW/4HANA In-Place Conversion and Remote Conversion (Receiver)
Note 2575059 - SAP Readiness Check for SAP BW/4HANA
Note 2735300 - TCI for SAP BW 7.5 for SAP BW/4HANA Transfer Cockpit (Installation Package)



In advance maintain the "Whitelist" prior to the further tasks for the Implementation of the BW/4HANA Starter Add-On

 




Report RS_B4HANA_WHITELIST_MAINTAIN


Note 2423897 - BW4HANA: Report RSDG_MPRO_ACTIVATE ignores the whitelist
Note 2900656 - No permission to maintain white list for TLOGO
Note 2930058 - FAQ - SAP BW/4 Conversions

In the Whitelist you can specify Objects which must be able to edit during the checks and conversion phase.



Virtual InfoProviders are not available in BW/4HANA.
The following alternative options can be used to replace them.

1. Open ODS Views (e.g. replacing Virtual InfoProviders based on DataSources)
2. HANA CalculationsViews (for complex modeling requirements including scripting of business logic)
3. new: BADI Provider (use only in exceptional cases where the business logic must be implemented in ABAP – by nature of this InfoProvider the calculations are executed in ABAP, which may have massive performance drawbacks, this option should therefore only be used in very rare cases). Not available in 7.50 but BW/4HANA only.

When installing the "SAP BW/4HANA Starter" Add-on, the system is in compatibility mode where existing scenarios can continue running but changes of legacy objects (like Virtual InfoProvider) are forbidden. To modify a legacy object, you should add it's technical name to the whitelist (Report RS_B4HANA_WHITELIST_MAINTAIN). Please note that the whitelist will be ignored in B4H mode. Before switching to B4H mode, you need to remodel your scenarios manually according to the suggestions above.

Objects like MPRO, CUBE or IOBC which are not supported in the BW/4HANA mode anymore.

 




Tasks in the Maintenance Planer (MP)


The First Stop for the BW/4HANA Starter Add-On is the creation of the stack.xml in Maintenance Planer Application in the Cloud.

(!) Make sure, you removed all non supported SAP BW Add-On's beforehand. e.g. the following Example will not work and will lead in the Maintenance Planner (MP) in the error:

Note 2189708 - SAP BW/4HANA Starter Add-On -Handling and Usage
Note 2246699 - SAP BW/4HANA Starter Add-On - Pre-Req/Installation/De-Installation/Update

Note 2011192 - Uninstalling ABAP add-ons
Note 2378346 - Errors when preparing Add-On Installations / Upgrades in Add-On Installation Tool (S...

Note 1231203 - Release strategy for SAP TDMS (add-on: DMIS, DMIS_CNT and so on)
Note 2322477 - Uninstallation of Add-on POA SBC
Note 2453593 - Uninstalling GRCPINW - SAP Access Control, SAP Process Control
Note 2505027 - Uninstallation of add-on SEM-BW 748 and above
Note 2743291 – PCA for BW/4HANA
Note 2570363 – Availability of BW PCA for BW/4HANA

"OCS package SAPK-100AHINBW4HANA does not match the current software component vector"





Despite the Fact that you can download the Starter Add-On manually and upload the sources to your SAP BW 7.50 on HANA system, the current SPAM/SAINT Version (750/0068) won't allow the import without a valid stack.xml file.





Once you uploaded your configuration, you can now search for your System, e.g. B75/HBD and choose the option "Update SAP NetWeaver" to select the SAP BW/4HANA STARTER Add-On.
By this time all existing Add-On's must be removed from the Source System. The current ST-A/PI 01U_731 Add-on is compatible with BW/4 HANA.

Note 2189708 - SAP BW/4HANA Starter Add-On -Handling and Usage

These are the step by step screens in the Maintenance Planer (selected important steps only):







(!) Tip: Select only the BW/4HANA Starter Add-On including SP01 to avoid re-implementation of other Support Packages.







After you downloaded the Stack XML and pushed the necessary files to the Download Basket, you can upload the files to your SAP BW on HANA 7.50 System.

 




Tasks in the SAP BW Source System














After the BW/4HANA Starter Add-On is installed in the system, we can continue preparing the SAP BW Source System to activate the "Compatibility mode".

 




Enabling the SAP BW4/HANA mode


Transaction RSMIGRATE


You must use the transaction RSMIGRATE to migrate 3.x DataFlows to 7.x DataFlows, as this is a pre-requisite for the existing 3.x DataFlows. This migration is not part of the conversion toolbox.

Check for the latest corrections for the component BW-WHM-DST-DFG

Note 2946947 - Unable to delete 3.x InfoSource 0TCT_IS* after migrating to 7.x dataflow
Note 2949891 - 740SP25: No check for the transfer Method of the 3.X DataSource during Migration of T...
Note 2952419 - 740SP25: 'ASSERTION_FAILED' during authority-check during deletion of Dataflow Models...





Please note that the transfer tool is allowed to be called only in BW4HANA mode.
Furthermore the Program can only transfer empty objects. 


Automated Mass Migration/Conversion of BEx workbook to AO 2.x (new)

Note 2496706 - BEx Web Application Add-on for SAP BW/4HANA - Deployment and Limitations
Note 2542290 - Pilot: Enable Web Application Designer



 




Report RS_B4HANA_CONVERSION_CONTROL


(SAP BW/4HANA Starter Add-On)

Note 2777672 - Revision 11: new check tool (7.3 - 7.5)

Blog: At Last – A Readable BW/4HANA Readiness Check Report!




To search for the latest corrections for the BW/4HANA Starter Add-On, use the following Entries in the SAP Note Launchpad:


https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/mynotes?tab=Search




















Components (Start with) BW-BEX-OT-DBIF
Support Package (Greater Than) SAPKW74025, SAPK-75018INSAPBW
Search Term BW4HANA
mostly delivered with SP10 for 7.50



(!)
Please Note: when the Starter Add-on is installed and set to compatibility mode, it is not possible to use the BEx Query Designer anymore as you must switch to the BW-MT at this time.



the first result in the Report RS_B4HANA_CONVERSION_CONTROL looks mostly like that:



 




Execution of the Conversion Steps via new created Task Lists



  • RS_COMPATIBILITY_TO_B4H

  • SAP_BW4_TRANSFER_READY4CONV

  • RS_B4H_TO_READY4CONVERSION

  • BW/4HANA conversion toolbox


Task List RS_COMPATIBILITY_TO_B4H


This Task List is a collection of several cleaning and Housekeeping activities which might also be very useful to clean old Objects out of an BW 7.50 on HANA System.

No imports of unsupported object types allowed and white list is not relevant any more. Furthermore only SAP BW/4HANA compatible objects are available in the system. System is still working with the old objects, final preparation for the conversion is not done yet.



Deletion of BW technical Content (0TCT*)


Even in an empty SAP BW system the technical content is active by default. Sometimes depending on the scope of the system also the CATT objects are activated.

(!) Deleting the BW technical content can have massive impact of existing scenarios in your system, as the objects might be used in several InfoProvider without knowing it, hence no TCT InfoObject will be deleted with this Report.

Report RS_DELETE_TECHNICAL_CONTENT


this Report was recently added to the following correction:
Note 2447513 - BW4HANA: Starter Add-On - further corrections (4)
Note 2468411 - BW4HANA: Starter Add-On - further corrections (5)



These are "typical objects" which has to be removed before you can set the BW/4HANA Add-On to active.



Optional:

  • Transaction RSZDELETE to remove 3.x Queries which are only available in the M Version

  • Transaction RSDCUBE to remove fractions of old Aggregates which are not in use


Please Note that there are some 0TCT* InfoObjects which cannot be deleted and needed for the for the core functions of the SAP BW system



 




Task List SAP_BW4_TRANSFER_READY4CONV



To enable the “Ready for Conversion Mode” this Task List must be executed first.

 




Task List RS_B4H_TO_READY4CONVERSION


Final preparation is done and system is ready for conversion. Some parts of the systems are not working any more (SAPI Source Systems, Virtual InfoProviders, BPC, ..). Should be planned in a way that this step is entered right before the system conversion.



at this stage you can also use the BW/4HANA conversion toolbox to convert your scenarios for Example in the In-Place Option. The "toolbox" is also delivered as a task-list.





In the In-Place Conversion you first decide, if it is a in-place or remote conversion and continue with the conversion.


 




The MYSELF connection - "the old heard of SAP BW"


Note 2479674 - BW4SL - Myself Source System
Note 2441836 - BW4SL - SAP Data Services and External System Source Systems

The deletion of the MYSELF connection is now part of the RS_B4H_TO_READY4CONVERSION task list.

Once the MYSELF system is gone it is not possible anymore (referring to the old system):

  • apply Support Packages

  • apply Business Content Support Packages

  • run SPAU

  • refresh imported SAP Notes in SNOTE




Last Stop before activating the "Ready for Conversion mode"

Report RS_B4HANA_CONVERSION_CONTROL


Note 1815374 - Clean up entries in tables after delete source system
Note 2069865 - ITAB_DUPLICATE_KEY dump in program SAPLRSAODS during various staging processes
Note 2214733 - SAPI: Inconsistent IDoc segments/transfer structures in source system
Note 2400086 - Myself-System not allowed in strict mode
Note 2347185 - SAPI/ODP DeltaQueue Conversion
Note 2354041 - Migrate SAPI to ODP - ODP in Source
Note 2436640 - SAPI - incorrect message: There are still no BW systems connected to DataSource &1 (R...

Once all Objects are migrated or deleted to be compatible with the BW/4HANA mode we continue with the next steps of the conversion.





 

Final Result in the Report RS_B4HANA_CONVERSION_CONTROL



Did I forgot to mention that the BW-MT are mandatory now?



Now we can go back to the Maintenance Planer to define the target vector for BW/4HANA.

This will be explained in the Blog - On the Road to SAP BW/4HANAsecond stage finalized

 






Roland Kramer, SAP Platform Architect for Intelligent Data & Analytics
@RolandKramer
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