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Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth

DMO to SAP HANA – without software change

This blog introduces a new scenario available with SUM 1.0 SP 19: DMO without System Update.

You should be familiar with the general DMO procedure, as described in the blog https://blogs.sap.com/2013/11/29/database-migration-option-dmo-of-sum-introduction/

New scenario: DMO without System Update

We all know that Database Migration Option (DMO) of Software Update Manager (SUM) is the combination of the SAP software update with the migration to SAP HANA (or other databases like SAP ASE). The typical scenario is: your source system is not running on SAP HANA database, you want to migrate it to SAP HANA, and this requires an update of your SAP software (so that it fulfills the SAP HANA requirements).

Now the new scenario seems like a mystery:
combined update & migration – but without update?

We have taken your feedback: in case the software level of your source system is sufficient for SAP HANA db, you do not want to adapt the SAP software, not even one SP for any software component (e.g. to avoid regression tests). Independent on whether this is the best option (as you may use the downtime to apply required updates), this scenario is now supported.

So “DMO without System Update” does not require a stack.xml to start with.

Smallprint: the boundaries

Yes, the procedure is described in the DMO guide, section 2.3, listing restrictions like

  • target database type has to be SAP HANA (not available for DMO targeting e.g. SAP ASE)
  • download folder required with new kernel files for source and target database type
  • SUM will nevertheless create the shadow system and shadow repository (both in uptime)
  • it cannot be combined with “customer transport integration CTI”
  • it cannot be combined with downtime optimizations like “downtime optimized DMO”
    (as described in the follow blog https://blogs.sap.com/?p=113050)

“Heterogenous system copy” vs. “DMO without System Update”

You are familiar with the heterogenous system copy of Software Provisioning Manager? This scenario is still valid, and it has it’s advantages, depending on your priorities:

  • “DMO without software change” is still an inplace procedure:
    it keeps the application server (on which the SUM is started)
    -> heterogenous system copy can be used to switch to a new host
  • “DMO without software change” still creates the shadow system,
    so the uptime processing is not shortened compared to plain DMO

But if no stack.xml is required, how to overcome the very first SUM dialog: “feed me with a stack.xml”? Another reason to study the DMO guide thoroughly 🙂

Boris Rubarth, SAP SE
Product Manager SUM

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      28 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Rahul Shetti
      Rahul Shetti

      that's we are looking 🙂 thank you..

       

      Author's profile photo Anil Kumar Kunapareddy
      Anil Kumar Kunapareddy

      Is the workbench required to be locked if DMO is used?

       

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

       

      Yes, the workbench has to be locked, like in standard DMO.

      Yes, this may be cumbersome, but keeping the general procedure including the shadow system was the fast (and only) way to enable that scenario.

      Author's profile photo Johnny Zhong
      Johnny Zhong

      Hello Boris,

       

      Is Unicode conversion supported in this scenario?

       

      Best,
      Johnny

      Author's profile photo Andreas Lichtenau
      Andreas Lichtenau

      Hi Johnny,

      a conversion to Unicode is mandatory because the target databases run on Unicode systems only.

      Best regards,
      Andreas

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Johnny,

      the conditions concerning Unicode are like for standard DMO: the Unicode conversion can be included, but only if the target release is lower than SAP_BASIS 7.50.

      Best, Boris

      Author's profile photo Wei-Shang Ku
      Wei-Shang Ku

      Hi boris,

      Does SUM+DMO keep the original PAS after migration ?

      If so, is there any way to have new PAS on another host ?

      There are many SAP customers running very old, Unix based system. They want to migration everything to Linux (U2VL or U2L), It is not a good solution to migrate everything to Linux and let Central Instance on Unix.

      In addition, is that possible to run SUM on separate box (not on CI) ? Some customer with very

      old HP-UX/AIX don't have enough resource to hold shadow process and db.

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Wei-Shang Ku,
      as stated in the respective SAP note for DMO (currently 2328517 for DMO with SUM 1.0 SP 19), DMO of SUM will keep the host stable: "DMO will keep the application server stable. This means that no switch of application server is possible."
      You can switch the PAS of your system prior or after the DMO procedure, using the option of the Software Provisioning Manager.
      Running SUM for DMO on an Additional Application Server (AAS) instead of PAS is supported with restrictions, as stated in the SAP note as well, e.g. only if your system has a separate ASCS instance, and not supported for DB4 (DB2 for i).
      Regards, Boris

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Boris,

      Thank you. This blog helps. Difference between DMO for pure migration against Classical migration using SoftWare Provisioning Manager looks to be  -

      Migration of data will happen over the network through network pipes so customers need to have good network bandwidth e.g. 10 Gbps. SWPM tool migrates data at file system level which is slow when compared to earlier option of data migration over the network.

      DMO's inbuilt intelligence and table split mechanism will be far better than manual table splitting decisions. So we may expect good migration speeds compared to classical migration.

      Thanks,

      Ambarish

      Author's profile photo Ramanujam Bellur Rajkumar
      Ramanujam Bellur Rajkumar

      Hello Boris,

      We have a SolMan 7.2 system (with Java app server split - Keep Java DB option). To move to HANA, can DMO be used to split the Java DB and still not do a software update?

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Ramanujam,

      DMO is only available for ABAP Systems - with one exception mentioned in the note for DMO with SUM (currently SAP 2377305 for DMO with SUM 1.0 SP 20):
      "use the DMO of SUM for the upgrade procedure from SAP Solution Manager 7.1 to SAP Solution Manager 7.2"

      If your SAP Solution Manager is already on 7.2, this scenario is not supported for your system.

      Regards, Boris

      Author's profile photo Chetan Poojary
      Chetan Poojary

      Hello Boris,

      My current system is on ERP 6.0 SP6 , NON - UNICODE , ORACLE 11.2 , AIX

      Plan is to have target system with ERP 6.0 EHP7 , UNICODE, STILL ORACLE 12.x.x.x , RHEL6

      As you see that i want to use still the same Oracle 12.0 for this migration , can i still use DMO with the option of " NO MIGRATION" or I have take different route of Classical Migration.

      ( Was just checking with you if i can still use DMO without change in database keep the oracle database from source to target)

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Chetan,

      • updating the software of a system (without changing the database) is one use case for SUM:
        that is when you choose option "no migration" in that dialog
      • DMO is the use case to switch the database type for a system (with or without changing the software) - but (as stated in the respective SAP note) it can't be used for a homogenous migration in which source and target database type are identical (emphasize: type, not version is relevant)

      -> use classical migration with Software Provisioning Manager.

      Regards, Boris

       

      Author's profile photo Chetan Poojary
      Chetan Poojary

      Sorry for late reply, Thanks Boris:)

      Author's profile photo Brian Griffin
      Brian Griffin

      Hi Boris-

      There has been some discussion on an existing project regarding whether using DMO with System Move from an Oracle DB (HP-UX) to an ASE database (on SUSE) is supported without a System Update.  We see the latest guides for SUM 2.0 SP02 for a target HANA DB has support, but the corresponding ASE documentation skips over that section.

      I know that over a year ago this wasn't supported.  Has there been a recent change of status?

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Brian,

      the scenario "DMO without System Update" is only supported for target database type SAP HANA.

      So to my knowledge, there was no change. SAP note 2537452 mentions this scenario for SAP HANA database.

      Regards,
      Boris

       

      Author's profile photo Brian Griffin
      Brian Griffin

      Thanks - I appreciate the quick response!  The project team thoroughly read through the note you mentioned prior to posting here, and didn't see any references to the scenario explicitly not being supported.  We'll open up a private customer message to see if this scenario can be put on the roadmap.  With a considerable number of companies migrating to the cloud, DMO with System Move is a critical (and awesome) tool for migrating from AnyDB to HANA or ASE!

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      The scenario is described as follows:

      You want to carry out only a migration of your SAP system to the SAP HANA database, but you do not intend to update the SAP system, and hence you do not need to provide a stack.xml file. For more information about this feature, see the topic "Using DMO without System Update" in the "2 Planning" section of the DMO Guide. 

      So it is for SAP HANA as target only.

      Nevertheless thanks for the feedback on requirements.

      Author's profile photo Rahul Shetti
      Rahul Shetti

      can we perform Unicode conversion with this option ?

      e.g.

      Source system EHP7 + Oracle + NUC -- > EHP7  + HANA  -- no software update

       

      Thanks.

      BR, Rahul.

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Rahul,

      this should be possible, as far as I can see.

      BR, Boris

      Author's profile photo Gayda Ivie C Gaw
      Gayda Ivie C Gaw

      Hi,

       

      We have Solman 7.2 in Sybase DB and we want to change it to HANA. Can we use DMO for the ABAP part and then SWPM heterogeneous system copy for the JAVA part, would that be possible?

      Author's profile photo Sunil Karjagi
      Sunil Karjagi

      Hi Boris,

       

      We have system GRC 10.1 on ASE. and we need to migrate it to HANA 2.0.

      For this shall we use DMO without System Update procedure?

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Sunil,

      it should technically be possible.

      Author's profile photo Ning Tong
      Ning Tong

      If we use pipe mode of DMO, then no export data is created for migration?

      Compared with system copy using SWPM, the downtime is reduced?

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Indeed SUM is using pipe mode for DMO, and for "DMO without system update" as well.

      R3load pipe mode is expected to be faster than file mode (no compression, no file I/O), but you have to see the full scenario, so it depends on the settings which is faster. Consider the following blog for a comparison: https://blogs.sap.com/2017/11/22/comparing-sap-migration-procedures-to-sap-hana-database/

      Author's profile photo Chiro Hana1
      Chiro Hana1

      Hi Boris,

      Is there a limitation on the SAP_BASIS level, for using DMO without software change?

      I'm trying to migrate a NW 7.31 system from DB6 to HANA using this option but getting this in MIG2NDDB_INI phase -

      1WETQ399 Unsupported target vector, need at least 'SAP_BASIS(740(2-*),741-*)'.
      1WETQ399 System not suitable for migration.

      I'm not getting the DB migration option dialog at all.

      BR,

      Chiro

      Author's profile photo Boris Rubarth
      Boris Rubarth
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Chiro,

      the DMO restrictions apply, see respective SAP Note for DMO with SUM 1.0, for SUM 1.0 SP 25 this is 2840351:

      Target release: SAP BW 7.40 (or higher)

      BR, Boris

       

      Author's profile photo Chiro Hana1
      Chiro Hana1

      Thanks Boris, My bad, had missed it in the note.