WARNING: As of 01.12.2020, SAP AS ABAP 7.51 is no longer available for download. For the latest version, please see this blog post: SAP ABAP Platform 1909, developer edition

I am no longer updating these FAQs. The new, cross-release FAQs are here: AS ABAP 7.5x FAQs

From now on, please DO NOT post a blog comment if you require troubleshooting.

We now have 9 blogs referring to 3 different versions of the download developer edition:

• Very few people follow these blogs, so you will not get help from the vast majority of the community
• It makes it difficult for other users to find similar issues in future, which leads to many duplicated errors.
• There is no capacity to monitor all blogs for all released versions

Please post on the ABAP Development forum : ABAP Development: Ask a Question , using the hashtag #ABAP_Trial. I will monitor this blog for October 2019, while the new developer edition is freshly released, but cannot answer any further blog comments after October.

Server installation

(We provide you with several installation options:

• ./install.sh – installs the Developer Edition in dark mode, the installer will configure the SAP system for usage of the physical hostname
• ./install.sh -g– will present you a SAPINST GUI allowing you to modify certain system parameters. There is no official docu for this. However, this guide may be useful:
  SAP AS ABAP 7.50 Dev Edition – Unofficial Install Guide by Taryck Bensiali.
  .
• Note: Do not use ./install.sh -h <own hostname>– This allows you to specify your own hostname to be used by the SAP system. However, it is intended for advanced users only. Keep the default name for now.

Note: I have not tested this, so it is own risk. However, Community member Dylan Drummond has written a blog about installing the AS ABAP server, developer edition on Ubuntu Desktop16.04

Client installation (optional)

SAPGUI for Windows

If you have already a SAP GUI installation you can connect to your sytem. If not go ahead now with the client installation. See the SAP GUI space in SAP Community SAP GUI | SCN for more information.

Post-Installation Steps

ABAP License key

1. Start the SAP system:
   • Switch to user npladm with default password Appl1ance in the console : su npladm
   • Start the SAP system : startsap ALL

2. Log on to the system, client 000 as user SAP* with default password Appl1ance. In  transaction SLICENSE , ascertain your hardware key.
3. Request the license key for your trial version at SAP Sneak Preview License Key Request.
   • Select NPL – SAP NetWeaver 7.x (Sybase ASE) as System ID.
   • Enter your personal data and agree to the License Agreement.
   • Choose Generate bottom right corner of screen.)
   • The web site automatically generates a .txt file for this system/key. Download and save this file, eg on the desktop for convenience.
4. Go to transaction SLICENSE and install the license file:
   • In the tab Digitally signed licenses, delete the existing license, then choose Install. This opens the text file you got and installs the new license key.

Please note that all the above steps must be carried out; otherwise, the above user key will not work.

The system type changes to Demo. You can now explore the demo scenarios and develop using the ABAP tools in Eclipse and new features like the core data services or SAPUI5 UIs.

Renewing your license

Many of you have asked about this: Yes, you can apply for a new license. Just use the same procedure as above.

In theory, indefinitely, however, the ASE and HANA licenses last for about a year.

IMPORTANT: To use the developer key that we provide, you MUST delete your old license before you install the new one (as described in step 4 above). Otherwise, the system will generate a different license that no longer matches our pre-configured dev. key.

Administering the SAP NW ABAP 7.5 Developer Edition

Starting and stopping the server

With the user npladm you can start and stop the server using the terminal commands startsap and stopsap respectively or the newer sap control commands.

Getting started

To connect to SAP GUI for Windows:

The VirtualBox VM will likely be assigned the IP address 10.0.2.15 (because of the NAT network type). Your local WINDOWS cannot see that IP.

Instead it will communicate to the VirtualBox VM through port-forwarding using 127.0.0.1 (your windows local host).

1. To be able to use your SAP GUI on your local WINDOWS system, then the application server must either be:
   • 0.0.1,
   • or a hostname if added it to your WINDOWS hosts file
2. Update in administrator mode the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file and add an entry such as: 127.0.0.1 <your_vm_hostname>
3. The SAP GUI settings should be:
   • Application server =  127.0.0.1 or <hostname>
   • Instance = 00
   • System ID = NPL

ABAP plugins for Eclipse

Go to the ABAP Tools page for instructions.

Guides and Tutorials

The Guides and Tutorials page includes:

• Reference scenarios
• Tutorials, eg for ABAP Basics, Core Data Services, SAP Gateway…
• Developer Guide to SAP HANA Studio

These reference scenarios, pre-configured content etc are all available out of the box. For your convenience, however, we have created a role displaying all this content, ZDEVELOPER:

For details of how to upload this role, see the blog Uploading the ZDEVELOPER Role…

Transporting ABAP development objects

NOTE: I have not tested this – use at own risk.

The system has been set up in a way that allows you to import and export ABAP objects as transport of copies. For security reasons we removed the rfc connection and user tmsadm. See TMS Documentation to complete the configuration.

This section describes an export/import scenario.

Export

To export objects with a transport of copies you have to execute the following procedure:

1. In transaction SE01 choose Create (F6).
2. Mark Transport of Copies and choose Enter.
3. Enter a description.
4. As transport target enter DMY and choose Save.
5. Add the objects you need into the request. You may enter them either directly or via the menu Request/Task à Object List à Include Objects…
6. Release the request.

You will find your transport files in the directories:

/usr/sap/trans/data

/usr/sap/trans/cofiles

For the file transfer you can use sFTP or SCP clients like WinSCP with user root and the private key file of your backend instance (see Connecting to Your Backend on OS Level) or you can directly import the existing PuTTY connection profile.

Import

To import transports into the system you have to execute the following procedure:

1. Copy your transport files to:

• /usr/sap/trans/data
• /usr/sap/trans/cofiles

2. For the file transfer you can use sFTP or SCP clients like WinSCP (see above).
3. Ensure that user npladm has sufficient rights for accessing your transport files (e.g. use the command

chown npladm:sapsys <file>), otherwise the import will fail.

4. In transaction STMS open the Import Overview (F5) and double click on NPL.
5. In the menu select Extras à Other Requests à
6. Use the F4 help to select your transport request.
7. Choose Enter and answer the question if you want to attach the request to the NPL import queue with yes.
8. Mark the request in the import queue and select Ctrl+F11 (Import Request).
9. In the popup select for Execution “Synchronous” (for smaller request) and mark all import options.
10. Choose Enter and Yes to import your request.

Directories and Users

The installation creates following directories and users:

Created Directories:

Created Users on OS level

The installation creates following users on OS level. During the installation you are prompted to enter the master password.

The installed system provides the following database users:

The installed system provides the following SAP users in client 000:

The installed system provides the following SAP users in client 001:

Note: In general, you should develop using DEVELOPER or BWDEVELOPER (for BI content). SAP* is only for admin purposes, eg renewing the license.

Uninstalling instructions

If you ever want to uninstall your server, proceed as follows:

1. Delete the created directories
2. Delete the OS users
3. Delete the added lines in /etc/services (should be the last lines beginning with sap* and sql6* respectively)
4. Delete the line containing nplhost in /etc/hosts
5. Delete the symbolic link S99_nplhost.sh in the directory /etc/init.d/rc3.d in case of SUSE or /etc/rc3.d in case of Red Hat
6. Restart your network.

Troubleshooting non-AS ABAP server issues:

For VirtualBox questions (ie if you don’t get as far as openSUSE):

Oracle Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Getting Started
(For example, see chapter 6.3 : Creating a New Virtual Machine)

Also, check out the : Oracle VirtualBox Forum

For openSUSE :
If you are newish to Linux, and want to do one thing to get up to speed, I would suggest familiarity with XTerm. Fortunately, you can do this directly inside Xterm, by running the command vimtutor
I also found William Schotts’ guide helpful – and surprisingly readable:
The Linux Command Line

Also, check out the SAP on Linux forum: SCN SAP on Linux Forum

There is also a general (non-SAP) forum for openSUSE : openSUSE Forum

For SAP GUI:

SCN forum (new)

SCN forum – old archive