Update November 2020

For the latest information about SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 05, see What’s New in SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 05 For just the highlights, see SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 05 Highlights For information about how to get to the latest release, see SAP HANA Update, Upgrade, and Migration | SAP HANA 2.0 – An Introduction Any good? Post a comment, share on social media, and/or give a like. Thanks!

Introduction

Recently, we have updated a number of SAP HANA Academy tutorial videos for the playlist

• SAP HANA Installation and Update – SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 02

In this blog, I will provide some references and background information about the SAP HANA XS Advanced (XSA) runtime.

This blog is part of a series:

• SAP HANA 2.0 installation and update
• SAP HANA 2.0 platform lifecycle management
• SAP HANA Installation Automation
• SAP HANA 2.0 Server Installation
• SAP HANA 2.0 Client Installation and Update
• SAP HANA 2.0 Studio Installation and Update
• SAP HANA XS Advanced Installation (this blog)
• SAP HANA 2.0 Cockpit Installation and Update
• Installing SAP HANA SHINE

 

SAP HANA Academy – SAP HANA Installation and Update (YouTube Playlist)

 

Tutorial Video

In this tutorial video, we cover where to download the latest version of both the SAP HANA XS Advanced runtime and the different XS Advanced components; how to perform an installation of the runtime together with SAP HANA database server; and how to perform an update of a server installation to add the XSA runtime component using the SAP HANA database lifecycle management tool (hdblcm) in graphical, web, and command-line mode; how to perform an unattended installation of the XSA runtime with hdblcm in batch mode and the use of a response file.

SAP HANA Academy – XS Advanced

 

SAP HANA XS Advanced Model

Whereas installing the SAP HANA (database) server maybe takes 15 minutes on a bad day, installing the SAP HANA XSA runtime will take a good 90 minutes. To understand why this is the case, it is good to have a basic understanding of the XSA architecture.

For a gentle introduction, see

• XS Advanced for (not so) dummies

Unlike the xsengine process of XS classic, the XS Advanced runtime is not built-in/embedded into the SAP HANA database server and needs to be installed separately.

The XSA runtime comprises four operating system processes:

• xsconstroller (Controller, FileSystem Broker, Platform Router)
• xsexecagent (Execution Agent)
• diserver (Deployment Infrastructure Server)
• xsuaaserver (User Account and Authentication (UAA) service, UAA broker, HDI broker)

The runtime has its own role (xs_worker) and can be included with the SAP HANA server on a single-host installation, on a distributed system for load balancing, and on a dedicated host in a multi-host environment, including as a standby system (xs_standby role) for high availability configurations:

• System Concepts for XS Advanced Runtime Installations – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide

 

XS Advanced system concepts

 

The images below are from the Developer and Administration/Security guides (same paragraph) and illustrate the functionality which the different services provide.

For more information about the architecture, see

• The XS Advanced Programming Model – SAP HANA Developer Guide
• Technical System Landscape of SAP HANA XS Advanced – SAP HANA Security Guide
• Server Architecture of SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime Platform – SAP HANA Administration Guide

XS Advanced system architecture

 

Technical System Landscape of XS Advanced Application Server

 

Software Downloads

You can download the latest version of the XS Advanced runtime and the XSA components from the SAP ONE Support Portal. This works exactly the same as for the other SAP HANA components.

Navigation path: H > SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION 2.0: SUPPORT PACKAGES AND PATCHES

The table below lists the XSA components for SAP HANA Platform Edition 2.0

Software Component	Support Package Patches	Note
XS_ADVANCED_RUNTIME	XS RUNTIME 1	2582204
XS_ADVANCED_RUNTIME	SAP EXTENDED APP SERVICES 1	2582204
XS_MONITORING	XS MONITORING 1	2465860
XS_SERVICES	XS SERVICES 1	2465860
XS_JAVA	XS JAVA 1	2465860
XS_JAVASCRIPT	XS JAVASCRIPT 1	2465860
XSAC_ALM_PI_UI	XSAC_ALM_PRODUCT_INSTALLER_UI1	2495800
XSAC_XSA_COCKPIT	XSA COCKPIT 1	2465860
XSAC_SAP_WEB_IDE	SAP WEB IDE 2	2457320
XSAC_HRTT	SAP HANA RUNTIME TOOLS 2.0	2373065
XSAC_FILE_PROC	XSAC FILEPROCESSOR 1.0	2419428
XSAC_PORTAL_SERV	XSAC_PORTAL_SERVICES 1.0	2590066
XSAC_UI5_FESV2	SAPUI5 FESV2 XSA 1	2451647
XSAC_UI5_FESV3	SAPUI5 FESV3 XSA 1	2458437
XSAC_XMLA_INT	XSAC XMLA INTERFACE FOR HANA 1	2494696
XSAC_SHINE	SAP HANA DEMO MODEL ADV. 1	2239095
XSAC_MIGRATION	XSAC MIGRATION 1	2493252
XS_GERRIT	XS GERRIT 2	2503815

SAP Software Downloads – Support Packages and Patches

 

The XSA runtime and XSA components are included in the SAP HANA 2.0 platform edition installation media.

Most components are included in the XSA_CONTENT_10 directory but not the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA, the migration toolkit, and the Database Explorer (Runtime Tools: HRTT).

The XS clients for Windows, Linux and macOS are provided as compressed zip files in the XSA_CLIENT_10 directory. The installation steps are documented in

• 2242468 – Setting up SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model command-line client from SAP HANA Installation DVD or SAP Service Marketplace

 

The XSA runtime directory contains the SAP HANA lifecycle management tools hdbsetup (graphical), hdbinst, hdbsetup and hdbuninst but these utilities should not be executed directly. On the SAP HANA server, always install components using the SAP HANA Database Lifecycle Manager (hdblcm).

SAP HANA 2.0 platform edition – 51052325 extracted

 

SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime Installation

To install the XSA runtime and the different XSA components, you can choose to run the SAP HANA Lifecycle Management tool in graphical (Windows), web or command-line mode.

For the web version, you can start the tool from the SAP HANA cockpit, SAP HANA studio, or directly using the SAP host agent URL [ https://<host>:1129/lmsl/HDBLCM/<SID>/index.html ]

SAP HANA Platform Lifecycle Management – URL

Start the installation from the Install or Update Additional Components tool.

The first step is to indicate to the tool where the installation media is located using the Add Software Locations button.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 1. Add Software Locations

Next, select the SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime component for installation.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 2. Select Components

In step 3, you can add additional hosts in case you want to create a distributed system and define the host role for the XSA runtime (xs-worker or xs_standby). You will be prompted if you want to assign the XS runtime roles to the hosts with database roles (see above, section XSA system concepts).

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 3. Additional Hosts Properties

In step 4, you need to provide the passwords for the operating system administration account <sid>adm and for the system and tenant database SYSTEM accounts. This is not XSA specific but related to the SAP HANA server.

In step 10 (steps 6, 7, 8, and 9 are for Streaming, Dynamic Tiering, Accelerator and Remote Data Sync – when selected), we get to the screen where we can define the XS Advanced Runtime parameters.

For more information about each of the parameters, see

• System Properties – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide

For more information about the organization and customer space name (and the impact of running applications in customer spaces with separate operating system users), see

• Organizations and Spaces – SAP HANA Security Guide

For more information about routing mode and domain names, see

• Connections for SAP HANA Extended Application Services, Advanced Model – SAP HANA Administration Guide
• Security for SAP HANA Extended Application Services, Advanced Model – SAP HANA Security Guide
• 2245631 – Domains and routing configuration for SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 10. Configure XS Advanced Runtime

When the checkbox ‘Run Applications in Customer Space with Separate OS User’ is selected, you are prompted to set the operating system user ID for the SAP and customer space users (Linux). In a distributed (multi-host) environment, these need to be the same.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 11. Configure XS Advanced Space OS User Properties

In the last step, step 13, you can select the XSA components that you want install together with the runtime. Note that not all components are selected by default.

You can run the SAP HANA Lifecycle Management tool again to install (or update) additional XSA components at a later stage. Alternatively, you can use the XS client command ‘xs install’ to add components:

• Installing and Updating Using the Command Line Interface – SAP HANA Application Lifecycle Management

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 12. Choose XS Advanced Components to be Installed

The last screen lists all selections made for review and confirmation.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management – 14. Review and Confirm

Install using Windows

To run the SAP HANA Lifecycle Management tool in graphical mode, just run the hdblcmgui command from the installation media from the Lifecycle Management directory (HDB_LCM_LINUX_X86_64). To run the tool in graphical mode, an X-Windows environment needs have been installed and configured. This might be a bit of an issue as typically the SAP HANA server will have a minimal installation without X-Windows environment.

Running HDB_LCM_LINUX_X86_64/hdblcmgui

In the print screens below, you can see that the dialogs in the version are exactly the same as for the web version. The same is true for the command-line.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management (hdblcmgui) – Detected Software Components

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management (hdblcmgui) – Add Hosts

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management (hdblcmgui) – XS Advanced Runtime Properties

Unattended Installation with Response File

To automate SAP HANA XS Advanced runtime installations (or XSA component updates), you can run the SAP HANA Lifecycle Management tool in batch mode with a response file.

Installation automation is the topic of another blog in this series, so I will just highlight the required steps here.

First, create a template file with the hdblcm parameter ‘–dump_configfile_template=<filename>’

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management (hdblcm) – Create Config File

Next, you need to edit the template file to provide the required parameters. You use the online help from hdblcm for the specific syntax of the parameters. Alternatively, of course, you can also look them up in the documentation:

• Parameter Reference – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide

Most parameters will have a default value.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management (hdblcm) – configfile 

Once the response file (template file) and password file have been prepared, we can run the hdblcm command in unattended mode (–batch or -b) specifying the action, the template file and to read the password file from STDIN.

SAP HANA Lifecycle Management (hdblcm) – hdblcm in batch mode

 

Installing SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime…

The installer first extracts (unzip) the different components and proceeds to stop the SAP HANA system after which the runtime will be installed (Installing package…) and the system started again. This is the system downtime phase and takes about a minute.

Next, we can see that the SAP HANA XS runtime processes are started: hdbxscontroller, hdbxsexecagent, and hdbxsuaaserver.

Installing SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime…

With the runtime processes started, initial content is loaded and the spaces are created.

Loading initial content

Next, the different services and applications are created that support the infrastructure. This phase ends with the API (URL) of XS Controler, with default HTTPS port 3<instance_number>30 (for port-based routing). This is the API endpoint to use with the XS client.

XS Controller API End Point

In the next phase, the XSA components (Cockpit, SAP UI5, etc.) are installed. Depending on the number of components selected, this will take some time.

The installer exits with an URL for feedback and the location of the log files, should any issue have occurred.

SAP HANA Database components updated

Apps!

Once the runtime is up and running and the XSA components installed, we can connect to the controller with the XS client.

In the print screen below, the XS client included with the SAP HANA XS runtime installation is used. You can also install the XS client on a Microsoft Windows, Linux, or Apple macOS computer. This topic will be discussed in a subsequent blog in this series.

To connect, you will need to provide the API_URL, which refers to the XS Controller API, together with the administration user you created during the installation in step 10 Configure XS Advanced Runtime.

xs login

With the ‘xs apps’ command, we can then list the apps running in space “SAP”, their status, and urls.

xs apps

You can use the URLs to access the different XSA applications in a browser. Below the xsa-admin application, the web interface for XS Advanced Administration.

XS Advanced Administration

References

For more information see:

SAP HANA Academy Playlists

• SAP HANA Installation and Update – SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 02
• SAP HANA Installation and Update – SAP HANA 1.0 SPS 12

SAP Downloads

• Downloads | SAP ONE Support Launchpad

SAP Documentation

• Installing XS Advanced Runtime – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• System Concepts for XS Advanced Runtime Installations – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• System Properties – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• Parameter Reference – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• The XS Advanced Programming Model – SAP HANA Developer Guide
• Installing and Updating Products and Software Components in SAP HANA XS Advanced Model – SAP HANA Application Lifecycle Management
• Connections for SAP HANA Extended Application Services, Advanced Model – SAP HANA Administration Guide
• Network and Communication Security with SAP HANA XS Advanced – SAP HANA Security Guide
• Security for SAP HANA Extended Application Services, Advanced Model – SAP HANA Security Guide
• Organizations and Spaces – SAP HANA Security Guide
• About the SAP HANA Database Explorer and the SQL Analyzer – SAP HANA Administration Guide
• Working with Gerrit Version Control in XS Advanced – SAP HANA Developer Quick Start Guide
• SAP HANA XS Advanced Migration Guide
• SAP File Processing for SAP HANA

SAP Blogs

• SAP HANA Installation and Update – SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 02
• XS Advanced for (not so) dummies

Notes

• 2460914 – SAP HANA Platform 2.0 SPS 02 Release Note
• 2465860 – SAP HANA 2.0 extended application services, advanced model SPS 02 release note
• 2245631 – Domains and routing configuration for SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model
• 2243156 – Secure user setup for SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model
• 2243019 – Providing SSL certificates for domains defined in SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model
• 2242468 – Setting up SAP HANA extended application services, advanced model command-line client from SAP HANA Installation DVD or SAP Service Marketplace
• 2239095 – SAP HANA XS ADVANCED DEMO MODEL – SHINE XSA Release & Information Note
• 2373065 – SAP HANA 2.0 Database Explorer Release Notes
• 2457320 – SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 02 – Central Release Note
• 2503815 – Gerrit 2.11.5
• 2419428 – SAP HANA 2.0: SAP File Processing Release Note
• 2493252 – SAP HANA XS Advanced Migration Assistant 1
• 2494696 – Update OSS-versions used in project XMLA
• 2495800 – Release Notes for XS Advanced Application Lifecycle Management Product Installer
• 2538943 – SAP Fiori Launchpad for SAP HANA 2.0 extended application services, advanced model SPS 02 Patch 01

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Over the years, for the SAP HANA Academy, SAP’s Partner Innovation Lab, and à titre personnel, I have written a little over 300 posts here for the SAP Community. Some articles only reached a few readers. Others attracted quite a few more.For your reading pleasure and convenience, here is a curated list of posts which somehow managed to pass the 10k-view mile stone and, as sign of current interest, still tickle the counters each month. Good Reads (my two cents)