Administrating database landscapes with the DBA Cockpit for SAP ASE – Part II

In part 1 of this blog I’ve been giving an introduction to landscape operations for SAP ASE. Meanwhile I got some questions with which release of the DBA Cockpit this feature is available. As you might know the DBA Cockpit is part of the SAP_BASIS component. In the following table you can see with which support package which part of the landscape operations has been shipped.

While enhancements to the DBA Cockpit are usually only shipped via support package for this feature we also shipped it via an SAP Note. So with implementing SAP Note 2235267 you will get the same content as with the initial shipment.

So what is in which package:

1. Initial shipment (or SAP Note delivery)
   With this initial version you can configure and repair automatic table maintenance (ATM) and the data collector framework (DCF). You are always asked to specify a system from which you want to copy the configuration.
2. Enhancements Part 1
   With this first shipment of enhancements the display now gives information whether a database server configuration is owned by the DBA Cockpit. This is important as only the ‘Owner’ of the configuration is allowed to make any changes. the Also there are traffic lights for the status of the setup, for resource limit violations and which template has been applied to a system. Also the field ‘Status’ has been renamed to ‘Operation Status’ and you see some information on the last operation
3. Enhancements Part 2
   This is the most up to date version of the landscape operations. In the overview screen you will now see a checkbox indicating which systems have automatic update enabled for the DCF. Also there now is a traffic light showing the result of the SAP parameter check and the ATM status. Be aware that information on the screen is not retrieved from all systems when you open the screen but on a background job.
   And also you will notice that the ‘Execute Operation’ menu has been renamed to ‘Selet Operation’ and is now not showing the option ‘Configure DBA Cockpit Framework’ any longer. Instead there is now a new button ‘Apply Template’ that allows you to directly assign a specific template to a group of systems.

So as I wrote in my last blog templates are at the heart of the landscape operations feature. If you are using DBA Cockpit for a longer time you will know that in the past a template was a set of configuration options for the DCF. So basically the setting which monitoring data should be collected in which intervals and for how long it should be stored. This concept has now been expanded a lot. First of all ATM settings can now be part of templates, too. To maintain templates go to the screen Configuration->Setup Templates

Select the template you want to edit or use ‘Save As New Template’ to create a new one. Select the data collector you want to edit. If you navigate to the entry ‘ATM template’ you will be able to create ATM settings for a template.

In the following screen you will be able to define all ATM settings for your template.

As a template will be used for multiple systems we also added the feature that it is now possible to define settings not for a specific SID but for a placeholder <SID> that will match to the SID of the database server where the template is run later on. And also you can now have settings for a placeholder <customDB> which is matching on all other non-system databases. This is especially important when using DBA Cockpit for non ABAP installations, e.g. for SAP Business Objects where you run multiple databases in one database server.