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Author's profile photo Denys van Kempen

SAP HANA, SAPCAR, and macOS

Extracting SAP HANA Client Software

In this blog, we explain how to extract the SAP HANA client on macOS. Files on SAP Software Downloads have the SAR extension. This provides a few challenges on the latest macOS versions but nothing we can’t handle.

Any good? Post a comment, share on social media, and/or give a like. That’s how the community works. Thanks!.

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The new archiving tool SAPCAR

Older readers might remember when SAP introduced a new archiving tool to replace the previous CAR (Compressed ARchive) utility some two decades ago. The tools were not compatible, so for SAPCAR the extension SAR was chosen.

SAPCAR only exists as command line tool, there is no graphical version, and the syntax resembles that of the UNIX TAR utility with -x for extract, -v for verbose (show me), and -f for file, to list a few common ones.

Tar was developed to bundle a number of files into a single Tape ARchive file (but works on disk too). Tar does not compress files and so it is often used together with zip to create a zipped tarball, which somewhat resembles our SAR files.

As Linux and macOS are UNIX descendants, we find tar on these operating systems as well.

tar -xvf <file> 
sapcar -xvf <file>

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SAP Service Marketplace is being retired

To download SAP software, we need to navigate to Software Downloads on the SAP ONE Support Launchpad. This used to be the Software Download Center (SWDC) on the SAP Service Marketplace (SMP) but that was decommissioned in 2018. You might still find references to SWDC or SMP as not everybody read the blog post yet

Or maybe because the shortcut still works

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IMDB_CLIENT20

From Software Downloads, we can download the in-memory database SAP HANA client 2.0. There is one for Linux, UNIX (several versions), Microsoft Windows, and macOS.

  • File type: SAR
  • Operating system: MACOS X 64-BIT

What version do you need? Always pick the latest as there is a “single public release” strategy which  “removes ambiguity about which version to install, brings the benefits of new performance or stability improvements to all customers”.

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SAPCAR 7.21

There is a SAPCAR utility for most operating systems and this includes (as of 7.21) macOS.

  • File type: EXE
  • Operating system: MACOS X 64-BIT

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Because Microsoft Windows applications are not supported on macOS

From the Windows world we have learned that we can double-click executable files (EXE) to execute. Doing so, will return a friendly message that Microsoft Windows applications are not supported on macOS.

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The developer cannot be verified

Because of the EXE extension, macOS assumes it is a Windows binary. When we open Terminal and do a file check with the file command, this confirms it is a Mach-O 64-bit executable: perfectly fine.

Executing the file however returns permission denied because the download comes with only RW permissions for the current user. This is easy to fix with a chmod u+x.

At this stage, macOS protection kicks in to as the file is unsigned and might as well be malware. Move to Bin? No. Cancel.

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Allow Anyway

If you agree that SAP software can be trusted, open System Preferences > Security & Privacy and select Allow Anyway

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Are you sure you want to open it? 

Run the SAPCAR command again and select Open to allow.

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Usage

Just running the command returns usage. To extract files from an archive:

SAPCAR -x[v][f archive]

As the version number and the .EXE file extension serve no particular purpose, let’s rename the file and, while at it, move it to the bin directory so we do not have to specify current directory when not in the path (./). As we move the file to a protected directory this requires superuser (su) permission:

sudo mv SAPCAR_1311-70002712.EXE /usr/local/bin/SAPCAR

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Long Story, Short Story

For those that prefer a shortcut, here are the commands that rename the file, set the execution bit, the proper group, and remove the quarantine property. Thanks to Witalij Rudnicki for the last one.

cd ~/Downloads
sudo mv SAPCAR_*.EXE /usr/local/bin/SAPCAR
sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/SAPCAR
sudo chgrp admin /usr/local/bin/SAPCAR
sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/SAPCAR

SAPCAR -xvf IMDB_CLIENT20_*.SAR

 

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Install the SAP HANA Client

<img />For everything you need to know about installing the SAP HANA client, we already posted a blog some time ago

If you still have questions after reading, try

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Tools On-Demand

If you prefer, you can also download the SAP HANA client from the SAP Development Tools website: tools.hana.ondemand.com (for the story behind the URL, see At Your Service: SAP HANA in the Cloud).

For macOS, this download comes as a zipped tarball (.tar,gz).

To extract, run the command

tar -xzvf hanaclient-2.4.182-macosx-x64.tar.gz

Or in case you have configured macOS to automatically extract zipped files, with

tar -xvf client.tar

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Common Crypto Lib

However, although the release number is the same (2.4), only the client from Software Downloads contains the SAP cryptography library Common Crypto Lib (CCL).

You will need this to connect with your client to the SAP HANA Service, for example. See

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Post a comment, Share on Social Media, Like

Any good? Post a comment, share on social media, and/or give a like. That’s how the community works. Thanks.

If you would like to receive updates, connect with me on

Best,

Denys van Kempen

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      17 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Witalij Rudnicki
      Witalij Rudnicki

      Hi Denys. Indeed macOS makes it less easy to work with “suspicious” files downloaded from the internet, like SAPCAR.

      I usually just check and remove the extended attribute com.apple.quarantine after downloading needed file, like

      $ ./SAPCAR_1311-70002712.EXE
      Killed: 9
      
      $ xattr SAPCAR_1311-70002712.EXE
      com.apple.lastuseddate#PS
      com.apple.macl
      com.apple.metadata:kMDItemDownloadedDate
      com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms
      com.apple.quarantine
      
      $ xattr -d com.apple.quarantine SAPCAR_1311-70002712.EXE
      
      $ ./SAPCAR_1311-70002712.EXE
      usage:
      
      create a new archive:
      SAPCAR -c[vir][f archive] [-P] [-C directory]
         [-A filename] [-T filename] [-X filename]
         [-p value] [-V] file1 file2 ...
      ...

      Regards.

      Author's profile photo Denys van Kempen
      Denys van Kempen
      Blog Post Author

      Thanks Witalij Rudnicki, I have added a section with a script to get it over and done with in a couple of commands.

      Author's profile photo Ahmad Quraishi
      Ahmad Quraishi

      Thanks Denys van Kempen  and Witalij Rudnicki . This is working for me !!!.

       

      Very happy to get HANA Studio on MAC OS. I was using the 2nd windows machine (1st being my Mac) for HANA Studio.

       

      I just downloaded the two files and went through the commands in Terminal. Thats it!

      Author's profile photo Mahesh Vaidyanathan
      Mahesh Vaidyanathan

      I still gives me "cannot execute binary file" in mac when following the mentioned steps.

      "

      Author's profile photo Mahesh Vaidyanathan
      Mahesh Vaidyanathan

      Thanks a lot. It worked . Had downloaded a wrong version that was not meant for macos

      Author's profile photo Manish Umarwadia
      Manish Umarwadia

      Hello,

       

      I am trying to follow your blog, however with Big Sur (OS X 11.0), you do not get the option of even running an exe file from an unidentified developer. I am stuck at not getting allow anyway
       
      ./SAPCAR_1324-70002712.EXE
      Author's profile photo Denys van Kempen
      Denys van Kempen
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Manish,

      You only need to remove the “Windows” extension and make the file executable.

      mv SAPCAR_1324-70002712.EXE sapcar 
      chmod u+x sapcar  
      ./sapcar   
      
      # to put the utility in the path use copy or move (cp / mv)
      cp sapcar /usr/local/bin/

      Make sure to download the version for macOS 64-bit.

       

      Author's profile photo Warren Eiserman
      Warren Eiserman

      Thank you for the instructions, just wanted to let others looking for a solution that I was able to get SAPCAR to work on Mac M1 too.

       

      Author's profile photo Roland Kramer
      Roland Kramer

      Hello Denys van Kempen

      First of all thanks for these valuable Tipps around SAP and macOS.

      It seem this is a common misunderstanding to keep the file extension "*.EXE" after you downloaded any Version of SAPCAR for a Unix derivate which also the macOS is

      After downloading the File SAPCAR_1115-70006239.EXE for MACOS x 64-Bit, and rename it to SAPCAR as you would do this also for Linux64

      Any experiences with the SAP HANA Studio 2.0 or Eclipse 2022-06 for macOS 13 and M1 Chip?

      Best Regards Roland

      Author's profile photo Denys van Kempen
      Denys van Kempen
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Roland Kramer,

      No experiences. Working on a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro (purchased 2020). Have to wait until next year before the switch to M1 ...

      Author's profile photo Roland Kramer
      Roland Kramer

      Hello Denys van Kempen

      my Lenovo Yoga X1 is running out of Support since beginning 2022 and I'm thinking of the new MacBook Pro with the M2 Chip ...

      However currently no Version of SAP HANA Studio 2.0 or Eclipse 2022-06 will work with macOS 13 ... 🙁

      Best Regards Roland

      Author's profile photo Denys van Kempen
      Denys van Kempen
      Blog Post Author

      Guess it is time to switch to SAP Business Application Studio ...

      ... and/or use a cloud-hosted Windows VM running a supported OS for Studio/Eclipse.

       

      Author's profile photo Roland Kramer
      Roland Kramer

      Hello Denys van Kempen

      our Head of IT made an Image Trailer how SAP works with Apple, didn't you saw it? ... 😉

      I don't want to fix a small Problem with getting several additional serious Problem for it, this price I don't want to pay ...

      best Regards Roland

      Author's profile photo Dagoberto Telles
      Dagoberto Telles

      Thanks! Your instructions have saved me!

      Cheers!

      Author's profile photo Roland Kramer
      Roland Kramer

      Hello Denys van Kempen

      In the meantime, I have updated my Blog several times and I was able to replace my old Lenovo X1 Yoga with a Apple MacBook 14' with the M2 Pro Chip.

      Despite I have now my macOS Apps shortlist together, I have still challenges with the X-Windows Support. Maybe I'm missing only a small thing. Any Ideas to share?

      Best Regards Roland

      Author's profile photo Denys van Kempen
      Denys van Kempen
      Blog Post Author

      Great playlist Roland Kramer ; thanks for doing all the hard work to select the best tools for the job.

      As for X-Windows, it has been a while...

      Have worked with Cygwin (open source) and Hummingbird (commercial) in the distant past and am not familiar with how the market has evolved. Hummingbird still appears to be around, maybe this provides a starting point

      Author's profile photo Roland Kramer
      Roland Kramer

      Hello Denys van Kempen

      I have now arranged myself with XQuarz and xauth to access X-Windows based applications. Unfortunately then Royal TSX Tools are not supporting X-Windows at this time, so a replacement like MobaXTerm is not in sight.

      Best Regards Roland