Introducing SAP Content Agent service: Enhanced Transport Capabilities for SAP Cloud Integration Content

Overview

The SAP Cloud Integration service helps you to connect cloud and on-premise applications with other SAP and non-SAP cloud and on-premise applications. This service has the capability to process messages in real-time scenarios spanning different companies, organizations, or departments within one organization. It is available in both Neo and Cloud Foundry (CF) environments.

Until now, the only way to transport integration content artifacts between integration tenants in the CF environment was to manually export and import them. This changes with the introduction of the SAP Content Agent service. Content Agent service is a Cloud Foundry-based utility service. It acts like an agent that allows you to assemble the integration content and also export it to the transport queue using transport solutions like SAP Cloud Transport Management or the Enhanced Change and Transport System (CTS+). This is equivalent to the assembly and export functionality provided by Solution Lifecycle Management Service in the Neo Environment.

Content Agent service Schematic

In this blog, I will briefly show you how to set up this service along with the SAP Cloud Transport Management option, and use it to transport integration content between your SAP Cloud Integration tenants.

Setup

For the purpose of simplicity, I will take the example of setting up transports between two SAP Cloud Integration tenants, e.g. the development tenant (DEV) and the test tenant (QAS). This is what is currently supported by the service as well. To manage transports in a three-tenant landscape, you can use SAP Cloud Transport Management, using different combinations of transport routes.

What you will need(Prerequisites):

1. Two separate SAP Cloud Integration tenants, attached to separate CF subaccounts. Let’s call them DEV(source) and QAS(target). These subaccounts should also have their respective CF spaces created with adequate resources assigned in their quota plans. For more information on entitlements, see here. For more information on configuring Quota plans for spaces, see here.
2. Subscription and admin access to the SAP Cloud Transport Management service.
3. Sample integration content artifact that you can use to transport between the two integration tenants.

Setup Instructions:

1. Create an instance and Service Key for the SAP Content Agent service in the source CF space,  using the initial setup instructions found here.
2. Create a destination in your source subaccount for the SAP Content Agent service using the instructions found here in Step 3.
3. Subscribe to the Cloud Integration Service Broker in the source CF space using the instructions here.
4. Create a destination for the Cloud Integration Service Broker using instructions found here in Step 5.
5. In your source subaccount, create a destination for deployment to your target CF space (QAS).  Let’s call it ‘TD’.
6. Create a service instance and Service Key for the SAP Cloud Transport Management service in your source CF space, using the instructions found here in Steps 6-10.
7. In the SAP Cloud Transport Management UI, create an empty transport node: In the node creation UI, only provide the name( value =DEV), description ( value =DEV), and check the checkbox for ‘Allow upload to node’. Leave everything else as empty (by default) and click ‘ok’. This will act as your source transport node. Instructions here.
8. In the SAP Cloud Transport Management UI, create a second node, called ‘QAS’ to point to your target CF space. Use the destination ‘TD’ created in step 4 for this node.
9. In the SAP Cloud Transport Management UI, using the nodes created in steps 7 & 8, create a Transport route. Instructions here.
10. In your source subaccount, create a destination for the SAP Cloud Transport Management service using the instructions found here. For the value of the additional property ‘sourceSystemId’, use the name of the node created in step 7.
11. In the SAP Cloud Integration source tenant, select the transport mode as ‘Transport Management Service’, using the instructions here.

Testing the Setup:

1. In your source SAP Cloud Integration tenant, go to the content packages view and select any content package by clicking on it.
2. On the next screen, click the ‘Transport’ button and provide a description for the test transport, and click ‘Transport’ on the pop-up screen.
3. In case of success, you should get a message such as “Transport Request <xxx> is created in the configured Transport Management Service system”.
4. In the SAP Cloud Transport Management web UI, go to the Import queue of the target node created in Step 8 above, called ‘QAS’. The transport request created in step 3 should be already added to this queue.
5. Import this transport request into the target node ‘QAS’.
6. Go to the content packages view of your target SAP Cloud Integration tenant. The content package exported from the source SAP Cloud Integration tenant in step 3 should have been imported and should be available here.

Important points to note

1. Please note that steps 1-till-4,6,10,11 need to be performed in your source subaccount or source SAP Cloud Integration tenant ( as applicable)  from which you want to export content. For example, if you are exporting content from your Development tenant, you need to perform these steps only in the Development subaccount or Development SAP Cloud Integration tenant ( as applicable).
2. In step 11, Transport Settings will be available for you only if you have the role ‘AuthGroup.Administrator’ assigned to your account. Please assign this role to your user if you do not see the Transport Settings.
3. The target CF subaccount should also have the requisite entitlements for the SAP Cloud Integration service plan. If you’re not sure, please perform Steps 1-5, mentioned under ‘Subscribing to CPI Service Broker’ here.

I hope this article was clear enough to help you set up the SAP Content Agent service, enhancing your transport experience for integration content in the CF environment.

Hope you enjoyed this article. If there are any questions, please let me know in the comments below.

Further information

What is SAP Cloud Integration?

For the latest on SAP Content Agent service, please look here.