Variations & Enhancements to the key SAP Post installation Steps

[rupali_karbhari3]

Since when SAP released its various products staring from R/3 to ERP to intelligent ERP generation i.e. S/4HANA till date, has received various updates in all the spaces be it ABAP, Functional and so on.

Similarly, SAP Basis Admin space has also seen lot changes in the way post steps are to be performed for various SAP products.

During this transformation journey on various SAP Products, Basis admin also needs to update themselves on newly available/supported/retired tools 😊

This blog post helps you to understand new development in terms of handling SAP application installation & post Installation steps and can be good reference for learner.

I have tried to collate broader level changes which can be good reference material at one glance-

P.S. --> Please use scroll slider (right and left) to navigate to below table to view full content on Before, Now and Advanced changes against each Key Tasks.

Sr no	Task	Before	Now	Advanced
1	Installation	Using Installation master DVD and sapinst executable. There used be product specific master DVDs.	Installation Master DVDs (SAP NetWeaver 7.0x & higher) for System Installation and Copy are replaced by the Software Provisioning Manager Reference -1589311 - Replacements of outdated tools via SL Toolset	1)Plan your installation with Maintenance Planner including the preparation for SP Stack update using SUM or SPAM; execute the planned installation with Software Provisioning Manager. 2)SWPM can be used for New system installation, system copy & Migration, system rename, dual sack spilt 3)Better Unattended Execution of Software Provisioning Manager using new parameter input file inifile.params
2	Solution Manager Key	Having Solution Manager system in landscape was mandatory. It used to be referred in creating Solman Key required during Other system install	As of SAP NetWeaver 7.3, Solution-Manager-Key at the time of Installation is not asked/required by Sapinst.
3	SAP Instance Naming convention	Below SAP instances to be available after install 1)DB Instance 2)Dialog Instance 3)Central Instance	As of SAP NetWeaver 7.1, the concept and naming of SAP system instances has changed. 1)Application server instances -"primary application server instance” (PAS) or “additional application server instances” (AAS). 2)Central services instance - ASCS for ABAP, SCS for JAVA 3)Database instance
4	SAP Web Dispatcher	Separate SAP Webdispatcher to be deployed and integrate with backend systems Reference- 908097 - SAP Web Dispatcher: Release, Installation, Patches, Documentation	1)As of SAP NetWeaver 7.3, You can install an SAP Web Dispatcher integrated in the ASCS instance during install using SWPM No separate SAP Web Dispatcher instance and no dedicated <SAPSID> are created for the SAP Web Dispatcher2) If ASCS integrated webdispatcher is not configured , separate Webdispatcher instance can be installed
5	Default ABAP Client availability	After install ,below standard SAP clients available Client 000 - Golden Client Client 001 -Configuration client Client 066 -Earlywatch client for monitoring	After install ,below standard SAP clients available Client 000 - Golden Client Client 001 - No longer available in newly installed SAP systems based on SAP S/4HANA and SAP BW/4HANA. Client 066 - No longer available in newly installed SAP systems based on SAP NetWeaver 7.5 or higher	You can further remove unused client 001,066 as per SAP note 1749142 - How to remove unused clients including client 001 and 066
6	Maintenance certificate	Not Applicable	SAP products based on SAP NetWeaver 7.0 and higher (excluding SAP BusinessObjects products) require a maintenance certificate. A maintenance certificate enables SAP's software logistics tools (such as Software Update Manager SUM, SPAM, SAINT, JSPM) to identify your system and the scope of your corresponding SAP maintenance agreement. This is one of the mandatory pre-requisite for SAP system so that only customers with a valid maintenance contract can apply support packages Reference - here	Automatic Distribution by SAP Solution Manager- If managed system configuration is done , automatic maintenance certificate distribution happens before It expires in 90 days
7	ABAP Support Package Upgrade	1)Manual -Using Support Package Manager(Tcode -SPAM), wherein File download , dependency , file extraction needs to be checked manually. Tedious task in terms of manually checking dependency , file checks etc 2)Stack file generation - Respective remote system to be connected to Solution Manager for stack file generation using Maintenance Optimizer. This tool has been retired since January 9, 2017.	Using Software Update Manager (SUM) tool ; SUM is offered in two versions since 11.09.2017: SUM 2.0 is for ABAP single stacks, targeting systems based on BASIS 7.50 and higher (exception: SUM 2.0 is used for ZDO even if target is BASIS 7.40 or lower) SUM 1.0 is always used if the source system is either a dual-stack system, or a Java stack SUM 1.0 is used for ABAP stack if target is based on BASIS 7.40 or lower SAP Solution Manager’s cloud-based Maintenance Planner is the successor of Maintenance Optimizer. As of July 2015, Maintenance Planner in SAP Support Portal is the central tool to plan updates, upgrades, and new installations in your system landscape.	1) Software Update Manager is used with advanced features for a database migration t (DMO),System Conversion, Downtime Optimization techniques. 2) Maintenance Planner got enhanced further with some new features like Hybrid Landscape Visualization Product Analytics New Cloud Integration Automation planning New Fiori theme
8	JAVA Support Package Upgrade	Using Java Support Package Manager (JSPM) which connects to the SDM server to deploy support packages and software components  wherein File download , dependency , file extraction needs to be checked manually	The Java Support Package Manager (JSPM) is replaced by the Software Update Manager (SUM) for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 and higher	Single SCA components can be deployed using telnet P4 port Reference - here
9	JAVA admin tools	After SAP JAVA install, available tools 1) Visual Admin - Online tool 2) Config tool - Offline tool 3) JCMON	As of SAP NetWeaver 7.1, Visual Admin has been replaced with NWA hence below are supporting tools available 1) NWA - Online tool 2) Config tool - offline tool 3) JSMON
10	Database Administration	Manually using individual Tcodes like DB01,DB02,DB12, DB13, ST04,DBCO etc	Using DBA Cockpit- The DBA Cockpit is a platform-independent tool that you can use to monitor and administer your database. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for all actions and covers many aspects of handling a database system landscape.	1)You can also use DBA Cockpit for remote database connection 2) SAP has introduced SAP HANA DBACOCKPIT with enhanced functionalities Reference -2222220 - FAQ: SAP HANA DBACOCKPIT
11	Client copy tools	Using below Tcodes for performing Client actions Local Client Copy-SCCL Remote Client Copy -SCC9 Client Export and Import using Transports or Snapshots-SCC7,SCC8 Client Deletion-SCC5	With SAP_BASIS 7.54 (SAP S/4HANA 1909), SAP delivers new client management tools based on new common architecture New Local Client Copy-SCCLN New Remote Client Copy -SCC9N New Client Export and Import using Transports or Snapshots-SCC7N,SCC8N Client Deletion-SCC5N New Client Size Estimation Tool -SCC_CLIENT_SIZE New Client Comparison - SCC_COMP_LOCAL/SCC_COMP_REMOTE	below are the benefits with new client copy tools 1) No need of Super User SAP*activation 2) avoiding system downtime for SAP profile parameter changes 3)Execution from a third Client 4)Client Copy Optimizer etc
12	Start/stop systems	Using Startsap, stopsap commands	SAP NetWeaver sapcontrol functions replaced startsap/stopsap scripts for all SAP systems based on SAP NetWeaver 7.0 or higher. Reference- here	You can further check on additional available options on process checks using sapcontrol -help like sapcontrol -nr <nn> -function GetProcessList 2686765 - sapcontrol command returns help information
13	ABAP Basic Post steps	Manually by checking each transaction code and performing tasks	Automated Tasklist configuration is introduced since 7.4 onwards  Tcodes STC01 ,STC02 using below Task list- Using task Manager -SAP_BASIS_SETUP_INITIAL_CONFIG	There are various task lists available per system release, which can automate various configuration setup like FIORI , SSO, backbone setup,  etc
14	PI Process Integration & Orchestration	In case of dual stack , manual post steps using Tcodes SLDCHECK,SXI_CACHE, RFC connections,SXMB_MONI,ESR,IB etc	Wizard Template is available since Release 7.31, Use the Central Technical Configuration (CTC) Wizard to automate the configuration tasks. Reference-1548120 - Configuration Wizard: PI Process Integration & Orchestration
15	SAP Profile parameter changes	After SAP system install, below SAP profile parameter available- 1)Start profile 2)Instance profile 3)Default profile	As of SAP NetWeaver 7.3, Start Profile has been removed. Start profile contents are merged with Instance profile. Hence below 2 profiles are available 1) Instance Profile 2) Default profile	1)To make it more dynamic and reduce downtime, from NetWeaver 7.3 some of the well-known system parameters have been “dynamized” — the parameters do not require a system restart after changes are made. 2) SAP has introduced new security settings during install via SWPM 2714839 - New security settings for S/4HANA 1909 (and later) installations and system copies using S...
16	SAP Housekeeping Batch Jobs	Using standard Job Function - Activate scheduling of standard jobs manually with Tcode SM36 for first time	Standard Jobs function (transaction SM36) is obsolete in SAP S/4HANA for sap technical jobs. Instead of it, we have a new easy way: Technical Job Repository (Transaction SJOBREPO).This mechanism is carried out  Automatically  by the S/4 HANA. You do not need any manual scheduling.	You can define client wise step user details using Tcode SJOBREPO_STEPUSER once for all standard batch jobs in respective clients
17	Applying SAP OSS Note	Maintain SAPRouter credentials into Transaction OSS1, Make RFC#SAPOSS successful and use Tcode SNOTE	SAP Support Backbone Update and Enabling Note Assistant for Digitally Signed SAP Notes as on 01.01.2020; using Tcode SNOE There are 2 ways to connect to SAP's support backbone infrastructure - Using Solution Manager 7.2 - ABAP system with direct connectivity Reference- here	Support Hub connectivity setup can be automated using Task List Reference - 2738426 - Automated Configuration of new Support Backbone Communication
18	SCCR Key support	all the manual changes to SAP Dictionary objects and SAP source coding to be registered using below two access keys for respective SAP system i.e: Developer key Object key	Starting with S/4HANA 1511. The SSCR license key procedure is not implemented in S/4HANA Reference-2309060 - The SSCR license key procedure is not supported in SAP S/4 HANA
19	S-User ID Maintenance	Personalized S-User for accessing SAP Portal/Launchpad, Maintenance Planner	1) As of Solution Manager 7.2 SP05 and higher, SAP has introduced technical communication user which is intended to establish the connection to the support backbone and does not have any authorizations in Launchpad. It can be maintained using  Technical Communication Users application Reference -2668288 - Differences between personalized S-User and Technical Communication User 2) SAP has introduced validity to personal S-User ID.The standard period of validity for all existing users is 24 months Reference-2928052 - S-User ID Lifetime information - SAP ONE Support Launchpad	References- 2392726 - How to unlock a Technical Communication User - SAP ONE Support Launchpad 2393376 - How to change password and unlock a Technical Communication User
20	SAP Work process maintenance	To increase/decrease the number of work process, value to be changed accordingly for the following Profile Parameter.as per work process in RZ10. rdisp/wp_no_dig (for dialog work process) rdisp/wp_no_btc(for background work process) rdisp/wp_no_spo(for spool work process) rdisp/wp_no_enq(for enqueue work process) rdisp/wp_no_vb(for update workprocess) rdisp/wp_no_vb2(for update2 workprocess)	1) As of the SAP NetWeaver 7.0 EHP2 and the SAP kernel release 720, the system can have Dynamic Work processes. Dynamic work processes can have types dialog (DIA) or update (UPD, UPD2).If all work processes have status On Hold, the application server starts a process of this type dynamically. When the application server is started, the value of profile parameter rdisp/wp_max_no is set automatically to the sum of the configured work processes plus five dynamic work processes.With profile parameter rdisp/max_dynamic_wp_alive_time you can define the lifetime of a dynamic work process. The lifetime refers to the length of time a work process remains active after it has processed a request. 2) Standby work processes-The type of standby work processes is always dialog (DIA).When the application server is started, the number of standby work processes is calculated from profile parameter rdisp/wp_no_restricted.They are kept free in normal operation and not used until the application server identifies a bottleneck and needs additional work processes to resolve it

 

Summary

This blog post includes new developments/changes in terms of handling SAP application installation & post Installation steps.

I hope you have got enough insights on new Basis Admin activity changes so far now and will try to explain such details from DB perspective in my Next Blog post.