Data connection between SAP IBP and Azure Data Cloud Storage

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In today multi-cloud and hybrid cloud scenario, more and more requirements are coming up setting of integration between multi cloud applications for data exchange.

In this blog, I provide a brief overview of setting up of a data flow in SAP IBP HCI tenant to directly send data to Azure Cloud storage Blob container. This helps to automate the process of sending any IBP related data tables in Azure data lake using IBP tasks to avail Power BI or any other data analysis facility available at Azure for IBP data.

 

Azure Blob container connection detail

As a first step, get the detail of Azure Blob container, that you are going to use to create DataStore connection in IBP HCI.

Account Name :  mfgxxxxxxXXXXXXX

Storage type : Container

Authorization type : Container SAS (Shared Access Signature)

SAS URL :

SAS URL Format

Container SAS URL will be comprised of your Azure Blob container end-point URL, Blob Resource name and SAS, something like shown above.

To verify the Azure Blob connection detail, one can use ‘Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer’ from windows machine, connect to Azure storage based on above connection detail. Connection summary screen will show detail as below

Upload file manually from your desktop. Successful uploading of file confirm that Blob connection parameter are correct.

 

Create DataStore connection for Azure Cloud Storage

IBP HCI DataStore option using type ‘File Location’ do provide protocol as ‘ftp’, ‘sftp’, ‘Azure Cloud Storage’, and ‘Azure Data Lake Storage’.

 

To create Data Store connection for ‘Azure Cloud Storage’, click ‘+’ under DataStores.

Provide the necessary input in 'New Datastore' pop-up window.

Name : Specify any name for DataStore connection

Description : Any Description

Type : File Location

Agent : Select IBP HCI Agent for IBP Task

In connection section,

Protocol :  select ‘Azure Cloud Storage’

For Account Name, Storage Type, Authorization Type, and Shared Access Signature URL,  put the inputs, as you have received from Azure Data team as described in previous section.

Keep other value as default.

In File System block, specify Local Directory path, which is configured on HCI DS Agent Server.

Save the connection setting, and test connection.

Create a File Format Group for Azure File Location Object

In order to read or write data with a File Location Object with protocol  FTP, SFTP, Azure Cloud Storage, or Azure Data Lake Storage, you need to associate a File Format Group with File location object.

To create a File Format Group, in the Datastores tab, click the plus button to create a new datastore.

In the Type, select 'File Format Group', and for Location, select the 'AZURE_FILE' datastore that you created in previous step.

Leave other settings as default.

Click Save and test connection.

File Format Group will be visible now as DataStore while creating IBP tasks.

 

Hope this information is useful for IBP and SAP technical consultant for similar requirement.