In the last few years, SAP has come out with various methods to speed up the configuration process for large, complex, corporate operations. The configuration that was delivered was the mainstay for several years. It typically (but not always) involved basic customization from client 000 with SAP Solution Manager and some other products as exceptions. Then came the Best Practices methodology which allowed some configuration to be further modified in the delivery clients. Over the last several years, Best Practices content and Rapid development have evolved and increased tremendously. Recently, SAP has also introduced the model company concept where the scope of Best Practices is focused on specific industries and based on a Model Company concept. This is a pre-packaged SAP Consulting service from SAP and contains some limitations in scope and time (typically, Model Company lags the Best Practice by about a year). For a review of the differences, check out this very useful blog from SAP’s Amin Hoque.

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The clients let you access SAP HANA 2.0, express edition, from your client machine. This is the Reduced SAP Client package. The clients included with the SAP HANA HDB client software package are: JDBC. Python (PyDBAPI) ADO.NET. Installation of the SAP HANA client and a working JDBC connection to your SAP HANA instance. This can be confirmed using various Workbench tools such as SQLWorkbenchJ and DBeaver. SAP HANA is installed and running on either a Scale Up on or Scale Out instance. The Maximum jobs per client value in the Global Attributes of the Netbackup Master server is set to the amount of expected jobs per SAP HANA database. Access to the client has been allowed by adding the media server to the Clients Properties under Servers-Media. Install the SAP HANA client from a graphical user interface or on the command line. Prerequisites If you plan to use the GUI option, hdbsetup, then you need a local X11 graphical environment and an X server on the machine where you perform the installation.

A merged client is the next leap of this evolving standard: where a customer cannot utilize a model company and does not want to lose the delivered customization in 000 by implementing Best Practice alone, they can now implement a Merged Client—where they can get the best of both worlds: all Best Practices for full scope, multiple languages and all client 000 reference settings. The work is complex and there are numerous blogs available by experts like SAP’s Mahesh Sardesai that can be useful.

So how do all the products and offerings and the step by step guides from various SAP experts translate in real life? In this blog, we shall walk through an industrial scenario where we implemented Merged Client for an aerospace customer with five languages and 11 countries. As you can see below, the work was complex and SAP lays out scenarios where a merged client is useful. Typically, if the “scope is large and isn’t covered by Best Practices content, [we should] choose a merged client”.

This was borne out by our own experience where we have already estimated that the merged client will save us about four months’ worth of time in four scope areas, over using Best Practices alone: Project Systems, Complex Final Assembly, Grouping, Pegging & Distribution, Government Contracting

The steps that we followed to set up the Merged Client are detailed below. In our efforts, we were greatly helped and guided by SAP’s Hanuma Rupakula without whose help we could not have been successful:

1. The first step is to install S4 HANA. In our case, it was S4 HANA 1909 FP3 STE on the Cloud
2. Set up Languages in addition to EN and DE using transaction code SMLT Do NOT run supplementation in client 000 because it conflicts with BP Activation
3. The reference note to start with was Note 2948925 and check and implement Note 2921856. (Not required in FP3)
4. Next, download the latest business content for FP3, extract it and import to client 000 using STMS:

Then continue with these steps:

1. Activate Business Functions in 000 per this link in the Admin Guide using txn SFW5
2. Check table /FTI/T_NOCLN000 and make sure that the client number 100 and 600 don’t exist in the table.
3. Create an entry for Client 100 in SCC4 with currency as blank
4. Using txn SCCL only, not SCCLN, execute client copy using profile SAP_CUST (client copy from 000 to 100)
5. Log in to client 100 as SAP_ALL and execute BP activation using txn /n/SMB/BBI for the Solution Builder
6. Import the 11 countries one by one:

Select Canada and similarly, all other countries in our list:

You should get a successful message after a few minutes:

Click the Back key to confirm that Canada has been imported. Rename the solution for clarity as needed:

1. Similarly do the 10 other countries.
2. Next, do EWM pre-activation steps (recall that we have chosen the full scope for our work)
3. Do the next set of pre-activations based on Note 2839315. This is a critical Note since it references attachments that must be followed. The highlighted line below shows the document that was used in our current effort:

1. Now, execute the next pre-step based on Note 2839315:

For US: delete UTX2 and UTX3 in transaction code OVK1

For CA: delete CTX2 and CTX3

Nothing else should be deleted (India, for example, had four tax category entries which should be left untouched)

Similarly, delete entries for View V_TTXJ in SM30 for US and CA:

5. Set User Parameters in SU01 for each user doing the activation. Enter parameter enter ERB value as A000 and ETP as 2.

Note: If you have any other existing parameters, do not delete them.

6. In SPRO, navigate to the Logistics Execution –> Shipping –> Deliveries -> Proof of Delivery -> Define Reasons for Quantity Differences. Delete the two existing entries

7. Now execute the Business Partners Number range adjustments:

In txn SNRO, choose Internal Editing for DEBITOR:

Click on Change Intervals:

Delete the current contents and add the entry shown below:

Repeat the same for Object KREDITOR:

8. Next from SPRO, choose Financial Accounting –> Accounts Receivable and Payable –> Customer Accounts –> Master Data à Preparations for Creating Customer Master Data –> Assign Number Ranges to Customer Account Groups.

Set all values from 01, XX etc to BP:

9. Similarly, for Vendors, go to SPRO and then choose Financial Accounting –> Accounts Receivable and Payable –> Vendor Accounts –> Master Data –> Preparations for Creating Vendor Master Data –> Assign Number Ranges to Vendor Account Groups. One of the original entries is shown for representative purposes only:

10. In SPRO, go to Cross Application Components –> Master Data Synchronization –> Customer/Vendor Integration –> Business Partner Settings –> Settings for Vendor Integration –> Field Assignment for Vendor Integration –> Assign Keys –> Define Number Assignment for Direction BP to Vendor. For all listed records, de-select the Same Nos. checkbox.

You are now ready to start your activation!

11. Check the Pre-Activation settings one more time: Prerequisite Settings for Activation – SAP Help Portal
12. In txn /n/SMB/BBI, set Country US as Favorite:

11. Now click on Implementation Assistant:

11. Copy Solution from BP_OP_ENTPR_S4HANA1909_USV6 to OURCOMPANY_US:

11. Import Installation Data separately for each country Custom solution (like OURCOMPANY_US).

17. Select “Implementation Assistant” and “Activate” to start the process

18. Choose Enter on the Document Lines: Display messages pop up.

19. Choose Enter on the next popup coming up on the same step to continue with the activation:

20. Choose Enter on the below message.

20. Choose Yes on the warning dialog box to proceed with the activation.

20. Choose Back button and the activation will continue with the same screen for some time.

Similarly moving on to Canada, copying the solution and adding the installation data. We then activated the following countries:

23. For GB we got this error. Logged out, logged in again and repeated and then we were fine. Then activated RU:

24. With Japan, we got several errors:

1UJ (JP) Activity : SIMG_CFORFBT059FBH failed for customer in 1909 FPS3

Drilling down on the magnifying glass we get the following:

25. To address this error, we opened an Incident with SAP and they created specific Notes 2974114 and 2978647 for us to apply, which fixed the error:

All the countries are now done for Client 100

26. Now execute a client copy done from 100 to 600 with profile SAP_ALL
27. To add Demo Data in client 600 (unit test client), 0do the following:
28. Log in to client 600
29. Execute transaction /n/SMB/BBI
30. Set a country as Favorite. Start with the US:

26. Go to Solutions/Procedure/Start a Procedure:

32. Select option “Keep Only Demo Data” and Enter:

Click OK:

33. Add Installation Data from Reference Content:

33. Select country US:

33. After a few minutes of processing, you will get this message:

33. Next, click on Implementation Assistant:

33. Activate:

33. Ensure that With Demo Data is selected this time:

33. In some EWM areas, we can get an error like this (blue circle below). The Detail Log can be accessed by clicking the icon circled in red:

40. Drilling down the log, we see this. Drilling down on IMPORT, highlighted in yellow, we will see the Plant # (1710 for US):

40. This process should be run again in Foreground (FG):

42. Click enter to proceed, enter 1710 for Plant if needed and complete. Then set OK:

42. The next error has the specific System Admin/Security fix as well so just implement it as instructed:

42. Go to SPRO, search for Product Compliance –> Foundation for Product Compliance –> Specify Responsible Units and enter ALL for Authorization Group:

42. The proceed to Completion:

42. In several countries like Singapore, we get this error, which is purely informative: “QM1 is already available” so this can be ignored:

42. Mark as Ignore and proceed similarly with other countries:

Your setup and activation of the merged client is now done! However, a few Post-Activation steps need to be completed:

48. Complete Post-Activation steps as detailed in the Admin Guide for your area
49. Review any manual rework that may be needed from the Admin Guide.
50. Delete the Metadata Cache by going to SPRO/SAP reference IMG –> SAP NetWeaver –> SAP Gateway –> Service Enablement –> Backend OData Channel –> Support Utilities –> Clear Cache –> Execute:

Conclusion: we now have the best of both worlds: Best Practices in scope areas where they exist, and 000 configuration where they don’t.

Acknowledgements to the following, without whom we would not have been successful:

Hanuma Rupakula, Director of Development, SAP Labs

SAP CCO’s Office for their support, especially Mike Piazza and Ian McCallum

Raymond Langevin, Program Director, delaware North America

Karen Moss, Solution Architect, delaware North America

Raja Gopalan holds multiple SAP and technology certifications and is the Technical Architect at Delaware Consulting, a fast growing, global company that delivers advanced solutions and services to organizations striving for a sustainable, competitive advantage. With over 50 ECC to S/4 migrations, delaware is one of the most experienced SAP partners, globally.

Recently, we have updated a number of SAP HANA Academy tutorial videos for the playlist

In this blog, I will provide some references and background information about installation automation with the SAP HANA platform lifecycle management tools.

This blog is part of a series:

• SAP HANA Installation Automation (this blog)

SAP HANA Academy – SAP HANA Installation and Update (YouTube Playlist)

Tutorial Video

SAP HANA Academy – SAP HANA Installation and Update: Installation Automation

Create the Configuration File

In the previous blogs about SAP HANA 2.0 platform lifecycle management and SAP HANA 2.0 Server Installation, I already briefly mentioned installation automation. Using a combination of configuration files together with optional command line options, you can automate installations, that is, create a repeatable process that can be scheduled without any further human intervention.

The process is simple. First, you create a configuration or response file by running the hdblcm installation tool with the dump_configfile_template and action parameter.

The location and name of the file, including the extension (if any), are for you to choose.

This command will generate both the configuration template file and a password template file.

Configure the Configuration File

Next, we need to edit the installation parameters. There are a bit over 100 parameters available so it might take a bit time to get this right, depending on the requirements. However, the good news is that all parameters have a default value, except for the sid (system identifier) and password parameters.

For the parameter reference, see

• Parameter Reference – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide

General and Action

In the General section, you specify where the installation media is located (component_medium, _dirs, _root), whether to use a master password – for the operating system accounts <sid>adm and sapadm and database users SYS and SYSTEM (amongst others, see below) and which components to install.

It also includes the configuration of remote execution which concerns a distributed (multi-host) installation which itself is configured in the AddHosts section (see below).

For remote execution of multiple-host system operations, see

The Action section only has a single parameter, action, which will have been already set with the value you provided on the command line when running the hdblcm command.

As I explained in the SAP HANA 2.0 platform lifecycle management blog, hdblcm is a ‘wrapper’ tool that calls other executables for the different actions. Action=install will call hdbinst and action=update will call hdbupd. In the Client section below, you can see that we can run these tools independently as well with a response file, for example, when installing the SAP HANA client on a client computer.

Server

In the Server section, all the parameters specific to the HANA database server are specified. The sid is required, all others are optional.

For more information about these parameters, see

Storage

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The storage_cfg parameter points to the directory where you have placed the customized global.ini file. This makes it possible to set up a storage connector, allowing SAP HANA to use hardware vendor-specific scripts for automated resource allocation and input/output fencing during failover.

For an example of such an implementation, see

For the documentation, see

• Tutorial: Using Custom Configuration Files – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide

Note that the hdbparam utility is no longer included with SAP HANA 2.0 and has been deprecated.

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Storage Configuration Best Practices for SAP HANA TDI on Dell EMC VMAX 33 Solution Guide

Implementing High Availability and Disaster Recovery Solutions with SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems

The AddHosts section covers the parameters relevant to distributed (multi-host) systems: the hostname of the hosts and the host role.

Optional Components

There is a dedicated section for each of the different host roles (Streaming Analytics, Dynamic Tiering, Accelerator for ASE and Remote Data Synch. When these components are not listed in the General section, these sections are ignored by the installer.

For more information about these features, see

XS Advanced

For the XS Advanced runtime, there is another dedicated parameter section.

For more information about these parameters and about installing XSA, see

Client and Studio

Finally, there is a section about the SAP HANA client and studio. See

Configure the Password File

As we have seen, there are several locations where passwords can be specified in the configuration file. Master password in the General section, operating system accounts (root, sapadm, <sid>adm) and database users in the Server section, accounts for features, and for XS Advanced.

Typically, a security administrator will not be amused when passwords are specified in text files.

For this reason, the read_password_from_stdin=xml parameter is available to indicate to hdblcm when running in batch mode to get the passwords from ‘standard input’, which for UNIX refers to commands entered on the command line.

However, as we still want to automate the installation, we are now going to set the passwords in another configuration file, this time in XML format, which we can secure and include in the installation process as appropriate.

In the vi editor, you can use the substitute command to easily change the asterisks to a new master password.

For more information, see

• Specifying Passwords – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide

Install in Batch Mode

When we are done with editing the configuration and password file, we can simply run the install in batch mode with the -b (or –batch) parameter together with —configfile.

Parameters passed as call options to the installer take precedence over parameter defined in the configuration file.

You could, for example, generate the SID parameter using a script and pass it to the installer in case you need unique values.

To include our password parameter file, we are going to make use of more UNIX magic: the pipe. This allows us to pass the passwords to the installer without displaying them on the console or in command history.

SAP HANA Client

To automate installations of the SAP HANA client (or studio) on a system that do not contain an SAP HANA server installation, we can use the same approach.

First, generate a configuration file and edit the parameters. This time, use the hdbinst or hdbupd executable directly (and hence we no longer need to specify the action= parameter). Again, the name and extension of the response file are irrelevant.

To install, run the command specifying –batch (-b) with configfile.

For the parameter reference, see

• Command and Call Option Reference – SAP HANA Client Installation and Update Guide

References

For more information see:

SAP HANA Academy Playlists

Sap Hana Client Machine

SAP Community Blogs

SAP Documentation

• Tutorial: Automating Installation – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• Tutorial: Using Custom Configuration Files – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• Parameter Reference – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• Specifying Passwords – SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
• Command and Call Option Reference – SAP HANA Client Installation and Update Guide

Notes

SAP Partner Documentation

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