Patch Management - Kernel Upgrade

Kernel Upgrade

SAP Kernel contain all executables program. If you upgrade ABAP or Java Support Pack you need to upgrade SAP Kernel too depending on the patch level too. Kernel upgrade is easy and fastest to do.



Steps to check current Kernel level

1. Login to SAP and go to SM51
2. Click on Release Notes button
3. SAP Kernel: show your Kernel version
4. Kernel Patch number show the current kernel patch number

Steps to upgrade Kernel

1. Download the latest SAP Kernel from Market Place.
2. Shutdown SAP application and Database
3. Kernel location is /sapmnt//exe
4. Make backup of “exe” directory which is compulsory steps
5. Untar the kernel files that you download from Market Place
6. Copy all files which you untar to /sapmnt//exe

Patch Management - Java Support Package Upgrade

Java Support Package Upgrade

SAP Enterprise Portal (EP) is running J2EE engine at the back end. In the event if you need to upgrade support pack for SAP EP, you need to remember that you need to upgrade Java Support Pack (SP). The tools we need to use is Software Deployment Manager (SDM) which need to trigger at AIX level.

Check current Java SP Level

1. Login to portal with username j2ee_admin
2. http://portal.yourdomainname.com.my:50100/index.html
3. Then Click on the System information
4. Then click on All components to all components current patch level.

Steps to Apply Java SP

1. Download Java SP to the /usr/sap/trans/EPS/in in SAP BW application server
2. Once copied, now start SDM to apply the download support pack. Since SDM is gui base you need gui base telnet session to execute this. In this case we use xterm.
3. Go to /usr/sap/BWQ/DVEBMGS01/j2ee/JSPM directory in BW application server and execute “go” as shown.
4. Key in SDM password
5. If you are upgrading all components then check the “Support Package Stack” or if you want to apply selected SP then select “Single Support Packages (advanced use)
6. NWDI leave as default
7. Click on Next button
8. This screen show all current components in the current system
9. This show the current patch level for each components
10. Here you can see which patch you can choose to upgrade or skip.
11. If everything ok, click on the next button
12. If this is the patch you want to apply, then click on the start button.
13. The Java SP run slower then ABAP SP. If you upgrade the all components, it might take 1 to 2 days depends on the server capabilities.
14. While the upgrade runs, it will stop and start J2ee engine, at this time rdmsportal will be down.
15. Once finished Deployed, check the status and if it is successful you should see “DEPLOYED”, or else if it shows “ERROR” then you have to investigate further.
16. If DEPLOYED then can click on the Exit button to exit the SDM gui.
    
    

Patch Management - ABAP Support Package Upgrade

ABAP Support Package Upgrade

SAP BA and SAP BW main engine is running under ABAP. Only SAP BW has J2EE engine which is for SAP Enterprise Portal. Java Support pack upgrade covers in next section. You only can apply SP in client “000” and recommended user to use by SAP is “DDIC”. Transaction code SPAM are use to apply ABAP SP and check the current SP level

Check current ABAP SP Level

This show the current SP Manager level. Always apply the latest SP Manager support pack before you apply SP.
Package Level button to display the current package level
The pop up will show current level of all components


Import Prerequisite

For QAS and PRD server as my company policy there is 15 min timeout setting is in place if the session is idle. Before you start to apply ABAP SP you need to turn off the time out. Fail to do this, ABAP SP will fail or teminate after 15 min.
You need to change the parameter in RZ10 and parameter name is rdisp/gui_auto_logout – Set the value to “0”.

There are 3 steps for apply Support Pack which is:

• Steps 1: Download the SP from Market Place (this is covers in previous post)
• Steps 2: Load Packages into SAP
• Steps 3: Create Queue and apply SP

Steps 2: Load Packages into SAP

1. From tcode SPAM select menu Support Package -> Load Packages -> From Application Server
2. Then Select Yes to continue to load packages
3. If it’s new package it show as “Uploaded successfully”
4. If it’s package that has been uploaded it show already exists
5. To display all upload packages, from SPAM screen click on the “Display” button.

Steps 3: Create Queue and apply SP

1. From tcode SPAM screen click on the Display button.
2. Select the Packages that you want to upgrade
3. Then Click on the Queue button
4. Then Click continue to create queue
5. Once you are back to main screen click on the lori button to start import then selected queue.
6. Then just click on continue button to continue the process. The duration of import run’s depending on the package size.

Patch Management - What to Download

Download Support Package

All SAP Support Package are required to download from Market place http://service.sap.com/swdc.

1. Login to Market Place at http://service.sap.com/swdc with you OSS-id
2. Expand Download
3. Click on My Company’s Application
4. SAP NETWEAVER link to download ABAP and Java SP and Kernel files. Java SP is only applicable for SAP BW Server. ABAP SP and Kernel is applicable for SAP BA and SAP BW server.
5. SAP SPAM/SAINT Update link to download the latest version of Support Package Manager
6. You also can download Kernel from this main page.
7. In next Section you will see steps to download for ABAP SP, Java SP and Kernel

Download Kernel

1. Follow the Link show in the screen shot which is My Company’s Application Components -> SAP NETWEAVER-> SAP NETWEAVER 7.0-> Entry by Components->Application Server ABAP
2. Expand the Kernel SAP KERNEL 7.0 64-BIT UNICODE ->AIX 64bit
3. You have to download Kernel Part 1 from ORACLE link and Kernel PART 2 from #Database independent link
4. You need to download 1 SAR file from Kernel Part 1 which is latest and normally the name start with “SAPEXE_XXXX”
5. Then you need to down 2 files from Kernel Part 2. Which is DBA tools and Kernel Part 2 (latest patch)
6. SAPCAR all the 3 files in 1 temporary directory.

Download ABAP Support Package

1. Follow the Link show in the screen shot which is My Company’s Application Components -> SAP NETWEAVER-> SAP NETWEAVER 7.0-> Entry by Components->Application Server ABAP
2. Select the component that you want to download e.g. SAP BASIS 7.00
3. Then Select the package level that you want to download
4. Then click on to “Add to Download Basket” to download.
5. The info button give information about the each packages
6. Then SAPCAR all download package to /usr/sap/trans/EPS/in in development application server
7. Two files should be created when you SAPCAR each ABAP SP files which is .ATT and .PAT

Download JAVA Support Package

1. Follow the Link show in the screen shot which is My Company’s Application Components -> SAP NETWEAVER-> SAP NETWEAVER 7.0-> Entry by Components->Application Server Java
2. Select the package from the list
3. Then Select the package level that you want to download
4. Then click on to “Add to Download Basket” to download.
5. The info button give information about the each packages
6. Then copy all download package to /usr/sap/trans/EPS/in in SAP BW development application server.
7. The file name should be with extension .SCA

Extract SAR files

1. All SAR files that has been download and copied to server need to be extract.
2. SAP has extract tool to extract the SAR files.
3. You have to login has adm
4. Then go to the location where you copied SAR files
5. Then execute “SAPCAR –xvf ”
6. Copy all the .ATT and PAT file to /usr/sap/trans/EPS/in directory.
7. Then use SPAM to upload this files to SAP

Space Management

Check Oracle Space

Space management here is only from SAP point of view which is Oracle tablespace. SAP Basis administrator need to act proactively to monitor and increase Oracle table space before monthly batch start to run. He/She also need to keep track of the growth of the Database so that the system wont run out of space. This section cover how to check current space and steps to increase Oracle table space.

1. DB02 show the Space Overview e.g. current Database size, free size and total free size including extent size.
2. The main tablespace that need high attention for SAP system is “PSAPSR3”. 99% of the data are store in the physical tablespace.
3. You can click on the refresh button to get the latest space statistic.
4. Expend Tablespace and click on Overview
5. You will able to see detail about all tablespaces
6. Look for free space available and how much it can grow including the extent size.
7. If you need to increase the tablespace then you have to use brtools tool to increase. This tools need to be executed from AIX level of DB server of SAP system using “ora” user.

You also can monitor Oracle tablespaces using “brtools” which need to be execute from database server using “ora” user id. Login to ora in DB server, then type “brtools”. Choose Option 2, follow by option 7, then option 1, and the “continue” for 2 times.

1. This is the list of tablespaces and total space allocated for that particular tablespace. E.g. PSAPSR3 tablespace has total space of 789843968 KB.
2. This column show the percentage of Used spaced from total shown in column 1.
3. This column show free space in KB from the total space of column 1.
4. Column 4 show how much the tablespace can extent to Maximum size from total show in column 1.

Increase Oracle Space

brtools is use to increase Oracle tablespace from OS level. This tools also will be upgrade whenever you upgrade SAP Kernel.

1. Login using “ora” in SAP DB server.
2. Then execute brtools
3. Choose option 2 for Space management
4. Then option 1 for Extend tablespace

Important: Always check the available space in mount point before increase the tablespace. This can be check using “df –g” command at AIX prompt.

1. Choose 3 and key in tablespace “PSAPSR3” or other tablespace name that you want to increase space.
2. Here you are able to change the location of datafile, datafile size and specify maximum datafile size.
3. Once you have specify all required input, type c to continue.

Enterprise Portal Administration

General Administration – Starting and Stopping

SAP Enterprise Portal can only be started or stopped together with SAP Business Warehouse. The startsap and stopsap commands for SAP Business Warehouse are used for starting and stopping the Portal as well. Manually stopping the Portal through SAP Business Warehouse is not advisable due to their close integration.

SAP Enterprise Portal Startup
To start SAP Enterprise Portal,

Login as bwpadm in app server
ex:
rdmspbwap:bwpadm>startsap

Portal Engine Administration – Core Parameter Changes

Core parameter configuration for SAP Enterprise Portal can be done through the Visual Administrator application. Visual Administrator can be accessed using SSH X-terminal. Login to the desired Portal server and browse to /usr/sap//DVEBMGS01/j2ee/admin/. Type “./go” in order to launch Visual Administrator.

Visual Administrator is the main application for core parameter changes. Core parameters are the settings that control how the Portal engine works and should not be changed unless it is absolutely necessary. Due to the high number of parameters that can be changed from Visual Administrator, please refer to SAP support site for reference.


Reference on Visual Administrator is available here: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/EN/39/83682615cd4f8197d0612529f2165f/frameset.htm

Portal Engine Administration – Core Parameter Changes (II)

Another application that can be used to change Portal core parameters is the offline ConfigTool. It is to be used when Visual Administrator is not accessible. Visual Administrator only works when Portal Java engine is running. In the case of Portal Java engine being down, ConfigTool may be used instead. ConfigTool may be accessed by login into the desired Portal server and browse to /usr/sap//DVEBMGS01/j2ee/configtool/. Type “./configtool.sh” in order to launch ConfigTool.

Reference on ConfigTool is available here:
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2004/helpdata/en/99/a9c93f4d903b1ce10000000a114084/frameset.htm


Portal Engine Administration – Changing j2ee_admin password

If you change j2ee_admin user password in SAP BW system, then you have to manually change in j2ee engine. This can be done using the configtool.sh. If you do not change password here then you will have problem to apply patches using JSPM in future. ** The steps was taken from SAP Note 701654.

Login to adm into SAP BW application server and browse to /usr/sap//DVEBMGS01/j2ee/configtool/.Type “./configtool.sh” in order to launch ConfigTool.

1. Excute the configtool.sh
2. Change the admin password and then click add
3. From the menu select apply to save the changes.
4. In order this to take effect, you need to restart SAP,Oracle and Oracle listener.

DB Monitoring–DB02

Use transaction code DB02 to monitor or troubleshoot database access performance.


From the main screen, browse to the entry “Session Monitor” from Performance > Wait Event Analysis


When a calculation/jobs is running, all database accesses will be shown on the right screen. This screen can be used to determine what queries are causing bottlenecks if there are performance issues.

The details available on this screen can be used in SAP OSS to look for support notes. As a starting point, you may refer to note number 745639 for common database performance issues.

BANK_PP_MONITOR

Use transaction code “bank_pp_monitor” to monitor the progress of RWA calculation runs.

1. In the screen that appears, click on the “Currently Edited Packages Only” checkbox and press execute.


2. In the following screen, double click on the active run (active runs are highlighted in blue).


3. The progress of the active calculation run is shown in the “Processing Status” entry.

Note:
RWA calculation runs are divided into 2 stages namely the bundling stage and the actual calculation stage. Each stage has its own processing status in the bank_pp_monitor screen. The percentage shown in the bank_pp_monitor screen will be reset to 0% when the bundling stage ends and the calculation stage begins.

Profile Parameter

RZ10 - Profile parameter carries all parameters for SAP system. You need someone who is experience in SAP Basis to change most of the parameter value in SAP. This is because most of the parameters are inter related in some cases. If you change one parameter value, you might have to change another parameter value. The changes to profile parameter will only take effect after restart SAP.

Backup Profile file

1. Always make a backup of your old profile parameter file before make any changes in RZ10.
2. To backup the profile file, login with adm into application server e.g. rdmsdbaap
3. Goto /usr/sap//SYS/profile
4. Copy _DVEBMGS01_ to some other name with today’s date for easy trace.

Profile Parameter

1. In RZ10, click drop down button to get list of profiles.
2. Choose Instance profile from the list.
3. Then check on “Extended maintenance”
4. Then click on the Change button

1. There are few button where you can create, change and delete the parameters.
2. Parameter Name show all parameters that has been assigned
3. Parameter value show the value that been assigned to each parameters
4. Once you have modify the parameter or added new parameter, then you need to save by clicking the copy button.
5. Then from the main screen click on the Save button to save and activate the profile.
6. If Shared Memory Pools pop up then double click on the “Act Value”

1. If you get Incorrect parameter values detected pop up box, just click yes and make sure the latest added parameter does not cause any error. The rest you can ignore.
2. Then click yes to activate
3. Then click on continue
4. And Continue. This message show you need to restart before the new added parameter or value to take place.

Once you have change the profile parameter then you must check whether the changes that you made to the profiles doesn’t cause any problem with SAP system. This has to be perform before you restart SAP. SAP provides special tools to check whether there is any error in profiles that can cause problem in restarting SAP.

Tools to check Profiles - sappfpar

1.The tools name is “sappfpar”. You need to login as adm in application server to do this.

2.Goto the directory where the profile file located

3.Then execute “sappfpar check pf=”

4.Look for “Error detected” and it must be 0. If there is an error, then you have to fix it before move on to restart SAP.

SAP Monitoring Tcode (Pt 6)

ST03N – Workload Analysis

Other Important T-Codes

Transaction Code	Purpose
SU53	Trouble Shooting Authorization problem
DBACockpit	Performance, Statistic log, Space overview, alert, Database alert log
DB13	Statistic Updates Jobs
DB14	DBA Operation logs
ST02	Memory
ST03N	Workload Analysis

SAP Monitoring Tcode (Pt 5)

ST11 – Developer Trace

SAP Menu : Choosing Tools-> Administration-> Monitor -> Traces -> Developer Traces or tcode ST11

Developer Trace contain technical information for use in the event of problem with the system

• Using the entries in the developer traces requires a sophisticated knowledge of the host systems in which SAP system is running
• The traces can be useful in diagnosing host system and problem that are affecting SAP system.
• Developer traces are written in files in the work directory of the SAP application server that generated the trace

Components	File Name
Dispatcher	dev_disp
Work process	dev_w “n” is number of WP
RFC	dev_rfc, dev_rfc
Internet Communication Manager	dev_icm
Startup	dev_sapstart
Message server	dev_ms
Gateway	dev_rd

Use developer traces transaction to check core file entries if this occupied the major space.

• The core file located in the local host or application server which is rdmspbaap server of production server.
• Login to application server with adm user
• Check the mount point /usr/sap/BZP usage, if the usage is more then 80%, then it’s worth deleting the core file to release some space.
• Go to /usr/sap//DVEBMGS01/work
• List the file size of the core file and it’s save to delete this file

SAP Monitoring Tcode (Pt 4)

SM37 – Background Process

SAP background processing allows the automation of routine tasks

• The job Selection transaction – SM37 – check whether the jobs actually ran without errors.
• If errors occurred, need to perform Problem Analysis and start troubleshooting.
• When troubleshooting, it is often advisable to first check in the SM50 and SM66 whether background work processes are still running

SAP Monitoring Tcode (Pt 3)

SM21 – System log

Choosing Tools-> Administration-> Monitor -> System Log or tcode SM21

SAP System logs all system errors, warnings, user lock due to failed login attempts from known user, and process messages in the system log.