SAP has released a new support package stack for Solution Manager. Solution Manager SPS08 brings plenty more changes and enhancements than previous releases. Here’s an overview.
Important changes to update to the newest SP Stack
When you are on SAP MaxDB, you need to update the database patch level to 7.9.09.10 or higher, as this stack is explicitly not intended for SAP Solution Manager 7.2 systems running on MaxDB with any patch level before 7.9.09.10.
If this precondition isn’t met, certain database views can’t be activated, which affects the CDS view-based operational reporting in the Test Suite. On the software side, SAP’s requirement is to have component SAP_UI on release level 751. SAP recommends updating SAP CR CONTENT in the connected System Landscape Directory before implementing this Stack to your SAP Solution Manager System.
Also, keep in mind that if you’re planning SPS08 as target configuration for an update from previous SAP Solution Manager 7.2 SP stacks (SPS01 to SPS05), you need to delete obsolete ODATA services manually before the update.
Managed Systems Configuration
2664208 - Issue of Managed System Setup User in Step 'Maintain RFCs' 2660365 - Wrong target role name for SAPSOLMANTMW in Managed System Configuration; 2660346 - Fix Prerequisite check in Solution Manager; 2657456 - Introscope EM not in LMDB; 2654371 - Activity 'Check ABAP Software Prerequisites' returns wrong check result of ST-A/PI. Would like to share my experience for EWA setup on the Solution Manager 7.2 system. I think it could be useful. Prerequisites: Run the RTCCTOOL report in both Solman and managed system; Install or update Service plug-ins in both the systems; Add the managed system to Solution Manager and perform the “minimal managed system” configuration; Steps. Next – Solution Manager 7.2 SP 5: System Monitoring. This is the end of the Managed System Configuration phases of Solution Manager 7.2 SP 5. “Solution Manager 7.2 SP 5: System Monitoring” - is the next section that we’ll examine that will actually monitor the HANA environment we added. Ozsoft-consulting.com ITConductor.com 16 17.
In Managed Systems Configuration, the activity “Set-Up Single Sign-On” is now optional for both ABAP and Java systems. With the new update, SAP Business Objects system NCS port values have been changed. Also, you can now configure an arbitrary complex SAP HANA DB replication cluster.
Cross-Scenario Configuration
For the Cross-Scenario Configuration, you can now generate PDF reports for all setup scenarios. In addition, a manual activity is introduced to configure communication channels for customers. Also, users can now display in-app help for many applications on the SAP Solution Manager launchpad, but to use it, it must be set up from:
Infrastructure Preparation > Set Up Connectivity > Define HTTP Connectivity
Hope you had chance to read my previous blog regarding SAP Solution Manager 7.2 and Managed system as ABAP. In this blog I want to put focus on java system only that – How SAP solution manager work with Managed system? I will be talking about single stack AS Java system only. Managed System Setup Configuration - Solution Manager 7.2 This course will prepare you for the configuration of Solution Manager 7.2 Managed System Setup. You will understand what is required prior to the setup and the next steps once the setup has been completed.
Requirements Management
Requirements Management has a new automatic activity called “Clear Caches for Launchpad” that’s used to check whether in aBasic Configuration scenario the activity “Clear Caches for Launchpad” has been performed. Also, two new manual activities have been added:
BAdI: Implement Attribute Context Enhancement BAdI. This is used to create a customized attribute context for e-mail notifications. The activity links to BAdI: AI_CM_MAIL_ATTRBUTRE_BADI
BAdI: Implement E-Mail Content Enhancement BAdI. This is used to create your own e-mail template for e-mail notifications by implementing BAdI: AI_CM_MAIL_TEMPL_ENHANCE_BADI.
Change Control Management
Change Control Management has a lot of new functions, but certainly the most important to remember is the sub-step “Create Technical User” in “Perform Basic Setup”. This step is used to create or update dialog or technical users, and starting 1 January 2020 this should be replaced with Technical User. More about the Technical User and SAP Backbone connectivity to follow in a later post: stay tuned!
Let’s have a look at Change Control Management’s new functions and enhancements:
New: Define Release Number and Release Cycle Description. This manual activity is used to navigate to the sub-scenario “Define Release Number and Release Cycle Description”, where you can customize the numbering pattern of your releases as well as release cycle descriptions.
New: Check IBase Assignment Consistency. This automatic activity is used to check whether the Installed Base (IBase) components in your change documents are consistent.
New: Enable Business Functions for Change Request Management. This automatic activity is used to set switches to activate additional functions for you to use.
New: Cross-reference check. This one is a transport-related check that detects inconsistencies of objects referenced in transport requests. If the referenced object doesn’t exist in the target system, or if it is a different version than in the target system, the check indicates a potential error. To use this check, you need to have the latest version of the Solution Tools Plug-In (ST-PI) installed in your development systems.
New: Delta Downgrade Protection Check (Delta DGP). This is an incremental check based on a previous complete downgrade check. Since Delta DGP only looks into the transport requests that have been added to the import buffer since the last complete downgrade check, it is faster than a complete check.
New: Cross-system object lock. Allows you to configure specific Customizing objects or Workbench objects to be excepted from the Stop at Error mode.
New: Critical Objects tab in the Administration Cockpit. You can now select multiple objects and copy them to one or more target systems.
New: Scheduled Import Jobs tab in the Administration Cockpit. This new filter gives you a better overview of the result list.
New: Automatic feedback about transport return codes and import errors. Automated e-mail notifications to monitor import errors of your transport requests. Contains detailed information such as transport return codes.
New: WebClient UI. Now you can assign change transactions to a development team.
New: Cycle imports for urgent changes of predecessor release cycles. Now you can create urgent changes in all phases, except for “Retired”.
New: Task Lists tab in the Administration Cockpit. In the Administration Cockpit, in the Task Lists tab, under Configuration, you can now see how your system is set up.
New: White List Objects in the Administration Cockpit. In the Administration Cockpit, in the White List Objects tab, you can now select multiple objects and copy them to one or more target systems.
New: Deletion of empty QGM scenarios. Administration users now have the option to delete a scenario that does not contain any QGM change, if the scenario is in the phase “Not Started” or “Finished”.
Changed: Automatic retrofit for non-ABAP Objects. If you have set up retrofit for non-ABAP objects or SAP S/4HANA transport container objects, by default they are set to “manual retrofit”.
Changed: Transport-related checks. You need the newest ST-PI tools installed in the managed development systems to use transport-related checks, otherwise the Transport-related Errors and Warnings dialog box may not display readable text.
Changed: Enhancement of the configuration of the e-mail notifications created by Post-Processing Framework (PPF) actions. The configuration of e-mail notifications created by PPF actions to inform about status changes of change transactions or requirements has been simplified and enhanced. Since the standard delivery now contains default e-mail templates, you can use e-mail notifications immediately, without having to configure a mail form first.
Changed: WebClient UI. In the central search, searching for All Objects is the default option now.
Changed: WebClient UI. For change transactions, the system now detects which statuses are not or not yet in use. In the “Status Overview” assignment block, those are grayed out.
Changed: WebClient UI. When you define the scope of a request for change, SAP Solution Manager now offers configuration items specifically of those production systems that are available for the selected change document type.
Changed: WebClient UI. To simplify the reassignment of change documents to a later minor or major release, the WebClient UI has been changed. Change documents can now be reassigned using a drop-down list in the Change Cycle/Phase field in the Details assignment block. This drop-down list displays the releases that have the same task list as the original release cycle, and to which the change document can be assigned. This list is only available if the prerequisites for the reassignment of the change document are met.
Changed: Select System. This step now includes selecting the client, if required.
Changed: Create urgent changes in all phases of a release cycle. In a release cycle you can create urgent changes in all phases, except for the phase “Retired”.
Changed: Task lists of change cycles. The status shift job is now part of the task list of a change cycle. You can view it in the Administration Cockpit, in the Task Lists tab, in the task list details, and in the task list monitor.
Changed: Search tab in the Administration Cockpit. In Administration Cockpit, in the Search tab, you can now also search for objects from a SAP HANA database.
Changed: Mass update of change document status with the Utility Report for Change Transactions. To set all the change documents with a specific status that are assigned to a change cycle to the next status, for example from Approved for Import to Imported to Production, you can use the Utility Report for Change Transactions.
Changed: Deleting a solution/change control landscape from transport requests that do not exist in the managed system. You can select a solution/change control landscape to be cleaned from all transport requests that do not exist in the managed system. You can set up a background job to run this report periodically.
Changed: System Recommendations SAP Fiori App. The app now also displays SAP Notes that are relevant for license auditing. You can also filter by licensing-relevant attributes.
Deleted: Select Client. This step is deleted and now performed under the step called “Select System”.
Project and Process Management
There are only new features in this section. For Project Management, we now have a new tile for incidents that shows the number of incidents that are assigned to a project and not confirmed. You can drill down to the list of incidents to get additional information like the transaction type, priority, finish date, status, and current processor.
In Process Management, a URL as a test document is now supported. In the column browser and list view of the Solution Documentation, you can select several documents at once and download them via the context menu item Download Document. The mass maintenance of documents that are protected by an electronic signature isn’t possible. In the list view as well as the assignment list of the browser view, the checkout user of a document can be displayed in a separate column.
Test Suite
In the Test Suite there now a new activity called “Global Setting”. This step is used to specify in which way testers can create test notes and results. Examples include using a template, creating a document from scratch, or using an existing test case modified with comments. This is found under:
Test Suite Preparation > Special Configuration > Central Settings > Global Settings
Also, the URL format is now supported as type for test notes, results and attachments of test plans and packages throughout the Test Suite. You can create multiple test plan copies from one source test plan at once with the mass copy function, and there is the option to assign the contents of your solution in edit mode as well. In addition, if you are using SCMON by default, TBOMs are only created for executables in SCMON. This ensures accuracy.
Application Operations
This section has the most updates and enhancements:
New: Application Log Status. This function monitors the application log status of a job.
New: Solman_setup_admin. This transaction now has Solman Setup Migration included, while earlier this was a manual process.
New: Custom Job Type Setting. Maintenance of custom job type parameters is possible, but only in the customer name space.
New: You can select multiple technical scenarios and multiple technical systems as a single scope.
New: On the Jobs page, if you deselect the “Summary Relevant” checkbox, details of all the job instances stored within the retention period are displayed.
New: Details of a status metric. The status of a job instance might be green for a job that is not yet finished, for example if the job is not cancelled or delayed. To know whether or not the job is still running or already finished, view the tooltip of the status.
New: Analytics for custom job types are enabled.
New: You can now consume the exposed DRM Results OData as an external alias and create a custom application. For more information, check note 2650032.
New: Support of SAP Concur. With the new template for the SAP Concur add-on, you can specify interface channels that are relevant for the communication between SAPS/4HANA or SAP ERP and SAP Concur.
New: Support of SAP Fieldglass. In this new template for Fieldglass, you can specify interface channels that are relevant for the communication with the cloud service. You can now collect business-critical exceptions from SAP Fieldglass.
New: Support of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. With this new template for S/4HANA Cloud, you can specify interface channels that are relevant for the communication with the cloud service.
New: Support of Alert Notification. Interface and Connection Monitoring supports the Alert Notification service built on the SAP Cloud Platform. Exception Management supports the Alert Notification service built on the SAP Cloud Platform.
New: Multiple time zones for e-mail templates and sorting/filtering recipient lists. You can create templates with multiple time zones, which is helpful in multinational organizations to send minimal e-mails and to work better with a large number of recipient lists. Sorting and filtering on Description, Active, Created By fields is enabled.
Changed: Overview app is moved from Technical Administration launchpad group to the SAP Solution Manager Administration launchpad group.
Changed: Guided Procedure Planning Management. You can now create plans for guided procedures that contain manual as well as custom activities. Guided Procedure executes only the automatic activities in the guided procedure, and e-mails are now sent to configurable recipient lists, which you specify when creating a plan for a guided procedure.
Managed System Configuration Solution Manager 7.2 Guide
Changed: Host Monitorings. The host Monitoring page has been added to the System Monitoring application.
Changed: Defining and using global filters. You can create and define the filter as mandatory, and add additional search criteria for easier filtering.
Changed: Creating tiles. Visualization functions have been extended and now include the rounding of displayed key figure values as well as the axis setting in combination charts.
Changed: Advanced Filter. In the new free text search field of the End-to-End Traces app, you can search for a text string that is part of the trace data, for example for a username.
Managed System Configuration Solution Manager 7.2 For Hana
User Data
Managed System Configuration Sap Solution Manager 7.2
With the new update, user data gets only one new feature, the transaction SM_CLEANUP. This transaction deletes obsolete user data from previous Solution Manager releases that is no longer required. It also has one changed function called SM_PD_INFO. With this transaction, you can check which different application areas hold information about users in your system.
A lot of new information to process, in any case! SPS08 really does come with plenty of new features and changes. I hope this overview is complete, and that I didn’t miss any important updates. In case of questions or suggestions, feel free to drop me a line.
SAP Solution Manager, SPS08
Managed System Configuration Solution Manager 7.2 Pdf
Marko Laius
Managed System Configuration In Solution Manager 7.2 Notes