SAP Business One; Step-by-Step Guide for Installation, configuration on Virtual Machine. Note: You may see an SBO license dialog screen. In this case make sure that theService manager is running and the License service is started. Insert the IP address ofyour license server or localhost if it is all on one machine. Install permanent SAP license keys; 4. Install Pacemaker. Optional - Enable SAP HAlib for Management by Outside Tools; 8.
This article describes how to install and configure a high-availability SAP system in Azure by using a Windows Server failover cluster and cluster shared disk for clustering an SAP ASCS/SCS instance.
Prerequisites
Before you begin the installation, review these documents:
We don't describe the DBMS setup in this article because setups vary depending on the DBMS system you use. We assume that high-availability concerns with the DBMS are addressed with the functionalities that different DBMS vendors support for Azure. Examples are AlwaysOn or database mirroring for SQL Server and Oracle Data Guard for Oracle databases. In the scenario we use in this article, we don't add more protection to the DBMS.
There are no special considerations when different DBMS services interact with a clustered SAP ASCS or SCS configuration in Azure.
Note
The installation procedures of SAP NetWeaver ABAP systems, Java systems, and ABAP+Java systems are almost identical. The most significant difference is that an SAP ABAP system has one ASCS instance. The SAP Java system has one SCS instance. The SAP ABAP+Java system has one ASCS instance and one SCS instance running in the same Microsoft failover cluster group. Any installation differences for each SAP NetWeaver installation stack are explicitly mentioned. You can assume that all other parts are the same.
Install SAP with a high-availability ASCS/SCS instance
Important
Be sure not to place your page file on SIOS DataKeeper mirrored volumes. DataKeeper does not support mirrored volumes. You can leave your page file on the temporary drive D of an Azure virtual machine, which is the default. If it's not already there, move the Windows page file to drive D of your Azure virtual machine.
Installing SAP with a high-availability ASCS/SCS instance involves these tasks:
Create a virtual host name for the clustered SAP ASCS/SCS instance.
Install the SAP first cluster node.
Modify the SAP profile of the ASCS/SCS instance.
Add a probe port.
Open the Windows firewall probe port.
Create a virtual host name for the clustered SAP ASCS/SCS instance
In the Windows DNS manager, create a DNS entry for the virtual host name of the ASCS/SCS instance.
Important
The IP address that you assign to the virtual host name of the ASCS/SCS instance must be the same as the IP address that you assigned to Azure Load Balancer (<SID>-lb-ascs).
The IP address of the virtual SAP ASCS/SCS host name (pr1-ascs-sap) is the same as the IP address of Azure Load Balancer (pr1-lb-ascs).
Figure 1: Define the DNS entry for the SAP ASCS/SCS cluster virtual name and TCP/IP address
To define the IP address that's assigned to the virtual host name, select DNS Manager > Domain.
Figure 2: New virtual name and TCP/IP address for SAP ASCS/SCS cluster configuration
Install the SAP first cluster node
Execute the first cluster node option on cluster node A. For example, on the pr1-ascs-0*host.
To keep the default ports for the Azure internal load balancer, select:
ABAP system: ASCS instance number 00
Java system: SCS instance number 01
ABAP+Java system: ASCS instance number 00 and SCS instance number 01
To use instance numbers other than 00 for the ABAP ASCS instance and 01 for the Java SCS instance, first, change the Azure internal load balancer default load balancing rules. For more information, see Change the ASCS/SCS default load balancing rules for the Azure internal load balancer.
The next few tasks aren't described in the standard SAP installation documentation.
Note
The SAP installation documentation describes how to install the first ASCS/SCS cluster node.
Modify the SAP profile of the ASCS/SCS instance
First, add a new profile parameter. The profile parameter prevents connections between SAP work processes and the enqueue server from closing when they are idle for too long. We mention the problem scenario in Add registry entries on both cluster nodes of the SAP ASCS/SCS instance. In that section, we also introduce two changes to some basic TCP/IP connection parameters. In a second step, you need to set the enqueue server to send a keep_alive signal so that the connections don't hit the Azure internal load balancer's idle threshold.
To modify the SAP profile of the ASCS/SCS instance:
Add this profile parameter to the SAP ASCS/SCS instance profile:
To apply the changes, restart the SAP ASCS/SCS instance.
Add a probe port
Use the internal load balancer's probe functionality to make the entire cluster configuration work with Azure Load Balancer. The Azure internal load balancer usually distributes the incoming workload equally between participating virtual machines.
However, this won't work in some cluster configurations because only one instance is active. The other instance is passive and can’t accept any of the workload. A probe functionality helps when the Azure internal load balancer assigns work only to an active instance. With the probe functionality, the internal load balancer can detect which instances are active, and then target only the instance with the workload.
To add a probe port:
Check the current ProbePort value by running the following PowerShell command:
Execute the command from within one of the virtual machines in the cluster configuration.
Define a probe port. The default probe port number is 0. In our example, we use probe port 62000.
Figure 3: The default cluster configuration probe port is 0
The port number is defined in SAP Azure Resource Manager templates. You can assign the port number in PowerShell.
To set a new ProbePort value for the SAP <SID> IP cluster resource, run the following PowerShell script to update the PowerShell variables for your environment:
After you bring the SAP <SID> cluster role online, verify that ProbePort is set to the new value.
After the script runs, you are prompted to restart the SAP cluster group to activate the changes.
Figure 4: Probe the cluster port after you set the new value
Open the Windows firewall probe port
Open a Windows firewall probe port on both cluster nodes. Use the following script to open a Windows firewall probe port. Update the PowerShell variables for your environment.
ProbePort is set to 62000. Now, you can access the file share ascsha-clsapsapmnt from other hosts, such as from ascsha-dbas.
Install the database instance
To install the database instance, follow the process that's described in the SAP installation documentation.
Install the second cluster node
To install the second cluster, follow the steps that are described in the SAP installation guide.
Change the start type of the SAP ERS Windows service instance
Change the start type of the SAP ERS Windows service to Automatic (Delayed Start) on both cluster nodes.
Figure 5: Change the service type for the SAP ERS instance to delayed automatic
Install the SAP Primary Application Server
Install the Primary Application Server (PAS) instance <SID>-di-0 on the virtual machine that you've designated to host the PAS. There are no dependencies on Azure. There are no DataKeeper-specific settings.
Install the SAP Additional Application Server
Install an SAP Additional Application Server (AAS) on all the virtual machines that you've designated to host an SAP Application Server instance. For example, on <SID>-di-1 to <SID>-di-<n>.
Note
This finishes the installation of a high-availability SAP NetWeaver system. Next, proceed with failover testing.
Test the SAP ASCS/SCS instance failover and SIOS replication
It's easy to test and monitor an SAP ASCS/SCS instance failover and SIOS disk replication by using Failover Cluster Manager and the SIOS DataKeeper Management and Configuration tool.
SAP ASCS/SCS instance is running on cluster node A
The SAP PR1 cluster group is running on cluster node A. For example, on pr1-ascs-0. Assign the shared disk drive S, which is part of the SAP PR1 cluster group, to cluster node A. The ASCS/SCS instance also uses disk drive S.
Figure 6: Failover Cluster Manager: The SAP <SID> cluster group is running on cluster node A
In the SIOS DataKeeper Management and Configuration tool, you can see that the shared disk data is synchronously replicated from the source volume drive S on cluster node A to the target volume drive S on cluster node B. For example, it's replicated from pr1-ascs-0 [10.0.0.40] to pr1-ascs-1 [10.0.0.41].
Figure 7: In SIOS DataKeeper, replicate the local volume from cluster node A to cluster node B
Failover from node A to node B
Choose one of these options to initiate a failover of the SAP <SID> cluster group from cluster node A to cluster node B:
Failover Cluster Manager
Failover Cluster PowerShell
Restart cluster node A within the Windows guest operating system. This initiates an automatic failover of the SAP <SID> cluster group from node A to node B.
Restart cluster node A from the Azure portal. This initiates an automatic failover of the SAP <SID> cluster group from node A to node B.
Restart cluster node A by using Azure PowerShell. This initiates an automatic failover of the SAP <SID> cluster group from node A to node B.
After failover, the SAP <SID> cluster group is running on cluster node B. For example, it's running on pr1-ascs-1.
Figure 8: In Failover Cluster Manager, the SAP <SID> cluster group is running on cluster node B
The shared disk is now mounted on cluster node B. SIOS DataKeeper is replicating data from source volume drive S on cluster node B to target volume drive S on cluster node A. For example, it's replicating from pr1-ascs-1 [10.0.0.41] to pr1-ascs-0 [10.0.0.40].
Figure 9: SIOS DataKeeper replicates the local volume from cluster node B to cluster node A
SAP Basis Tutorial
SAP Basis Useful Resources
Selected Reading
To implement SAP ERP, we need to find out the minimum hardware and software requirements. The minimum system requirements should be met to perform the implementation successfully.
The following are the minimum requirements for SAP R/3 installation −
Minimum hardware requirements
CPU: Intel PIII 500 MHZ
HDD: 30 GB
RAM: 256MB
Ethernet Card for LAN connectivity
Minimum software requirements
Windows Server
Windows Server Service Pack
Internet Explorer
Database Software Ex: Microsoft SQL Server
SAP R/3 System
Report Data CD
Export CDs
SAP GUI
SAP R/3 Kernel CD
Dynamic Link Libraries or DLL
Active Directory Service Interface or ADSI
Microsoft Management Console or MMC
Hardware requirements to install SAP ECC 6.0
HDD − 250GB + 45GB Hard Disk Space
RAM − Minimum 4 GB of RAM — The more the capacity of RAM, the less time it takes for installation
CPU − Intel Dual Core or Core 2 Duo Processor — If you have a 64-bit processor, you can go for ECC 6.0 EHP4 instead of ECC 6.0 SR2.
CD Drive to copy the software
Software requirements to install SAP ECC 6.0
Windows server 2003 32-bit SP 2 or Windows Sever 2003 64-bit OS.
Driver CDs
Adobe Acrobat Reader for Installation Manual
SAP ECC 6.0 ides SR2 installation will be completed approximately in 20 hours with the above configuration. The installation time can be reduced further by upgrading hardware configuration like quad 2 core processor with 8 GB ram and 1 TB Hard Disk Drive.
Note − You can download SAP ECC 6.0 free trial from SAP Market place. It is also possible to integrate SAP ECC 6.0 trial using SAP Cloud Appliance Library ACL to AWS or other cloud environment service provider by providing user public cloud key.
Installation of SAP ECC 6.0
Follow these steps to install SAP ECC 6.0 −
Step 1 − Install database as per the requirement. Java JDK 1.4 is the minimum requirement. Copy the software to local drive and run sapinst.exe. Set up wizard will open.
Step 2 − Select the service you want to install — Central System Installation > Select Service Type – Typical or Custom > Next
Step 3 − Select the software units you want to install with ECC like Biller Direct and additional NW software units AS ABAP, etc.
Step 4 − Enter the SAP System ID and Installation drive. SAP System ID is a unique identifier for your SAP system. It must be unique throughout the system landscape. Enter master password which will be used for all user accounts to be created.
Step 5 − Enter Database parameters like DBSID for an existing database, host name, etc.
Step 6 − Perform perquisite check. You can click OK to perform check or cancel to move to next step.
Step 7 − In the next window, you have to provide the location of export files, oracle client and kernel files > Next > Enter OS passwords.
Step 8 − Enter the central instance number, which serves as the technical identifier for controlling internal processes such as memory. This number must be unique for this installation.
Step 9 − The system now shows you the port numbers.
Step 10 − Click Next and you will see the summary of installation.
Step 11 − Enter the Solution Manager key to continue the installation and upgrade process.
Step 12 − Once the installation is complete, you will receive the following confirmation.
Different Hardware and Software Components in SAP System
The following are the key components in SAP system −
Database Server
Application Server
Other Servers
Software components- NetWeaver
SAP GUI
License key and Maintenance Certificates
Enhancement Package
Upgrade plans
SAP Solution Manager Integration
In SAP system, to check the list of the currently installed software component versions, you can go to SAP GUI, select system.
Choose System in SAP logon> System > Status > click the Component Information icon under system data.
Go to SAP system data → Click on component magnifying glass.
You can see the following two options −
Installed software component versions
Installed product versions
Under installed software component, you can see all the installed software, support package, service pack, description etc. If you want to check the details of each component, you can select the component and go to details tab as shown above.
Go to Installed Product Versions, it will show you the version of the installed SAP NetWeaver.