Tuesday 30 April 2013

What is an SAP lock ?


What is an SAP lock ?
Different types of SAP locks ?Difference between Write lock(E) and Enhanced write lock(X) ?
How to monitor SAP locks ?How to delete SAP locks ?

SAP lock is set by the executing workprocess when a user/job wants a change access to data.
Whenever a lock to be set the respective workprocess checks in the locktable whether a respective lock conflicts the existing entries in
the locktable. If so, a lock is refused. If there is no conflict, then a lock is set.
There are different types of locks :
Write locks (E) : This is also known as exclusive lock mode as the lock data can be edited by only one user. Any other requests from
workprocesses to set another write lock or read lock are rejected. A cumulate lock can be applied on the lock data by the same lock
owner again.
Read locks (S) : This is also known as shared lock mode as several users can have read access to the locked data at the same time.
Additional read lock requests are entertained even if they are from different users. However a write lock is rejected.
Enhanced write locks (X) : This is also known as exclusive non-cumulative lock mode. An enhanced write lock can be requested only
once even if it is by the same transaction.
Difference between write locks(E) and Enhanced write lock(X) is write locks can be set and released by the same transaction
several times but X type locks can also be set once even by the same transaction.
Optimistic locks (O) : These locks are set up when the users displays the data in change mode. Several optimistic locks can be setup
on the same data. Optimistic locks are read locks(S) at first and converted to write lock (E) when the users wants to save the data. If
an optimistic locks on a data is changed to write lock(E), all other optimistic locks on that data will be deleted.
Locks that are set by an application program are released by the program itself or they are released by the update program once the
database has been changed.
Transaction code SM12 can be used to monitor SAP locks.


Here you have option of selecting locks based on following parameters
tablename
lock argument
client
username



In case, as part of monitoring, if you encounter some old sap locks and after thorough analysis, you would like to delete these, it can be done in the following ways :
Select the locks and delete the lock from SM12
Identify the user who has set the respective lock and end the user session using SM04 transaction code.






Kernel Upgrade steps?


Kernel Upgrade steps
Here is the Procedure to Update your SAP Kernel
Stop all R/3 Processes and the Database
% stopsap all
Stop SAPOSCOL process
% saposcol -d
Stop ListnerControl process by logging in as ora user
%lsnrctrl stop
Download Kernel Patches
Copy Them to a directory on Central Instance
Backup Your Old Kernel (by renaming it or moving it)
uncar the downloaded files
After that restart your services in following order
Listner
SAPOSCOL
Database
R/3

Most useful Facts about SAP?


Most useful Facts about SAP?

Sap was Founded by five former IBM employees in 1972 (History) and headquartered in Walldorf, Germany.
SAP is a world leader in business solutions, offering comprehensive software and services that address the unique needs of customers around the world.
More information can be found on the SAP Solutions page.
"SAP" stands for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing.
The main competitors of sap are Microsoft and Oracle.
Sap is the fouth largest software company in the world.
12 million users utilize Sap software each day.
Sap software is found at 140000 installations within 120 countries around the world.
Leading global provider of client/server business software solutions.
Number one vendor of standard business application software, with a worldwide market share of 31%. Fourth-largest independent software supplier in the world. 34% of SAP's customers worldwide are under $200 million.
10 out of the top 10 US companies with the highest market value use SAP software.
8 of the top 10 largest US corporations use SAP software.
8 of the top 10 highest profit US companies use SAP software.
More than 7500 customers in over 90 countries have chosen SAP.
Reported revenues of DM 6 billion in the most recent fiscal year, a 62-percent increase over 1996 revenues.
SAP is not any longer a one-product-company.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Type of Users in SAP system


Type of Users in SAP system
1. Dialogue
For this kind of users:-
GUI login is possible.
Initial password and expiration of passowrd are checked.
Multi GUI logins are checked.
Usage:- These are used for GUI logins.
2. System
For this kind of users:-
GUI login is not possible.
Initial password and expiration of passowrd are not checked.
Usage:- These are used for internal use in system like background jobs.
3. Communication
For this kind of users:-
GUI login is not possible.
Users are allowed to change password through some software in middle tier.
Usage:- These are used for login to system through external systems like web application
4. Service
For this kind of users:-
GUI login is possible.
Initial password and expiration of passowrd are not checked.
Multiple logins are allowed.
Users are not allowed to change the password. Only admin can change the password
Usage:- These are used for anonymous users. This type of users should be given minimum authorization.
5. Reference
For this kind of users:-
GUI login is not possible.
Initial password and expiration of passowrd are not checked.
Usage:- These are special kind of users which are used to give authorization to other users.

Monday 8 April 2013

What is Employee Self Service & Manager Self Service


ESS - Employee Self Service & MSS- Manager Self Service

Employee Self Service is a web enabled tool used to update their own data by the employee itself.

MSS- Manager Self Service
Manager Self Service is a web enabled tool used for Managers to take report or update the data of subordinate.

This will give you a comprehensive idea:
To implement LEAVE REQUEST & APPROVAL, both ESS and MSS are not mandatory. But ESS is required. However this functionality is developed to be available in MSS also if a client wants have both ESS and MSS.  Without MSS, the business flow of Leave request would be in ESS is like this:
1. An employee wants to take two weeks of leave. He or she accesses the Leave Request Web application. He or she sees in the Team Calendar that other team members also have leave at the same time. Nonetheless, he or she requests leave for the planned period.

2. The leave requires approval. The system automatically determines the approver responsible and lists the name in the Web application. If required, the employee can overwrite the name of the approver.
  1. The employee's request is stored in the database of leave requests with the status Sent.
  2. Once a day, the RPTARQEMAIL report (Leave Requests: Send E-Mails) is run in the background. The system sends an e-mail to the appropriate approver for the requests with status Sent that require approval. The e-mail notifies the approver of the steps required.

3. The approver accesses the Approve Leave Requests Web application from the Universal Work list.. The application provides the approver with a list of all the leave requests that require his or her approval.

4. The approver selects the employee's leave request. After checking the Team Calendar, the approver realizes that the employee's leave request cannot be approved since it would mean there would not be enough team members at work for the period in question.

5. The approver writes a note in which he or she states why the request has been rejected. He or she then rejects the request.

6. The RPTARQEMAIL report sends an e-mail to the employee notifying him or her that the request was rejected. The employee accesses the Leave Request Web application. He or she selects the request in the Absence Overview. He or she sees in the note the reason why the request was rejected.

7. The employee looks at the Team Calendar and finds a period in which no other team members are on vacation. He or she changes the period of the request. The employee
Specifies the change in period in the note.

8. The RPTARQEMAIL notifies the approver of the request by e-mail.  This time the approver can approve the request.

9. The request receives the status Approved in the database. The RPTARQEMAIL report sends an e-mail to the employee notifying him or her that the request was approved.

10. The system processes the requests further according to their status:

11. The RPTARQPOST report (Leave Requests: Post) writes all requests in the database that have the status Approved to the Absences (2001) or Attendances (2002) info type.

12. The system may not be able to post the requests to the info types if, for example, they collide with other info type records. These requests are given the status With Errors.

13. The RPTARQEMAIL report sends an e-mail to the relevant time administrator to notify him or her that the requests were unable to be posted.

14. The time administrator accesses the RPTARQERR report (Leave Request: Process Posting Errors). It lists the requests with errors.

15. The time administrator analyzes the error situation in the back end system.

16. If he or she can solve the cause of the problem and save the data record in the info type, he or she uses the RPTARQERR report to set the request to Posted.

17. If the problem cannot be solved, because the employee has other commitments at the time, for example, the time administrator rejects the request.

18. The RPTARQEMAIL report sends an e-mail to the employee notifying him or her of the change in status of the request (in ESS)


MSS:  it is a web based application designed for the people who carry out management tasks.  Here is the brief description.

This Manager Self Service is designed for all employees who perform management tasks at an operational level, for Example:
i.   Line managers
ii. Team leaders with project management tasks
iii. Department heads
In particular, the business package supports managers

Perform the following:
1    Tasks related to the personnel responsibility for their team
- Controlling tasks within their budgeting responsibilities
- Planning tasks
- Project management tasks
* Budget* -- Supports managers in fulfilling their cost and budget responsibilities, including annual budget planning, budget monitoring, cost analysis, and correction of postings. Managers can check critical variances, monitor travel expenses, and track budget consumption on projects.

*Staffing* -- Supports managers in their HR-related administrative and planning tasks. The application supports
HR processes relevant to a manager's particular tasks -- from recruitment to the annual employee review and compensation planning. It allows a manager to display attendance information, as well as to change data for employees who have no access to PCs. SAP Manager Self-Service supports flexible reporting on data from different data sources, and a quota planning function enables managers to plan future staffing quotas. In the latest release there some additional functionalities (iViews) are added.

ESS:  Allows employees to create, display, and change their own data in the company's intranet. In Personnel Administration, for example, employees can use the Personal Data service to create and edit their own personal data. In this way, employees can keep their own data up-to-date, while simultaneously reducing the number of time-consuming and expensive activities performed by the Human Resources Department.
Employee Self-Service of my SAP ERP enables employees to create, display, and change their own HR-related data in the Enterprise Portal. It covers data from various business areas:

THE CONFIGURATION AREAS IN ESS IS BELOW WISE AS A FUNCTIONAL CONSULTANT.
- Working Time
- Career and Job
- Employee Search
- Personal Data
- Benefits and Payment
- Travel Management
- Corporate Information
- Life and Work Events
- Training related details
- Qualifications 
- Appraisals
- Participation in the Appraisal process* etc.  

Tuesday 26 March 2013

How to do a SAP System Copy?

How to do a SAP System Copy

Step by step for SAP System Copy.
1. Take offline backup of both the server (source and target servers)

2. Verify the backup is successfully done.

3. Run the following command on source system.
o    Login as adm
o    svrmgrl
o    connect internal
o    alter database backup control file to trace;
o    exit;
o    Above command will generate a .trc file in /oracle/P01/saptrance/usertrace directory.
o    Copy the text from CREATE CONTROLFILE until the (;) and paste it in to any new .sql or controlfile.sql file.
o    Copy the controlfile.sql to target system..
o    Edit the file and replace the entire source SID to target SID.
o    Edit the reuse database command with the set database command

4. Copy the generated during the backup file from the source system to target system.   
     (/oracle//sapbackup)
o    Change all the source to target .
o    Only don’t change the backup volume name it must be target system.
o    Copy the above aft file name line from the source back.log to target.log file.

5. Shutdown the target server instance.

6. From this onwards all the command on the target system only.
o    Login as Orasid
o    run the brtools
o    select Restore/Recovery
o    select Full restore and recovery
o    select backup type
o    Select the offline backup which you want to restore.
o    It will take some time to restore.
o    Once the database is restored login as Orasid and run the
o    svrmgrl
o    connect internal;
o    startup nomount (if the database is already mounted shutdown it using the shutdown command)
o    run the following command
o    @controlfile.sql (file name of the control file contains the CREATE CONTROLFILE statement)
o    After the run the above command it should give the “Statement Processed)
o    alter database open resetlogs
o    shutdown
o    Start the database and SAP services using startup.

7. After this you have to reconfigure the STMS.

8. All the jobs also you have to reconfigure and reschedule.

9. Reconfigure all the printers.

10. If you want to change the Client number then use the local copy tool and remove the
      original client after successful import to new client.

Monday 18 March 2013

SAP Daily System Monitoring



Daily System Monitoring:
               SM51 SAP Servers:
1.       Check Availability of All Servers
2.        Check Process Lists for All Servers for Unusual Processes or Activities (e.g. Extra-long execution times, too many errored processes, too many sequential reports)
               SM66 Global Process Monitor:
1.       Check for over-all system process utilization
2.       Are Batch id's taking up too many DIA processes
3.      Is one user running too many BGD jobs for the same report
4.      Is one server being used heavily compared to others
              SM21 System Logs:
1.       Is there any repetitive errors in the system log
2.       Any unusual repetitive failed login attempts
            ST22 Short Dumps:
1.       Except 'Time-Out' errors, are there any short dumps?
           SMLG Logon Groups:
1.       Check load distribution (Menu: Go to-->Load Distribution)
2.       Are server response times acceptable? (< 2 sec)
3.      Is user distribution even among active servers
          ST03N Workload Analysis:
1.       Check is daily, weekly and monthly totals are being calculated for each server
2.       Check for Avg. Dialog Response Times. Is it below 2 sec
         SM12 Lock Overview:
1.       Check for outdated lock records
2.        Verify that these lock records are not actively being used and delete these lock records if they are obsolete
         SM13 Update Records:
1.       Check if the 'Update System' is active.
2.       If not active, investigate what happened
3.      Activate 'Update System' after fixing the problem
4.      Review update records of past two days and delete if errored or obsolete
        SM37 Background Job log:
1.       Check if they are any critical jobs that were canceled
2.       Identify/Fix the problem
3.      Contact canceled job user for details
4.      Reschedule if needed
       SP01 Spool Request overview:
1.       Check if there unusual number of errors in spool (>100)
2.       Check if there are spool request with more than 200 pages
3.      Should not be a need to delete any as the daily job should handle, unless too many spools are old.
       ST04 Database Activity Monitor:
1.       Check 'Data Buffer' and 'Shared Pool Cache' quality
2.       Investigate and make suggestions to the team to improve quality of these buffers
      DB02 Database Performance:
1.       Check 'Current Sizes' to see if any tablespace is above %90
2.       Add new data file to the tablespace if needed
3.      Check if there is space-critical objects
4.      Check if there are any missing objects in DB or R/3 Data Dictionary
      DB16 Database Check, Overview of message:
1.       Check if there are any messages
2.       Take immediate action to fix the problem
3.      Notify the team if there is any parameter changes or assistance needed for Production Systems
        DB24 Database Operations Logs:
1.       Check if all DB Operations are executed
2.       Check if any of the operations generated any errors
3.      Fix the problem. Notify team if needed
        DB12 Database confirms backup success:
1.       Check to see that the previous backup was successful
2.       If a backup is currently running check its status
3.      If the last backup failed, check the reason correct and resubmit.
        ST06 OS Monitor:
1.       Click on 'Detailed Analysis menu'
2.       Click on 'CPU' in 'Previous Hours' Group
3.      Check if at any past hours is > %80
4.      Notify Team if there is any such case