SAP Downtime Assessment Prerequisites

Note 1306163 - SAP Downtime Assessment Prerequisites

 

 

Summary

Symptom

Required preparation processes for executing SAP Downtime Assessment Service.

Other terms

SAP Downtime Assessment, Service Preparation, Prerequisites for Downtime Assessment, Upgrade, Resource Minimized, Downtime Minimized, Technical Downtime,

Reason and Prerequisites

To perform the planned SAP Downtime Assessment Service session, you must prepare your managed SAP System accordingly.

Solution

To guarantee the service capability of each SAP System that you want to analyze, the prerequisites listed below must be met.

The SAP Downtime Assessment in a Nutshell
The paragraph below provides an overview about the SAP Downtime Assessment service. This information should help you to understand the needed prerequisites.

During an upgrade process, every single step which is performed by the upgrade program is saved in the file system of the backend upgraded system. The SAP Downtime Assessment filters these log files by searching for long running operations and gives recommendations on how to reduce the technical downtime. The service is delivered in two steps:

1) The log files are analyzed and filtered by the transaction ST14 based on long running operations. This transaction can be startet on any SAP system with access to the log files. The result of this ST14 analysis is then stored in an internal container.
2) The data from the internal container is transferred to the Customer's Solution Manager where the service is delivered and then report generation is performed.

In order to complete the above procedure following prerequisites must be fulfilled so that the SAP Downtime Assessment Service can be delivered:

1. General System Independent Prerequisites

Before the SAP Downtime Assessment Service can be delivered a test upgrade must be performed and the log files must be saved. The system, which is upgraded should be a copy of the production system or at least very similar to the production system. The production system is the system which shall be upgraded.

Following log files and directories are needed for the ST14 analysis:
...\usr\sap\put\log
...\usr\sap\put\buffer
...\usr\sap\put\upana.htm or ...\usr\sap\put\upgana.xml, which can be found in the directory ...\usr\sap\put\htdoc\eval

The ST14 analysis transaction does not need direct access to the original data. The two directories \log  and \buffer and the files upana.htm or upgana.xml can be located at any place, but they must hang under a common folder:
<path>\log
<path>\buffer
<path>\upana.htm or <path>\upgana.xml

For performance reasons it is recommended to locate the log files on a file system, which can directly be accessed by the ST14 analysis transaction. The analyzed log files can have a size of several 100 MB. If the log files are read via network this could cause a lot of network traffic and additionally slow down the analysis. The time needed for the analysis of the log files is at about 5 to 10 minutes

For the Downtime Assessment service the data collection can be started from transaction ST14 2a) or directly out of the Downtime Assessment session (2b). In both cases it is important that the access on file system level to the log files is possible.

2a. Prerequisites for Analysis System (the system on which the ST14 transaction is performed)
(any customer system with access to the log files)

- The main analysis transaction (ST14) which is going to be used during the service execution is related to the Service Tools for Applications Plug-In ST-A/PI. For the system, which is used for data collection ST-A/PI 01M* (will be released end of April 2010) is needed

2b. Prerequisites for starting the ST14 data collection directly out of the sessiond)

- The customer's Solution Manager must have access to the file system where the log files are saved (backend)

- The Add-On ST-SER 701_2010_1 must be implemented

RTCCTOOL for checking the prerequisites
Please always execute the report 'RTCCTOOL'(SAP Note 69455) via transaction SE38 and implement all listed notes.

3. Prerequisites for Solution Manager System
(system which is used for the service delivery)

The following minimum component level is required:
- ST 400 SP23
- ST-SER 701_2010_1
- Support Package 0 (for ST-SER)

The following component level is strongly recommended:
- ST 400 SP23
- ST-SER 701_2010_1
- Support Package 1 (for ST-SER, which will come end of May)