New in NW 7.0 EHP1 usage Type ABAP : Information Lifecycle Management

As of SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Pack 1 you can use the ILM solution from SAP for end-to-end management of your information. Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) in general, is comprised of the policies, processes, practices, and tools used to align the business value of information with the most appropriate and cost effective IT infrastructure from the time information is conceived through its final disposition.

This includes Data Archiving, Retention Management and the Retention Warehouse.
Have a look here.

New in NW 7.0 EHP1 usage Type EP : WorkProtect Mode

New in NW 7.0 EHP1 usage Type EP (Portal) is the WorkProtect Mode. To avoid losing unsaved data when navigating to another iView, the portal provides a WorkProtect mode that, when activated, provides the user an opportunity to save any changes before navigating.

Screenshots of BI Diagnostics & Support Desk Tool

I have mentioned the BI Diagnostics & Support Desk Tool in one of my previous posts.
Here is 2 screenshots of what it looks like, very handy indeed in solving BI Java issues.

Unicode Conversion: Troubleshooting

There is a good SAP note with checklists and a troubleshooting guide attached on when problems or errors occur during conversion from non-Unicode SAP System
to Unicode. This SAP Note applies for Single Code Page and MDMP system
conversion. Have a look at Note 765475.

SQL Server 2008 : What's New?

Have a look at this Teched document on the new features on SQL Server 2008 from a DBA's perspective.

SQL Server 2005 SP3 almost ready

Microsoft is putting the final touches to SQL 2005 SP3. It only contains fixes and no new functionality.Hopefull SAP wont take too long to certify it for Productive use.

Troubleshoot Single Sign-On with SAP Logon Tickets

Have a look at SAP Note 701205 if you have trouble with Single Sign-on that is not working.
The collective note 1257108 is also helpfull.

SQL2005 - Installation prerequisites/checklist in Cluster

SAP also released another handy new note that details everything you need to install SQL 2005 in a Windows Cluster. See note 1257296

Troubleshooting Tips & Tricks for workflow issues

SAP has created a very usefull new note on troubleshooting workflow issues. See note 1098805

NW AS Java 7.00 SP17 - Fixed SSL handshake delay

With Netweaver AS JAva 7.00 SP17 SAP has fixed the 200ms dealy when handshaking SSL connections. This should improve SSL logon performance.See note 1227052 on the list of corrections contained in SP17

Netweaver Administrator - Quick Links

Now that SAP has bundled all the WebAS Java 7.1 admin tasks into one with the Netweaver Administrator, you can access the individual functions without going throught all the menus using quick links.
Have a look at this SAP help page for more info and for the quick links.

New cache mode for BI 7.0 without directory

As of BI 7.0 Support pack 16 SAP has introduced a new query cache mode. Have a look at note 1026944

JSPM : Deploying patches with JSPM stack in a single step

SAP has implemented a new option in the JSPM where you can select the SP Stack you want to implement plus additional patches on top of that in a single update...have a look at SAP Note 1080821.

SQL Server 2008 - upgrade/installation guide

Although Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is not yet released fro productive use in SAP systems (and 64-bit only!!),
SAP will support it in test systems. Have a look at note 1152240 which contains a upgrade/installation guide
for SQL Server 2008.
Have fun!

SAP Solution Manager 4.0 becomes SAP Solution Manager 7.0

SAP Solution Manager 4.0 will be known as SAP Solution Manager 7.0 as of 1st of May 2008.
More at http://service.sap.com/solutionmanager

Netweaver 7.1 Screenshots

Below is some screenhots I took from a NW 7.1 Installation I am busy with,

The SAP MMC Console, notice all the new functions in left pane.

The new J2EE Homepage :
The new Netweaver Administrator (replaced Visual Administrator)
The web based MMC Console (http://localhost:5xx13 ) where XX = instance no

SAGUI 6.40 support end in October 2008.

SAP will not support SAPGUI 6.40 after 14 October 2008. This is partly because the 6.40 GUI was developed with Visual Studio 2003 which will be de-supported by Microsoft on 14th of October 2008. See Note 147519 on this topic.

SAP Support for Windows Server 2008

Microsoft released Windows Server 2008 in February this year. SAP will support it as of Netweaver 7.0 SR3 on 64bit once when approved by SAP. As long as the SAP software is not fully validated on Windows Server 2008, productive usage is not yet supported.Follow Note 1054740 for updates on this.

Dynamic Kernel Parameters for the Security Audit Log

With Netweaver AS ABAP 7.1 you can now enable the kernel parameters for the Security Audit Log dynamically in RZ11 without restarting the server. Check here for more details.

IPv6 Support in SAP NetWeaver 7.10

IPv6 is now supported with SAP Netweaver 7.10 .
Have a look at this SAP doc on this subject.

IDoc Support in the Java Application Server 7.1

Another new addition in NW 7.1 is that the Java Application Server is equipped with the IDOC library/XML processor which enables it to process IDOC's.
Read more about it here.

New in Netweaver 7.1 : SAP Management Console

With NW 7.1 SAP released a new web based tool (java applet) which you can use to perform simple central monitoring and administration tasks including the following :
Monitor and control (start, stop, or restart) the SAP system and its instances with a single tool.

● Display SAP log and trace files, start profiles, instance parameters, the system environment, SAP environment, Internet Communication Manager (ICM) queue statistics, and so on.

● Display and control Java processes.

● Display the ABAP work process overview and control ABAP processes.

● Monitor system alerts.

● Display the current status tree.

● Display the list of all access points to an SAP system.

● Display information about the AS Java threads, sessions, caches, aliases, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) sessions, remote objects.

● Display Java Virtual Machine garbage collection and heap memory information of the application server.

● Save the current console configuration in a file to reuse it later or to forward it to other users.

● Start third-party tools (such as Telnet), if available, to manage an application server.

Read more about it here.

Patching components without restarting Java AS

Since JSPM 7.10 SP2 you can deploy SCA's without having to restart the Java server.
Have a peak at SAP Note 1125926.

New in Netweaver 7.1 ABAP Stack - Dynamic Work Processes

Spotted this today, SAP has added a new type of work processes called the Dynamic Work Process.
It basically allows the dispatcher to start/stop additional work processes according to the system's demand. Read more about it here.

Replacement of Visual Administrator by SAP NetWeaver Administrator

Another change that I found in Netweaver 7.1 is that the J2EE Visual Administrator is replaced by the Netweaver Administrator.All relevant functions of the VA are available in the SAP NetWeaver Administrator under the heading Administration Assistent. The VA is no longer delivered as of SAP NetWeaver 7.1.
See information here.

Java Dispatcher replaced by ICM in NW 7.1

As of Netweaver 7.1 the J2EE dispatcher is replaced by the ICM (Internet Connection Manager) See this SAP Help Document.

Screenshots from using the Web Diagtool

In my previous post I mentioned the new Web Diagtool from SAP that is provided in Note 1045019 to troubleshoot SAP authentication (and other) issues. Today I had first hand experience in using it....very easy and helpful I must say!
You can deploy the EAR file attached to the note, start the app and then login to URL provided in the note.
The start page looks like this :
After selecting the module you want to trace press START. When finished tracing press STOP and a new window will popup with a summary of the traces done, see below :


From the above summary screen you can either download the traces to a zip file or view all traces, see below screen shot :

Diagnostics tool for troubleshooting J2EE authentication

SAP has released a diagnostic tool some time ago to collect traces and troubleshoot authentication on the J2EE. I have used it and it works quite well, especially if you have problems configuring SSO on the J2EE and need to send traces to SAP. See Note 957666.
But recently SAP released a Web based Diagtool, which is a app which runs on the J2EE and collects traces. See Note 1045019 which contains the EAR file you need to deploy.

Secure Cookies?

Looking at SAP Note 1020365 which list the fixes contained in WebAS Java SP14 I noticed the following interesting new option :
" New property "SystemCookiesHTTPSProtection" is added in HTTP Provider service - support for "Secure" cookie attribute for system cookies (JSESSIONID and saplb). By default, this property is switched off. If it is switched on, then during creation of jsessionid and sap_lb cookies, new "Secure" attribute will be added."

Would be interesting to test it.....