Getting Started with the Windows client version

This guide will assist you in getting started with the BI Platform Support Tool Windows UI version.

Install the BI Platform Support Tool client 

After you download the client from the Software Download Center, you will first deploy the client. 

1. Copy the downloaded media to a temporary directory on the host where you would like to install the BIPST client.  
   
   
2. Double-click the file BISupportToolSetup.exe to launch the extractor
   
   
   
3. Enter the desired installation path.  In this example, we will install the client to the path C:\SAP\BIPST
   
   
   
4. The BIPST client will automatically launch, close the BIPST client and continue to the next step. 
   

Configure the BI Platform Support Tool

In this section, you will configure the BI Platform Support Tool and define your system landscapes.  Generally, a single landscape consists of one CMS cluster (containing one or more SIA nodes) and one or more Apache Tomcat servers.

Define your BI Landscape

1. Open the BI Platform Support Tool client by browsing to the install directory and run BISupportTool.bat,
   
   
   
   
2. On the left naviation menu, click Landscape Configuration
   
   
   
   
3. Click the button +Add and choose without Corba SSL if your landscape does not have Corba SSL or with Corba SSL if your landscape is configured for Corba SSL
   
   
   
   
4. You are prompted that the BIPST client will be persisting data on the client.  Click Continue to continue to the next step
   
   
   
   
5. If you are using Corba SSL, enter the client SSL values into the following dialog and click OK.  If you are not using Corba SSL, skip to the next step
   
   
   
6. Logon to the Central Management Server system for the landscape that you are currently configuring.  If you are using Corba SSL, check the box Enable SSL
   
   
   
   
7. The landscape is created and BI nodes have been added automatically
   
   
   

8. Next, click Create and select Web Application Server and enter in the hostname of the WAS host and the HTTP port then click OK
   
   

   Tip

   The HTTP port is the port that Tomcat is using to host web applications such as the Central Management Console.
   
   For example, the HTTP port for this host is 8080 as shown in the following CMC URL:
   http://BI42LCM1-2:8080/BOE/CMC

   

9. Notice that in the server list, a new WAS_PORT node is created.  Even if this Tomcat is on the same physical host as your BI installation, it is considered a separate node in the BIPST 2.1 landscape and has its own set of configuration settings.
   
   
   
10. Repeat step 8 for each WAS instance in this BI landscape

Run the Landscape Analysis Report

Once you have completed the Landscape Configuration, you can now run the Landscape Analysis Report.  Alternatively, you can continue to add new additional landscape configurations for other CMS clusters such as development, preprod, production, etc.

Optional: Configure Windows scaling on High DPI displays

1. Navigate to <installdir>\BISupport\bin
2. Right click "BISupportTool.exe" and go to Properties
3. Click the "Compatibility" tab
4. Click "Change high DPI settings"
5. Check the "Override high DPI scaling behaviour." button
6. Select "System" or "System (Enhanced)" in the dropdown menu
   1. Note: System (Enhanced) provides for better text clarity, but results in tiling of some background images
      

Optional Configurations

This section helps you prepare the BI Platform landscape where the BI servers are running on Windows or Unix.  The two optional configurations which should be added to get the most functionality are:

Install and Configure the SAP Host Agent

This section will provide information about the SAP Host Agent requirement.

Information about the SAP Host Agent

In the BI Platform Support Tool 2.1, much of the functionality now requires the SAP Host Agent to collect the analysis data.  For instance, the Host Agent is required for the Hardware_Summary report and the Patch_History_Analysis report.  The Host Agent is also used to compress and gather the log files from each node during an E2E trace. The SAP Host Agent is a service that has a very lightweight performance footprint and provides a secure communication channel between the BI Platform Support Tool client and your BI and Web Application Server nodes.

• If you have never installed the SAP Host Agent in your environment, you will need to complete this step to get the most functionality from the Landscape Analysis Report and E2E Trace Wizard

• Only one SAP Host Agent per host is needed (for example, even if both BI and Tomcat are on the same host, only one SAP Host Agent is needed on that host)
• The SAP Host Agent is not required on the client where you are running the BI Platform Support Tool

• If you have already installed the SAP Host Agent or Diagnostic Agent (includes the SAP Host Agent) on your BI host or Tomcat host, you should confirm that it is version 7.21 Patch 45 or higher.  If it's older than 7.21, patch 45 you should update it to the latest SP version of 7.21.  The upgrade is a safe and quick process, refer to: Manual Upgrade of SAP Host Agent.  To confirm the exact version of the SAP Host Agent, run the following command:
  
  Windows
  

  C:\Program Files\SAP\hostctrl\exe\saphostexec -version

  
  Unix

  /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/saphostexec -version

  
  
  Check for kernel 721_REL
  
  

How to install the SAP Host Agent

For a tutorial on installing the SAP Host Agent, refer to the below links:

Deploy the Host Agent Operations Files

To get the most complete Landscape Analysis Report, you need to deploy the BIPST operations files to each BI or WAS host running the SAP Host Agent.  Refer to the platform specific instructions below:

SAP Host Agent running on Windows

1. Browse to C:\Program Files\SAP\hostctrl\exe.  Check if a folder named operations.d folder exists.  If it does not exist, create a new folder here named operations.d
   
   
   

2. Browse to the location where you extracted / installed the BI Platform Support Tool (referred to in this example as <BIPST_HOME>)
   
   

3. Copy the operations files from <BIPST_HOME>\BISupport\bin\operations\Windows\operations.d to C:\Program Files\SAP\hostctrl\exe\operations.d
   
     

SAP Host Agent running on Linux / Unix

1. Browse to /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe.  Check if a folder named operations.d folder exists.  If it does not exist, make a new directory here named operations.d

   mkdir /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/operations.d

   

2. On your client, browse to the location where you extracted / installed the BI Platform Support Tool and locate the Unix operations.d folder:  <BIPST_HOME>\BISupport\bin\operations\Unix\operations.d
   
   
   

3. Copy the Unix operations files (*.conf) from your BIPST client to the Host Agent operations.d folder on the server in the location:  /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/operations.d
   
   

4. Sudo or switch user to root.  Set the file ownership for the operations files to root and set the required permissions (only root should have permissions to write to the operations files)

   su root
   chown -R root:sapsys /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/operations.d
   chmod -R og-w /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/operations.d

   Note for AIX: Within *.conf files, you may switch from 'bash' to 'ksh' if bash is not installed. If running BIPST 2.1.11 and earlier version, please go into /usr/sap/hostctrl/exe/operations.d/custom_operations/BIPST, modify BIPST_enableLog.sh and BIPST_revertConfFile.sh, change 'cp -parf' to 'cp -prf' (removing option a).

Configure JMX on Apache Tomcat

The Web Application Server Analysis feature requires you to configure a JMX listener on each Tomcat instance.  For development systems, you can configure the JMX listener without password protection, however for production systems, it is recommended to set a user and password for the JMX listener.  The BI Platform Support Tool supports both of these scenarios.

For instructions, refer to the following links:

• How to configure JMX for Apache Tomcat  (Tutorial for Windows)
  
• How to configure JMX for Apache Tomcat  (Tutorial for Linux and Unix)
  
  

Configure and Validate each BI node

 Next, we will configure each BI node in the list.

1. Click on the first BI node in the Servers List then click on the HostAgent Settings button.  Enter in the password that you set for the SAP Host Agent sapadm user account and click Validate.  
   
   
   
   
2. If successful, the Validate button will change to Validated.
   
   
   
   
3. Repeat step 1 for each BI node in the Servers List

Configure and Validate each WAS node

 Next, we will configure each WAS node in the list.

1. Click on the first WAS node in the Servers List then click on the HostAgent Settings button.  Enter in the password that you set for the SAP Host Agent sapadm user account and click Validate.  
   
   
   
   
2. If successful, the Validate button will change to Validated.
   
   
   
   
3. Next, click on the JMX Settings button
   
   
   
   
4. If you are not using firewall support, enter the JMX port under JMX Port
   
   
5. If your Tomcat requires a JMX user name and password, check Requires authentication and enter the username and password 
   
   
6. If you are using the JMX Remote Lifecycle Listener (aka Firewall Support), check Enable Firewall Support and enter the RMI Registry Port and RMI Server Port
   
   
7. Click Validate.  If successful, the Validate button will change to Validated.
   
   
   
   
8. Repeat steps 1-7 for each WAS node in the Servers List