This document provides frequently asked questions for the installation of SAP systems.
Table of contents:
1 Installation Frameworks
1.1 What is the difference between SAPinst and software provisioning manager?
SAPinst is the software provisioning tool for SAP systems. Whether you are going to install an SAP NetWeaver system, an SAP Business Suite system or a standalone engine, you can handle all these installations flexible and reliable with SAPinst on all supported platforms. Software provisioning manager 1.0 provides the latest SAPinst version for several product versions (with the goal that all product versions are supported by software provisioning manager).
1.2 What are the advantages of using software provisioning manager?
Profit from one download location and the same handling and behavior for several product versions. Profit from the latest fixes, features and platform support also for older product versions. Profit from less issues described in SAP Notes and less workarounds you have to perform manually, as the latest version of the software provisioning tool already has solved them.
1.3 Do I have to use software provisioning manager?
Usage of software provisioning manager 1.0 is optional, so you do not have to change your reliable procedures using the old tool versions, if you are fine with them. So, software provisioning manager is an additional offering to make your system provisioning processes easier and more reliable, while the basic behavior stays the same.
1.4 Where do I get software provisioning manager?
Software provisioning manager is available via Software Logistics Toolset - just always go to SAP Support Portal at http://support.sap.com/sltoolset and download the latest version of the software provisioning manager documentation and tool - no searching for the right download location or installation media depending on the product or version you want to install.
2. Supported Installation Types
2.1 Can I install my SAP system as dual-stack system?
SAP recommends to move away from dual-stack SAP systems where possible, SAP Business Suite 7i2011 will be the last SAP Business Suite release with dual-stack support – the same applies for SAP NetWeaver 7.31. As a consequence, you can no longer install dual-stack application systems as of SAP Business Suite 7 and of SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 1. Only exceptions: you can still install mandatory dual-stack systems (such as SAP Process Integration up to release 7.4x and SAP Solution Manager 7.1) and there is a workaround to install dual-stack SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse 7.0 Enhancement Package 1, as described in SAP Note 1181025 (SMP login required).
2.2 Can I install my SAP system on a 32-bit platform?
As of SAP NetWeaver 7.0 SR3 (SPS 14), you can install only dialog instances on 32-bit platforms. All remaining instances (central instance, database instance, central services instance (SCS), ABAP central services instance (ASCS)) can only be installed on 64-bit platforms.
2.3 Can I install my SAP system as a non-Unicode system?
You can install an SAP NetWeaver 7.0 SR1 or SR2 ABAP system as a non-Unicode system. When you install an SAP NetWeaver 7.0 SR1 or SR2 dual-stack system (ABAP+Java), the ABAP part of this system can also be installed as non-Unicode, while the Java part can only be installed as Unicode.
As of SAP NetWeaver 7.0 SR3, you cannot install an SAP NetWeaver ABAP system or the ABAP part of an SAP NetWeaver dual-stack system as non-Unicode any longer. However, non-Unicode is still supported when you perform the system copy of an SAP system upgraded to SAP NetWeaver 7.0 SR3.
3. Installation Behavior
3.1 How are ASCS instances handled with the different versions of Software Provisioning Manager?
For the ABAP SAP Central Services instance (or ASCS instance for short), we want to harmonize the behavior how Software Provisioning Manager handles those instances. As the ASCS is mandatory for SAP systems with higher releases, we recommend to also use the ASCS instance for systems based on SAP NetWeaver 7.0x and adapted the default behavior of Software Provisioning Manager 7.0x accordingly. In former times, the ASCS instance installation was only offered for distributed systems there, but nowadays, it is part of central systems. Nevertheless, you could still install an SAP system based on SAP NetWeaver 7.0x without ASCS instance - for this, you would have to perform the global host preparation (via the corresponding installation option in Software Provisioning Manager 7.0x) and use the installation options from the distributed system to install the CI and DB instances (you can use the options for distributed systems also for the installation of a central system). Nevertheless, we recommend to also install the ASCS instance for a central system based on SAP NetWeaver 7.0x, so we support this setup out of the box. Please be aware that after a future upgrade of your system withou ASCS to a higher release, you should split off the ASCS instance manually, as described in the corresponding installation guide.
3.2 Is it possible to run parallel instances of Software Provisioning Manager on the same host?
To run independent installations on one host (that is, systems with non-conflicting IDs, with separate databases, etc.), you could start several SAPinst instances for example by creating an own installation directory for every instance and start every run out of this directory by using the following commands:
sapinst –nogui (this instance would per defailt use port 21212)
sapinst –nogui GUISERVER_DIALOG_PORT=21213
sapinstgui –host <hostname> -port 21212
sapinstgui –host <hostname> -port 21213
With this, you would get two SAPinst instances (SAPinst + SAPinst GUI), one using port 21212, one using 21213. Of course, both processes would compete for the same resources (I/O, ...), but in principle, it should work.
If you rather want to run several instances of SAPinst GUI for installations running on different hosts, this would be possible as well, of course.