SAP Basis FAQ

Automatic CTS
Even though SAP does not recommend automatic imports, it is the most practical way of moving
transports from a development system to a QA environment or to a special development system
(although I wouldn't recommend auto imports to a production system for obvious reasons).

There are various methods for doing this. The most effective and simple method is using an OS
script (shell/perl etc.) scheduled using cron for user sidadm. There are a couple of steps you
need to take before setting up automatic imports.

1. Your entire project team should agree upon the overall strategy, frequency of imports etc.
2. Resolve any issues with transport approvals (many shops don't care about traffic
between DEV and QA)
3. Who is responsible for watching for errors and corrective actions (an email to the
developer works in this case)

Configuring outbound SAP to Internet mail Gateway (R/3 4.0 and

above)
Step 1 (UNIX SETUP)
Logon to your <DB_SERVER> as sidadm
Change directory to /sapmnt/SID/global (or any directory globally available across all application
servers)
Create the following entries in file SAP_EMAIL_GATEWAY.sh and save the file
#!/bin/sh
GWCONFIG=/sapmnt/SID/global/SAP_EMAIL_GATEWAY.cfg
export GWCONFIG
/sapmnt/SID/exe/mlunxsnd $*
Execute the command: mlosmadm SAP_EMAIL_GATEWAY.cfg (enter the following information)
System name : SID
Client : 200
Username : MAILADM
Password : initpass
Language : E
Loadbalancing : Y
Message Server : <central_instance_host_
Group name : LOGON GROUP1
Using SAPROUTER : N
Trace Level (inBoound) : 0
Sendmail Command : <accept default>
Codepage : <accept default
Trace Level (Outbound) : 0
Update file : Y
Step 2 (SAP SETUP)

Logon to SAPSYSTEM (SID) via SAPGUI

Transaction SU01, create user MAILADM and password initpass, usertype CPIC
Transaction SM59, Click Create
RFC Destination : SAP 4.5 INTERNET MAIL GATEWAY
Connection Type : T
Description : INTERNET EMAIL GATEWAY
Hit RETURN
Click EXPLICIT HOST
Enter /sapmnt/P21/global/ SAP_EMAIL_GATEWAY.sh
Save your entries
Transaction SCOT, click Edit--> CREATE NODES
Node : EMAIL
Description : SAP CONNECT NODE FOR EMAIL (continue)
RFC DESTINATION: (choose SAP 4.5 INTERNET MAIL GATEWAY from the pull down menu)
Choose radio button Internet
Address area : *DOMAIN (your intranet domain)
Ccontinue
Format : DOC, DAT, R3F, TXT, RAW,PPT,XLS (continue)
Continue
Set further address types : N
Minimum waiting : 5 minutes
Check both Node is in use', Node can resolve path references
Continue
Choose Goto--> Schedule Background Job
Enter name for the job & save

Configuring outbound SAP to Internet mail Gateway (Upto R/3

3.1I)
SAP can be configured to send and receive emails from different sources. This section explains
how to integrate SAPOffice with an external email system. This is in no way supplementing the
online documentation available on the online documentation CD supplied by SAP but simplyfies
the process to the bare Internet email must be configured and running prior to this. Email from
SAP is forwarded to the users external email client such as Eudora, Outlook etc.

You can configure inbound and outbound forwarding. Outbound flow forwards a SAP message
(eg:update termination) via UNIX sendmail to the intended recepient. Inbound accepts a message
from sendmail and places it in the users SAPOffice inbox. Many SAP shops prefer to configure
outbound only.

Configuring outbound forwarding

SAP configuration

1. Create your RFC destination for outbound email using transaction SM59

RFC Destination : SAP_INTERNET_GATEWAY

Connection Type :T
Description : SAP internet mail gateway
Click on 'Explicit Host' if you want on demand gateway dameon invocation.
Program : /sapmnt/SID/exe/mlunxsnd
Target Host : Enter hostname that runs your central instance.
Click 'Test Connection' and you should see a successfull message.

• Choose menu Tools-->Administration-->Management-->Process Technology-->Office--

>Office Settings
 • Click Internet Gateway

Gateway Destination : SAP_INTERNET_GATEWAY

Path for configuration file : /sapmnt/SID/exe/sap_mailSID.cfg
Return Address : <your company domain>.com

5. Click Internet Settings and fill in the following fields

6. Save the settings
7. Click Back
8. Choose menu Office-->Addresses-->Communication Types
9. Type in INT over the Comm. type and Internet Mail over description.
10. . Check Maintain and Send checkboxes and Save your entries.

UNIX configuration

11. . cd /sapmnt/SID/exe
12.

.mlosadm sap_mailSID.cfg
Client 000
Username : MAILADM
Password : MAILADM
Language : E
System name : SID
System number : <instance_number>
Hostname : <hostname>
Gateway hostname: <central_instance_hostname>
Gateway server sapgw<instance number>
Sendmail Command : <path_to_sendmail_command>
Update file : Y
Testing

1. Logon to SAP
2. Execute transaction SO01
3. Write a message and send it to <your_internet_email_address>

If you don't see the mail in your internet mailbox, go back and review steps 1-12

FTP from ABAP

There are 2 ways of executing FTP from an ABAP (online or batch mode),
Initiated from the operating system. A script is available in the utility repository that explains how
to do this very easily.
Initiated from the ABAP itself An example is given below.

1. Create a logical OS command 'zftp' using transaction SM69. Make sure that you enable
'comand line parameter allowed' checkbox
2. Create a shell script called 'zftp' with the following lines

RMTHOST=`echo $2 | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`

ftp -v $RMTHOST << EOF > /out/zftp.$$ 2>&1
lcd /out
put $1
bye
EOF

3. Use the SXPG_COMMAND_EXECUTE function module to call this script (zftp)

with the filename you want to transfer as the parameter. Eg:

call function 'SXPG_COMMAND_EXECUTE'

exporting
commandname =
tables
exec_protocol =
exceptions
no_permission = 1
command_not_found = 2
parameters_too_long = 3
...

Enable web based online documentaion (R/3 4.0 or above)

1. Install Netscape webserver or use an existing web server (requires administrators
privelege)
2. Create a directory called SAPDOCS4 under your web server document root.
3. Mount the CDROM containing online documentation on your PC or your UNIX server.
4. Recursively copy all files under /cdrom/docs/ to the SAPDOC4 directory under the web
server root.
5. Create the following entries in your /usr/sap/SID/SYS/profile/DEFAULT.PFL

eu/iwb/installed_languages = EN
eu/iwb/help_type=2
eu/iwb/server_win32=webserver.domain.com
eu/iwb/path_win32=saphelp/helpdata

• Restart your SAP system

How to access an external database from ABAP via DBLINK

(ORACLE)
 1. Using transaction SE11, create a table (ZTABLE) with the same fields as the
table in the external database, make sure that the type and lengths of the
fields are identical.
2. Using transaction SE11, create a view (ZTABLE_VIEW, projection view) using
BASIS table ZTABLE
3. Using SVRMGRL>

create dblink REMOTE_DB as connect to remote_user identified by password;

(database link created)
drop table ZTABLE; (table dropped)
create synonym ZTABLE for ZTABLE@REMOTE_DB; (synonym created)

• Using transaction SE16 , type in ZTABLE_VIEW and hit RETURN

• Enter value in key fields and hit execute. (displays rows from the remote
table)

Tips and Tricks

1. To see the complete text of an error/warning message on the SAPGUI status bar, right
click on the message and drag left.
2. To prevent your spool requests getting deleted from the BASIS cleanup jobs, you need
to uncheck the Delete after print checkbox in the print control screen, execute transaction
SP01, find your spool#, click on Attributes and change the Delete After date
3. Short cuts using the OK-code box.

Search in
%sc
page
Download do local
%pc
file
p+ Page up
p- Page down
Top of
p++
page
End of
p--
page
• Use transaction AL11 to browse the application servers directory structure.

Interview Questions for SAP Basis

What is private mode? When does user switch to user mode?

Private mode is a mode where the heap data is getting exclusively allocated by the user
and is no more shared across the system. This happens when your extended memory is
exhausted.

What is osp$ mean? What if user is given with this authorisation?

OPS$ is the mechanism the <SID>adm users uses to connect to the database .

Why do you use DDIC user not SAP* for Support Packs and SPam?

Do _NOT_ use neither DDIC nor SAP* for applying support packages. Copy DDIC to a
separate user and use that user to apply them.

Can you kill a Job?

Yes - SM37 - select - kill

If you have a long running Job, how do you analyse?

Use transaction SE30.

How to uncar car/sar files in a single shot?

on Unix:
$ for i in *.SAR; do SAPCAR -xvf $i; done

When we should use Transactional RFC ?

A "transactional RFC" means, that either both parties agree that the data was correctly
transfered - or not. There is no "half data transfer".

What is the use of Trusted system. I know that there is no need of UID and PWD to
communicate with partner system. In what situation it is good to go for Trusted
system ?

E. g. if you have an R/3 system and a BW system and don't want to maintain passwords.
Same goes for CRM and a lot of other systems/applications.

Let me know if my understanding below is correct:

1) By default the RFC destination is synchronous
2) Asynchronous RFC is used incase if the system initiated the RFC call no need to
wait for the response before it proceeds to something else.

Yes - that's right.

But keep in mind, that it's not only a technical issue whether to switch to asynchronous.
The application must also be able to handle that correctly.

Which table contains the details related to Q defined in SPAM? Is there a way to
revert back the Q defined? If yes, How?
There is a "delete" button when you define the queue. If you already started the import
it's no more possible since the system will become inconsistent.

What is a developer key? and how to generate a developer key?

The developer key is a combination of you installation number, your license key (that
you get from http://service.sap.com/licensekey) and the user name. You need this for
each person that will make changes (Dictionary or programs) in the system.

What is XI3.0 ? EXPLAIN XI = Exchange Infrastructure - Part of Netweaver 2004.

SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI) is SAP's enterprise application integration (EAI)
software, a component of the NetWeaver product group used to facilitate the exchange of
information among a company's internal software and systems and those of external
parties. Like other NetWeaver components, SAP XI is compatible with software products
of other
companies.

SAP calls XI an integration broker because it mediates between entities with varying
requirements in terms of connectivity, format, and protocols. According to SAP, XI
reduces integration costs by providing a common repository for interfaces. The central
component of SAP XI is the SAP Integration Server, which facilitates interaction
between diverse operating systems and applications across internal and external
networked computer systems.

How to see when were the optimizer stats last time run? We are using win2k, oracle
9, sapr346c.

Assumed DB=Oracle

Select any table lets take MARA here but you should do the same for MSEG and few
others to see whether the dates match or not.Run the following command on the
command prompt:-

select last_analyzed from dba_tables where table_name like '%MARA%';

This gives you a straight answer .Else you can always fish around in DB14 for seeing
when the optimzer stats were updated.

SAP Administration Questions Answers

What is the use of profile paramater ztta/roll_area?

The value specifies the size of the roll area in bytes. The roll area is one of several
memory areas, which satisfies the user requests of user programs. For technical reasons,
however, the first 250 KB or so of a user context are always stored in the roll area, further
data
- up to the roll area limit ztta/roll_first,
- in the extended memory, up to the limit ztta/roll_extension or if extended memory is
exhausted, then
- again in the roll area, until the roll area is full, then
- in the local process area, up to the limit abap/heap_area_dia or abap/heap_area_total or
until the address space or the
swap space is exhausted.

Followed by termination with errors like STORAGE_PARAMETERS_WRONG_SET an

error code, that points to memory bottleneck Minimum data transfer with context change;
however, the increase helps to avoid problems (address space, swap space, operating
system paging). *-- Anupam Sharma

What is R/3? and what is basis version?

SAP Basis:
- Provides the runtime environment for all SAP applications
- Optimally embeds the application in the system environment
- Defines a stable architecture framework for system enhancements
- Contains the tools for administering the entire system
- Allows the distribution of resources and system components
- Provides interfaces for decentralized system parts and external products.

An R/3 instance is a group of R/3 services that are started and stopped as a unit (by an
R/3 dispatcher) and have a common instance profile. The name of an R/3 instance is
composed of letters standing for the relevant services, and an instance number which is
unique for each computer. The services may be D, V, E, B, M, G, or S, which
respectively stand for dialogue, update, enqueue, background, message, gateway, and
spool services.

Tips by : Suresh Babu

I would like to know the version or name of SAP that is implemented in real time?

This is a very generic question and really depends on what you are implementing
(modules).

The history of the "R/3" is

3.0D Basis 300

3.0E Basis 300
3.0F Basis 300
3.1H Basis 310
3.1I Basis 310
4.0B Basis 400
4.5B Basis 450
4.6C Basis 460
4.71 Basis 6.20
4.72 Basis 6.20
5.00 Basis 6.40 (ECC 5.0 - Enterprise Core components)
6.00 Basis 7.00 (ECC 6.0) - actually in RampUp

All of those have increased business functionality and interfaces to other systems (CRM,
BW etc.)

What is mysap?

It's a term for all the systems that in a contract (e. g. a MySAP business suite consist of
ERP2005, CRM2005, SRM2005).

What is the systems configuration required to implement SAP.. i.e for

production,development and QAS servers the hard disk space, RAM, Processor

This also depends on what your are implementing, how many users will work on the
system, how many records in what area are created etc.

We need a BIG database system and an even bigger application server for ~ 900 users
and 12 languages.

What is ASAP?

It's an old term for an implementation strategy. Blueprint -> prototype -> goLive (if you
want to say it in one sentence).

How should I set priority for Printing say like user, teamlead, project manager?

There's nothing like "priority" settings for spool processes. Just define more (profile
parameter rdisp/wp_no_spool) processes so people don't need to wait.

Using Tc SGEN I have generated 74% job and later I have terminated the job. I
wish to start generating from where it stopped I have refreshed but to no chance
nothing was done. How should I further proceed so as to complete the remaining
job..

Start SGEN again and select the same you have selected before. It will popup and ask if
you want to start from scratch or generate the just the remaining.