9    Installing and Configuring SAP S/4HANA On‐Premise or in the Private Cloud

When migrating to SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, you can either install a new SAP S/4HANA system or transform an existing SAP system. This chapter describes the necessary steps for installing the backend and frontend servers and for configuring the system.

In Part II, we introduced the SAP S/4HANA SaaS (software as a service) public cloud solution. So why does this chapter also refer to a cloud solution? This chapter discusses SAP S/4HANA in the private cloud, meaning we’ll discuss implementing an SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, system operated by a hosting provider (i.e., an IaaS system—infrastructure as a service), like Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure.

Let’s make sure we understand the difference. In Part II, we described SAP S/4HANA Cloud, a standard cloud system with quarterly updates and restricted enhancement options that only allows you to access the backend system via the Cloud Service Center. In contrast, you can define the customizing and update cycles yourself with your own on-premise system. With SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, the system can be implemented either in your data center or at a hosting partner. You can also have SAP implement a private cloud for you in SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud (HEC).

With SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, you can better control the implementation of the system. Moreover, you can freely choose your target release, a crucial capability. Choosing the target release means you can migrate to SAP S/4HANA 1511, SAP S/4HANA 1605 (SAP S/4HANA Finance), or SAP S/4HANA 1610. The latter was the latest release at the time of this writing.

Before starting the migration to SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, you might have to set up the SAP S/4HANA system first. We introduced three basic SAP S/4HANA migration cases in Chapter 4, Section 4.2:

Except for the system conversion scenario, migrating to SAP S/4HANA is always a new installation from the technical perspective. In addition, regardless of the migration scenario, the SAP S/4HANA system requires a frontend server to enable using SAP Fiori as the user interface. In this chapter, we’ll discuss the installation of the different components.

[»]  Frontend Server for System Conversion

A separate SAP Fiori frontend server must be installed or SAP Fiori Cloud is required for the system conversion scenario if you want to use SAP Fiori applications.

In case you’re not using the SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance, which we introduced in Chapter 6, you’ll have to perform sizing to determine the hardware requirements as we’ll introduce later.

After determining your requirements, use the Software Provisioning Manager (SWPM) to set up an SAP S/4HANA system with the available SAP installation media (see Section 9.1). The new system is provided with the default Customizing delivered by SAP. You then have to adapt the configuration of the new system in such a way that it meets the requirements of the business processes you want to implement (see Section 9.2).

In addition to this SAP S/4HANA instance, a frontend server also has to be installed. This frontend server (FES) is the central hub for the SAP Fiori user interface (see Section 9.3).

As an alternative to a new custom installation (which is mandatory for production systems), you can also use the SAP S/4HANA reference system as the SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance, which was introduced in Chapter 6. The SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance can be used as the starting point for the installation.

9.1    Installation

If you don’t want to use the SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance, you’ll need to first perform the sizing for your specific case. The sizing process determines the hardware requirements of the SAP S/4HANA system and SAP HANA database as well as the disk size, the required memory, and the anticipated network throughput.

[»]  Additional Information on Sizing

Depending on the target system release and scenario, the following links provide more information on the SAP S/4HANA sizing process:

This section describes how to set up an SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, system in your landscape. The steps remain the same for private cloud or hosting environments. For the sake of simplicity, this section explains how to install a sandbox system that contains an ABAP backend server and the SAP Fiori frontend server in the same system (co-deployment, see also Section 9.3).

First, you need to download the installation files using the SAP Download Manager and the Download Basket. A new cloud-based tool, which will be introduced later on, helps you find the appropriate files for your installation.

[»]  SAP Download Manager Download Basket

Empty the SAP Download Manager Download Basket by deleting obsolete download requests before selecting the individual components for SAP S/4HANA. As a result, you’ll be able to track more effectively the files you still need to install.

To easily download the necessary files, log on to the Maintenance Planner—a new tool that replaces the Maintenance Optimizer (see Figure 9.1). The Maintenance Planner lets you plan new system installations, perform updates, and implement new or additional SAP products (for example, the frontend server for SAP Fiori).

Maintenance Planner for Migrating to SAP S/4HANA

Figure 9.1    Maintenance Planner for Migrating to SAP S/4HANA

[»]  Additional Information on the Maintenance Planner

The following link provides more information on the Maintenance Planner: http://help.sap.com/maintenanceplanner.

To start the Maintenance Planner, enter the following link into your web browser:

https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/mp

An SAP Fiori-based website opens, which you can access with your S-user credentials. For SAP partners, the partner user must be linked to the customer user to be able to view the customer’s systems. The Maintenance Planner helps you find and download the required installation files and provides the necessary documentation.

Not only can you use the Maintenance Planner to install new systems, but you can also use the Maintenance Planner for system conversions (see Figure 9.2). The tool helps you search for add-ons, business functions, and industry solutions on the existing system and also lets you determine whether your system can be converted at all (see Chapter 10).

Maintenance Planner for Installing New SAP S/4HANA Systems or Converting Existing Systems

Figure 9.2    Maintenance Planner for Installing New SAP S/4HANA Systems or Converting Existing Systems

Go to the link shown in Figure 9.2 to download the SAP S/4HANA Installation Guide (menu item New installation details), which will guide you through the individual installation steps. After you have completed the process, you can use the Push to Download Basket function (see Figure 9.3) to move the installation files to the Download Manager and directly download the files with this tool.

Downloading the Files via the Maintenance Planner

Figure 9.3    Downloading the Files via the Maintenance Planner

The PDF that you can download using Download PDF (see Figure 9.3) also contains a link to the SAP Software Download Center in the SAP Support Portal. In addition, you’ll need the latest Support Package Manager (SPAM) version and—if it has not been installed yet—an SAP HANA database. The latest Software Update Manager (SUM) version should also be installed. Although mostly used for system conversion, you also use the SUM for initial patches during the new installation.

For the installation, you’ll need the operating system version specified in the Maintenance Planner (in our example, SUSE Linux) and the SAP HANA database version. (The specifications in the Maintenance Planner also contain information on the database version.) If SAP HANA is already implemented, you’ll need to patch the database to the version that you need for your SAP S/4HANA version, and you’ll have to create a new database container.

The Software Provisioning Manager (SWPM) then performs the actual SAP S/4HANA installation using the files you downloaded with the Maintenance Planner. This process follows the steps described in the installation guide (see Figure 9.4) and may take several hours.

The Software Provisioning Manager (SWPM)

Figure 9.4    The Software Provisioning Manager (SWPM)

After successfully installing a “naked” SAP S/4HANA system, you can use SUM to install the support packages you may need. (Please ensure that you’re using the latest version of the Software Update Manager.)

Before starting SUM, you can archive and backup your data. The SUM process can also take several hours. You can install add-ons with the SAP Add-on Installation Tool (Transaction SAINT) together with the Support Package Manager (Transaction SPAM).

Finally, you should perform some cleanup and use Transaction SPAU to make adjustments. Then, install the SAP Notes for your SAP S/4HANA version from SAP S/4HANA Release Notes using Transaction SNOTE and install the transports. Now, your SAP S/4HANA installation is complete.

[»]  Additional Information on the Installation

You can find more information in the SAP S/4HANA Community (https://www.sap.com/community/topic/s4hana.html) and SAP S/4HANA Cookbook (https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/ATopics/SAP+S4HANA+Cookbook+-+What+is+SAP+S4HANA).