How To Do A Manual Kernel Upgrade of An SAP Server

How to do a Manual Kernel Upgrade of an SAP Server
Applies to:
SAP WEB Application server (release 2004 and previous releases). For more information, visit the Java homepage.
Summary
This article shows how to do a manual upgrade of an SAP kernel. With SAP releases prior to O4s, the kernel needs to be upgraded manually as the JSPM process is not available. This guide can be used for standalone ABAP servers, standalone JAVA servers and ADD-In servers as well. Author: Hemanth Kumar
Company: SAP Created on: 29 September 2009
Author Bio
Hemanth is a senior software engineer, working in SAP for the last 3 years.
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK 2009 SAP AG
SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com 1
Table of Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Procedure: ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Step 1) Checks to be done before kernel upgrade ......................................................................................... 3 Step 2) Download the latest kernel patch from SMP ...................................................................................... 4 Step 3) Uncar the .SAR files ........................................................................................................................... 5 Step 4) Stop the J2EE Engine and the SAP OS Collector ............................................................................. 5 Step 5) Take Backup of the present Kernel directory ..................................................................................... 5 Step 6) Copy the new kernel files to the RUN folder location ......................................................................... 5 Step 7) Check the permissions of the files in the kernel directory .................................................................. 6 Step 8) Start the J2EE Engine and the SAP OS Collector ............................................................................. 6 Step 9) Check the latest Kernel level .............................................................................................................. 6 Related Content .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Copyright............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Introduction
The SAP R/3 or J2EE engine kernel consists of executables that are directly used by the SAP processes, by the database administration utilities, or by the installation programs etc. Some of these programs can be very useful even when the SAP system is down. However most of these executables can have severe repercussions on the server; so they must be executed carefully and by Administrators alone. The steps are the same for J2EE or R/3 servers. In this case the steps for an ADD-IN server has been explained (however you can adapt this to your need if the server is a standalone java /abap one) In a standard standalone SAP server the kernel or runtime directory is /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/exe/run Procedure: The steps to do kernel upgrade are listed below. Please note that if the server has additional instances , shut them down before this activity. The SAPCPE process will make sure that once the kernel upgrade is done, the kernel files are in synch in all the locations. Step 1) Checks to be done before kernel upgrade a) Find the current version of the J2EE kernel In a standalone engine, execute the command disp+work -v to get the present kernel version
The Present kernel level is 75 in this case. Incase the installation is an ADD-IN engine, use the R/3 SYSTEM->STATUS to get the present kernel level
Alternatively, you can get lot more details from SM51->Release Notes
b) Note the Compilation mode from disp+work -v (here UNICODE) c) The Operating system BIT length. This can be found using "winmsd" (in windows) and "isainfo -v" or "uname -a" on unix servers. Also "tp v" will give the OS bit length.
Note: In an Add In J2EE engine, these values can be found by executing the report RSPARAM ( or RSPFPAR) in SE38
Step 2) Download the latest kernel patch from SMP Navigate to the below path (or search) to find the files for the OS bit length and compilation mode. Please note that if kernel version is wrong, then the engine will not start. So do make sure that the correct files are downloaded from SMP: http://service.sap.com/swdc --->Support Packages and Patches --->SAP NetWeaver ---> SAP NETWEAVER---> SAP NETWEAVER 7.0 (2004S) ---> Entry by Component---> Application Server Java--->SAP Kernel 7.00 32 bit UNICODE There are 2 files to be downloaded from SMP: a) Database Independent Files This is of the nomenclature SAPEXE_<Patch level>-<release date>.SAR b) Database Dependent files This is of the nomenclature SAPEXEDB_<Patch level>-<release date>.SAR
Step 3) Uncar the .SAR files Uncar the files using the SAPCAR utility and store it in a directory. Use the command: SAPCAR -xvf <filename.SAR> Note: SAPCAR is a program executable located in the KERNEL folder itself. If SAPCAR is not working, then copy the
executable from the kernel folder to the location where the .SAR files are located.
Step 4) Stop the J2EE Engine and the SAP OS Collector Stop the J2EE Engine (from the MMC/ JCMON ) along with the SAPOSCOL service. In windows, stop the SAPOSCOL service (Start-> run-> services.msc) In Unix servers, use the command: saposcol k
Note: SAPOSCOL service should be stopped because it also will get overwritten by the new file. Also, in UNIX servers, the owner of SAPOSCOL service is the user "root". In this case, you will have to login as "root" user and stop the service.
Step 5) Take Backup of the present Kernel directory Copy the present kernel folder safely. This is important because the activity is completely reversible and switching over to the old kernel will be possible. Step 6) Copy the new kernel files to the RUN folder location Copy the files in such a manner that the RUN folder is overwritten by the new files. Note: Do not delete any files in the run directory. This is because there may be some files which may not have been
changed in the latest kernel patch and they should still be present in the RUN folder. This will retain the old files for which the new version is not available. In Unix servers, use the copy command for this - "cp"
cp -R <source file > <destination>
Step 7) Check the permissions of the files in the kernel directory The Database independent files such as "brtools", "brbackup", "R3load" etc. will usually have <DB>SID as the owner. In such cases, the owner of the files needs to be changed using the "CHOWN" command to the appropriate user. chown [-R] newowner filenames Also for added security, sticky bit can be applied on the directory. This means that only the file owner and the superuser may remove files from that directory. Chmod <1>permissions filename Step 8) Start the J2EE Engine and the SAP OS Collector Now the kernel patching activity is complete. The J2EE Engine can be started now (from the MMC/ JCMON ) along with the saposcol service. In windows, start the SAPOSCOL service (Start-> run-> services.msc) In Unix servers, use the command: saposcol l
Step 9) Check the latest Kernel level Execute the command disp+work -v to get the new kernel level
The SAP J2EE Engine has been successfully patched to level 102 from level 95. Also run the command R3Trans -d to check if database connection too is fine.
Related Content
1) In a J2EE engines on level NW O4s and above, kernel upgrades can be performed using the JSPM tool as well. Please have a look at the excellent video post for this: LINK 2) SAP NetWeaver 7.x Kernel Updates Explained LINK
Copyright
Copyright 2009 SAP AG. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP AG. The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice. Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. Microsoft, Windows, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, System i, System i5, System p, System p5, System x, System z, System z10, System z9, z10, z9, iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, zSeries, eServer, z/VM, z/OS, i5/OS, S/390, OS/390, OS/400, AS/400, S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server, PowerVM, Power Architecture, POWER6+, POWER6, POWER5+, POWER5, POWER, OpenPower, PowerPC, BatchPipes, BladeCenter, System Storage, GPFS, HACMP, RETAIN, DB2 Connect, RACF, Redbooks, OS/2, Parallel Sysplex, MVS/ESA, AIX, Intelligent Miner, WebSphere, Netfinity, Tivoli and Informix are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, PostScript, and Reader are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. UNIX, X/Open, OSF/1, and Motif are registered trademarks of the Open Group. Citrix, ICA, Program Neighborhood, MetaFrame, WinFrame, VideoFrame, and MultiWin are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. HTML, XML, XHTML and W3C are trademarks or registered trademarks of W3C, World Wide Web Consortium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape. SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, SAP Business ByDesign, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries. Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and in other countries. Business Objects is an SAP company. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary. These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies ("SAP Group") for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.

How To Do A Manual Kernel Upgrade of An SAP Server

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

How To Do A Manual Kernel Upgrade of An SAP Server

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

How to do a Manual Kernel Upgrade of an SAP Server

Company: SAP Created on: 29 September 2009

SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK 2009 SAP AG

SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com 1