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Step by Step Guide to Archiving

and Deleting of XML Messages in


SAP NetWeaver PI

Applies to:
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration 3.0 / 7.0 / 7.1.

Summary
This document explains the step by step procedure of archiving and deleting of XML messages in SAP
NetWeaver Process Integration. The document covers the archiving and deleting procedure only at
Integration Engine level (ABAP Stack).

Author: Netrey R. Powdwal


Company: Tata Consultancy Services
Created on: 27 August 2010

Author Bio
Netrey is SAP NetWeaver PI Consultant from Tata Consultancy Services. He has 4 years of experience in
the industry with SAP ABAP and Process Integration expertise.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Table of Contents
Introduction: ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Configuration: ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Global path for archiving files: ......................................................................................................................... 5
Assignment of physical path to logical path: ................................................................................................... 5
Logical file name definition: cross client .......................................................................................................... 6
Archiving object-specific customizing: ............................................................................................................ 6
Activation of archive infostructure: SAP_BC_XMB ......................................................................................... 7
Interfaces for archiving: ................................................................................................................................... 7
Rentention periods: ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Asynchronous messages: ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Synchronous messages: .............................................................................................................................................. 8
History Entries:............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Archive Job Scheduling:.................................................................................................................................. 9
Viewing archived messages:...................................................................................................................................... 10
Delete Job Scheduling: ................................................................................................................................. 11
Housekeeping Job ZBC_XMB_REFRESH_ADAPTER_STATUS: .............................................................. 12
Conclusion: ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
Related Content ................................................................................................................................................ 14
Disclaimer and Liability Notice .......................................................................................................................... 15

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Introduction:
Problem statement: Tables that store the XML messages in PI are rapidly growing and you are running out
of disk space. As a temporary measure, you increased the table space, but this is afterall a temporary
solution. The disk space is limited and if you go on increasing the disk space like this then you will run out of
the entire disk space soon and it will affect the performance of the system badly. It might also bring the entire
PI system down and all message transfers will come to halt. The growing table space is a serious threat to
the system and you need to quickly find a solution to clear the XML messages and reduce the disk space
usage.
Preparations: Before we start the configuration, its a good idea to note down the current status of the
system. i.e. current table space comsumption so that we can compare the results after archiving and deleting
to see the reduction in table space. For this, go to transaction SARA, enter the archiving object BC_XMB and
click on Database Tables button. Select All Tables radio button and click on Space Statistics button to see
the table space statistics.
Note: As mentioed earlier, this document deals with messages at Integration Engine level only. It does not
involve handling of messages at Java stack (Adapter Engine).
The main tables that grow rapidly with growing traffic in PI are,
SXMSPMAST: Integration Engine: Message Queue (Master)
SXMSCLUR: XMB Resources Cluster
SXMSCLUP: XMB Property Cluster
Go to transaction SE11 and open these tables and check the Number of Entries in each of these.
Program RSXMB_DEL_TO_ARCH:
This is a very useful program. There are mainly 2 types of messages in PI; messages that are marked for
archiving and those marked for deletion. By default, the message will be marked for deletion. We need to
explicitly confiture interfaces so that those messages will be marked for archiving. This configuration needs
to be done even before sending the very first message in PI. If this configuration is not done already then all
messages in PI will be marked for deletion.
We can use the program RSXMB_DEL_TO_ARCH to change the deletion flag of these message to archiving
flag. Note that this action is irreversible. Field ITFACTION of the table SXMSPMAST stores the flag. We can
check this table after executing the program to see if the flag has been updated properly.
This program takes a great amount of time to execute depending on the amount of messages that are read
as per input criteria. It is recommended to run this program in background. Also, enter the maximum possible
value in Maximum Runtime (s) parameter (E.g. 86,400 seconds). Do not forget to remove the Test Mode
checkbox before executing.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Configuration:
Now we come to the actual configuration part. Follow the given path to reach the following screen.
SPRO > SAP Reference IMG > Cross Applicaton Components > General Application Functions > Mass Data
Archiving > Cross-Archiving Object Customizing
Check if all the settings are as per shown in the screen below.
Cross-Object Customizing Data Archiving: Details

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Global path for archiving files:


Now follow the below path to configure the archive file settings.
SPRO > SAP Reference IMG > Cross Applicaton Components > General Application Functions > Mass Data
Archiving > Create Logical File Path
Here I have created a logical file path ARCHIVE_GLOBAL_PATH

Assignment of physical path to logical path:


Once we create a logical path, it has to be assigned to the physical path on the disk. Click on Assignment of
Physical Paths to Logical Path. Mention the physical path as shown below. <FILENAME> is a placeholder
which will contain the actual file name at runtime.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Logical file name definition: cross client


Click on Logical File Name Definiton to specify the file name format for the archive file. I have created a file
with the format <PARAM_1>_<PARAM_3>_<DATE>_<TIME>_<PARAM_2>.ARCHIVE. Here, PARAM_1,
PARAM_2, PARAM_3, DATE and TIME are variables that will be populated at runtime. Including Date and
Time in file name ensures the uniqueness of the file name.

Archiving object-specific customizing:


Follow the path SPRO > SAP Reference IMG > Cross Applicaton Components > General Application
Functions > Mass Data Archiving > Archiving Object-Specific Customizing. Select archiving object
BC_XMB and click on Details. Select the logical file name that we created in earlier step. Check all the
settings are as per the screenshot below. Select the radio button Start Automatically under Delete Jobs.
This will start the archive-delete job once the archive job is complete. I am using the naming convention
archive-delete job here to avoid confusion with the delete job. Delete job deletes all messages which are
marked for deletion whereas archive-delete job deletes messages which are marked for archive once they
are archived by the archive job.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Activation of archive infostructure: SAP_BC_XMB


Open transaction SARJ (or follow the path SARA > Information System > Customizing). Press F4. Select
Archive Infostructure SAP_BC_XMB for archive object BC_XMB and click on Activate.

Interfaces for archiving:


Follow the path SXMB_ADM (t-code) > Define Interfaces for Archiving and Retention Periods. Mention all the
interfaces for which you intend the archive the messages. Click on Multiple Selection > Select all required
interfaces > Press F8. All interfaces will apprear under Interfaces to Be Archived. Messages of all interfaces
that are excluded here will be marked for deletion.
In future, if new interfaces are added to the system then entry has to be made here for archiving. Otherwise,
those messages will also be marked for deletion by default.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Rentention periods:
Once you are done adding all the interfaces to the list, click on Retention Periods button to jump to the
following screen. Here you can mention the period for which the messages should be retained in database
before they are archived or deleted. Below is the explanation of various parameters maintained in the
screenshot below.
Asynchronous messages:
XML Messages Without Errors Awaiting Deletion: (1 Day) Messages which are older than a day and are
marked for deletion will be deleted forever from the database tables. This will not affect the messages which
are marked for archive.
XML Messages Without Errors Awaiting Archiving: (30 Days) Messages which are older than 30 days and
are marked for archive will be archived to a file and deleted from the database tables.
Synchronous messages:
XML Messages Without Errors Awaiting Deletion: (1 Day) Messages which are older than a day and are
marked for deletion will be deleted forever from the database tables.
XML Messages Without Errors Awaiting Archiving: (0 Days) Synchronous messages which are successful
will be deleted immediately.
History Entries:
History Entries for Deleted XML Messages: (30 Days) History entries are required for QOS Exactly Once. It
is recommended to keep history entries at least for 7 days.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Archive Job Scheduling:


Now we are ready to schedule the jobs. Go to transaction SXMB_ADM and select Schedule Archiving Job

Maintain Start Date and Spool Parameter and click on Schedule Archiving. Once the job is scheduled, click
on Job Overview to see the job.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Viewing archived messages:


Go to transaction SXMB_MONI and select Archived XML Messages (Seach Using Archive)

Select the archive file and press Enter. Note that if the File Status is shown as Delete Completed then
archiving was done successfully.

You will see the messages which were archived.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Delete Job Scheduling:


Go to transaction SXMB_ADM and select Schedule Delete Jobs. Select both the checkboxes, enter the start
date, time and period (to schedule periodic job) and press F8. Click on Jobs button to see the scheduled
delete job. Once the delete job is complete, you will be able to see the total number of records affected in the
Job Log.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Housekeeping Job ZBC_XMB_REFRESH_ADAPTER_STATUS:


Create a job with program SXMS_REFRESH_ADAPTER_STATUS and schedule it periodically to update
status of successful messages. If you have receiver Idoc communication channels, sometimes the delivery
status of the Idocs is not know to the PI system and the message status does not change to Final. These
messages are excluded when the delete job runs. To avoid this, schedule this job, say weekly, to update the
message status.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Conclusion:
Congratulations! You have successfully configured PI system to archive and delete XML messages. Now the
next step is to verify the configuration. In the beginning we had noted down the system status before
archiving. Now same steps need to be performed to check the system status after archiving i.e. we will check
the number of table entries of all critical tables mentioned above. This will ensure that the messages were
actually archived and deleted and the setup was successful.

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Related Content
PI Archiving Conceptual Overview Wiki on SCN
Archiving and Deletion in PI on SAPTechnichal
Archiving and Deleting on SAPHelp
Introduction to Data Archiving on SAPHelp
SAP Notes:
872388 Section 5 k 2.
872388 Section 5 k 1.
1042379
789352
1239882
842187
862423

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Step by Step Guide to Archiving and Deleting of XML Messages in SAP NetWeaver PI

Disclaimer and Liability Notice


This document may discuss sample coding or other information that does not include SAP official interfaces and therefore is not
supported by SAP. Changes made based on this information are not supported and can be overwritten during an upgrade.
SAP will not be held liable for any damages caused by using or misusing the information, code or methods suggested in this document,
and anyone using these methods does so at his/her own risk.
SAP offers no guarantees and assumes no responsibility or liability of any type with respect to the content of this technical article or
code sample, including any liability resulting from incompatibility between the content within this document and the materials and
services offered by SAP. You agree that you will not hold, or seek to hold, SAP responsible or liable with respect to the content of this
document.

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2010 SAP AG 15

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