SAP system refresh automation

SAP system refresh automation is extremely powerful when leveraged with care; system refreshes are complex and challenging processes to manage.

How to handle SAP system refresh automation

System refreshes can be fraught with risk for organizations with critical data due to their level of complexity. Mitigating this risk comes down to knowing the benefits of automation and how the processes work.

This article will help you:

• Understand the purpose of a system refresh
• Learn more about automating refresh operations
• Provision your SAP system for a refresh
• Perform a refresh of your system or database

To try out the Avantra SAP automation features, sign up for a free trial.

What is SAP system refresh automation?

SAP system refreshing is extremely important for organizations looking to keep their systems up to date. The main difference between a refresh and other operations, like cloning and copying, lies within the part of a QA/TEST system being altered.

In order to be more valuable for demos and training, isolated testing systems are generated by cloning.

Creating a new system through copying is used as a tactic to produce functional auxiliary systems. A refresh is the chosen proper approach when a given system has a gap between when the data and underlying configuration need to be updated.

A system refresh is no simple task as it consists of many moving parts; the most time consuming and challenging being non technical.

The subsequent tracking that must be performed for audits and planning required by disparate teams is amongst the most painful operational tasks for an organization. The Avantra refresh automation tooling solves all of these challenges and more by starting up approval workflows, following custom refresh steps, and even tracking it all as it happens without requiring much more manual intervention than a single click to make it happen.

Try the Avantra automation out today.

If you're still wondering how to refresh your SAP system, here's how:

1. The SAP system itself

Provisioning SAP systems involves handling prerequisites before operations can safely commence. To prepare for a system refresh, you should ensure all necessary authorization is available and roles have been assigned to allow the operation to be performed. You will also need to make sure that all validation errors for the systems you intend to use have been addressed ahead of time.

You will need to have both, your source system (the system up-to-date data will come from) and your target system (the system that fresh data will be written to), on entirely different servers in order for a refresh to work correctly. After completing this step, it is essential that you have a full backup of your SAP Landscape Management configuration information available for the source system to serve as a means of restoration.

The configuration information tables held on a target ABAP system are automatically exported during a refresh, protecting them during the operation.

2. SAP ASE

SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise or "ASE" is a powerful relational database server capable of accelerating online transaction processing and facilitating a full migration to the cloud.

To refresh a database such as ASE or SAP HANA, you will need to use a full backup from your source system. This refresh, referred to as a 'restore-based refresh operation', has a few unique details that need to be accounted for before it can progress properly.

It’s imperative that you first configure the initial entities, including setting up your target system as a copy of the source. The SYSTEM user password you utilize will also need to match the one in your backup for the refresh to work.

3. SAP Sybase PowerDesigner

SAP PowerDesigner makes it possible to create full-featured visualizations of enterprise architecture from a single place. It allows your architecture to be mocked up so potential changes can be planned in advance, making this a powerful tool for forecasting expansion requirements. Sybase offers the kind of data management functionality that PowerDesigner and other SAP solutions depend on to function.

The best approach to refreshing a system that depends on Sybase is to first back up your current data and then restore it to your target system. This helps account for device inconsistencies that may arise and cause problems during a disk detaching and attaching procedure.

Final thoughts on SAP system refresh automation

All of the details discussed can be a challenge to manage in a production environment, especially if the data is particularly mission-critical. SAP system automation for refreshing operations can dramatically simplify them, reducing the potential for human error and freeing up time for innovation. To learn more about Avantra and how we can help automate SAP system refreshes, take a look at our article on HANA migration.