Kernel upgrade from version 700 to 720

[Former Member]

Hello Experts,

Currently we have ECC 6.0 running on Windows 2008 servers,  MicroSoft SQL server database with Kernel 700 (patch 278).

SAP announced that they will not be releasing patches for Kernel version 700 after August 31st, 2012. We are required to upgrade to Kernel 720.

I have read the notes 1629598 and few related ones and understood that 720 is fully downward compatible.

My question is did any one upgrade kernel version from 700 to 720 ? Did you come across any issues ? Please advise.

Thanks.

Regards,

Satti Reddi.

[nicholas_chang · Accepted solution]

Hi,

All our 700 kernel has been upgraded to 720, no issue at all. You just need to ensure your OS requirement is met before upgrade.

Cheers,

Nicholas Chang

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

All,

Thank you Ravi, Nicholas and Hemanth for your quick responses. We meet all OS and DB requirements.

I am little confused on JDBC driver for MS SQL Server after reading the note # 639702.

Currently we have ABAP stack only for our application, but we also have a dual stack for Solution Manager only.

I believe that the JDBC version 1.0 (sqljdbc.jar) is currently active. As per above note, I understand that I need to download JDBC driver 1.2 from SAP Service Marketplace. Could you please confirm. Have you gone through this process ? Please advise.

Thanks.

Regards,

Satti Reddi.

[former_member209924 · Accepted solution]

I am assuming that your are using SQL 2008.

It is my understanding that, if it is a dual stack, this should be part of your Kernel, extract it and take a look.  You need to update this for a Java stack.

Ravi

[hemanth2 · Accepted solution]

Hi Satti ,

This looks like a different issue than the kernel upgrade. I think it will be better served in a new post in SAP NetWeaver Application Server area.

Also have a look at:

http://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/pub/wlg/15103

Depending on which SAP basis release you have installed, there are 2 different SQL Server JDBC driver versions that might be installed: the old driver consists of more than one file: base.jar, sqlserver.jar, spy.jar and util.jar. The new driver consists of a single file, sqljdbc.jar.Regardless of which driver you are using, you should find the files in one of these two directories:

   $(DIR_INSTANCE)\j2ee\jdbc
   $(DIR_EXECUTABLE)\mssjdbc

If you cannot find the file, you can simply download the most recent driver file from note #1109274.

Thank you and have a nice day :).

_____________

Kind Regards,

Hemanth

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Hemanth,

Thanks a lot for your response.

ECC 6 SAP instances:

     Non unicode Kernel = 700_REL (patch =278)

     Windows 2008 (64 bit) server

     MS SQL Server 2008

     SAP Basis Release= 700 and level =24)

I do not see any j2ee or mssjdbc folders since I guess because of our ABAP stack only. My question is do I need JDBC driver ? Can I upgrade kernel 700 to 720 ?

Solution Manager:

     Unicode Kernel = 701_REL (patch =150)

     SAP EHP 1 for Solution Manager 7.0

      Windows 2008 (64 bit) server 

     MS SQL Server 2008

     SAP Basis Release = 701  and level = 3

I do see sqljdbc.jar file under mssjdbc folder. What version of the JDBC driver I need ? Can I upgrade Kernel 701 to 720 ?

I will look at the notes that you have suggested above.

Thanks.

Regards,

Satti Reddi.

[hemanth2 · Accepted solution]

Hi Satti ,

Yup you can upgrade to 7.20 as this kerne version can be retrofitted.

If it is a standalone ABAP server, you do not need to worry about the SQL file.

_____________

Kind Regards,

Hemanth

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Hemanth,

One final question: For our Solution Manager (please see under Solution Manager above) kernel upgrade from 7.01 to 7.20, which JDBC driver I need to get ? Since it is a dual stack system, I will have to download the latest JDBC driver.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

Satti Reddi.

[hemanth2 · Accepted solution]

Dear Satti ,

As the driver depends on the SAP NW release, the best option will be that you find out the JDBC driver version using SAPCheckVersion.cmd <server name> <username> <password> command as mentioned in  SAP Note No. 639702 and then download the correct driver.

As you are on 7.01, most likely you should be able to download from http://service.sap.com/msplatforms -> SQL Server (Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Driver for JDBC version 1.2).

Thank you and have a nice day :).

_____________

Kind Regards,

Hemanth

SAP AGS

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks a lot for your help.

Regards,

Satti Reddi.

[hemanth2]

Hi Satti,

Hope you are doing good.

The below links will help you if there are any queries with the kernel update procedure

SAP Note No. 1636252 - Installing a 7.20 kernel in SAP Web AS 7.00/7.01/7.10/7.11
SAP Note No. 1629598 - SAP Kernel 720 will replace older kernel versions
SAP Note No. 19466   - Downloading SAP kernel patches

Also check:

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-1206 (Manual Kernel Upgrade)
and
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/11219
(Kernel upgrade using JSPM)

Thank you and have a nice day :).

_____________

Kind Regards,

Hemanth

[former_member209924]

We've upgraded our Kernels to 720, but it was part of our EHP5 upgrades.

So far so good, we haven't seen any issues.

Ravi