VC Model transport from portal A to Portal B using transport package?

[Former Member]

Hello,

I am trying to transfer a VC model from one port to another:

1. I have developed the model in portal A.

2. Deployed it with it's par (it is working OK).

3. I have created a transport package and included the entire relevant folder which includes the model and iViews folder (it's just one iView).

4. I have imported this transport package in portal B error free.

Yet, when I open the iView in portal B I receive the infamous red Portal Runtime Error. By looking at the log files I see:

PortalApplicationNotFoundException: Could not find portal application

I assume this is because this transport only creates the model in the pcd but doesn't actually deploy it to the server.

So, what else do I need to do in order for it to work in portal B?

Roy

[Former Member]

Hi all,

I have several customers asking about best practices for vc transports, I don't have one If I redeploy the entire model in the productive portal, pcd content will lose the deltalinks, all translations are lost, etc.! We need a solution for this, now! Please SAP, we can't use/sell your new technology if it's not usable!

Hope for hints

Benny

[lanzlf]

Hi Benny

The problem is that you cannot only use the PAR and transport it .....you have to use other components that was deployed to transport it too, then you have to edit the iViews & components to adapt it for being used in the target portal...

My recomendation, as mentioned before is to use the model and export it as GML file, then import it into target VC, adapt the datasources and deploy...

This way is : Easy, Fast, Safe and supported

Regards, Luis

[Former Member]

Luis,

I don't fully agree.

If you will take only the PAR from one portal to another it will do the updates + you won't loose any of the delta links. In fact, this what SAP recommended in the telephone conversation I had with them.

The reason it looses the deltalinks is because VC keeps a table with unique names and counter. The counter is different in every server so it will have different package name on each transport and deployment. Transporting just the PAR keeps everything as it is with regards to delta links.

This is how we are doing the transports and it is working fine.

Roy

[Former Member]

Hi roy,

that's the point, i will get different IDs if I use the easy,fast and save way The par transport works now, but in the past I had the problem, that the application was not deployed, now it works, I don't know why -> But I'm happy!

Cheers Benny

[Former Member]

Roy, et al...I believe I am having the same problem (or very similar at a minimum). I have several questions around this thread & postings and will award points for any assistance leading to a resolution for us.

I don't think that par files are being included in my VC model exports (no files in the list ending in .par). I do have 'deploy with par' checked within the compiler tab of VC tools/options. And also the appropriate pcd service entry is set to empty to allow par files in transports between portals in our portal landscape. (And, btw, we're EP 2004s SP10.)

Yet after deploying from VC & then building the transport in the dev portal & exporting from our dev portal & importing into our QA portal...I can not preview or run the iview or page...I get errors like 'cannot find the application', etc..., depending upon whether I chose to preview at the iview level or the page level (and this is a very simple VC model...1 iview, 1 page only). My questions are:

1. how do I know for sure that the par file is or is not included in my export (at the export preview stage, I do not see any entries in the list with a .par extension so does that mean it is not being included)?

2. is there a blog or wiki or any detailed doc that details the exact steps that you all have discussed in this thread that need to be taking to deploy into a dev portal with par, build a transport, export, import, redo the delta links if necessary, redeploy via storyboard (or however), and run/preview with success? (I've read & followed to the letter the doc 'How To Transport Models within SAP Analytics' & others things found on SDN to no avail...still have the same issue! And, btw, nothing has ever mentioned the need to redo the delta links & redeploy via storyboard until I found your thread)

3. if you have to redo the delta links & redeploy after importing, then that sounds to me that we would need to open up our QA portal to allow models to be edited & deployed and worse open up our production portal to allow models to be edited & deployed too. Unless I'm misunderstanding this thread discussion & SAP recommendations, this approach really seems like it would lead to other issues in ones production portal from a security & control & qa sense. How can you still provide appropriate levels of control, etc... in this portal to portal transport process from dev to qa to prod portals if these tweaks need to occur after import?

Please help ... any assistance with this issue at our shop too would be appropriately appreciated with points. Thanks.

[Former Member]

Hi Butch,

Let me try and do some order for you:

When you select Deploy with par what it actually does is creating a model folder in the project's folder with the model in it. The PAR is not this model, this model is constructed out of the PAR that can be found in your deployment folder which can be found under System Admin->Support->Portal Runtime->Browse deployment.

Now, the reason it is not working for you is because VC has a counter table to manage it's deployments and this table is different in each server since each server has it's own DB. You can see these numbers and letters at the PAR file at the location I stated above. Just for simplicity let's assume that on dev the counter stands on 4 and in test on 5. When you deploy in test again from the VC storyboard it will deploy it with 5 but your transported iView from dev s still pointing to 4.

So, in order not to loose it the idea is to transfer the iViews along with the pars from dev to test. Once you have a change in dev you don't need to transport anything to test other than the par file located at the location stated above. Once you do that the new application is deployed and the existing iViews will "pick" it up by themselves since they are already pointing to it.

Hope it helps,

Roy

[Former Member]

Thanks, Roy for the speedy response. I see both of those areas now within the 2 portals in questions (our dev & qas portals). So, what I'm now understanding is that my previous export & imports transported over the iviews, models & pages for the VC app, but the par files weren't moved, So how do I move the specific par file from that root/portalapps location in the dev portal over...I only see a browse & download option for each file at that location in the dev portal. Also, I don't see any ending in .par extension?? Am I supposed to somehow include the appropriate par file in an export transport to move over or how? Sorry for the novice questions.

Also...how do I award you points...can I only do that when I initiate the thread?

Thanks,

Butch

[Former Member]

Hello Butch,

1. Download the par from portal A, save it by it's name and add the .par manually on save.

2. On portal B go to: System Admin->Support->Portal Runtime->Administration Console and upload the par file you have just downloaded from portal A. This will override the previous version of this par.

That's it.

And regarding points: Yes, you can only do that when you initiate the thread.

Cheers,

Roy

[Former Member]

Roy...many thanks...I started another thread on some further questions I have in this area. Would like to leave you some points so if you respond in that thread I'll do so. You should be able to readily find it via the thread list...thread name is:

VC Model Transport from Portal A to Portal B

[Former Member]

Thank you very much Butch

[arun_ev]

Hi Roy,

There are two ways that you can transport your VC models. One you have done using the transport package. The second way is u can save u r model in portal A as a .gml file and upload the same in the VC of u r portal B and deploy it again in your portal. Assuming u r aliases work correctly, you can then transport the roles and pages created in portal A through the transport packages. Hope this helps.

Arun EV

[Former Member]

Arun,

I want to use transport package only and it doesn't work... I described the export procedure in details and I don't see where I got wrong.

[Former Member]

Hi,

have you check the Alias names in the portal B. Are they the same as in Portal A?

Perhaps you have to change the Alias for the data services in the model.

Matthias

[Former Member]

Hi Matthias,

Aliases are the same in both portals.

Roy

[Former Member]

Also, Now that I open the exported model in portal B using the "Open from Storyboard" option in the portal context menu I receive a pop up asking me where to save the model and when I do that I receive an empty model. So, what's the point in this transport?

[Former Member]

Hi Roy,

did you chose the same prefix for your VC Model and for the Transport Package?

Best Regards, Benni

[Former Member]

Hi Benjamin,

Meaning...?

[former_member195896]

Hi roy,

This is indeed funny. We normally use this process for transporting models, and it works fine. is there any auth issue with the deployed par file? have you tried transporting data and ACLs? are you sure the PAR file is also included in the Transport when you are transporting the VC model.

We had a similar issue when the PAR file for the model was not deployed on the target system.

cheers,

Shantanu

[Former Member]

Hi Shantanu,

I have super_admin on both portals, I am exporting data_with_acl and the root folder of the model has Everyone -> Full Control.

Regarding the par file: I am deploying the model with par file checked, it creates a model folder with a model file inside it and I transport it as well to portal B. How can I verify that the PAR has been transported as well? By the way, I don't think that transported means deployed, we need to come to understanding on terms before we prceed I think...

Roy

[sudhindra_chandrashekar]

Hi Roy,

I am not here to answer the question but to ask whether you found the resolution to this issue? I am having the same problem.

Here is what I did:

1. To eliminate the system alias of the data service systems I created a plain view with just an Input field, my compiler is a Flash compiler, I have included the PAR file in the deployment.

2. Once I deployed I created a transport package and included the Data and ACL files and exported it.

3. On Portal 2 I imported it and ended up with a Portal Exception. When I went into the J2EE log I found that it is a Naming exception. I think the portal does a Context lookup and it fails to find the application associated with the iIVew. I tried to search for the application in the J2EE Engine 1 where it runs but there are no special applications deployed in this name.

4. Also in the Visual Compser Compiler properties all of the names are identical. The PAR Name Prefix, Portal deployment folder, Portal system folder are all the same.

I am not sure where else to look for!!

I would appreciate if anyone could provide some hints...

Sudhi

[Former Member]

hI Sudhindra,

I did some investigation on this:

1. After the transport you must redeploy the PAR at the 2nd portal from the stroyboard, otherwise it won't be recognized.

2. And this is the frustrating part - Every new deployment in portal 2 after a transport creates a PAR and an iView by a different name. This causes the roles which were attached to this iView to loose it's delta link to it and you need to manually reassign the "new" iView to each connected role.

Hope it helps,

Roy

[sudhindra_chandrashekar]

Wooo... This is absurd. What is the point in moving the stuff over the systems where a redeployment is necessary!!

I will look for a different solution. I will post a message once I find anything.

Thanks much for the quick reply!

Sudhi

[Former Member]

Ask SAP, this was their response to my OSS...

[sudhindra_chandrashekar]

Do you have the ticket number by any chance? Since I am in SAP I can look it up internally?

Sudhi

[Former Member]

1. I don't think you will be able to view OSS from other companies, it is against SAP policy.

2. I'm afraid I cannot do it without my company's consent.

Anyway, this was their response.

[sudhindra_chandrashekar]

Does the transport packages work in the case of a WebDynpro model? I think you have been using the Flash compiler. I tried the WebDynpro compiler too and that is giving an error as well!

[Former Member]

It doesn't matter which compiler you use, the result is the same.

Flash compiler creates PAR, Web Dynpro compiler creates EAR. In both cases you need to redeploy. By the way the same goes for Web Dynpro applications but there you don't loose the delta links + you have NWDI to manage everything.

Unfortunately, VC is not yet integrated with NWDI.

Roy