Kernel upgrade 7.20 NW 7.02

[Former Member]

Hi,

We are looking to upgrade our kernel to last version as 7.20 will not be supported after Q1 2015.

When checking PAM, we can only see 7.21 as supported.

I found this link that explain the minimum kernel version of 7.4 depending on SP Stack level.

What I cant understand or find is why we cant use a upper Kernel version with a 7.02 NW?

Do you have some links or explanations to provide?

Regards,

Adel

[manumohandas82 · Accepted solution]

Hi Adel

720/720 EXT initially replaced all the kernel below and including 7.11 . Also 730/7.31

Please read the SAP Note  below

1636252 - Installing a 7.20 kernel in SAP Web AS 7.00/7.01/7.10/7.11

721/ 721 EXT will replace 720/720  Ext mid 2015

1713986 - Installation of kernel 721 (EXT)

It is better of upgrading to 721/721 ext

1975687 - SAP Kernel 7.21 (EXT) replaces SAP Kernel 7.20 (EXT) as standard kernel in Q1/2015

Thanks ,

Manu

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Manu.

The first note doesnt apply to us as we are on Kernel 7.20.

I will check the second carefully it should help in our upgrade.

But my question was more why cant we use Kernel version upper 7.21 with NW 7.02?

Why not 7.41 or 7.42 for example?

Regards,

Adel

[manumohandas82 · Accepted solution]

Hi Adel ,

The 7.41 kernel is downward compatible with with 7.40 kernel for SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SP2/3/4 . Any releases less than that 7.41  cannot be used

7:40 is not a downward compatible kernel  and can be used only with Netweaver 7.4

Thanks ,

Manu

[Sriram2009 · Accepted solution]

Hi Adel

You can check in PAM http://service.sap.com/pam, Mostly NW 7.02 will supported kernel 7.21 with Ext. Kernel 7.4 supports NW 7.4 and above not on NW 7.02.

BR

SS

[former_member185954 · Accepted solution]

Hello Abdel,

The SAP kernel is dependent on SAPKB and SAPABA patches (in your SPAM), which is why certain kernels work with certain versions of SAP.

SAP kernel is nothing but a set of executable files and libraries that run in the OS memory and communicate using inter process communication.

The ABAP code that is programmed by developers intrinsically call underlying executable in the kernel.

SAP keeps adding new functionality to new kernel versions that work in sync with relevant standard ABAP or JAVA code, sometimes certain new functionality added at kernel level requires previous functionality to be de-supported or replaced.

For example if you replaced a C function call with a new function call that requires new set of parameters, the old ABAP code will not be able to make this function call and hence fail.

For example, you cannot use SAP Kernel 7.20 for SAP R/3 4.6C, you will need a SAP Kernel 6.40 EXT or a downward compatible kernel.

SAP Netweaver Stack 7.4 has abap/java code that requires Kernel 7.40/7.41/7.42 , however you cannot use SAP Kernel 7.40/7.41/7.42 with lower version of SAP Netweaver 7.0X since the corresponding SAPKB and SAPABA patches will not be compatible.

More explanation about the SAP Kernel deployment strategy is available in this whitepaper.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Siddhesh

[Former Member]

Thanks Siddhesh for very details explanations. I understand that new NW version will contains improvement that wont work on below release. But I was expecting for the kernel (not abap code) to work on both.

I was hesitating on who mark as best answer and the key words were "downward compatible kernel".

I hope you wont be angry at me but I have marked Manu as best answer.

Many times I saw this expression in SAP notes but only now understand the complete meaning.

Many thanks all for your time.

Regards,

Adel

[former_member185954]

Hello Adel,

Lol, its not about points, its about learning and sharing whatever you learn, when I was starting out in basis, SCN didn't exist we used to use ask our seniors for help or if internet access was available try and use search engines and forums like sapfans, however now I find SCN has grown into a fantastic single repository of knowledge where you can find answers to anything about SAP.

To learn more about DCK, check the help documentation here.

Have a great day ahead.

Regards,

Siddhesh

[Former Member]

Hello Siddhesh,

I think it is important to reward people accordingly.

When I started there were no scn as well and we had sapfans

But SAP comes with so many new products and improvements that sometimes it is easy to be aware on the surface only.

Have a great day too.

Regards,

Adel