NWBC 5.0 - hostname xxx not found. WebException Error 403 Forbidden

[j_bayrhammer]

Hello,

we've got a problem with NWBC 5.0 PL3. Problem occured with NWBC 4.0 PL13 too.

If we maintain an entry in NWBC, for example access to https://sapserver.domain.com/sap/bc/nwbc, we can access the server sapserver. NWBC-Gui opens and authorizations are shown.

If we now enter a transaction like SM66 in NWBC-Gui we are facing an error in a popup:

hostname 'sapserver' unknown.

Method: NiPGetHostBayName: 'sapserver' not found

icm/host_name_full is set.

SAPGUI Entries are not maintained.

SICF Services are maintained as advised in note 1378659 and 4.2 Active Services in ICF - SAP NetWeaver Business Client - SAP Library.

Ping from sapserver to sapserver is resolved correctly to IP an sapserver.domain.com.

Activated verbose tracing as desribed in note 1883689 says:

WebException: der Remoteserver hat einen Fehler zurückgegeben: (403) Unzulässig.

bei System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse()

bei com.sap.nw.nwbc.httpruntime.navigation.core.HttpNavigationVirtualRoot.Shutdown()

Why does NWBC not dissolve the full name?

What do we have to maintain?

Regards,

Julia

[bdamian]

Hello Julia,

did you get a solution?

Im having the very same problem and also dont think the solution is to add specific ip-hostname entries on the client pc. 

Specially if we have more than one application server and no webdispatcher for load balancing.

Thanks.

Best regards.

[j_bayrhammer]

Hello Baldemar,

see my post above - we don't have any other solution.

You can open a message at SAP too to make them aware that this is not an isolated case.

Regards

Julia

[Former Member]

Hello Julia,

We are experiencing the exact same issue.  Were you able to come up with a solution?

Cheers,

Philip

[j_bayrhammer]

Hello Philip,

no, we don't have a solution. Just workarounds like maintaining the SAPGUI entries or distribute maintained hosts-File in their backend runtime routine.

SAP tries to explain that the error is in our network because only hostname and not fully qualified hostname is given back.

The connection URL which is configured in system entry for NWBC is not reliable for SAP. Therefore they need a concrete application server. One way to get this information is via maintained SAPGUI system entries, which are provided as "SAP GUI Logon Description" in NWBC system entries.

The other way is to check system host by a NWBC backend runtime web service (https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xx/sap/bc/nwbc/~api/GetSystemInfo ). If this routine gives back only hostname instead of hostname.domain.com then it's the problem of the customer 😞

Do you have the same problem in your network too?

Regards,

Julia

[former_member306787]

Hi Julia,

Try adding the Sapserver to your hosts file (located in the (Windows) folder: \\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.ini):

Several steps need to be performed:

1. Get the IP address of the sapserver: ask your system admin or you can ping the sapserver:

    In case you do it yourself:

    - Windows Start > execute cmd.exe

    - Enter the following text:    ping sapserver.domain.com

    - You should get an IP address back.

2. Add an entry in the hosts.ini file:

   - Open the hosts.ini file

   - Create an entry on a new line:

     <the ip address you found> sapserver.domain.com    sapserver

     Especially the 'sapserver' part is important. It's possible that there's already an entry with the IP address. In this case, you only need to add the 'sapserver' part behind that line.

     Note: the 'sapserver' is the first part of your full domain name sapserver.domain.com

Best regards,

Zhou

[j_bayrhammer]

Hello Zhou,

thanks for your input.

Are there any other possibilties than configuring the hosts.ini?

In my opinion maintaining the hosts.ini is very time-consuming in a large landscape and we don't want to fix the IP and hostname hard on client.

With SAPGUI it's working - so why this is not working with NWBC although complete FQDN is given for access in NWBC?

Regards,

Julia

[former_member306787]

Hi Julia,

I'm not that familiar with network configuration & administration, but I guess it should be possible.

My guess is, that the DNS server should be configured, mapping the short hostname to the correct IP address. It's probably already done for the full hostname.

But you should check this with your network guy if this is possible.

Best regards,

Zhou

[j_bayrhammer]

Hello Zhou,

why does it work in SAPGUI without configuring hosts.ini?

Regards,

Julia

[former_member306787]

Hi Julia,

Sorry for my late reply.

The NWBC uses HTTP(S) protocol to communicate with the SAP ABAP server, whilst the SAP Gui uses the TCP/IP protocol.

Only the HTTP(S) uses the hosts.ini file, compared to the SAP Gui, which doesn't need it to locate the SAP server.

Best regards,

Zhou

[j_bayrhammer]

Hello Zhou,

thank you for your explanation efforts 🙂

But I do not understand, why NWBC Client doesn't use the fqdn which I provide with the logon data when creating a new system entry. Why is it additionally necessary to configure hosts.ini or provide description of SAP GUI Logon?

Regards,

Julia