Update OS/DB for ECC 6.0 EHP 5

[Former Member]

Hello,

I need to update OS (Windows 2003 R2) and DB (MSSQL 2005) of my ECC 6.0 EHP 5 system.

After a look in PAM I see, that I only can go to WIN 2008 R2 (instead of WIN 2012) an MSSQL 2012 (instead of MSSQL 2014) with my KERNEL 7.21 64bit UC. With KERNEL 7.21 EXT 64bit UC I could go to the newest OS/DB release.

Can I just change my KERNEL to EXT version and be good?

What are the use cases for the EXT KERNEL, which restrictions are there?

Regards

Bernhard

[Matt_Fraser]

Hi Bernhard,

To clarify some of the earlier answers, if you look at the PAM, you see that indeed you cannot go beyond Win 2008 R2 with the non-EXT kernel, and you cannot use the EXT kernel on less than Win 2008.

The kernel you are using now, on Win 2003, is irrelevant for what you will use when you migrate to a new OS. You will simply install the latest appropriate kernel for the new OS as part of the migration. Both kernels, 721 and 721_EXT, are fully supported for ERP 6.05, so there's no problem there.

The key here is that you are going to move your system (via homogeneous system copy) onto a newly installed Win2012R2 (or whichever OS you choose) system, not upgrade your current server from Win2003 to Win2012R2 in place (because this is not supported for productive systems by either SAP or Microsoft). Think of it as the ideal opportunity for new hardware, but even if you don't want to change the hardware at this time, that's not a problem. You will copy/export your system, then wipe the OS and install the new Windows and SQL Server versions, then you will copy/import your system onto this using SWPM. When you do so, you make the 721_EXT kernel available for the installer, and it's handled.

Cheers,

Matt

[mamartins]

Hello,

Yes, you can change the kernel to EXT. I have it on a system with 2003 R2 and SQL Server 2008.

The EXT version is compiled with a more recent version of the compiler and needs a more recent version of the Visual C runtime libraries.

Please check SAP note http://service.sap.com/sap/support/notes/1975687

Regards,

MM

[former_member185954]

Hello Bernhard,

Have you checked SAP OSS notes for the same information ? The following note should be handy.

1716826 - Usage of the downward compatible kernel 721 (EXT)

Regards,

Siddhesh

[srinivasan_vinayagam]

Hi Volker,

Check SAP note 1591607.

Downward compatible to NW releases listed in SAP note 1553300.

Regards,

V Srinivasan