SAPGUI & SAP Installation Server

[Former Member]

Hi experts,

Currently we build a front end package (single installation) then use SMS to push it out to every computer globally. But recently the packages are getting too big to use SMS.

So we consider the SAP Installation Server as our solution on this issue. But still some questions/concerns here need to give your help- who has used the SAP Installation Server already.

1. Do we need some additional hardware requirements for this installation server? In my simple mind, it's just a software which can be running on Windows server.

2. Do we need licensing considerations for this - SAP Installation Server?

3. I have looked over the SAP installation Server guide, seems we don't need to do any maintenance of this. correct?

4. The last question also it's the important one. . How does the software delivery for SAPGUI work with SAP Installation Servers that may be decentralized around the globe? We are a global company, so it's impossible that just set up one installation server in headquarters.

Please any experts who has the similar experience give me the answer.

Best regards,

Mimi

[blair_towe2 · Accepted solution]

Good morning, Mimi - We use SMS in combination with the SAP Frontend Installation Server. I will first answer your questions and then explain what we do.

1. You do not necessarily need a dedicated server strictly for the installation server. You should not install multiple versions of the SAPGui on the same server. For instance, if you have both SAPGui 6.40 and SAPGui 7.10, you would want to use 2 separate servers as the installation servers.

2. There is no additional licensing needed for a SAPGui installation server.

3. The only maintenance required is the application of SAP frontend patches as they become available. The patches are applied to the installation server and then you run an update to get the patches from the installation server to the desktop.

4. It is definitely better that you would not try to have a single installation server for a company with offices around the globe. This will increase your administration somewhat because you will have to manage multiple installation servers (applying patches, etc.). The software distribution mechanism of the installation server is that there are two services, a distribution service and an installation service. These are provided so that a user with non-admin privileges can initiate an update to the SAPGui on their desktop. This is an important consideration, because by default, both SAPGui 6.40 and SAPGui 7.10, when installed on the desktop, have a registry key set that automatically checks when SAPGui is launched to see if the patch level on the desktop is the same as the patch level on the installation server. If not, it initiates an update of the desktop. If the user does not have admin privileges, the update will fail.

The process that we utilize here is that we have one installation server. We duplicate the share where the installation server is installed to all of our SMS servers. We have SMS servers in most of our remote offices, so that when the SAPGui is pushed out, the package is not pushed over the WAN, but instead over the local network in that location, thus making it much faster and reducing the load on the WAN. We then run the SAPSetup command and supply the GUID of the package that we want to push out. We chose not to use the distribution and installation services since we want to be able to make sure that each desktop has the same patch level of the SAPGui. So we used the following scripts to disable the automatic update check:

6.40:

<i>Engine.Context.Log.Write "Event 'SAPGUI640_NONADMIN_OnEndInstall' has been invoked"

Engine.Shell.SetRegValue "HKLM\SOFTWARE\SAP\SAPSetup\SAPstart\AutoUpdate\SapLgPad.exe", "REG_SZ", "ForceOff"

Engine.Context.Log.Write "Event 'SAPGUI640_NONADMIN_OnEndInstall' has finished"</i>

7.10:

<i>NWEngine.Context.Log.Write "Event 'SAPGUI710_SAPGUI710_NONADMIN_OnEndInstall' has been invoked"

Engine.Shell.SetRegValue "HKLM\SOFTWARE\SAP\SAPSetup\SapStart\AutoUpdate\SapLogon.exe\UpdateMode", "REG_SZ", "ForceOff"

Engine.Shell.SetRegValue "HKLM\SOFTWARE\SAP\SAPSetup\SapStart\AutoUpdate\SapLgPad.exe\UpdateMode", "REG_SZ", "ForceOff"

NWEngine.Context.Log.Write "Event 'SAPGUI710_SAPGUI710_NONADMIN_OnEndInstall' has finished"</i>

We have found this to be a very manageable setup.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you need more information.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi,

May I know what is SMS refer to?

We have a similar situation and are exploring ways to install sapgui client program to all computers in different countries. However there are a few computers that do not require the client program.

may i know how would you handle those exceptional computers?

I'm interested to know how others with remote offices install the Sapgui. We are concern about the maintenance, as there might be minimal support in remote offices.

Hope to hear from those with similar experience. Thanks.

regards,

zl

[blair_towe2 · Accepted solution]

Good morning, ZL - SMS is short for Microsoft Systems Management Server. I just checked the Microsoft website and it looks like the next version will be called System Center Configuration Manager 2007. It is used to deploy software packages from a central server to PCs and other servers.

You do not have to use SMS if you have a SAPGui Installation Server. The Installation Server itself has its own distribution mechanism (installation and distribution services which allow non-admin users to install and update the SAPGui) which you can use instead if you don't have SMS. As for the computers that do not need SAPGui, you would simply not run the command to install the SAPGui on those PCs. We currently have a number of remote offices as well. My recommendation would be to have a separate SAPGui Installation Server installed in each of those offices. What you can do is have one master installation server, in the home office, for example, and then you can replicate that master to the remote offices. Then, as you apply patches to the master, you simply re-run the replication mechanism (this is an included part of the SAPGui Installation Server) to get the changes out to the remote offices. You would then run SAPSetup with the /update option from the desktop to get the latest changes to the desktop. We only have 4 desktop support people, all mainly in the headquarters. We use either Microsoft Remote Desktop (included with Windows XP) or a product called Dameware Remote Control which lets you log on and see a users desktop so that you can see what their issue is. Generally, if it is a problem with the SAPGui, we typically will try uninstalling and then reinstalling, and this seem to fix about 95+% of any problems.

I hope that helps. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Regards,

Blair Towe

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the clarification, Blair.

regards,

zl

[Former Member]

I have noticed when I uninstall the SAP GUI, which I installed with the installation server, it tries to access the installation server. Do you know why when I uninstall the SAP GUI, it talks to the installation server?

Thanks,

Mimi

[blair_towe2]

Good afternoon, Mimi - The reason the workstation tries to communicate with the SAPGui Installation Server is because when you go to uninstall, it actually looks at the contents of the package and the related .xml file (on the installation server) that was installed to see what needs to be uninstalled. It behaves very much like a scenario where you are using SMS. When you run NWSAPSetup and select a package, it is like calling the command line from the installation server and specifying the package to install.

I hope that helps!

Regards,

Blair Towe

[Former Member]

Hi John,

So far we didn't use SAP Installlation Server, just generate the GUI package via signle installtion then use SMS to push it out to globel.

I agree with you for this - The SAP Installation Servers would not be as efficient as SMS. But since the SAP Installation Server also has this function which is able to replace SMS to delivery to each client in global, I just want to know if any showstoppers in using the SAP Installation Server for rolling out the SAPGUI 7.X.

Thanks,

Mimi

[Former Member]

Hi John,

Let me answer your question.

We currently build a front end package (single isntallation) then pass use SMS to push it out to globel, but the package is getting too big to use SMS now. So that's why the reason we will consider to use Installation Server.

But my concern is if we use SAP Installation Server and SMS to carry out it, do we suffer the same problem - I mean the package size is too big to use SMS although the package is from SAP Installation Server.

Thanks,

Mimi

[Former Member]

Mimi,

That's what we do too. How large is your install package? Why is it too large?

I think Blair mentioned you could create a SMS package to call the install off the SAP Installation Server. It would be miniscule. Just some logic to tell the client which Installation Server to use.

In our case, we are more concerned about bandwidth then disk space, so we use SMS to distribute the install package aroud the globe. The SAP Installation Servers would not be as efficient as SMS in our case, especially when you add in the Microsoft licensing, administration, patching, hardware etc.

John

[Former Member]

Thanks Blair Towe.

Currently I just do some research on SAP Installation Server. Our company will deploy it as soon as possible. Now I have got the necessary info which can help us to make the decision. Thanks for your great support here.

Maybe I will post a new message during the Installation server deployment process if I suffer the technical problem.

Many thanks!

Mimi

[Former Member]

Mimi,

Why is the SMS package too big? Ours is 700 MB for 6.40, and SMS 2003 handles it fine. Are you using the whole CD? SAPAdmin can create an Installation Share that only contains the necessary files. You can delete the CAB files to make it even smaller, although that's not supported by SAP. SMS is specifically designed for software distribution across wide area networks, slow links etc.

When you say Installation Server are you talking about a file share with the SAP GUI source or the SAP Distribution Service and Installation Service? We create an Installation Share with SAPAdmin and then import it into SMS for distriibution around the world.

Regards,

John

[Former Member]

Thanks Blair Towe.

One more question - Since you are using SMS in combination with the SAP Frontend Installation Server, my concern here is, if the package which generates from your SAP Installation Server will be getting too big to use SMS, how will you do then? Currently We build a front end package (single isntallation) then pass use SMS to push it out to every computer......but they are getting to big to use SMS, how about the package size from SAP Installation Server? I have no idea on the difference of the package size – between the one which built from single installation and the one from SAP Installlation Server.

Your advise?

Thanks,

Mimi

[blair_towe2]

Mimi - When you use the SAPGui Installation Server in conjunction with SMS, the SAPGui Installation Server basically creates an SMS package definition file that looks like the following:

<i>[PDF]

Version=2.0

[Package Definition]

MIFFilename=uAFtDxvDzvByuEwCywsswtzCuEtDCFBu.mif

Name=SAPGUI640_NONADMIN

Version=1

Comment=SAP Frontend 6.40 for End-users

Publisher=btowe

Language=english

Programs=Installation, Uninstallation

[Installation]

Name=Installation

CommandLine=sapsetup.exe /p:"{4AF3D75D-95B8-4E6C-8622-639C4E3DCFB4}" /sms

UserInputRequired=False

UninstallKey=Untitled

AfterRunning=ProgramRestart

SupportedClients=Win 9x, Win NT (i386)

Run=Normal

EnableRunTimeMonitoring=False

CanRunWhen=AnyUserStatus

Assignment=EveryUser

[Uninstallation]

Name=Uninstallation

CommandLine=sapsetup.exe /p:"{4AF3D75D-95B8-4E6C-8622-639C4E3DCFB4}" /uninstall /sms

UserInputRequired=False

UninstallKey=Untitled

AfterRunning=ProgramRestart

SupportedClients=Win 9x, Win NT (i386)

Run=Normal

EnableRunTimeMonitoring=False

CanRunWhen=AnyUserStatus

Assignment=EveryUser</i>

So basically all it does is SMS will execute the command line on the end-user's PC. This will launch SAPSetup and install the SAPGui (the string 4AF3D75D-95B8-4E6C-8622-639C4E3DCFB4 is the GUID of the package that we built). The SMS package is therefore very small because it doesn't actually contain the installation itself. It is simply the mechanism to start the install. Also, when you apply a patch to the SAPGui Installation Server and want to push out the update to the desktops, you simply can run the same SMS file. SAPSetup analyzes the differences between the Installation Server and the desktop and is able to only push out the components that need to be updated, making the update time much shorter and not requiring that the entire SAPGui package be pushed out each time.

I hope that helps. Please let me know if you need more information!

Regards,

Blair Towe