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SAP kernel patch level upgrade

Former Member
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Hello all,

I'm looking into upgrading the patch level on your SAP Kernel. I wasn't able to find any instructions, do you guys have any links or documents? Maybe some suggestions..?

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

Simple,

Download the kernal patch from the market place,uncar it

stop the sap system,

then take a backup of your usr/sap/sid/sys/exe/run folder ,then paste the uncared files

start sap system .

It's all done.

Regards,

Vamshi.

Former Member
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Hi Vamshi and thanks for the quick reply,

Really is it that simple? I was going through links like this :http://sap.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-functional/sap-basis/upgradeupdate-kernel-patch-level-1714918

And it describes the issue to be more than that.

See when the EarlyWatch report ran on our system last time it reported the following:

Recommendation:

*Ensure that you are using the SAP kernel recommended together with the latest SAP stacks for your product.

For detailed information, see SAP Service Marketplace: http://service.sap.com/sp-stacks

SAP releases Support Package Stacks, including kernel patches, on a regular basis (2-4 times a year). Therefore, we also suggest you create a strategy to implement these stacks periodically.

In special cases, you may need to use a more recent kernel patch than the one shipped with the latest Support Package Stack for your product. This should be confirmed by SAP Support.*

Does that mean I should be looking for a specific patch level or can i grab anything above mine..? Is there anything else I should be upgrading..?

Samer

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

You can update the kernal with out doing any other things.

But it would be better if you would apply the support packages even.

Both the things are different.Applying the support packages is different from applying patches.

When you apply a spam or saint update it will ask you to update the tp and r3trans.

But i suggest you perform a kernal upgrade and then apply the patches.

There is no harm in applying the kernal patch first generally thats the procedure i follow.

Regrads,

Vamshi.

Former Member
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thank you all for the great quick responses!

Oliver I did search hard, but it's good to get these experts opinions and make sure i'm on the right track..

Former Member
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hi all,

as i was going through your comments and meeting with my team, couple of questions came up that i'd like to share with you and get your opinions

We have a Support Pack project soon, we're thinking about taking the system down and do both support packs and the kernel at the same time, is that okay? What should i consider while doing this? I went through i lot of reading but not sure if I should look for a specific version of a Kernel that should work with the our Support Pack level we're getting to, is there such thing?

Also, as i update the Kernel (SAPEXE and SAPEXEDB), should I upgrade the r3trans and PT also, or is both of them part of the Kernel?

Appreciate the help sooo much!

Samer

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

You can download the stack which has all the kernal patches and also abap and java patches.Generally i follow a kernal upgrade before applying support packages.If you ugrade the kernal by uncaring the files sapexe and db u get r3trans and tp

so u need not to apply them again.

Prior make sure you have taken a full backup.

Regards,

Vamshi.

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi Vamshi,

Thanks for the reply, yes i noticed when I uncarred the sapexe and db that i have the r3trans and tp files. But about the support pack, should I be looking for a certain to level that should be compatible with the Kernel Patch level i'm looking to upgrade to or it doesn't matter?

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

Your kernal files and your s/w componets versions are different,

that should be not a problem.You can find the components in ur system by system>status>components

You can download the sp for different components or can download them by sack one and the other is same.You can just go ahead with your support packages installation,also ask your developers whether they have done any changes to standard sap objects.

Regards,

Vamshi.

Former Member
0 Kudos

Vamshi, are you sure? Below is from the early watch report:

"""Ensure that you are using the SAP kernel recommended together with the latest SAP stacks for your product."""

Does that mean I have to look for a certain Kernel that's compatible with the SAP support stack we're going to.?

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

You can download the latest support package stack available in the market place.So that you will get all the kernal pathches and sp,else you can download the latest kernal patch seperately from the market place.I do the same, that

Have you downloaded the correct kernal patch for your system,

if so then there will not be any problem.

Ensure that you are using the SAP kernel recommended together with the latest SAP stacks for your product."""

this is what u r dong right!!!

Regards,

Vamshi.

Former Member
0 Kudos

Samer,

It just means that for some of the support packages need specific kernel versions. For eg sp basis 14 for netweaver 7.00 need kernel version 133 and above. So what i suggest is to upgrade your kernel to the latest available kernel. First find out your current version then check in service market place for the latest one for your kernel release and apply the kernel first ( latest is 146 for netweaver 700). Then apply the latest spam( level 27) and apply the support packages.

Thank you.

Answers (3)

Answers (3)

Former Member
0 Kudos

I'm working as a Junior Basis Consultant. My current Kernel Level in an ECC System (Only ABAP) is 741 & patch level 200. My task is to upgrade the Kernel to 742 (patch level 219).

How do I recognize which files are necessary for this activity ? I see a lot many files in Service Marketplace & am not sure which all I must download.

My host is UNIX & Database is DB2. Could you help me ?

Former Member
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Hello Aakash,

Kindly open a new thread for this.

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Anita

Former Member
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Hi,

>I'm looking into upgrading the patch level on your SAP Kernel

Sorry, but I don't want you to upgrade my SAP kernel, I can do it myself !

Otherwise, you did not search very hard, is'n it ?

Regards,

Olivier

Former Member
0 Kudos

Sameer,

If you want to find out the kernel and patch version you can enter the command DISP+WORK.exe -V or TCODE SM51 - > release notes. if you want to upgrade the kernel follow the procedure.

Standalone ABAP system

Take the backup for /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/exe/run

For a homogeneous system with only the ABAP engine, it is rather straight forward. Logon as the <sid>adm user onto the central instance host. After you have stopped the system and all OS-level services of all instances, unpack the kernel patch files SAPEXE.SAR and SAPEXEDB.SAR to the DIR_CT_RUN of the central instance. Execute the command as follows:

sapcar -xvf <file>-R <DIR_CT_RUN>

Because DIR_CT_RUN of the central instance is linked to the corresponding directory on the global host which is accessible from all hosts in the cluster, the updates will be distributed by SAPCPE when the instances start as explained.

In a heterogeneous system landscape, if there are instances whose DIR_CT_RUN directory does not point to the system's global host, you have to patch their DIR_CT_RUN separately like on the central instance host. You can find out the value of DIR_CT_RUN of a particular dialog instance using the transaction RZ11, if the instance is running. Another way is to use the kernel program SAPPFPAR which can be invoked for the Central Services Instances in a HA installation (ASCS) and idle dialog instances. The command spells as follows:

sappfpar pf=<instance profile>

The instance profiles are located in the /usr/sap/<SAPSID>/SYS next to the DIR_CT_RUN. For Unix platforms, there is one thing you have to perform before you restart the system. Due to the security implementation of Unix, you have to re-logon as a root user and execute the kernel script saproot.sh once in order to assign all necessary root permissions to the newly copied files.

Restart the system.

Cheers,

Praveen