© 2003 International Business Machines Corporation. All rights reserved.

Important: Read the disclaimer before reading this article.

Introduction

This article is intended to be used as a step-by-step guide to perform a cross-platform Heterogeneous System Copy of an existing SAP® R/3 system across different platforms using the redirected restore method of IBM® DB2® Universal Database^TM (UDB) Version 8. It deals with issues and concerns that may arise during the migration as well as important information you need to know to successfully complete the operation.

You may need to use a Heterogeneous System Copy to change operating system platforms or to duplicate a system. SAP recommends having such a copy when you need to build a test or training environment.

This article provides instructions that you must use along with the SAP Installation Manuals and the Homogeneous and Heterogeneous System Copy guides.

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Overview

A System Copy between two systems running on the same operating system is called a Homogeneous System Copy and can be performed using the R3load tool or by using the DB2 redirected restore procedure.

A System Copy between two systems running on different operating systems or different DBMS systems is called a Heterogeneous System Copy. Before DB2 UDB Version 8, it was only performed using the R3load tool provided by SAP.

With DB2 UDB Version 8, you can use redirected restore to create a Heterogeneous System Copy between two systems running on different platforms. As shown in Figure 1, you can take a backup from any big-endian server[1] and restore it to any other big-endian server. For example, you can restore a backup image from DB2 UDB for HP-UX to DB2 UDB for AIX® or Sun Solaris. With Windows® and Linux, you are limited to the same platform.

In the following sections we will explain the process of copying an SAP R/3 system from one platform to another using redirected restore (Figure 2).

The procedure for a cross-platform Heterogeneous System Copy documented here is to be used as a reference along with the SAP installation manuals specific to your platform and to the SAP release you are currently running, as well as the IBM online documentation. In addition, you should review the following OSS notes:

• OSS Note # 316353: latest information on Heterogeneous System Copy
• OSS Note # 201149: 4.6C R/3 Inst. - Homogeneous System Copy
• OSS Note # 5647020: DB6: Homogeneous System Copy with SAPinst
• OSS Note # 73717: DB6: Tools for a System Copy
• OSS Note # 122222: DB2 UDB: Redirected Restore via DB2 CLP
• OSS Note # 516246: SAP Web AS 6.20 - Homogeneous and Heterogeneous System Copy
• OSS Note # 628156: DB6: Cross-Platform System Copy using Backup/Restore
• OSS Note # 95282: DB2/CS: Activity of the DB2 Event monitor for R/3

Preparing to make the System Copy

Before starting the System Copy, be advised of the following:

• To make a System Copy, both SAP systems must have the identical version (source and target[2] systems), and both systems should be on DB2 UDB Version 8.
• The source system must be in a consistent state --that is, it must be shut down completely -- before you make the copy.
• Create the logical volumes and file systems on the target DB2 UDB system to match the sizes of the source database file systems. Note that the file system sizes used will be different from those recommended in the SAP installation document depending on the data volume of the source system. Refer to R/3 Installation on UNIX: IBM DB2 Universal Database for UNIX and Windows for more information.
• Customers must contact SAP to obtain SAP's requirements for the migration (for example, obtain the migration package, have a certified consultant on site). For more information, please review OSS Note # 628156.

Restrictions and limitations

• At the time of this article, there are no SAP installation CDs for 4.6x or earlier available for 64-bit AIX 5L. To copy your system to AIX 5L 64-bit you must follow the manual steps described in Special case.
• To run a System Copy on R/3 Enterprise 470 you must use the same SID for both source and target systems, otherwise you will run into problems when finishing the installation. This article will be updated when a work-around is available.

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Step-by-step instructions

1. Take a full DB2 offline backup of the source system. To obtain an offline backup, you must:
   1. Shut down SAP R/3.
   2. Check that no applications are connected to the database. Do this by entering the command db2 list applications. This command must return with:
      No data was returned by the database system monitor.
   3. Stop DB2 by entering the command db2stop.
   4. Run the backup:
      db2 backup db <SID> to <backup directory>

      See the backup database command in the DB2 online documentation for more information about the backup database command.

2. If your target system is 4.6x or earlier, follow these steps:
   1. Follow the installation instructions in the document SAP R/3 Homogeneous System Copy provided by SAP. (Instead of CENTRDB.R3S or DATABASE.R3S, use the templates CEDBR3CP.R3S for a central and database server, or DBR3CP.R3S for a database server.)

      Example:
      ./R3SETUP -f CEDBR3CP.R3S

      The installation assistant will ask questions that you must answer according to your system's configuration. For guidelines to answer these questions, see R/3 Installation on UNIX: IBM DB2 Universal Database for UNIX and Windows.

   2. R3SETUP will stop at step EXITR3COPY_IND_DB6. Modify and run the redirected restore script to fit the specifications of your target system. (More details and a sample script are provided in the download.)
   3. Complete the installation as described in the SAP R/3 installation guide.
3. If your target system is 4.70:
   1. Install the central instance as described in SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70 Installation on UNIX: DB2 Universal Database for UNIX and Windows. Important: You must have the same SID as the source system.
   2. Follow the instructions as per OSS Note 564720 to modify the file control.xml before installing the database instance.
   3. Run the installation for the database instance, answering the questions as described in the guide until it stops before creating the database.
   4. Modify and run the redirected restore script to fit the specifications of your target system. More details and a sample script are provided in the download.
   5. Complete the installation as described in the SAP installation guide.
4. After the installation is complete, complete the following steps:
   1. Report loads in an SAP system are OS-dependent; you must delete these loads to complete the System Copy. The system will automatically re-create them at first access. To delete the report loads, enter the following commands from the operating system using the DB2 command line processor (CLP):
      • For 4.6x or earlier:
        

        db2 "delete from sapr3.d010l" db2 "delete from sapr3.d010q" db2 "delete from sapr3.d010y" db2 "delete from sapr3.d010linf"

        
        
      • For 4.70:
        

        db2 "import from /dev/null of del replace into <schema_name>.repoload"

        
        
   2. The DB2 event monitors keep information on owners and permissions, which are kept in the database system catalog. To avoid having the event monitors connect to the owner of the source system (rendering them unusable in the target system), drop and recreated them with the instance owner of the target system (follow the instructions in OSS note 95282).

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Special case: System Copy to SAP R/3 4.6C 64-bit on AIX5L

There are no SAP installation CD's for 4.6x or earlier available for 64-bit AIX 5L at the time this article was written (32- bit installation for AIX5L is identical to the 32-bit AIX 4.3.3). If you would like to copy your source system (4.6x or earlier) into 64-bit AIX 5L, follow these manual steps:

1. Take a DB2 backup as described in previous sections.
2. On the target system, run the homogeneous System Copy using the 32- bit AIX Kernel CD provided by SAP.
3. Modify and run the redirected restore script to fit the specifications of your target system. More details along with a sample script are provided in the download.
4. Exchange the 32-bit kernel located on /sapmnt/<SID>/exe with the AIX 5L 64-bit kernel that can be downloaded from SAP MARKETPLACE at http://service.sap.com. Recommendation: Before you replace the kernel, make a backup copy of the exe directory.
5. Copy the executable R3SETUP of the new kernel to the install directory, and complete the installation with the new R3SETUP as described in the SAP install guide.

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Download: Sample redirected restore script

Use the redirected restore tool brdb6brt to generate a script. Run the tool on the original database, as follows:

 
brdb6brt -s <dbname> -bm RETRIEVE -user <instance_owner> -using <passwd> 

After the script is created, use any text editor to change the database name and the paths to the different containers.

To run the script, you can use the DB2 Command Line Processor (CLP) as follows:

 
db2 -tvf <script_file> 

At the bottom of this artice you will find a sample of a redirected restore script. For more information on the script or on the tool brdb6brt, see Chapter 3 of SAP Web Application Server Homogeneous System Copy.

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Conclusion

By providing step-by-step instructions and recommendations, I hope this article helps you with your task of performing Heterogeneous system copies using the redirected restore method available in DB2 UDB.

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Notes

• [ 1] "Big-endian" means that the most significant byte has the lowest address (the word is stored "big-end-first"); most RISC processor are big-endian. Intel microprocessors are little-endian.
• [ 2] The SAP system containing the original database is called the source system and the system to which the database copy is to be imported is called the target system.

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Disclaimer

This article contains sample code. IBM grants you ("Licensee") a non-exclusive, royalty free, license to use this sample code. However, the sample code is provided as-is and without any warranties, whether EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM AND ITS LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES SUFFERED BY LICENSEE THAT RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF THE SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT WILL IBM OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST REVENUE, PROFIT OR DATA, OR FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF IBM HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

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Acknowledgements

An extended team of both IBM and SAP colleagues provided expert advice and consultation for this project. The author would like to acknowledge Liwen Yeow, Joachim Pfefferle and Jan Kritter for their help.

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Appendix: Important issues when installating SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70 or earlier with DB2 UDB V8.1

Because DB2 UDB Version 8 was introduced after the release of SAP Enterprise 4.70, there are a few issues that may arise when you install SAP R/3 Enterprise release 4.70 or earlier with DB2 Version 8. These issues do not apply if you are installing 4.70 SR1 or later.

Table 1 outlines these issues and the workarounds needed to complete a successful installation.

Table 1. Installation issues and solutions

During the installation, you will need to skip a few steps of the installation process to run the step manually according to Table 1 (issues 2, 3, 4, and 6 only). The following explains how to skip a step of the installation. Note that you should practice extreme care when performing the following operation and it should not be used for any other steps. You should also keep a backup copy of the original file before the modifications.

4.6x or earlier:

1. Stop the installation.
2. Open the file <template>.R3S for editing
3. Change the status from ERROR to OK in the section that just failed.

Example:

This section of the CENTRDB.R3S file:

 
... 
[DB6UPDATEDBMCFG_IND_DB6] 
ACTION= 
CLASS=CDB6UpdateDBMConfig 
CONFIRMATION= 
CONFIRMED= 
LIST=Z_DB6UPDATEDBMCFG_IND_DB6 
MSGID=RI_GIST_DB6UPDATEDBMCFG_IND_IND 
STATUS=ERROR     **line to be replaced 
STEP_ENV=DB_ENV 
... 

Should be replaced with:

... 
[DB6UPDATEDBMCFG_IND_DB6] 
ACTION= 
CLASS=CDB6UpdateDBMConfig 
CONFIRMATION= 
CONFIRMED= 
LIST=Z_DB6UPDATEDBMCFG_IND_DB6 
MSGID=RI_GIST_DB6UPDATEDBMCFG_IND_IND 
STATUS=OK           **replacement 
STEP_ENV=DB_ENV 
...

4.70 or later:

1. Stop the installation.
2. Open the file keydb.xml for editing
3. Change the status from ERROR to OK in the section that just failed.

Example:

This section of the keydb.xml file:

 
...
<row> 
      <fld name="STEPKEY"> 
        <strval><![CDATA[R3E|ind|ind|db6|R3E|47|0|SAPComponent|ind|ind|ind|ind| 
        ind|0|DatabaseServer|ind|ind|db6|ind|in 
d|0|Tablespaces|ind|ind|db6|ind|ind|0|CreateTablespaces]]> 
        </strval> 
      </fld> 
      <fld name="STATUS"> 
        <strval><![CDATA[ERROR]]>  **line to be replaced 
        </strval> 
      </fld> 
    </row> 
 ... 

should be replaced with:

 
 ... 
<row> 
      <fld name="STEPKEY"> 
        <strval><![CDATA[R3E|ind|ind|db6|R3E|47|0|SAPComponent|ind|ind|ind|ind|ind 
        |0|DatabaseServer|ind|ind|db6|ind|in 
d|0|Tablespaces|ind|ind|db6|ind|ind|0|CreateTablespaces]]> 
        </strval> 
      </fld> 
      <fld name="STATUS"> 
        <strval><![CDATA[OK]]> **replacement 
        </strval> 
      </fld> 
    </row> 
        ... 
 

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Download

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About the author

Marianne Nesiem is a member of the IBM SAP Integration and Support Centre at the IBM Toronto Lab. Her current activities are integration testing of SAP's R/3 with IBM's DB2 and helping customers with problem analysis and troubleshooting. She also is a customer advocate providing custom tailored support for large customer accounts running SAP & DB2. She is a DB2 Certified Solution Expert, a system administrator, mostly for UNIX and has experience in application development on Java for databases and other applications. You can reach Marianne at aboukeer at ca.ibm.com.

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Table of contents

• Introduction
• Overview
• Step-by-step instructions
• Special case: System Copy to SAP R/3 4.6C 64-bit on AIX5L
• Download: Sample redirected restore script
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Disclaimer
• Acknowledgements
• Appendix: Important issues when installating SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70 or earlier with DB2 UDB V8.1
• Download
• About the author
• Comments

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