Software Update Manager (SUM): introducing the tool for software maintenance

[Boris_Rubarth]

Software Update Manager (SUM) introduction

Read this short blog to get a general understanding on what SUM is and when to use it.

System Maintenance

The Software Update Manager is the tool for system maintenance:

• Release uprade (major release change)


• System update (EHP installation)


• applying Support Packages (SPs) / Support Package Stacks


• applying Java patches


• correction of installed software information


• combine update and migration to SAP HANA (DMO: Database Migration Option)


• System Conversion from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA

The term update is the generic term for all of these activities, and it is used in the SUM documentation as well.

SUM is used for all SAP NetWeaver based systems, so systems either based on AS ABAP, or AS Java, or based on a dual-stack system.

Note: in September 2017, SUM 2.0 was introduced. Both SUM 1.0 and 2.0 are offered in parallel. Check the following blog on SUM 2.0: https://blogs.sap.com/2017/08/10/sum-in-the-family-way/

ℹ Note:
"Software Update Manager for SAP HANA" was a different tool (see Distinguish SUM and SUM for SAP HANA).

Successor of other tools

The Software Update Manager replaces tools for upgrade, update, and implementing SPs:

• SAPehpi: SAP Enhancement Package Installer


• SAPup: tool for upgrading ABAP-based systems


• SAPJup: tool for upgrading Java-based systems


• JSPM: Java Support Package Manager


• CEupdateManager: tool for updating Composition Environment systems


• SolManUp: tool for updating and upgrading SAP Solution Manager systems

Availability

The Software Update Manager is available since 2011

• as part of the Software Logistics Toolset 1.0


• in the Maintenance Planner download list


• frequently updated (approximately three times a year)


• The actual available versions of SUM 1.0 and 2.0 are always listed on the SAP Support Portal page http://support.sap.com/sltoolset

ℹ Software Logistics Toolset:

Read The Delivery Channel for Software Logistics Tools: "Software Logistics Toolset 1.0" for an overview on the SL Toolset. Check http://support.sap.com/sltoolset to find the latest versions of the tools, the documentation, and the appropriate SAP Note.

Overview on SUM procedure

1. Plan your maintenance activity (Maintenance Planner)


2. Download the SUM and the documentation from http://support.sap.com/sltoolset


3. Extract the archive to a folder on the primary application server of your SAP system


4. Update SAP Host Agent to latest patch level; configure SAP Host Agent (see guide);


5. Connect from your local PC via browser


6. Configure the SUM, especially point to the stack.xml as result of Maintenance Planner


7. Execute the maintenance on your system


8. If adequate, provide feedback to SAP using the prepared form in SUM

Further blogs and information

• The respective SAP Notes for the recent version of SUM 1.0 and 2.0 are always listed on the SAP Support Portal page http://support.sap.com/sltoolset


• Documentation: guides for SUM
  
  
  
  
  • SUM 1.1 guides
  
  
  • SUM 2.0 guides
  
  
  
  


• Relevant information for SUM:
  Best Practices for Upgrading SAP Systems


• Introduction to shadow system for ABAP based systems:
  SUM: introduction to shadow system


• Details about the Process Overview:
  Get to Know the Process Overview Reporting in Software Update Manager


• SUM asks for SAP Notes that cannot be applied?
  Provide SAP Notes for SUM by transport, not SNOTE


• DMO: database migration option:
  Database Migration Option (DMO) of SUM - Introduction


• DOO: deployment optimization option:
  DOO: upgrade and optimize your AS Java based system


• nZDM with SUM:
  Near-Zero Downtime Maintenance for SAP Business Suite Systems


• nZDM with SUM: video from SAP TechEd 2012 (Las Vegas) session ALM216:
  http://www.sapvirtualevents.com/teched/sessiondetails.aspx?sId=3419


• Customer transports inclusion:
  Import of customer transports for upgrades and customer releases available in SUM


• ZDO: Zero Downtime Option for SAP S/4HANA updates:
  https://blogs.sap.com/2019/01/18/leveraging-zero-downtime-option-of-sum-for-sap-s4hana-support-packa...

 

Regards, Boris Rubarth
[Product Manager for Software Logistics, SAP SE]

[former_member196567]

Dear Boris,

thank you for providing this valuable source of information about SUM. As someone whose daily business consists of SAP system maintenance I greatly appreciate your work and hope you keep this blog alive.

Cheers

Petros

[Former Member]

Boris,

I agree with the above poster. Thank you for sharing the above information and fully informing those trying to find good information on SUM.

Zach

[former_member2395]

Hello Boris,

Thanks for providing complete information about SUM.

Regards,

Vivekanand Pandey

[Former Member]

Thanks for providing the information. SAP has included SUM in Maintenance Optimizer (MOpz) it gets added automatically.

[Boris_Rubarth]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, as mentioned in the blog, the MOpz includes the latest SUM version for several scenarios (e.g. when updating to latest Business Suite version), but currently not yet for all scenarios.

Regards, Boris

[former_member196701]

Thanks for providing the detailed information.

[Former Member]

Hello Boris,

the SUM is very well. Currently I updated the SAP NW Portal 7.4 easy without problems but I have a question about SUM.

In a recent update phases - the message came up: Please save the db and the SUM directory.

Why must be secured using the SUM directory?

Why can not you just delete the directory SUM?

Regards Richard

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hello Richard,

thanks for the feedback as well as for the question.

You have to have the database restore point in sync with the SUM folder.

The SUM processes/changes the database (among others), and if you have to restore the database, the status of the SUM has to be in sync with the status of the database. If you "just" restore the database, but do not replace the SUM folder, the SUM presumes the database to be in a later point in time then it actually is.

Regards, Boris

[Former Member]

Really a very good insight into the new topic.

Cheers,

Prem

[Former Member]

Hello Boris,

thank you for your answer, Following situation:

After the upgrade all test are ok and the system is free for all - Is it now possible to delete the SUM folder? Thank you for your patience with me!

Regards

Richard

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hello Richard,

you may delete the SUM folder. But you may want to keep the folder:

• to later analyze the runtime (process overview):
  Get to Know the Process Overview Reporting in Software Update Manager
• to reuse the profile of the shadow instance for the next run

Regards, Boris

[former_member193518]

Is it possible that just a cut down set of directories are required for runtime analysis purposes?
My SUM folders are extremely large (>20GB) which is a waste of disk space.

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hello Darryl,

for the runtime analysis purpose, you do not have to keep the complete folder.
UPGANA.xml and UpgAnalysis.xsl from folder SUM\abap\htdoc\ are sufficient, as explained in the document referenced above (process overview).

Rgds, Boris

[anvardheen_jabarullah]

Thanks Boris for your valuable guide for getting the clear view about SUM.

I have few questions listed below

1) Can We use SUM 1.0 SP09 in the lower version of EhP like EhP1,EhP2,EhP3 ....

2)Stack xml file can be generated from systems like EhP1,EhP2,EhP3 ....

[Matt_Fraser]

Hi Boris,

How does one reuse SUM for further maintenance?  Is it necessary to delete the SUM folder and then re-extract it each time we use it?  Currently, having used it once in the current patch level to apply a Java patch for a system, now I am preparing to use it again to apply a whole sp stack.  There is no newer patch for SUM, so I intended to reuse the one I've already installed.  However, each time I launch it, after logging on to the GUI, it simply shuts down with no error in the logs.  I'm about to delete it and re-install it, but this seems like a problem to have to do this each time we apply a patch.

Regards,

Matt

[former_member193518]

Hi Matt,

At the end of the SUM upgrade process, there's a screen with the funny "YOUR UPDATE IS COMPLETE" text surrounded by "*********" in a lovely formation.

On that screen it gives the option to "Cleanup and start afresh", but I've never selected this option for fear of losing the timing stats and other stuff.

Maybe this would do something along the lines of what you're looking for??  Not sure, maybe someone with more guts has selected that option and can explain what it does.

Darryl

[Matt_Fraser]

Hi Darryl,

I found this other thread where someone else asked the question, and Boris responded:

SUM terminates after welcome screen

So, it appears that, for now at least, the tool is meant to be single-use, deleted and re-extracted for subsequent uses.  I suppose that does encourage updating to the latest patch each time.

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Matt,

as you have already written below: we want you to always consider the latest SUM patch.

Apart from that, development is evaluating to offer a reuse of the SUM folder for the use case of the manual inbox scenario (i.e. AS Java patching without stack.xml, see SAP Note 1641062).

Regards, Boris

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hello Dheen,

1) Yes.

The possible scenarios (start and target releases) are described in the respective SAP Note for SUM - for SUM SP09 that is SAP Note 1843776 (logon required). The attachment of the note shows a graphical representation of supported start and target releases.

2) Not sure what the question is here: in general you always have to generate a stack.xml first, using the Maintenance Optimizer in SAP Solution Manager. That is particulary true for SAP Business Suite systems with enhancement packages.

Regards, Boris

[Former Member]

Hi Boris,

Good Day!

Thanks for sharing about SUM and Overview. I will go through all the documents and update you later. Keep sharing ! I appreciate all your efforts & time.

Regards,

Hari Suseelan

[anvardheen_jabarullah]

Thanks Boris for more information.

Just I have read one document in that mentioned stack file can be generated only from the EhP4 thats why I asked this Q.

Plz correct me if my undersatnding is wrong..

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Dheen,

please provide the source for such statement, as this does not sound reasonable.

Rgds, Boris

[sri_harsha6]

Hi Boris,

Thank you for posting a good reference on SUM. please help me to clear my doubt.

Is there any possibility to install single ABAP ADD-ON component using SUM ?

Cheers,

Harsha

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Harsha,

please use ABAP transaction SAINT for the installation of an Add-On. SUM is the tool for maintenance, but not for installation.

Cheers, Boris

[Former Member]

Hi Boris,

ok for Add-on installation is the transaction SAINT to use.

How is the futur with the maintenance transaction SPAM ?

Regards,

Richard

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Richard,

for most scenarios on AS ABAP, SUM and SPAM can both be used. SAP Note 1803986 (SMP logon required) discusses details and lists latest news.

Example: for a scenario that includes SAP NetWeaver 7.40 SP05 (in the import queue), you cannot use SPAM. That means for a 7.40 system:

• SP0x -> SP04: SPAM or SUM
• SP0x -> SP05: only SUM
• SP0x -> SP06: only SUM
• SP05 -> SP06: SPAM or SUM

where SP0x is something between SP00 and SP04.

Regards, Boris

[mohankumar_gudeti]

Hi Boris,

Really nice information. Thanks for your time in maintaining this blog.

In your last reply, It's mentioned SUM has to be used mandatorily for applying NW 7.40 SP 05. And for everything else SPAM can also be used. Is there any technical reason behind this enforcement of SUM usage for SP05?.

Regards,

Mohan

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Mohan,

7.40 SP05 includes some changes that SPAM cannot apply, like DDIC changes, to deliver functionality like Core Data Services and others.

Regards, Boris

[philip_seman]

Once you start using SUM, and have specified the background/foreground processes, is it possible to adjust these again if you find you over commit the upgrade and slow the business side down say when you get into the preprocessing steps?

[martin_E]

Hi Phillip,

A bit off-topic, but it might give you some clues on where to look for the answers.

My experience is that both SUM and SWPM are 'just' front-ends for setting up parameter files for a set of tasks that are then initiated via SUM / SWPM. For example, when running a system copy via SWPM, you specify the number of parallel R3Load processes. This gets written to the export_monitor_cmd.properties (or import_monitor_cmd.properties) file in the sapinst directory. If you want to change the number of R3Load processes after the export / import has started, you change the jobNum parameter in these files. Obviously, reducing the number only takes effect as R3Load processes currently running finish, but increasing the number takes effect almost immediately.

In the case of SUM, have a look at the contents of your SUM directory for the control files for whatever process you are doing and examine them; You may find a similar parameter.

HTH

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Philip,

did you check the documentation?  🙂

Appendix A.3.2 Configuring Parallel Processes during the Runtime

"SAPup set propcar gt=scroll"

Regards, Boris

[Former Member]

Hi Boris,

can you point where can I download the SUM? because following the instructions led me to the patches only and not the main installer itself. It would help me alot! thanks!

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Maix,

I understand that it may be confusing, but the patch is already the SUM archive! Each SUM SP is the complete archive, which only has to be extracted, and no need to do an installation for patching.

Following the quicklink /sltoolset (guess that is what you did) and then SL Toolset 1.0, the download link in the table nearby SUM leads to the SUM section in SWDC.

In general, the SWDC has two sections:

• Support Packages and Patches
• Installations and Upgrades

The  SUM archive is listed in the area "Support Packages Patches" because the SUM doesn't have to be installed.

Regards, Boris

[Former Member]

OMG! you confused me even deeper Boris. Hahaha

SUM doesnt have to be installed? I am really lost. please help me.

I have downloaded the latest version SUM10SP10_5xxxxx.SAR and when I extracted it, it gave me a .PAT file. Now here's my question, what am I going to do with that .PAT file? Help me pretty pretty please with a cherry on top, Boris.

[Boris_Rubarth]

Indeed a PAT file is not what I expect, and not what I get when using SAPCAR:

sapcar.exe -xvf SUM10SP10_5xxxxx.SAR

Did you use sapcar as well?

[Former Member]

Yes Boris,

extracted using the command sapcar -xvf <path>\SUM10SP10_5-20006676.SAR

and gave me CSR0120031469_0064908.PAT

I dont know what to do next.. :sad:

[Former Member]

Hi Boris,

I have extracted the file again. this time I added the .exe in the end of the sapcar command and it worked!!!!

Thank you so much!!!

[former_member189725]

Hi Boris,

I am upgrading from NW 7.31 SP6 to NW 7.4 SP7 using SUM 1.0 SP10 patch8.

I have encountered a new dialog screen shown below.

I have selected "Transport mode" for this upgrade. Can you please let me understand the concept/significance of this dialog.

Thanks in advance

Regards

Ratnajit

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Ratnajit,

this dialog is not a new one, it is just seldomly shown. It appears in cases in which the SUM does not know how to interprete the stack.xml file.

Regards, Boris

[Former Member]

Hello Boris,

I have performed the stack upgrade for Solution Manager using SUM tool and it was done successfully. After few days I face some issue due to which I have to restore the backup taken during SUM - Execution phase (5.6) and now the solution manager system is up but if I try to apply sap note using snote it gives message "Cannot implement/deimplement notes; upgrade running". Can you please suggest which steps I need to execute to make the system as productive.

Regards,

Shubham

[Former Member]

Unfortunately, Software Update Manager 1.0 SP11 requests a keyword to be found in note 1926261, but this note is not available: "Document is not released"...

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Thierry,

if this happens, then the SAP Note is being updated, which will not take long. The SAP Note is released meanwhile.

Regards, Boris

[former_member184680]

I have to upgrade a Netweaver 04 (6.40) AS ABAP to Netweaver 04s (7.0 EHP1).

The SUM SP12 only supports a upgrade to NW 7.3? Is that right?

I try to use SAPup with the MOpz stack file and it needs a "EHP Key". Where can I find this key?

Regards, Patrick

[Boris_Rubarth]

Hi Patrick,

correct, this path is not supported by SUM.

Please check SAP Notes 1146578 and 1146580 for this scenario.

Regards, Boris

[former_member184544]

Hi Boris,

I am writing this to highlight an issue we are facing with SUM SP10.I dont know if it still exxists with the current SUM.We see some tables like BKPF are getting converted during downtime in PARCONV phase even though we choose ICNV option during the Configuration phase of SUM. We raised a message with SAP but since the past 15 days we have got no answer from SAP.The message no is 1072982 / 2014 .

Hope you could help us the message is open since 15 days and no progress has been made hope you can help me and our project in fixing the issue.I am sorry if this was the wrong forum or wrong channel for communication.

[damovand]

Hello,

I cannot start SUM when I try http://< hostname>:4239 I get “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage”.  I am trying to upgrade our test system for SAP
global support which is currently  on NetWeaver 7.4 to SP08.  I downloaded the SUM SP12  for Windows 64 bit, unpacked it and placed it in c:\usr\sap\<SID>.   

I installed the server myself but it is a simple single server with Sybase database and application server installed on the same VC image.  So I haven't configured many services and I think there are at least a few steps that are missing in the configuration of the NW appserver.  But I cannot find any clear instructions what is needed for SUM to work.  

Please kindly let me know which installation guide or online reference I can use to setup the rest of my web server correctly for SUM.  I just need to know which information is relevant and then I can follow the instructions. Thank you very much in advance

Best Regards,

Leila Lappin

[philip_seman]

You can just unpack the SUM file to it's own directory. By default, it creates the SUM folder itself, so you don't need to move it to a specific location. Run the startup.bat file in the SUM folder first, it takes a minute to start, and leave the window open, then you should be able to go to the webpage to start the upgrade.

[Former Member]

Boris,

Can I use DMO for Oracle/DB2 to ASE system copy, or is it pre-configured for HANA migration alone?  Are there specific documentations on that?  Which is the best migration orchestrating tool for this - DMO or SWPM?  Does it depend on source software versions?

I'd appreciate having a chat on this.

Thank you,

Andrew

[Boris_Rubarth]

Andrew,

as you already found out: SAP Note 1813548 on DMO states the possibility to use DMO to migrate to ASE - available on request, and with restrictions.

Kind regards, Boris

[Former Member]

Boris,

Will Java source systems be integrated into DMO at some point (near future)?  Any roadmap for that?

Thanks,

Andrew