Setting up a plan for implementing Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is not easy because so much of the functionality requires that previous essential building blocks already be correctly installed and up to date. Very often this is not the case, which leads to misinformation and failure.

I’ll describe what you should do or verify, and the sequence in which you should do it, to build up the functionality so that RCA is effective. Note that the procedures described in transaction SOLMAN_SETUP in SAP Solution Manager for RCA must be the entry point for RCA setup. This article complements this transaction by providing a path to follow that also explains the reasons for carrying out the steps of configuration. I also want to emphasize the importance of considering the holistic nature of the entire SAP landscape when setting up RCA. It requires the following eight-step process:

• Step 1. Ensure or install correct versions of the software
• Step 2. Set up and configure the System Landscape Directory (SLD), including Common Information Model (CIM) updates
• Step 3. Check transaction SMSY for system definitions of satellite systems
• Step 4. Ensure that RCA on the SAP Solution Manager host is correctly installed
• Step 5. Ensure that Wily Introscope Enterprise Manager (Wily Introscope EM) is correctly installed
• Step 6. Install or check that the SAP Solution Manager Diagnostic (SMD) agent and SAPHOSTAGENT agent are correctly installed
• Step 7. Conclude setup with managed system setup, notably by registering the SMD agent and distributing ISAGENT
• Step 8. Check RCA workload data

Step 1. Ensure or Install Correct Versions of the Software

Before you start work on configuration, you should make sure that you are using the most up-to-date toolset provided by SAP. Generally, problems that arise are due to functionality that is not provided for in older versions. Take your time with this step and schedule enough time in which to perform the updates. Use the SAP Service Marketplace to ensure that you are up to date.

Before beginning configuration it is important to ensure that there is a solid, up-to-date foundation with the necessary hardware capability for your landscape. This is the foundation from which the functionality grows, and adequate attention should be given to make sure it is correct. Spending time now will save you time and effort later in the process. Pay particular attention to the Java stack of SAP Solution Manager and ensure that components such as LM-SERVICE are up to date.

Step 2. Set Up and Configure the SLD, Including CIM Updates

Ensure that SAP Solution Manager hosts its own SLD and that the satellite systems’ definitions are forwarded to the SAP Solution Manager SLD from the master SLD. The location of your master SLD depends on your architecture, but do not make SAP Solution Manager the master SLD. Setting up the location of the master SLD is the responsibility of the system architect. Its position is determined by the landscape and available resources, but I do not advise locating the master SLD on SAP Solution Manager. This is because the SLD is central to the landscape, so it should be treated as productive in its own right. Think of SAP Solution Manager as tapping into the information provided by the productive SLD because the productive SLD is serving the entire landscape and not just SAP Solution Manager.

If you are just setting up the landscape and there is no master SLD, you can create one or update an existing SLD. In the future, you can reset the links between SLDs on the satellite systems when your productive SLD is in place — but because the SLD is important to the overall architecture, do this early when you develop your landscape and certainly long before you go live.

The CIM is an open standard. The standard describes a common model for information on various areas in a managed enterprise environment, such as a database. The SLD content is organized according to this standard and into CIM-based classes, since information about non-SAP systems also needs to be stored in the SLD. An SAP product, for instance, is stored in the SLD as an instance of the CIM class SAP_Product. SAP has published very good user manuals on how to maintain the SLD, but basically a CIM update entails downloading a .zip file from the SAP Service Marketplace with updated component information, and then uploading it into your SLD. There is an excellent SAPexperts IT article on this subject called “A System Administrator’s Practical Guide to SAP System Landscape Directory,” by Dr. George Yu, a solution technology architect at SAP Labs.  

Figure 1 represents how the basic SLD architecture should look once it is correctly configured for RCA. Note that SAP Solution Manager derives the system definitions for transaction SMSY directly from its own SLD. As stated earlier, your system architect should ensure that this configuration for RCA is in place and the necessary architecture diagrams are made known to the system administrators.

Figure 1

Schematic of correct configuration of SLD with respect to RCA

Step 3. Check Transaction SMSY for System Definitions of Satellite Systems

To check that system definitions are being retrieved locally, you should look at the Remote Function Call (RFC) SM59 setting for SLD connections on the SAP Solution Manager system. These connections should point to the SAP Solution Manager server that is hosting its own SLD. Generally this is the same host on which SAP Solution Manager is installed. In Figure 1, the SAP Solution Manager SLD is maintained from the productive SLD via SLD bridge forwarding, and SAP Solution Manager then retrieves system information from its local SLD.

Making sure that the system definitions in transaction SMSY are correct is critical for the data being stored for RCA. You should try to make this a standalone seamless process. For instance, an update is performed to one of the components on the managed satellite system. Within an hour and without intervention, this same update is reflected in transaction SMSY on SAP Solution Manager, and all relevant SLDs are updated.

There is a trick for correcting these definitions in transaction SMSY if you are having trouble with them: you can completely delete the system definition within SAP Solution Manager transaction SMSY and then run the LANDSCAPE FETCH job again on SAP Solution Manager to rebuild the definition from the SLD. Be careful when doing this, as any data related to the system definition as part of a logical component (which may or may not be linked to a solution) will be lost, such as EarlyWatch Alert (EWA) reports.

Step 4. Ensure RCA on the SAP Solution Manager Host Is Correctly Installed

To ensure that RCA has been installed correctly, first check transaction SOLMAN_SETUP to review what actions have been performed. Very often, only some of the configuration has occurred. If this is the case, I suggest that you review Labinot’s article on guided setup, specifically looking at Figure 20, and follow the steps outlined in transaction SOLMAN_SETUP as Labinot explains. Note that it is far easier to set up RCA correctly from scratch rather than to repair a badly configured one, so stick to the standards for configuration the first time you set it up.

Generally, it is OK to rerun most of the transaction to resolve issues, but be aware of some of the ramifications of rerunning the setup engines, such as resetting configuration manually put in place. An example of this would be if you need to reset the way in which SAP Solution Manager retrieves data from the SLD. If in the past it incorrectly retrieved system information in transaction SMSY directly from the master SLD and not the local SAP Solution Manager SLD, you can rerun the relevant steps in transaction SOLMAN_SETUP to correctly reset this configuration. However, make sure that the local SAP Solution Manager SLD is correctly configured and populated before doing so.

Step 5. Ensure That Wily Introscope EM Is Correctly Installed

Check that Wily Introscope EM is installed, and if not, then install it. You can usually check this on the host using a URL (e.g., https://localhost:8081/webview) from your desktop browser to port 8081. You can also check on the host filesystem (i.e., where all the executables are placed) to see where Wily Introscope EM is installed — it’s usually in the directory /usr/sap/ccms/wilyintroscope. To determine the Wily Introscope EM version, look at the log files generated at startup.

A common misunderstanding with Wily Introscope EM is that the collected data is stored in a database. It does not use a database — it stores all its data in raw files on the host’s filesystem in special datastore files. When the Wily webview is interrogated, for instance, it is this data — not the data on SAP Solution Manager — that is being reviewed.

After RCA has been set up and Wily Introscope EM is running, you can start to install or check the existence and versions of the agents that push data from the satellite systems into SAP Solution Manager for storage and analysis.

Step 6. Install or Check That the SMD Agent and SAPHOSTAGENT Agent Are Correctly Installed

Depending on which SAP Solution Manager system and satellite systems versions you are using, ensure that the correct versions of SAPHOSTAGENT and SMD agents are installed. For instance, for agents for SAP NetWeaver 7.1 with enhancement package 1 and SAP NetWeaver 7.0 with enhancement package 2, the system ID is usually DAA. For older versions, such as SAP NetWeaver 7.0 with enhancement package 1, the system ID is SMD. Table 1 can help you make this decision, but you should also check SAP Service Marketplace for the latest information.

Table 1

Choose the correct version of agents to be installed for each combination of SAP Solution Manager and satellite system

SAP does ship smaller installation packages specifically for SMD and SAPHOSTAGENT agent installation. Before you begin downloading large installation DVDs, see what your options are. You can find more information about this by checking the links at https://service.sap.com/solutionmanager.

SAP recently changed the structure of how it collects operating system (OS) information for RCA. SapHostExec, a part of the SAPHOSTAGENT, was introduced to control saposcol, which collects OS information for RCA. It operates in conjunction with the SMD agent. To see operating information for later versions of SAP systems in Workload Analysis of RCA, both agents must reside on the satellite system. The SAPHOSTAGENT is automatically installed during the installation of all SAP NetWeaver 7.1 components. Figures 2 and 3 show where to install SAPHOSTAGENT and SMD agents from the smaller installation package, respectively.

Figure 2

Example of sapsetup for SAPHOSTAGENT installation

Figure 3

Example of sapsetup for SMD agent installation

The rule of thumb for installing agents is that you should install an agent on each host running a central instance or a dialog instance. Do not install agents on pure database servers or hosts that only run services. Another rule is that each SMD agent can report to only one SAP Solution Manager system. Again, your system architect should factor these considerations in when designing the landscape.

Step 7. Conclude Setup with Managed System Setup

Immediately after the agents have been installed and are running, you must register them in SAP Solution Manager. This is known as the managed system setup. Do not leave this task outstanding because it is important that the entire installation process is complete for each satellite system. Labinot describes this procedure effectively in his article on managed system setup, specifically in Figure 34. Also, remember to distribute ISAGENT, the Wily Introscope Agent, as soon as the managed system setup is complete.

Step 8. Check RCA Workload Data

The final task, and the proof that data is being stored correctly for RCA, is to look at the data being captured in Workload Analysis. You should wait approximately one hour before you check for the existence of some data, which will be displayed graphically. If you do not get any data, then there is an error in your setup. Troubleshooting why data is not being received for RCA is not an easy task, so I advise you to work logically and carefully during the initial setup of your RCA.

Jim Baxter

Jim Baxter is an independent SAP Basis consultant with a wide variety of experience in SAP Solution Manager setup and functionality. He is certified in the Implementation Tool and Root Cause Analysis and has worked on Service Desk setup for SAP value-added resellers.

You may contact the author at jim.baxter@ulapha.co.za.

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