Role sap_install_app_server

After the initial install of an SAP system, you can add or remove additional application servers for that SAP system to distribute the workload better when the usage of the SAP system increases or decreases. The SAP Software Provisioning Manager (SWPM) is offering options to install or uninstall SAP application servers for an existing SAP system. For more information about the SWPM, see the SAP documentation at the link SAP Software Logistics - Software Provisioning.

Typically, the SWPM is used as an interactive tool which takes the input from the SAP administrator to perform the selected installation activity. Besides that, the SWPM can be executed in unattended mode and process a parameter input file that has been prepared prior to the actual execution. For more information about the unattended mode for the SWPM, see SAP Note 2230669 and the SAP Installation Documentation, section “System Provisioning Using a Parameter Input File”.

The role sap_install_app_server is installing or uninstalling additional application servers on IBM i using the SWPM in unattended mode. To execute the SWPM in unattended mode, the role is using a parameter input file called “inifile.params”. The role sap_install_app_server can create its own input file based on Ansible input variables during its execution or use an already existing input file that has been created by the SWPM previously.

Currently, installations for additional SAP ABAP application servers based on SAP NetWeaver 7.4 and higher are supported with a database of type IBM Db2 for i or SAP HANA. The role sap_install_app_server only supports SWPM 1.0, SWPM 2.0 is not supported with this role.

If the SWPM is executed in unattended mode by Ansible and an error occurs, you will have to check the SWPM installation directory for the cause, like in a manual installation. After correcting the error, you can restart the Ansible playbook again, and the SWPM will continue the current installation in unattended mode at the point of the failure.

Table of contents

• Role sap_install_app_server

  • Requirements

  • Tags

  • Variables

  • Defaults

  • Dependencies

  • Example Playbooks

  • Additional Information

  • License

  • Author Information

  • Copyright

Requirements

This role is intended for the operating system IBM i. The target system must be enabled to execute Ansible playbooks. For details, see the prerequisites section in Ansible Content for IBM Power Systems - IBM i with SAP Software.

The role sap_install_app_server must be executed as user profile QSECOFR or a user profile with similar authorities, user class *SECOFR or at least special authorities *ALLOBJ, *SECADM and *JOBCTL. Additionally, the user must have the following parameters defined: OWNER(*USRPRF) LANGID(ENU) CNTRYID(US) CCSID(500) LOCALE(*NONE).

To create a new user profile use the following command:

CRTUSRPRF USRPRF(<user profile name>) PASSWORD(<password>) USRCLS(*SECOFR) TEXT('SAP installation user used by Ansible') SPCAUT(*USRCLS) OWNER(*USRPRF) LANGID(ENU) CNTRYID(US) CCSID(500) LOCALE(*NONE)

To adjust an already existing user profile with sufficient authorities, use the following command:

CHGUSRPRF USRPRF(<user profile name>) OWNER(*USRPRF) LANGID(ENU) CNTRYID(US) CCSID(500) LOCALE(*NONE)

The host must have enough free space on disk to store and execute an SAP application server. The amount of storage needed depends on many factors, such as number of active SAP users, the number of SAP work processes and SAP buffer sizes.

A current version of the SAP Host Agent must be installed.

The database, ASCS instance and primary application server instance (or the central instance) of the SAP system must be installed. At least the ASCS instance of the SAP system must be active.

The global directories of the SAP system (/sapmnt/<sid>/exe, /sapmnt/<sid>/global, /sapmnt/<sid>/j2ee and /sapmnt/<sid>/profile) must be accessible by the installation user from the managed node.

Tags

Specify one of the following tags to specify if you want to install or uninstall an additional application server. If you do not specify a tag, an error message will be sent.

Tag	Usage
sap_install_app_server	Install an additional SAP application server.
sap_uninstall_app_server	Remove an existing SAP application server and its components.

Variables

Variable	Usage	Required
insappsvr_input_install_mode	Reuse or create input parameter file for the unattended mode: reuseInifile = An already existing file inifile.params will be used. createInifile = A new file inifile.params will be created base on the other input variables.	Yes 1
insappsvr_dir_swpm_managednode	Directory where the SWPM software is located.	Yes 2
insappsvr_logfile_path	Temporary directory path where installation and uninstall logs and data are saved.	No 1
insappsvr_input_sap_sid	The SAP SID of the SAP system used for the installation of the additional application server.	Yes 7
insappsvr_input_file_inifile	Directory where the prepared files inifile.params and instkey.pkey are located.	Yes 7 3
insappsvr_input_initfile_NW_AS_instanceNumber	The SAP instance number of the SAP instance to be installed.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_nwUsers_sapsysGID	Group ID (GID) of the SAP user profile SAPSYS.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_nwUsers_sapsysGID	User ID (UID) of the SAP user profile <SAPSID>ADM.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_NW_GetMasterPassword	Encrypted master password used by the SWPM.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_SAPInstDes25Hash	Encryption string of the file inifile.params used by the SWPM.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_instkey	Encryption string of the instkey.pkey used by the SWPM.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_SAPDBType	The SAP database type (DB4 for IBM Db2 for i or HDB for SAP HANA).	Yes 7 5
insappsvr_input_NW_release	The SWPM Product ID needed for the SAP release of the SAP system.	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_dir_hdbclient_managednode	Directory where the HANA database client media is located (only used with SAP HANA).	Yes 7 6 4
insappsvr_input_dir_downloadbasket_managednode	Directory where the IGSHELPER.SAR archive is located.	Yes 7 6 4
insappsvr_input_HDB_Schema_schemaName	The SAP HANA database schema (only used with SAP HANA).	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_HDB_Schema_schemaPassword	Encrypted password of SAP HANA database schema (only used with SAP HANA).	Yes 7 4
insappsvr_input_HDB_getDBInfo_instanceNumber	The HDB instance number (only used with SAP HANA).	Yes 7 4
uninsappsvr_input_sap_sid	The SAP SID of the SAP system used for the uninstall of an application server.	Yes 8
uninsappsvr_input_file_inifile	Directory where the files inifile.params and instkey.pkey for the uninstall are located.	Yes 8 3
uninsappsvr_input_initfile_NW_AS_instanceNumber	The SAP instance number of the SAP instance to be uninstalled.	Yes 8 4

Remarks:

1(1,2)

Default provided.

2

Required software and the location of the software has to be provided.

3(1,2)

Only needed in mode reuseInifile.

4(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13)

Only needed in mode createInifile. For encrypted data like passwords, the data has to be copied directly from the SWPM generated files inifile.params and instkey.pkey!

5

Only needed in mode createInifile. Default provided.

6(1,2)

Use only SAP media and SAP archives which are compatible with the target SAP system (the most current patch level of the version which was initially used to setup the SAP system).

7(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15)

Only needed for the installation of an additional application server.

8(1,2,3)

Only needed for the uninstall of an existing application server.

Defaults

Suggested default values are provided in defaults/main.yml:

Variable	Default
insappsvr_input_install_mode	"reuseInifile"
insappsvr_logfile_path	"/tmp/Ansible/SWPM"
insappsvr_input_SAPDBType	"DB4"

The file defaults/main.yml contains more entries, but the values for the other variables are set to empty strings. These entries are required to ensure complete contents in inifile.params when variable insappsvr_input_install_mode is set to createInifile. It is in the responsibility of the playbook to set meaningful values as required for the selected operation.

Dependencies

None.

Example Playbooks

SAP Installation

Example Playbook for the installation of the SAP additional application server reusing an existing inifile.params and the related instkey.pkey

The example playbook is used to install an additional application server for an already installed SAP system with the SAP system ID (SID) PRD on a host named ibmiserver02.mycorp.com. The underlying database is IBM Db2 for i. It is based on the assumption that a configuration file and an inventory file with contents similar to the configuration documentation exist in the current directory. During the installation, a previously prepared file name inifile.params will be used. For more information how to create an inifile.params file, see SAP Note 2230669. Make sure that the software locations defined in the file inifile.params are available. The example playbook in the current directory is named sap_install_app_server_reuseInifile.yml and has the following contents:

- name: Install SAP Additional Application Server
  hosts: ibmiserver02.mycorp.com
  vars:
   - insappsvr_input_install_mode: "reuseInifile"
   - insappsvr_input_sap_sid: "PRD"
   - insappsvr_dir_swpm_managednode: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/SWPM10"
   - insappsvr_input_file_inifile: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/inifiles/PRD/inst/07/inifile.params"
  roles:
   - role: <ansible_dir>/roles/sap_install_app_server

Note: Due to a glitch in the SWPM, the location of the SAP HANA DB client media will not be automatically saved in inifile.params after is has been specified during the installation dialog. Add the following line manually to inifile.params before using it with this Ansible role:

SAPINST.CD.PACKAGE.RDBMS-HDB-CLIENT=<SAP_HANA_DB_Client_Media_Directory>

This is also explained in the SAP installation documentation.

To execute this playbook, enter the command:

ansible-playbook --verbose sap_install_app_server_reuseInifile.yml -t sap_install_app_server

Example Playbook for the installation of the SAP additional application server creating its own inifile.params and the related instkey.pkey

The example playbook is used to install an additional application server for an already installed SAP system with the SAP system ID (SID) PRD on a host named ibmiserver02.mycorp.com. The underlying database is SAP HANA. It is based on the assumption that a configuration file and an inventory file with contents similar to the configuration documentation exist in the current directory. During the installation, the installation parameter file inifile.params will be created based on the specified parameters. For more information how to create an inifile.params file, see SAP Note 2230669. Make sure that the software locations defined in the file inifile.params are available, for example the SAP HANA database client. The example playbook in the current directory is named sap_install_app_server_createInifile.yml and has the following contents:

- name: Install SAP Additional Application Server
  hosts: ibmiserver02.mycorp.com
  vars:
   - insappsvr_input_install_mode: "createInifile"
   - insappsvr_input_sap_sid: "PRD"
   - insappsvr_dir_swpm_managednode: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/SWPM10"
   - insappsvr_input_initfile_NW_AS_instanceNumber: "07"
   - insappsvr_input_nwUsers_sapsysGID: "204"
   - insappsvr_input_nwUsers_sidAdmUID: "205"
   - insappsvr_input_NW_GetMasterPassword: "des25(71cIuqdFOxGZRkPNI3r5iAxx)"
   - insappsvr_input_SAPInstDes25Hash: "SAPInstDes25Hash=$eY3ELBT5gQ2Z$C+eS02APqADAELB7RK2SuI2rZCajRanfIv/JgPeqeAesO7SPAT9Bj1Ycxf6tV/QHkrMqW1i2QHLqPLTwy8f6xicu2fsLNQjX"
   - insappsvr_input_instkey: "5HhD4qsHDP6S+eJXsVu3xeU1dh4nu78x"
   - insappsvr_input_SAPDBType: "HDB"
   - insappsvr_input_NW_release: "NW_DI:S4HANA1709.CORE.HDB.PD"
   - insappsvr_input_dir_hdbclient_managednode: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/SAPHANAclient/SAP_HANA_CLIENT"
   - insappsvr_input_dir_downloadbasket: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/downloadBasket"
   - insappsvr_input_HDB_Schema_schemaName: "SAPHDBABAP"
   - insappsvr_input_HDB_Schema_schemaPassword: "des25(iD9vfeDFE1otL9JQbPeF6Qxx)"
   - insappsvr_input_HDB_getDBInfo_instanceNumber: "00"
  roles:
   - role: <ansible_dir>/roles/sap_install_app_server

To execute this playbook, enter the command:

ansible-playbook --verbose sap_install_app_server_createInifile.yml -t sap_install_app_server

For some selected entries for the playbook Yaml file you must use the following mapping table to copy the needed values from the file inifile.params and the file instkey.pkey:

Variable in the playbook	Parameter in the file inifile.params	Remarks
insappsvr_input_sap_sid	NW_readProfileDir.profileDir	Get the <SID> from the profile dir name
insappsvr_input_initfile_NW_AS_instanceNumber	NW_AS.instanceNumber
insappsvr_input_nwUsers_sapsysGID	nwUsers.sapsysGID
insappsvr_input_nwUsers_sidAdmUID	nwUsers.sidAdmUID
insappsvr_input_NW_GetMasterPassword	NW_GetMasterPassword.masterPwd
insappsvr_input_SAPInstDes25Hash		Grep the Des25 hash key after the string # IMPORTANT DO NOT DELETE!!!
insappsvr_input_NW_release		Get the SAP product id in the third line after the string product id
insappsvr_input_dir_downloadbasket_managednode	archives.downloadBasket	Directory where the IGSHELPER.SAR is located
insappsvr_input_HDB_Schema_schemaName	HDB_Schema_Check_Dialogs.schemaName	Only SAP HANA
insappsvr_input_HDB_Schema_schemaPassword	HDB_Schema_Check_Dialogs.schemaPassword	Only SAP HANA
insappsvr_input_HDB_getDBInfo_instanceNumber	NW_HDB_getDBInfo.instanceNumber	Only SAP HANA

Variable in the playbook	Data in the instkey.pkey	Remarks
insappsvr_input_instkey		Grep the complete encrypted first line in the file instkey.pkey

SAP Uninstall

Example Playbook for the uninstall of the SAP additional application server reusing an existing inifile.params

The example playbook is used to uninstall an application server with instance number 07 from an SAP system with the SAP system ID (SID) PRD on a host named ibmiserver02.mycorp.com. It is based on the assumption that a configuration file and an inventory file with contents similar to the configuration documentation exist in the current directory. During the installation, a previously prepared file name inifile.params will be used. For more information how to create an inifile.params file, see SAP Note 2230669. Make sure that the software locations defined in the file inifile.params are available. The example playbook in the current directory is named sap_uninstall_app_server_reuseInifile.yml and has the following contents:

- name: Uninstall SAP Additional Application Server
  hosts: ibmiserver02.mycorp.com
  vars:
   - insappsvr_input_install_mode: "reuseInifile"
   - insappsvr_dir_swpm_managednode: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/SWPM10"
   - uninsappsvr_input_file_inifile: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/inifiles/PRD/uninst/07/inifile.params"
  roles:
   - role: <ansible_dir>/roles/sap_install_app_server

Note: No encrypted data and no instkey.pkey are needed for an SAP uninstall reusing an existing inifile.params file. This playbook works with both IBM Db2 for i and SAP HANA.

To execute this playbook, enter the command:

ansible-playbook --verbose sap_uninstall_app_server_reuseInifile.yml -t sap_uninstall_app_server

Example Playbook for the uninstall of the SAP additional application server creating its own inifile.params

The example playbook is used to uninstall an application server with instance number 07 from an SAP system with the SAP system ID (SID) PRD on a host named ibmiserver02.mycorp.com. It is based on the assumption that a configuration file and an inventory file with contents similar to the configuration documentation exist in the current directory. During the installation, the installation parameter file inifile.params will be created based on the specified parameters. For more information how to create an inifile.params file, see SAP Note 2230669. Make sure that the software locations defined in the file inifile.params are available. The example playbook in the current directory is named sap_uninstall_app_server_createInifile.yml and has the following contents:

- name: Uninstall SAP Additional Application Server
  hosts: ibmiserver02.mycorp.com
  vars:
   - insappsvr_input_install_mode: "createInifile"
   - insappsvr_dir_swpm_managednode: "/tmp/ANSIBLE/SWPM10"
   - uninsappsvr_input_sap_sid: "PRD"
   - uninsappsvr_input_initfile_NW_AS_instanceNumber: "07"
  roles:
   - role: <ansible_dir>/roles/sap_install_app_server

Note: Mainly the SAP SID and the SAP instance number are needed for the uninstall, no encrypted passwords or other details. This playbook works with both IBM Db2 for i and SAP HANA.

To execute this playbook, enter the command:

ansible-playbook --verbose sap_uninstall_app_server_createInifile.yml -t sap_uninstall_app_server

Additional Information

License

This collection is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.

Author Information

SAP on IBM Power Development Team

Copyright

Copyright IBM Corporation 2021,2022