hana_sps11_SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server_11_x_for_SAP_Applications_Configuration_Guide_for_SAP_HANA_en.pdf

PUBLIC
SAP HANA Platform SPS 11
Document Version: 1.2 – 2016-04-05
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.x for SAP
Applications Configuration Guide for SAP HANA
x86 and POWER Architectures

Content
1 About this Document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Prerequisites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1 Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
2.2 Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4 Further Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Sample Installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1 Partition Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Adapt the Software Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
3.3 Configure Basic SUSE Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.4 Setup NTP Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.5 Create the SAP HANA Partitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Multipath Disk Attachment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Internal Disks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Create Mount Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Create File Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.6 Tweak Default System Settings for SAP HANA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Intel-Based Hardware Platforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
All Hardware Platforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4 SAP HANA Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5 Special Installation Option for SAP BusinessOne on SAP HANA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6 Operating System Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1 System Registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.2 Update Recommendations for SLES Versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.3 Changes to OS Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.4 Maintenance / Patching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.5 Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7 Installation of Additional Software on SAP HANA Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.1 High Availability Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.2 SAP LVM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.3 Backup Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.4 Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
8 Autoinstall with Help of AutoYaST2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
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© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.x for SAP Applications Configuration Guide for SAP HANA
Content

9 Tips for Remote Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
10 Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
10.1 Networking Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
10.2 Package List for SAP HANA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
10.3 Tuning Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
10.4 Configure a PXE Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
10.5 Installation in a Virtual Machine Using VMware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
10.6 Installation in a Virtual Environment Using PowerVM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Content
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© 2016 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 3

1 About this Document
This guide serves as a supplement to the existing documentation of SAP and the hardware vendors to provide
specific guidance on how to configure SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications (SLES-for-SAP
Applications) or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to be used with SAP HANA. Contact your hardware vendor
which of the two versions are allowed to be operated for your particular deployment.
This guide does not replace existing SAP HANA documentation and sizing guides. Furthermore, it does not
replace any SAP HANA hardware vendor documentation.
Note
The following are registered trademarks of SUSE LLC in the United States and other countries:
● SLES
● SUSE
● SUSE Logo
● YAST
Note
The following are registered trademarks of IBM in the United States and other countries:
● IBM
● POWER
● Power Architecture
● PowerVM
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About this Document

2 Prerequisites
Before performing the actual installation of SAP HANA, ensure that you have fulfilled the prerequisites listed in
the following sections.
SAP HANA offers two distinct deployment models, a complete pre-installed and pre-configured (so called
“Appliance”) model from the hardware vendors or the tailored datacenter integration (TDI) where the
customers take responsibility for the construction and validation of their SAP HANA environment but by that
providing a better integration into their IT infrastructures.
This guide does not describe all variants resulting in a valid deployment. It describes the base configurations
along with the minimum requirements. The topics are discussed based on a sample SUSE OS installation for
SAP HANA.
2.1 Hardware
Your hardware platform must be validated for SAP HANA independent which delivery approach you may use.
For a list of validated Intel hardware platforms, see SAP Certified Appliance Hardware for SAP HANA and SAP
HANA TDI - Overview.
For a list of valid partition sizes inside IBM Power Servers, see SAP Certified Appliance Hardware for SAP HANA
and SAP Note 2188482 - SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems: Allowed Hardware.
Note
Note for SAP HANA on IBM Power
With SAP HANA, version for IBM Power Systems architecture and starting with SAP HANA SPS 11 the SAP
HANA Platform Edition SAP is extending the support of already supported hardware platforms to include
also the IBM Power Systems family. SAP HANA on POWER follows a two folded hardware deployment
model:
● The solution follows a tailored datacenter integration (TDI) approach.
● The server selection is done based on a SAP sizing and an IBM hardware mapping.
Related Information
SAP Certified Appliance Hardware for SAP HANA
SAP HANA TDI - Overview
SAP Note 2188482 - SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems: Allowed Hardware
Prerequisites
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2.2 Storage
The appliance hardware vendors provide storage within their pre-build SAP HANA systems.
If you use the TDI approach, SAP HANA requires a SAP HANA TDI certified storage subsystem. You need to
apply the file system layout / partitioning which is outlined in the SAP HANA Server Installation and Update
Guide and the SAP HANA – Storage Requirements Guide. Also download the storage vendors' TDI
documentation.
Ensure to pick the right chapters and clearly distinguish between shared file system based installations and
shared disc based installation.
The main volumes and sizes used in this document are based on the initial SAP HANA disc volume sizing which
in the meantime is much lower.
The here given mount points do apply for scale-up deployments or for shared file system deployments. Mount
points for shared disc deployments can be either retrieved from the SAP HANA Server Installation and Update
Guide or to some extend from the hardware vendor’s documentation.
For more information about file system layout, the partitioning, and the sizing, see Recommended File System
Layout in the SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide and the SAP HANA TDI - Storage Requirements.
These are the sample installation mount points used in this document:
Table 1:
Mount Point Description Size
/ Root 10 - 50 GiB
/usr/sap System Instances 50 GiB
/hana/shared Installation Path
/hana/data Data volume
/hana/log Log volume
Related Information
SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
SAP HANA TDI - Storage Requirements
SAP Certified Appliance Hardware for SAP HANA
SAP HANA TDI - Overview
IBM Planning Guide (attached to SAP Note 2055470 - SAP HANA on POWER Planning and Installation
Specifics - Central Note)
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Prerequisites

2.3 Software
The following software was used for the sample installation:
● SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 media with a supported Service Pack
● Registration key for the SUSE subscriptions in order to get SUSE maintenance updates
● SAP HANA media and license in order to install SAP HANA
● The minimum Version of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications software is linked to the
SAP HANA software version. Verify the minimum requirement based on the SAP HANA documentation.
Related Information
SAP Note 2055470 - SAP HANA on POWER Planning and Installation Specifics - Central Note
SAP Note 2235581 - SAP HANA: Supported Operating Systems
SAP Product Availability Matrix (SAP PAM)
2.4 Further Information
You need to have the following information about the host on which you intend to perform the installation:
● IP address of the host
● IP alias for SAP HANA (optional)
● Host name of the host
● Subnet mask
● Domain name
● IP address of the name servers
● Address of a time server (ntp)
● Gateway IP address
● Password for the root user
● SAP master password (<sid>adm password)
● SID and instance for the SAP HANA installation
Prerequisites
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3 Sample Installation of SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server for SAP Applications
SUSE Linux comes per default with the YaST2 installation tool. YaST2 can run in a graphical environment as
well in a text based (ncurses) environment.
1. Download the DVD ISO image of SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 (electronic media
kit).
2. Burn the image onto a physical DVD and ensure that it is bootable. Alternatively, you might use a virtual
CD-ROM device for the installation.
3. Boot from the media, select SLES for SAP Applications — Installation and choose Enter.
This loads the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation program and starts the installation in normal
mode.
For more information about the other choices, see the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications
documentation.
4. Select the language and keyboard layout to be used during the installation and for the installed system.
Read the License Agreement and select the checkbox I Agree to the License Agreement. Proceed with
Next.
5. Choose New Installation and proceed with Next.
6. Select the clock and time zone to use in your system and proceed with Next.
7. Select install on a Physical Machine and proceed with Next.
8. On the screen Installation Settings you see the default proposal for the installation and partitioning. You
need to change the Partitioning and Software sections as described in the next sections of this guide.
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Sample Installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications

Related Information
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications documentation
3.1 Partition Layout
Independently from the disk space type (attached by a TDI approach, internal Disks or shared file system) this
section summarizes the requirements for the partition layout.
The reality could be different, depending on your hardware vendor, the SAP HANA installation (scale-up, scale-
out, Host-Auto-Failover, SAP HANA System Replication, …), SLAs and what you have ordered and configured.
Note
All disks should be backed by enterprise storage.
Partition Layout for the OS root file system
The OS partition should have a minimal size of 10 GiB. If your system provides more space you may create it
bigger (e.g. 50 GiB or more) in order to have enough space for log files during the lifetime of the system and
additional software like backup solutions. Best is to choose the automatic default file systems (SLES 11: ext3)
or choose XFS.
In contrast to SAP Note 1597355 you may not dedicate 2x RAM as swap space, but configure to less extended,
for example 2 GB.
Partition layout for the SAP HANA application
For a scale-up SAP HANA single-host system three file systems are required, one for the SAP HANA
executables, one for the SAP HANA data and one for the SAP HANA log which need to be reflected in the
partition layout.
These disks should be backed by enterprise storage. For SAP HANA data and log the file system must meet
the performance KPIs for SAP HANA HWCCT tool (see SAP Note 1943937).
At least 50 GiB must be provided for the /usr/sap location in the system, because this is the place where
SAP HANA and other SAP software that supports SAP HANA will be installed in this sample installation. In
scale-out installations the SAP HANA software will be installed into a shared file system mounted on /hana/
shared. It is possible to join this location with the SUSE Linux installation.
For more information, see Create the SAP HANA Partitions in this guide.
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Sample partitioning
In this example the OS file system is combined with /usr/sap executables. This means we need minimal 62
GiB (10+50+2 GiB ) for the OS drive without SLA considerations such as mirroring. For SAP HANA data and
SAP HANA log separate disks will be used.
1. You are on the screen Installation Settings:
2. Choose Partitioning. This will bring you to the following screen:
The screen shows you all available devices for the system. Within our example the drive has enough space
(160 GiB) so we can simply let YaST2 do the work for us.
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3. Select the disk you will use for the operating system (for example 1. Disk) and choose Next. This will bring
you to the following screen:
At this screen you are preparing the hard disk.
4. Select Create LVM Based Proposal and choose Next.
This will create a volume group “system” where the OS will be placed into. YaST2 creates a boot volume, a
volume group system and two logical volumes for the root file system, tmp and the swap.
You are back at the proposal screen.
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Related Information
SAP Note 1943937 - Hardware Configuration Check Tool - Central Note
SAP Note 1597355 - Swap-space recommendation for Linux
Create the SAP HANA Partitions [page 23]
3.2 Adapt the Software Selection
You need to adapt the software selection to your needs.
Reducing the number of installed RPM packages to a minimum, lowers the amount potentially vulnerable files
on the system and therefore significantly improves the overall security of a system. Furthermore, a low
number of installed packages reduces the number of required (security) updates and patches that have to be
applied to the system on a regular basis.
The SAP Note 1855805 - Recommended SLES 11 packages for HANA support on OS level lists the
recommended SLES 11 packages for SAP HANA. For IBM Power Server based SAP HANA deployments also
apply SAP Note 2055470 - HANA on POWER Planning and Installation Specifics - Central Note.
SUSE provides function groups of packages called pattern to simplify the selection of packages within YaST2
(GUI) or zypper (cmdline). With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications there is an additional
pattern for SAP HANA available (SAP HANA Server Base).
Note
In case of conflicting recommendations take the highest documented package version.
Sample Implementation - Software Selection
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1. You are on the screen Installation Settings:
2. Choose Software. This will bring you to the following screen:
You will see here the pre-selected patterns.
3. Deselect all and select only what is needed.
With a right click on the check-boxes we will get a menu. For All in This List choose Do Not Install (similar to
deselect all).
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Now all check marks should be gone and we can change the software selection simply to your needs.
4. Select pattern Base System and Minimal System and SAP HANA Server Base.
Double check the list of needed packages within the appendix to be sure to have the actually needed
packages. It is possible that the list of required packages will grow or change over time and the pattern
does not reflect the most current needs as it is bound to the media.
5. Choose OK.
With choosing OK you have accepted the selected patterns. Now the Installation Settings screen will open.
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All necessary software packages and volumes for the OS are defined.
Until now, nothing has changed on the system and the steps could be reverted.
6. If you choose Install all settings will be written to the system.
Note
After completing the basic system setup and the installation of all selected software packages, the SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications installation boots into the new Linux system.
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Note
Depending if X-Windows is configured or not, YaST2 will start in a graphical mode (as before) or with a
NCUSRES interface. Both could be used and have identical usage.
Related Information
SAP Note 1855805 - Recommended SLES 11 packages for HANA support on OS level
SAP Note 2055470 - SAP HANA on POWER Planning and Installation Specifics - Central Note
3.3 Configure Basic SUSE Settings
You need to configure basic SUSE settings.
1. After the reboot the following screen is displayed:
2. Enter a password for the system administrator account (called the root user) and proceed with Next
Note
You should never forget the root password! After you entered it here, the password cannot be retrieved.
It can only be reset with administrative assistance.
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You will see the following screen:
3. Enter a Hostname for this computer and the DNS Domain Name to which it belongs.
Uncheck the Change Hostname via DHCP.
Proceed with Next.
4. In the Network Configuration screen, view or change the network connections of your system.
If you have network devices, it is a good idea to configure them now, because then an internet connection
or a SMT Server allows SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to retrieve any available updates and include them in
the installation.
Proceed with Next.
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5. Test your Internet connection with Yes, Test Connection to the Internet. This option also checks for the
latest SUSE Linux Enterprise Server release notes.
Proceed with Next.
View the results of the test on the Running Internet Connection Test screen.
Proceed with Next.
6. Enable the system for online updates on the Customer Center Configuration screen with Configure Now
Next Continue . We strongly recommend to do this now.
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Note
Optionally you can choose Configure Later Next to skip this step and continue the installation.
You need to configure this option after the product has been installed.
Proceed with Next.
7. By default, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server creates a certificate for the system.
Note
To disable this, choose Skip Configuration Next
Proceed with Next.
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8. Select Local (/etc/passwd) in the User Authentication Method screen, unless instructed otherwise by your
system administrator.
Proceed close the Next.
9. We recommend creating a normal user for accessing the system.
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Note
For security reasons, the password should be at least eight characters long and should contain both
uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. The maximum length for passwords is 72 characters,
and passwords are case-sensitive.
Proceed with Next.
10. View the Release Notes after the system configuration has completed.
Proceed with Next.
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11. Use the Hardware Configuration screen to view or configure your graphics cards and other hardware
devices.
Proceed with Next.
12. On the Installation Completed screen, choose Finish to close the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation
and continue to the login screen.
13. Now you can log in to the system with the users you created.
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Note
Log in to the system as root user to configure further settings like ntp server and the partitions used by
SAP HANA.
3.4 Setup NTP Service
SAP recommends to run NTP for SAP instances to ensure time synchronization. To enable NTP the following
steps need to be performed.
1. Use one of the following ways to start the NTP Configuration:
○ Use the command line with:
# yast2 ntp-client
○ Start YaST2 and choose NTP Configuration from the Network Services group.
2. Select radio button Now and on Boot to enable the services.
3. Choose Add to add a new server.
4. Select type Server.
5. Choose Next.
6. Enter the IP address or the name of you ntp server.
Note
If you do not know the address or name, open the Select dropdown. Choose Local NTP Server or Public
NTP server and select a server.
7. Choose OK to confirm all entries.
Note
For a more secure service select the tab Security Settings and select the checkbox Run NTP Daemon in
Chroot Jail. Choose OK to confirm the entry.
3.5 Create the SAP HANA Partitions
You need to look at the disks and partitions of the SAP HANA itself, where the size of the partitions depend on
the amount of main memory (SAP Sizing) and desired SLAs.
In the SAP HANA Storage Requirements document you will find the following statements:
● The performance requirements that have to be fulfilled by the storage subsystem mainly rely on the
scenario that is driven by the SAP HANA database.
● Storage systems used for SAP HANA must fulfill a certain set of KPIs for minimum data throughput and
maximum latency time. In the course of both the SAP HANA appliance and the SAP HANA Enterprise
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Storage certification the fulfillment of those KPIs is checked using the SAP HANA Hardware Configuration
Check Tool (HWCCT). All KPIs must be met for each SAP HANA compute node connected to a given
storage system.
Therefore we cannot provide a detailed setup of a production system within this document, but we will show
the general way and what to do for two scenarios, a multipath example with SAN attached storage and a
scenario with local disks.
To have flexibility to change the size and number of drives these volumes should be created as logical volumes
using the logical volume manager (LVM).
An LVM volume group organizes the Linux LVM partitions into a logical pool of space. You can carve out logical
volumes from the available space in the group. The Linux LVM partitions in a group can be on the same or
different disks. You can add LVM partitions from the same or different disks to expand the size of the group.
You can use the YaST2 Partitioner to create and manage file systems and RAID devices. For more information,
see Advanced Disk Setup in the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Deployment Guide for the used service pack.
Depending on the disk attachment and storage solution the preparation involves different tasks. The following
section multipath and internal disk options are described. The mount point and file system creation is then
again the same for both. Depending on the server vendor different file systems are eligible to operate SAP
HANA. The example in the following sections is focusing on XFS only.
Related Information
SAP HANA – Storage Requirements Guide
SAP Note 1943937 - Hardware Configuration Check Tool - Central Note
SAP Certified Enterprise Storage Hardware for SAP HANA
3.5.1 Multipath Disk Attachment
To create an XFS file system in a multipath environment the following tasks have to be performed. Ensure to
match sizes, names etc. to the individual SAP HANA deployment.
Tuning for Multipathing
Depending on the chosen storage subsystem, the configured policy, and features, the service time and/or I/O
protection can be positively or negatively affected.
To optimize performance and protect the I/Os from a path loss, apply the following settings:
1. Configure the /etc/multipath.conf file according to the requirements of the storage vendor.
Example for an IBM San Volume Controller:
# cat /etc/multipath.conf
defaults {
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user_friendly_names yes
no_path_retry fail
rr_min_io_rq 32
path_checker tur
}
devices {
device {
vendor "IBM"
product "2145"
path_grouping_policy group_by_prio
prio "alua"
path_checker "tur"
failback "immediate"
no_path_retry "fail"
rr_min_io_rq 32
dev_loss_tmo 120
}
}
2. If you plan to use the SAP HANA fcClient or a cluster solution the following recommendations should be
applied to avoid hangs in the takeover (The # cat /etc/multipath.conf defaults { user_friendly_names yes
no_path_retry fail rr_min_io_rq 32 path_checker tur } devices { device { vendor "IBM" product "2145"
path_grouping_policy group_by_prio prio "alua" path_checker "tur" failback "immediate" no_path_retry
"fail" rr_min_io_rq 32 dev_loss_tmo 120 } }Storage Documentation will overrule these recommendations
when explicit optimizations for HA setups are described):
○ no_path_retry = fail
We recommend a retry setting of fail or 0 in the /etc/multipath.conf file when working in a
cluster. This causes the resources to fail over when the connection to the storage is lost. Otherwise,
the messages queue and the resource failover cannot occur.
○ fast_io_fail_tmo <= 5
The fast_io_fail_tmo parameter sets the length of time to wait before failing I/O when a link
problem is detected. I/O that reaches the driver fails.
The fast_io_fail_tmo is related to the following two tunables:
○ If I/O is in a blocked queue, the I/O does not fail until the dev_loss_tmo time elapses and the
queue is unblocked.
○ Also ensure to disable queue_if_no_path.
○ path_selector: service time 0
# cat /etc/multipath.confA service-time oriented load balancer that balances I/O on paths according
to the latency. This optimizes the SAP HANA Log I/O which is latency sensitive. This setting should be
chosen for all disks as this is the SUSE default.
Optional the following tunable parameters can be considered in case I/O performance issues have been
detected. Do not change these in advance. Consult a performance specialist to find a vital combination:
● Increase /sys/block/<device>/queue/nr_requests if the default (128) results in blocked I/O
submission. This will indirectly help to optimize the blocking inside SAP HANA.
● Increase rr_min_io_rq 32 in multipath.conf
● Increase the queue depth of devices/ (e.g. echo 64 > cat /sys/bus/scsi/devices/<device>/
queue_depth)
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Tuning LVM File System settings and Disk Layout for Multipathing
Using XFS with multipathing and LVM striping provides options to optimize the I/O performance. This section
explains how fiber channel connectivity, zoning and multipathing have an effect on the LUN layout planning.
To optimize the usage of all available I/O paths for better performance, we recommend that the logical
volumes of the SAP HANA log, data, and shared file systems should be striped over a number of LUNs that are
a multiple of the active paths (e.g. 4 active paths, logical volumes should be striped over a minimum of 4
LUNs).
Note
The minimum number of paths, volumes and disks determined in the sizing process is the absolute
minimum, even if in the following planning process less might be sufficient.
Verify if the storage can provide data redundancy. If you do not plan to implement an LVM Mirror or RAID copy
on a second storage server’s device.
LVM striping is used to optimize the I/O performance to SAP HANA file systems. The following considerations
should be taken into account:
● When increasing the number of ports, the minimum number of LUNs should be equal or a multiple of the
number of active paths.
● When increasing the number of LUNs, they should be a multiple of the number of active paths.
● The number of lv stripes should match the number of LUNs.
● We recommend a stripe size of 256 K.
● Create the required LUNs on the storage subsystem and map them to the server partition. This also
assumes that the appropriate SAN zoning in the SAN switches has been performed.
● Use the rescan-scsi-bus.sh to scan and detect the new storage LUNs without rebooting the system:
# rescan-scsi-bus.sh
Scanning SCSI subsystem for new devices
Scanning host 0 for SCSI target IDs 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, all LUNs
[ ….]
● The multipath -ll command can be used to display the new devices and check the available paths. The
following command shows the sample output for a single LUN of a SAN Volume Controller storage
subsystem using 4 active and 4 passive paths (passive paths are paths with a lower priority and only used
if the corresponding higher priority paths fails, for example if one of the SVC nodes is rebooted):
# multipath -ll 3600507680185000d38000000000004b9
3600507680185000d38000000000004b9 dm-1 IBM,2145
size=64G features='1 queue_if_no_path' hwhandler='0' wp=rw
|-+- policy='service-time 0' prio=50 status=active
| |- 1:0:1:0 sds 65:32 active ready running
| |- 2:0:1:0 sdt 65:48 active ready running
| |- 3:0:1:0 sdz 65:144 active ready running
| `- 4:0:1:0 sdx 65:112 active ready running
`-+- policy='service-time 0' prio=10 status=enabled
|- 1:0:0:0 sda 8:0 active ready running
|- 2:0:0:0 sdb 8:16 active ready running
|- 3:0:0:0 sdd 8:48 active ready running
`- 4:0:0:0 sdg 8:96 active ready running
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The next step is to initialize the new volumes for use by LVM:
# pvcreate /dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004b9
Physical volume "/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004b9" successfully
created
Assuming you have created four active paths to the storage subsystem and you have created four physical
volumes for use with LVM, you can now create a volume group for the SAP HANA log files (make sure that you
use the /dev/mapper/wwid device names (or use an alternative method) and not any other device names if
available):
# vgcreate hn1ogvg /dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004df
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e1
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e2
Volume group "hn1logvg" successfully created
Create the physical volumes and volume groups for the other SAP HANA file systems as well. The following
shows a sample configuration for a small test system:
# pvs
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004de hn1sharedvg lvm2 a-- 128,00g 0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004df hn1logvg lvm2 a-- 16,00g 0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e0 hn1logvg lvm2 a-- 16,00g 0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e3 hn1datavg lvm2 a-- 64,00g 0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e7 hn1bkupvg lvm2 a-- 192,00g 0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d380000000000053e_part2 system lvm2 a-- 63,80g 15,80g
Next step is to create the striped logical volumes that will be used for the SAP HANA file system. In this sample
you create a log volume with 64 GB space striped over four disks (-i 4) with a stripe size of 256 K. Once again
make sure that you use the /dev/mapper/wwid designation for the physical volumes.
The LVM uses “-“ to separate the logical volume name from the volume group name. It is best practice to not
use this separator inside names:
# lvcreate -i 4 -I 256 -L 64G hn1logvg -n hn1log
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004df
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e0
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e1
/dev/mapper/3600507680185000d38000000000004e1
Logical volume "hn1log" created
Use lvcreate command to create the other required logical volumes. The following shows the list of logical
volumes on the sample test system:
# lvs
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin Data% Move Log Copy%
Convert
hn1bkup hn1bkupvg -wi-ao--- 192,00g
hn1data hn1datavg -wi-ao--- 255,98g
hn1log hn1logvg -wi-ao--- 63,98g
hn1shared hn1sharedvg -wi-ao--- 64,00g
usr_sap hn1sharedvg -wi-ao--- 64,00g
home system -wi-ao--- 16,00g
root system -wi-ao--- 16,00g
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swap system -wi-ao--- 16,00g
3.5.2 Internal Disks
In the following section the possibilities using the command-line interface are shown. You can also perform
these tasks using YaST2.
Our example with internal disks, should be backed by a RAID 5 array which provides 3 disks to the OS. The
RAID setup depends on the hardware vendor machine type and disk drives been used and should provide
enough spindles to fulfill the SAP HANA requirements.
Check for Empty Devices
Enter the following command:
# lsblk -f
In our example we have these drives:
/dev/sda 160 GiB
/dev/sdb 300 GiB
/dev/sdc 100 GiB
In this case /dev/sda is used for the OS.
Create a Disk Partition
The disks /dev/sdb and /dev/sdc are the free devices for the SAP HANA data volumes and SAP HANA log
volumes.
If you have less than 2 TB free space on the disk, use fdisk:
# fdisk /dev/sdb
If you have 2 TB or more free space, use the command parted and the GPT label:
# parted /dev/sdb
Perform the same tasks for /dev/sdc.
Create the Volume Group
vgcreate creates a new volume group, using the physical devices.
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If the physical device was not previously configured for LVM with pvcreate, the device will be initialized with
the same default values used for pvcreate:
# vgcreate vg00 /dev/sdb
Add an additional volume group for the different SAP HANA volumes:
# vgcreate vg01 /dev/sdc
Check the new volume groups with help of the following commands:
● The actual physical volumes can be displayed with:
# pvs
● Information about volume groups can be displayed with:
# vgs
Create Logical Volumes for the SAP HANA Instance According to Your
Sizing
lvcreate creates a new logical volume in an existing volume group.
The values used here are examples for the logical volumes you need to create for a SAP HANA host with 96
GiB of memory.
As the directory /usr/sap could be shared with the operating system and we have enough disk space here,
we create the responsible logical volume within the volume group system which was created through YaST2
during the installation:
# lvcreate -L50G -n lv_usr_sap system
Because we have three drives in our example, we can distribute the volumes SAP HANA data and SAP HANA
log into different volume groups and logical volumes. The SAP HANA shared volume is added to the system
volume group.
# lvcreate -L96G -n lv_hana_shared system
# lvcreate -L288G -n lv_hana_data vg00
# lvcreate -L96G -n lv_hana_log vg01
For more information about sizing SAP HANA, see the SAP HANA Master Guide.
Related Information
SAP HANA Master Guide
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3.5.3 Create Mount Points
In order to use our logical volumes (independent if they were created based on internal discs or on multipath
devices), we need to create mount points within the root file system and create a file system on the volumes.
This step is the same for multipath devices and internal discs. The mount points will differ for scale-out
deployments. For more information, see the SAP HANA documentation.
Create the mount points:
# mkdir -p /hana/{shared,data,log}
# mkdir -p /usr/sap
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server offers a variety of file systems from which to choose for different workloads. SAP
HANA needs certain criteria (files bigger than 2 GiB, fast file system with large files) so you choose XFS for the
file system.
The idea behind XFS was to create a high-performance 64-bit journaling file system to meet extreme
computing challenges. XFS is very good at manipulating large files and performs well on high-end hardware.
SUSE supports and includes XFS since SLES 8.
More details are discussed in the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation – Storage administration.
Many XFS tuning guides are outdated and designed for benchmarks rather than actual workloads. XFS can
determine the underlying geometry, it auto-tunes itself automatically. Linux MD, and most RAID controllers,
provide the proper information.
In the table below are examples of a file system layout for a scale-up test system:
Table 2:
Mount Point Description Size
/usr/sap System Instances 50 GiB (in our sample sandbox deploy
ment included into the root file system)
/hana/shared Installation Path
/hana/data Data volume
/hana/log Log volume
Note
Only if you have hardware RAID controllers that do not export this information you need to change the
parameters, for example at creation time with mkfs.xfs. The su value should be set to the RAID chunk size
(most common is 64 k, but check the manual) and the sw value should be equal to the number of data disks
in your array. With actual XFS implementation both values could be set as mount option (sunit=value and
swidth=value) The sunit and swidth mount options are in units of 512-sectors, while su is specified in
bytes and sw is the number of stripe members.
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Related Information
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation – Storage administration
3.5.4 Create File Systems
To create a XFS file system use the mkfs command. The difference between multipath environments and local
discs is the default path:
● As local disc we have typically:
# mkfs -t xfs /dev/vg01/lv_hana_log
● For the multipath example the command would look as follows:
# mkfs –t xfs /dev/mapper/hn1logvg-hn1log
● Create for all logical volumes the file system.
● Edit /etc/fstab to add the mount commands or append it from the cmd-line to the file.
# echo “/dev/system/lv_usr_sap /usr/sap xfs defaults 1 2” >> /etc/fstab
# echo “/dev/system/lv_hana_shared /hana/shared xfs defaults 1 2”>> /etc/fstab
# echo “/dev/vg00/lv_hana_data /hana/data xfs defaults 1 2” >> /etc/fstab
# echo “/dev/vg01/lv_hana_log /hana/log xfs defaults 1 2” >> /etc/fstab
For the multipath example adapt the names.
● Mount all file systems from /etc/fstab
# mount -av
3.6 Tweak Default System Settings for SAP HANA
SAP HANA needs some special configuration settings in order to use all the performance the hardware offers.
The SUSE default configuration settings are not set for a SAP HANA workload, therefore you need to adapt
some of the settings. The relevant SAP Notes are:
● SAP Note 1056161 - SUSE Priority Support for SAP applications
● SAP Note 1944799 - SAP HANA Guidelines for SLES Operating System Installation
● SAP Note 2235581 - SAP HANA: Supported Operating Systems
● SAP Note 2240716 - SAP HANA DB: Recommended OS settings for SLES 11 / SLES for SAP Applications
11 SP4
● SAP Note 1954788 - SAP HANA DB: Recommended OS settings for SLES 11 / SLES for SAP Applications
11 SP3
● SAP Note 1824819 - SAP HANA DB: Recommended OS settings for SLES 11 / SLES for SAP Applications 11
SP2
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● SAP Note 2228351 - Linux: SAP HANA Database SPS 11 revision 110 (or higher) on RHEL 6 or SLES 11
● SAP Note 2001528 - Linux: SAP HANA Database SPS 08 revision 80 (or higher) on RHEL 6 or SLES 11
● SAP Note 52505 - Support after end of mainstream/extended maintenance
● SAP Note 2055470 - HANA on POWER Planning and Installation Specifics - Central Note
The recommended settings are split into two parts
● Intel-based hardware platforms
● All hardware platforms
Related Information
SAP Note 1056161 - SUSE Priority Support for SAP applications
SAP Note 1944799 - SAP HANA Guidelines for SLES Operating System Installation
SAP Note 2235581 - SAP HANA: Supported Operating Systems
SAP Note 2240716 - SAP HANA DB: Recommended OS settings for SLES 11 / SLES for SAP Applications 11
SP4
SP3
SP2
SAP Note 2228351 - Linux: SAP HANA Database SPS 11 revision 110 (or higher) on RHEL 6 or SLES 11
SAP Note 52505 - Support after end of mainstream/extended maintenance
SAP Note 2055470 - HANA on POWER Planning and Installation Specifics - Central Note
3.6.1 Intel-Based Hardware Platforms
Perform settings for Intel-based hardware platforms.
Disable Transparent Hugepages
With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2 and SP3 the usage of transparent hugepages is generally activated
for the Linux kernel. The THP allows the handling of multiple pages as hugepages reducing the translation look
aside buffer (TLB) footprint, in situations where it might be useful.
Due to the special manner of SAP HANA's memory management, the usage of THP may lead to hanging
situations and performance degradations.
To disable the usage of transparent hugepages set the kernel settings at runtime with
# echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
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There is no need to shut down the database to apply this configuration. This setting is then valid until the next
system start. To persist this option, integrate this command line within your system boot scripts (for
example /etc/init.d/boot.local).
# echo 'echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled' >> /etc/init.d/
boot.local
Note
Be aware that in a scale-out environment this has to be done on every server in the landscape.
Configure C-States for Lower Latency in Linux
The Linux kernel 3.0 includes a new cpuidle driver for recent Intel CPUs: intel_idle. This driver leads to a
different behavior in C-states switching. The normal operating state is C0, when the processor is put to a
higher C-state, it will save power. But for low latency applications, the additional time needed to start the
execution of the code again will cause performance degradations.
To see if the recommended driver is enabled, execute:
# cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpuidle/current_driver
The correct value should be acpi_idle.
If this is not the case, it is possible to fall back on the recommended driver by disabling the intel_idle driver in
the kernel command line.
Therefore it is necessary to edit the boot-loader configuration. The location of the boot-loader configuration
file is:
/etc/sysconfig/bootloader
Edit this file and append the following value to the "DEFAULT_APPEND" parameter value:
intel_idle.max_cstate=0
With this a persistent change has been done for potential kernel upgrades and boot-loader upgrades.
For an immediate configuration change, it is also necessary to append this parameter in the kernel command
line of your current active boot-loader located in file:
/boot/grub/menu.lst
Append the intel_idle value mentioned above only to the operational kernel's parameter line.
If C-states are enabled in BIOS you might still see performance degradations. In this case either disable them
in the BIOS or set the following parameter in addition to the previous one:
processor.max_cstate=0
To enable this change, a system reboot is required!
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With these settings, the system will fall back to the performance behavior known from SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 11 SP1.
In a scale-out environment, those changes have to be done on every server of the landscape. In case you
already have a running SAP HANA instance, rebooting the server should only be done when a standby server is
configured. Do not reboot all servers at once. For a single-host system a downtime has to be considered.
For more information, see SUSE knowledgeable article Performance issues after upgrade from SLES11 SP1 to
SP2 or SP3.
CPU Governors
Linux is using a technology for power saving called CPU governors to control CPU throttling and power
consumption. By default Linux uses the governor ondemand which will dynamically throttle CPUs up and down
depending on CPU load. SAP advised to use the governor performance as the ondemand governor will impact
SAP HANA performance due to too slow CPU up-scaling by this governor.
On all hosts append the following lines (after and before --snip--) to the file /etc/rc.d/boot.local.
--snip--
bios_vendor=$(/usr/sbin/dmidecode -s bios-vendor)
#Phoenix Technologies LTD means we are running in a VM and governors are not
available
if [ $? -eq 0 -a ! -z "${bios_vendor}" -a "${bios_vendor}" != "Phoenix
Technologies LTD" ]; then
/sbin/modprobe acpi_cpufreq
for i in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor
do
echo performance > $i
done
fi
--snip--
The setting will change on the next reboot. You can also change safely the governor settings immediately by
executing the same lines at the shell. Copy and paste all the lines at once, or type them one by one.
Related Information
Performance issues after upgrade from SLES11 SP1 to SP2 or SP3
SP3
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3.6.2 All Hardware Platforms
Perform settings for all hardware platforms.
Patch for XFS lost write in last block
If you are using XFS for the SAP HANA data-, log- or backup volume, a Linux kernel update is needed in order
to avoid possible corruptions on file system level.
Therefore please update your system, at least to Linux kernel version 3.0.101-0.47.71. For more background
information about the problem, see SAP Note 2246163 - Indexserver crashes in the onLoad method.
Ulimit Package
If installed, the ulimit.rpm sets system-wide resource limits on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 systems. For
example also max_address_space limits the available memory for the <sid>adm user.
Since those limits can cause problems when operating SAP HANA or other applications, remove it by calling
# zypper remove ulimit
Afterwards reboot your server to enable the changes. Note, that this ulimit.rpm package does not provide the
bash-built-in ulimit, which is used to set resource limits on user-level, and can therefore be uninstalled without
causing further problems.
ONLY FOR OLDER VERSIONS of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (11 SP2, 11
SP3)
Caution
The following recommendations are only relevant, if you do not have updated your system or did not
registered it during installation.
Patch for XFS lost write in last block - 11 SP3
If you are using XFS for the SAP HANA data-, log- or backup volume, a Linux kernel update is needed in order
to avoid possible corruptions on file system level.
Therefore please update your system, at least to Linux kernel version 3.0.101-0.47.71. For more background
information about the problem, see SAP Note 2246163 - Indexserver crashes in the onLoad method.
P U B L I C

glibc Update to Avoid Potential Problem in the Index Server
To avoid crashes of the SAP HANA index server, update your glibc at least to the version mentioned in SAP
Note 1888072 - SAP HANA DB: Index server crash in __strcmp_sse42.
GCC 4.8 Runtime Environment (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2 & 11 SP3)
In order to run revision 110 or higher of SAP HANA, an additional runtime environment for GCC 4.8 needs to be
installed in advance before running such a database revision. For more information, see SAP Note 2228351 -
Linux: SAP HANA Database SPS 11 revision 110 (or higher) on RHEL 6 or SLES 11.
GCC 4.7 Runtime Environment (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2 & 11 SP3)
In order to run any revision from revision 80 to the last maintenance revision of SAP HANA SPS 10, an
additional runtime environment for GCC 4.7 needs to be installed before running such a database revision. For
more information, see SAP Note 2001528 - Linux: SAP HANA Database SPS 08 revision 80 (or higher) on RHEL
6 or SLES 11.
Patch for XFS locking problem on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2
If you are using XFS as file system for the SAP HANA data, log or backup volume, see SAP Note 1867783 - XFS
Data Inconsistency Bug with SLES 11 SP2 to avoid possible data inconsistencies.
Write Performance Patch for File Growing IO Operations on XFS on SLES 11 SP2
If you encounter performance problems when using XFS as file system, please consider using the following
kernel 3.0.101-0.7.15.1 from SUSE at http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=3S93fzkVnNw%7E
The throughput benefit with this patch depends on the underlying storage infrastructure.
Related Information
SAP Note 1867783 - XFS Data Inconsistency Bug with SLES 11 SP2
SAP Note 1888072 - SAP HANA DB: Index server crash in __strcmp_sse42
SAP Note 2246163 - Indexserver crashes in the onLoad method
SUSE Kernel Download (kernel 3.0.101-0.7.15.1)
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4 SAP HANA Installation
This section provides a short overview of the installation of a SAP HANA system.
SAP HANA can be installed in several ways on different architectures. The SAP Server Installation and Update
Guide along with the guides provided by the server vendor reflect these options. Below the installation of a
single-host system is shown.
Note
For more information, see the SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide before you begin.
Note
Substitute the parameters shown in <square brackets>.
1. First download the SAP HANA installation media and the SAP archive tool (sapcar) from the SAP Service
Marketplace.
2. Create a directory which should hold the SAP HANA installation media, for example:
# mkdir /install
3. To have sapcar within the path to easily execute it, copy the SAP archiver (sapcar) to the personal bin
directory of the root user for example:
# cp <path_to_the_downloaded_installer>/SAPCAR_<xxxxxxxxx> ~/bin
4. Extract the SAP HANA installation media into the created /install directory, for example:
# cd /install
# SAPCAR_<xxxxxxxxx> -xvsf <path_to_the_media_archive>/<yyyyy>.sar
5. Based on the SID to be selected for the SAP HANA system, create the needed directories with the SID
name, for example:
mkdir -p /hana/data/<your_SID>
mkdir -p /hana/log/<your_SID>
chmod 777 /hana/data/<your_SID> /hana/log/<your_SID>
6. Change to the directory where the SAP HANA installation media are located to start the installation.
7. Install the SAP HANA system by running the SAP HANA lifecycle management tool (hdblcmgui with
graphical interface, hdblcm as command line tool).
Related Information
SAP HANA Server Installation and Update Guide
SAP HANA Installation
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5 Special Installation Option for SAP
BusinessOne on SAP HANA
For SAP BusinessOne on SAP HANA, SUSE and SAP created a special image which helps to automate the
installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, SAP HANA and SAP BusinessOne.
Note
For more information, see SAP Note 1944415 - Hardware Configuration Guide and Software Installation
Guide for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with SAP HANA and SAP Business One.
This SUSE Linux Enterprise Server image is specially designed for SAP Business One and caters to SAP
Business One-specific needs and requirements. You can download the image (see Related Information), which
directs to the newest image for download.
Within this image, you can also find an SAP Product Installer, which enables smooth installation of SAP HANA
and SAP Business One products and requires as little user input as possible during the installation.
Note
You must follow the instructions in the guide attached to SAP Note 1944415 ("How to Install SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server for SAP Business One Products on SAP HANA", split into 3 volumes) to perform the
installation. There are certain restrictions with this special image and the SAP Product Installer; review
carefully these restrictions (Page 4) before you decide to use the image or the Installer.
Related Information
SAP Note 1944415 - Hardware Configuration Guide and Software Installation Guide for SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server with SAP HANA and SAP Business One
Download image for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Business One Products on SAP HANA
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Special Installation Option for SAP BusinessOne on SAP HANA

6 Operating System Maintenance
Regarding the operating system maintenance several aspects have to be taken into account.
6.1 System Registration
If you register your system you will see the following update channel structure:
● SLES for SAP Applications
○ SLES Channel (Pool & Update)
○ SLE HA Channel (Pool & Update)
○ SLES for SAP Channel (Pool & Update)
For SLES for SAP Applications the regular channels are used for the basics. In the SLES for SAP Channel the
SAP specifics are contained. By that it is ensured that all SLES certified kernels contain the required packages.
Registering your system is very important to get security updates and to get support.
6.2 Update Recommendations for SLES Versions
Regarding SLES security patches, ServicePacks (SP) and major releases, we recommend the following update
strategy:
● ServicePack releases are verified by SAP to check the performance and functionality. We support minor
OS releases that have been verified by SAP.
● OS security patches that are released between ServicePack releases are not verified by SAP, but may be
deployed, if the customer chooses to do so.
● OS major releases (for example SLES 12) that have been verified by SAP may be deployed at any time.
Observe the following update recommendations:
● All security related fixes can be applied.
● Within the given SUSE SLES SP “zypper patch” can be performed.
● Changing the SUSE SLES SP level must be verified against the SAP HANA Release note.
zypper patch Examples
Have a look at man zypper or use the graphical interface with YaST.
Operating System Maintenance
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Check how many patches are available (parameter phck or patch-check).
#zypper pchk
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
46 patches needed (33 security patches)
List available patches (list-patches or lp).
#zypper lp
Install patch fixing a Bugzilla issue specified by number (--bugzilla or -–cve ).
#zypper patch -–bugzilla 4711
#zypper patch –-cve 4711
Install all patches in the specified category (e.g. security or recommended).
6.3 Changes to OS Configuration
To guarantee optimal performance and the highest stability, SAP appliance hardware and technology partners
may deliver SAP HANA systems with operating system settings that deviate from the standard as outlined in
the SAP HANA Master Guide and SAP HANA Server Installation Guide.
Also customers may want to change the configuration of the operating system of the SAP HANA appliance, for
example, in order to apply additional customer-specific security hardening settings.
SAP permits such changes to configuration parameters of the SLES operating system that deviate from the
patterns described in the attached document unless these changes are listed in SAP Note 1731000 –
Unrecommended configuration changes. The changes described in this note have caused problems in
customer environments or in the laboratories of SAP or SAP HANA appliance hardware and technology
partners.
Changes to operating system parameters are permitted only with the agreement of the corresponding
hardware and operating system suppliers of your SAP HANA appliance. Customers and partners are advised
to document all changes to the standard patterns so that SAP support can more efficiently identify the root
cause of problems. In case administration was outsourced to 3rd party service provider, the provider should
first consult with the hardware support provider before changing any settings in the operating system.
For the latest information, see SAP Note 1730999 - Configuration changes to SAP HANA system and the SAP
Notes referenced in it.
Related Information
SAP Note 1731000 - Unrecommended configuration changes
SAP Note 1730999 - Configuration changes to SAP HANA system
40
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6.4 Maintenance / Patching
The customer is generally responsible for implementing operating system patches. If the customer has a
special agreement with the hardware or technology partner, support for operating system patching may be
the responsibility of the corresponding partner.
The initially delivered configuration of the appliance's operating system should persist. If configuration
settings are subsequently changed, problems may occur, for example in regards to performance. The
customer can request a validation of configuration changes for the operating system and for the installation of
additional operating system components by the hardware partner depending on the service contract between
the hardware partner and the customer. The hardware partner then supports these changes and additional
components in accordance with the existing service contract with the customer. No modified Linux version
can be used.
OS security patches may be installed immediately after they are available. However, the original packages of
the distributors must be used, that a customer is entitled to within the framework of a valid support contract
with the distributor or an authorized OEM.
For all other operating system patches, the customer should wait until they are released as part of SLES
Support Package Stacks (SPS). These SPS shall be downloaded and applied to the SAP HANA system only
according to agreements with SAP and the respective hardware partner. In particular, any updates related to
kernel or runtime libraries (glibc) need to be validated and approved by SAP beforehand.
On rare occasions, SAP might require a certain operating system patch to be implemented. In this case SAP
strongly recommends to not change configuration settings unless explicitly stated in the corresponding SAP
release note. SAP will state any dependencies in the relevant SAP Note published when a revision is released
which requires such modifications.
6.5 Support
If errors occur in any software component of SAP HANA, SAP is the main point of contact.
SAP distributes all issues within the support organization by default, as is the case for other SAP applications.
To investigate SAP HANA related problems, SAP support requires a support connection to all servers in the
SAP HANA landscape. For more information about how to establish a service connection for SAP HANA, see
SAP Note 1635304 - Central note for HANA support connections.
SUSE offers enhanced support for SUSE Linux in collaboration with SAP Linux Lab ('SUSE Priority Support for
SAP'). This support offer facilitates communication and ensures high quality. For more information on SUSE
Priority Support for SAP applications, see SAP Note 1056161 - SUSE Priority Support for SAP applications.
If the customer has defined special support agreements with the hardware or technology partner (such as
special Service Level Agreements), the customer should contact the corresponding partner directly in the
case of obvious hardware or operating system issues.
P U B L I C

Related Information
SAP Note 1635304 - Central note for HANA support connections
SAP Note 1056161 - SUSE Priority Support for SAP applications
42
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7 Installation of Additional Software on
SAP HANA Systems
This section describes the installation of additional software on SAP HANA systems.
7.1 High Availability Software
As more and more SAP HANA instances are used in production, cluster vendors have developed together with
SAP cluster solutions for SAP applications to automate the SAP HANA system replication failover.
For information about high availability for SAP HANA, see the guide SAP HANA Introduction to High Availability
for SAP HANA on SCN.
As of today there is no certification of high availability for SAP HANA, the high availability vendor and the
hardware vendor need to support the solution.
Related Information
Introduction to High Availability for SAP HANA
Automate your SAP HANA System Replication Failover
IBM SA MP
7.2 SAP LVM
To be able to handle SAP HANA in SAP LVM and also for most cluster solutions install SAP HANA with a virtual
IP.
7.3 Backup Solutions
SAP HANA provides an API (“Backint for SAP HANA”) via which 3rd party backup tools can be connected.
A list of BACKINT certified solutions can be found on SCN.
Installation of Additional Software on SAP HANA Systems
P U B L I C

Besides BACKINT, SAP HANA allows other mechanisms to be used. They are typically file system or storage
based features such as FlashCopy/snapshot technology or backup tools performing a file system backup of
the relevant data.
Related Information
“Backint for SAP HANA” Certification
Find Application Development Partners Easily - Search for HANA-BRINT
SAP Note 1730932 - Using backup tools with Backint for HANA
SAP Note 1642148 - FAQ: SAP HANA Database Backup and Recovery
SAP Note 2031547 - Overview of SAP-certified 3rd party backup tools and associated support process
7.4 Security
SAP pays high attention on the security topic.
There are several guides regarding the security of SAP HANA.
SAP HANA Security –An Overview
For SAP HANA, there is a comprehensive security guide available, that describes in detail how to protect SAP
HANA from a database perspective (SAP HANA Security –An Overview on SCN). The guide also refers to
security concepts for other connecting layers that are separate from the SAP HANA database. This is for
example the network and storage layer. However, these topics are described very generic and there is no
specific guidance on how to apply these recommendations i.e. on the Operating System level.
Operating System Security Hardening Guide for SAP HANA
At least as important as the security of the SAP HANA database is the security of the underlying Operating
System. Many hacker attacks are targeted on the Operating System and not directly on the database. Once a
hacker gained access and sufficient privileges, he can continue to attack the running database application.
In order to further improve the security standard specifically for SAP HANA, SUSE has developed a guide,
dedicated for the security hardening of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 running SAP
HANA databases.
It is meant to fill the gap between the generic SUSE Linux Enterprise Server security guide and the SAP HANA
security guide. SUSE has worked together with a large pilot customer in order to identify all relevant security
settings and avoid problems in real world scenarios.
44
P U B L I C

The guide will provide detailed descriptions on the following topics:
● SUSE Linux Enterprise hardening settings for SAP HANA
A Linux Operating System provides many tweaks and settings to further improve the OS security and the
security for the hosted applications. In order to be able to fit for certain application workloads, the default
settings are not tuned for maximum security. This guide will describe how to tune the OS for maximum
security when running specifically SAP HANA. It will also describe possible impacts, for example on
system administration and give a prioritization of each setting.
● Local firewall for SAP HANA systems
A local running firewall further improves the network security of a SAP HANA database, even if the
network, a SAP HANA database is connected to, is already behind a firewall. Network-local attacks (for
example inside of a DMZ) and also the opening of additional ports on already infiltrated systems can thus
be minimized. The OS security hardening guide will describe how to configure a local firewall dedicated for
SAP HANA database systems.
● Minimal package selection
The fewer OS packages an SAP HANA system has installed, the less possible security holes it might have.
According to that principle, the hardening guide will describe which packages are absolutely necessary
and which packages can be safely discarded. As a nice side effect, a minimized amount of packages also
reduces the number updates and patches that have to be applied to a system.
All in all, this guide covers all important topics in detail for the OS hardening of a SAP HANA system. Together
with the other security features of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, like the security certifications (CGL, FIPS,
EAL4+) and the constantly provided security updates and patches, SAP HANA can run in a very secure
environment, meeting highest security standards and being able to fit in corporate security concepts of
organizations of all sizes.
SAP HANA Security Guide
For more information, see the SAP HANA Security Guide.
Related Information
SAP HANA Security - An Overview
Operating System Security Hardening Guide for SAP HANA
P U B L I C

8 Autoinstall with Help of AutoYaST2
AutoYaST2 is used to automatically install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
Configuration information is stored in an XML configuration file called an Autoyast profile. The installer reads
the profile and installs the system based on the options given. Using AutoYaST2, multiple systems sharing the
same environment and similar but not necessarily identical hardware and performing similar tasks, can easily
be installed in parallel and quickly. A configuration file, referred to as AutoYaST profile, is created using
existing configuration resources. The profile file can be easily tailored for any specific environment.
The smallest and simplest Autoyast file would be this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE profile>
<profile xmlns="http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns" xmlns:config="http://
www.suse.com/1.0/configns">
<users config:type="list">
<user>
<encrypted config:type="boolean">false</encrypted>
<user_password>myrootpassword</user_password>
<username>root</username>
</user>
</users>
</profile>
In order to create the control file for one or more hosts, a YaST2 module is provided. This system depends on
the existing YaST2 modules which are usually used to configure a host in regular operation mode.
For more information, see the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Deployment Guide and AutoYast2 description.
Note
If you do multipath with SLES 11.1, SLES 11.2, or SLES 11.3, see Novell Knowledgebase document Enabling
multipathing in autoyast Installations (ID 7009981). With SLES 11.4 this issue is corrected (see release
notes).
Related Information
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Deployment Guide
Enabling multipathing in autoyast Installations
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Autoinstall with Help of AutoYaST2

9 Tips for Remote Installation
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server can be installed in several different ways.
As well as the usual media installation through DVD or USB, you can choose from various network-based
approaches like NFS, FTP, HTTP, CIFS/SMB together with VNC or SSH or even take a completely hands-off
approach (AutoYaST2) to the installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise.
For more information, see the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Deployment Guide.
Related Information
Booting the Target System for Installation
Tips for Remote Installation
P U B L I C

10 Appendix
The appendix provides additional information.
10.1 Networking Ports
For information about networking ports, see the SAP HANA Security Guide.
Related Information
10.2 Package List for SAP HANA
Check the recommended package list for SAP HANA.
SAP recommends the installation of the SLES 11 base pattern as the basis to run an SAP HANA system on. To
guarantee optimal performance and the highest stability, SAP appliance hardware and technology partners
may deliver SAP HANA systems with settings that deviate from that standard. Customers and partners are
advised to document all changes to the standard pattern so that SAP support can more efficiently identify the
root cause of problems, however.
Required packages, not included in SLES 11 Base System pattern:
● libuuid1
● gtk2 (use the version provided with the operating system distribution)
● java-1_6_0-ibm (use the version provided with the operating system distribution, necessary for the SAP
HANA studio on the SAP HANA system)
● libicu (use the version provided with the operating system distribution)
● mozilla-xulrunner192-1.9.2.xx-x.x.x (use the version provided with the operating system, but at the given
minimum version)
● ntp
● sudo
● syslog-ng (use the version provided with the operating system distribution)
● tcsh
● libssh2-1
● expect
48
P U B L I C
Appendix

● autoyast2-installation
● yast2-ncurses
● bing (a point-to-point bandwidth measurement tool, needed for supportability)
● bonnie (file system benchmark, needed for supportability)
● cairo (vector graphics library, needed for supportability)
● findutils-locate (tool for locating files, needed for supportability)
● graphviz (graph visualization tools, needed for supportability)
● iptraf (TCP/IP network monitor, needed for supportability)
● krb5-32bit (MIT Kerberos5 implementation-libraries, needed for supportability)
● krb5-client (MIT Kerberos5 implementation-client programs, needed for supportability)
● nfs-client (support utilities for NFS, needed for supportability)
● sensors (hardware health monitoring for Linux, needed for supportability)
● xfsprogs
● libnuma1
● libgcc_s1
● libstdc++6
● multipath-tools (if you will use multipath)
● libaio
● libopenssl
● glibc
● audit-libs
● cyrus-sasl
● keyutils-libs
● krb5
● libcom_err2
● libevent
● libldap
● libltdl7
● libopenssl0_9_8
● pam
● zlib
Note
Note for SAP HANA on IBM Power
For IBM POWER please check if you need additional packages or other versions as documented in
multipath-tools (if you will use multipath) SAP Note 2055470 - HANA on POWER Planning and Installation
Specifics - Central Note.
For some SAP HANA options or SAP HANA capabilities you need to download and install the IBM XL C/C++
Runtime Environment for Linux on Power (see Latest updates for supported IBM C and C++ compilers).
Appendix
P U B L I C

Note
SAP HANA SPS 11 requires a new compiler version (GCC 4.8), which is not supported by SUSE SLES11 SP1.
Therefore, if you plan to install or upgrade to SAP HANA SPS 11, you will first need to upgrade your SUSE
operating system to SLES 11 SP2 or higher.
Related Information
multipath-tools (if you will use multipath)SAP Note 1954788 - SAP HANA DB: Recommended OS settings for
SLES 11 / SLES for SAP Applications 11 SP3
SP2
SAP Note 1855805 - Recommended SLES 11 packages for HANA support on OS level
SAP Note 2055470 - HANA on POWER Planning and Installation Specifics - Central Note
Latest updates for supported IBM C and C++ compilers
10.3 Tuning Parameters
Check the following settings.
Limit Page Cache Pool to 4 GB (SAP Note 1557506)
The page cache limit is a tuning parameter which only should be set if you have problems with paging.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) offers an option to limit the size of the page cache pool. Per default the
page cache size is unlimited. SAP recommends in SAP Note 1557506 -Linux paging improvements to limit this
page cache to 4 GB of RAM. This may improve resilience against out-of-memory events, but 4 GB could also
be wrong for your workload.
Tune and test this parameter with your workload.
Add the following line to file:
/etc/sysctl.conf:
vm.pagecache_limit_mb = 4096
To activate this value without a reboot, perform the following command:
# systctl -e -p
This change can be done without a downtime.
50
P U B L I C
Appendix

IO SCHEDULER
The default scheduler is CFQ which is not ideal for SAP HANA workloads.
The NOOP scheduler is recommended for setups with devices that do I/O scheduling themselves, such as
intelligent storage or in multipathing environments. The DEADLINE scheduler can provide a superior
throughput over the CFQ I/O scheduler in cases where several threads read and write and fairness is not an
issue. For example, for several parallel readers from a SAN.
To find out which elevator is the current default, run the following command. The currently selected scheduler
is listed in brackets:
# cat /sys/block/sda/queue/scheduler
noop deadline [cfq]
To change the elevator for a specific device in the running system, run the following command:
echo SCHEDULER > /sys/block/DEVICE/queue/scheduler
Here, SCHEDULER is one of cfq, noop, or deadline. DEVICE is the block device (sda for example).
For more information, see SUSE System Analysis and Tuning Guide at https://www.suse.com/
documentation/sles11/
Related Information
SP2
SAP Note 1557506 - Linux paging improvements
SUSE Documentation
10.4 Configure a PXE Server
When using a PXE boot server in conjunction with AutoYaST you can have a fully automated installation of
SUSE Enterprise Linux.
For more information, see Remote Installation in the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Deployment Guide.
Related Information
Appendix
P U B L I C

10.5 Installation in a Virtual Machine Using VMware
SAP HANA and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server could be used in combination with VMware products.
Have a look at the best practice documents from VMware and the VMware relevant SAP Notes:
● SAP Note 1995460 - Single SAP HANA VM on VMware vSphere in production
● SAP Note 2024433 - Multiple SAP HANA VMs on VMware vSphere in production VMWare Best Practices
on SAP HANA
● Best Practices and Recommendations for Scale-up Deployments of SAP HANA on VMware vSphere
In general the following requirements need to be fulfilled:
● The underlying hardware must be certified by SAP's ICC for SAP HANA.
● Do not use memory compression techniques like KSM.
● The maximum memory reserved for the virtual machines should not exceed 90% of the physical memory
of the hypervisor.
● SAP HANA needs the full instruction set of the host CPU(s). Adjust the settings for the VM accordingly.
● For monitoring and system management purposes, VMware Tools must be installed and running as well.
● For performance reasons, the SAP HANA file systems should reside on separate VMDK files.
● For tuning the operating environment, have a look at the above sections in this guide.
Note
If you are running SAP HANA on SLES on top of hypervisors, for example VMware, XEN, or KVM, but your
current SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscription (physical) does not yet include such virtual operating
environment, you should get in contact with SUSE directly to upgrade your license subscription
accordingly.
For more information, see SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Licensing and Pricing Policies.
Note
If you are running SAP HANA virtualized with VMware, see SAP Note 1606643 - Linux: VMware vSphere host
monitoring interface for additional tasks, for example installation and configuration of VMware Tools.
Related Information
SAP Note 1995460 - Single SAP HANA VM on VMware vSphere in production
SAP Note 2024433 - Multiple SAP HANA VMs on VMware vSphere in production VMWare Best Practices on
SAP HANA
SAP Note 1606643 - Linux: VMware vSphere host monitoring interface
Best Practices and Recommendations for Scale-up Deployments of SAP® HANA® on VMware vSphere®
52
P U B L I C
Appendix

10.6 Installation in a Virtual Environment Using PowerVM
SAP HANA on Power Servers can be operated in a virtual environment even for production use.
SAP HANA on Power uses PowerVM. The requirements differ from the ones for VMWare and are described in
the IBM Planning Guide and verified by HWCCT. The SAP Notes describing the release of running SAP HANA in
virtualized environment are:
● SAP Note 2230704 - SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems with multiple - LPARs per physical host
● SAP Note 2188482 - SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems: Allowed Hardware
Related Information
SAP Note 2230704 - SAP HANA on IBM Power Systems with multiple - LPARs per physical host
IBM Planning Guide
Appendix
P U B L I C

Important Disclaimer for Features in SAP
HANA Platform, Options and Capabilities
SAP HANA server software and tools can be used for several SAP HANA platform and options scenarios as
well as the respective capabilities used in these scenarios. The availability of these is based on the available
SAP HANA licenses and the SAP HANA landscape, including the type and version of the back-end systems the
SAP HANA administration and development tools are connected to. There are several types of licenses
available for SAP HANA. Depending on your SAP HANA installation license type, some of the features and
tools described in the SAP HANA platform documentation may only be available in the SAP HANA options and
capabilities, which may be released independently of an SAP HANA Platform Support Package Stack (SPS).
Although various features included in SAP HANA options and capabilities are cited in the SAP HANA platform
documentation, each SAP HANA edition governs the options and capabilities available. Based on this,
customers do not necessarily have the right to use features included in SAP HANA options and capabilities.
For customers to whom these license restrictions apply, the use of features included in SAP HANA options and
capabilities in a production system requires purchasing the corresponding software license(s) from SAP. The
documentation for the SAP HANA optional components is available in SAP Help Portal at http://
help.sap.com/hana_options. If you have additional questions about what your particular license provides, or
wish to discuss licensing features available in SAP HANA options, please contact your SAP account team
representative.
54
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Important Disclaimer for Features in SAP HANA Platform, Options and Capabilities

Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
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Any software coding and/or code lines / strings ("Code") included in this documentation are only examples and are not intended to be used in a productive system
environment. The Code is only intended to better explain and visualize the syntax and phrasing rules of certain coding. SAP does not warrant the correctness and
completeness of the Code given herein, and SAP shall not be liable for errors or damages caused by the usage of the Code, unless damages were caused by SAP
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Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
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