Describing Basic Features of Cloud Portal

The Cloud Portal is a secure, browser-based, self-service interface that enables you to set up, configure, and deploy SAP Commerce Cloud solutions in the public cloud.

With the Cloud Portal, you can carry out common operational tasks, such as:

• Inviting users with various roles to your SAP Commerce Cloud subscription
• Connecting your code repository to the Cloud Automation Engine and creating a new build
• Configuring cloud environments
• Deploying your builds to these cloud environments
• Monitoring these environments using SAP CX Observability (also known as Dynatrace) and Cloud Logging System (CLS)
• Capturing database snapshots and restoring them across environments

Moving from a local setup to the SAP Commerce Cloud Portal means shifting from manual hardware and server management to an automated, self-service platform. Instead of configuring databases and local environments, your team can use a centralized dashboard to deploy code, scale resources, and monitor application health — freeing you to focus on building Commerce Cloud features while the Cloud Portal handles the underlying infrastructure and security.

Now let’s look at how the Cloud Portal is structured.

As shown in the structural overview, the Cloud Portal:

1. Operates as a web application within the SAP Cloud Platform.
2. Communicates with the Cloud Automation Engine in the Azure Cloud via API calls.
   • The Cloud Automation Engine executes all automation tasks within SAP Commerce Cloud.
   • This integration supports key features, including Environment Management, Build Management, Deployment Management, Logging, Backup & Snapshots, Disaster Recovery, Scaling, and Performance Monitoring.
3. Functions as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, receiving monthly updates that include bug fixes and new features.

With this structure in mind, let’s explore how the Cloud Portal supports the build and deployment process.

The Cloud Portal enables you to:

1. Connect to your code repository.
2. Build your SAP Commerce Cloud application.
3. Deploy code builds to your cloud environments.
4. Configure your SAP Commerce Cloud application.

In the upcoming lessons, we will explore each of these features in detail. Let’s first review the key requirements for accessing the Cloud Portal.

To use the Cloud Portal, you need:

• An account with an SAP Cloud Identity user ID
• An internet connection and a supported web browser — view the full list here: Supported Web Browsers
• Access to a Git-based code repository, either public or private (private repositories must be accessible via VPN or NAT). We will cover the specifics in a later lesson.

Once you have access, you will be assigned one of the following roles.

Users are assigned one of two primary roles:

• Customer System Administrator (CSA): Adds new users, assigns new roles, creates builds, deploys builds to cloud environments, and configures the SAP Commerce Cloud application.
• Customer Developer (CD): Customizes the SAP Commerce Cloud project code and manages code repositories.

Now that you understand the roles, let's see what you'll encounter after logging in.

As a Customer System Administrator, after logging into the Cloud Portal, you land on the Environments page.

An environment is a container of cloud computing resources that supports the smooth, continuous operation of your SAP Commerce Cloud application.

There are three types of cloud environments:

1. Development: Used for creating, configuring, and testing application builds.
2. Staging: Designed to replicate production activities for pre-launch validation.
3. Production: Used for running live commerce applications.

Each environment can have one of three statuses:

• Provisioning: The environment is being created and is not yet ready.
• Available: The environment is provisioned and ready to use.
• Error: The environment failed to successfully provision or is in an error state.

When you select an environment from the list, you are taken to its overview page, where you can access further configuration options.

From the environment overview page, you can configure the following:

1. Endpoints: Define web routing and access points.
2. Cloud Storage: Enable file uploaded to cloud hot folders or archive log files.
3. Data Backups: Create backups of your data and files.
4. Deployment Configuration: Attach trusted certificates, host aliases, and other security files.
5. Service Configuration: Configure properties for services and aspects, including the generated admin password.
6. Monitoring: Monitor commerce application logging, metrics, and traces using CX Observability (Dynatrace) and Cloud Logging System (CLS).
7. Web Application Firewall: A security layer that filters malicious traffic by configuring connection limits at the environment level.
8. Scaling Configuration: Manually adjust sandbox resources, such as database and server capacity, as your project needs change.

Once your SAP Commerce Cloud server is successfully deployed in an environment, a set of endpoints is automatically generated to manage web traffic and uptime monitoring.

By default, an environment includes several endpoints, including but not limited to:

• API: Represents the OCC API
• Backoffice: Refers to the Backoffice application
• JS Storefront: Signifies the SAP Commerce Cloud Composable Storefront
• Background Processing: Manages the execution of background processes (for example, CronJobs, Tasks, and Processes)
• Solr: Serves the Solr server
• Storefront: Contains the accelerator storefront (legacy; replaced by JS Storefront)

This concludes the overview of the Cloud Portal’s basic features. In the upcoming lessons, we will explore each of these capabilities in greater detail.

• The Cloud Portal is a self-service interface for managing SAP Commerce Cloud. It supports user management, build creation, environment configuration, deployment, and monitoring.
• The Cloud Portal is a web application on the SAP Cloud Platform. It connects to the Cloud Automation Engine in Azure via API calls. It is a SaaS offering that receives monthly bug fixes and updates.
• Access requires an SAP Cloud Identity user ID and a Git repository. Users are assigned a Customer System Administrator or Customer Developer role. Development, Staging, and Production environments each support distinct deployment phases.
• The Environment Overview page is a central hub for configuring key components of your deployment, including data backups, cloud storage, security settings, and monitoring.
• Upon successful deployment, endpoints are automatically generated to handle web traffic and system access, including the OCC API, Backoffice application, SAP Commerce Cloud Composable Storefront, and more.