As an SAP HANA database administrator, you perform many complex tasks, like renaming an SAP HANA system or installing additional components to an SAP HANA system. These complex system administration tasks can be streamlined with the resident SAP HANA lifecycle manager (HDBLCM) tool. In SAP HANA 2.0, the resident HDBLCM tool helps you to perform the following tasks using a simple procedure:
Add or remove host roles
Change, add or remove host roles (for example worker, standby).
Add Hosts to the SAP HANA Database System
There are various use cases. For example, to convert a single-host SAP HANA system to a multi-host system or to up (or even down) scale an already existing scaled-out system any further.
Configure the Inter-Service Communication in a scale-out environment
Configure the network interface if needed.
Configure System Landscape Directory (SLD) Registration
When an SAP HANA system is connected to the SLD, it can report its status and provide details and information about the system itself.
Rename SAP HANA Database System
With a rename some generic parameters can be changed, like the <SID> and/or the <instance_no>.
Uninstall SAP HANA Database Components
De-install additional components or a complete SAP HANA system.
Unregister the SAP HANA Database System
It may become necessary to move the SAP HANA system to different hardware. This is called a relocation. After having unregistered the SAP HANA system, a re-register (register_rename) is needed.
Update the SAP HANA Database System
Apply a new revision to an SAP HANA system. For details see former lesson Updating SAP HANA
Install or Update Additional Components
With this integrated function additional components can be installed or updated.
When you start the resident HDBLCMGUI from the /hana/shared/<SID>/hdblcm directory, a graphical interface appears. You can also perform the same functions with the non-graphical resident HDBLCM tool.
Add or Remove Host Roles
The Add Host Roles and Remove Host Roles options allow you to specify additional roles for existing SAP HANA hosts during the SAP HANA option installation. Multiple host roles are not supported in production environments, but they can be useful in development and QA systems to keep the system landscape size under control. If an SAP HANA extended application services advanced (XSA) runtime is installed, hosts can share multiple roles.
Add Hosts to an SAP HANA Database System
If you want to increase the SAP HANA database size, you can add additional hosts to the system in a process called scale-out. This lets you increase the memory size and the number of CPUs in the SAP HANA system by adding hosts. You can specify the list of server and roles (worker or standby) to add with the resident HDBLCM tool. The installation and configuration is automatically performed by the resident HDBLCM tool.
Configure the Inter-Service Communication Settings
With this option, you can specify which network interface SAP HANA uses for internal network communication. The following options are available:
Global: Binds the processes to all interfaces.
Internal: Binds the processes to this address only, and to all local host interfaces.
Local: Opens the communication ports for internal usage on the local interfaces. This configuration is only an option for single installations because the server is not accessible from outside.
The global and local options do not require an internal network address entry. The internal option requires an internal network address entry.
System Landscape Directory Registration (SLD) Configuration
If you have SAP Solution Manager, you can use it to update your SAP HANA system like other SAP systems in your landscape. Register your SAP HANA system using the System Landscape Directory (SLD).
After you perform this configuration, the SAP HANA database automatically updates the SLD information on a regular basis to keep it current. This data can be used by the SAP Solution Manager to calculate update paths for your SAP HANA system.
Uninstall SAP HANA Database Components
With the resident HDBLCM, you can uninstall the complete SAP HANA database system or uninstall individual SAP HANA database system components. The following types of components can be managed:
SAP HANA mandatory components (SAP HANA server and client)
SAP HANA additional components (like SAP HANA Application Function Libraries, SAP HANA Local Secure Store, and SAP HANA smart data access)
SAP HANA options (like SAP HANA Accelerator for SAP ASE or SAP HANA smart data streaming)
Relocation of SAP HANA
When an SAP HANA database runs out of memory storage, increase the memory of that SAP HANA system. This can be done by scale-out or scale-up. In the scale-up scenario, replace your current SAP HANA host with a new, larger host. To replace the smaller host with a larger host, unregister the smaller server from the SAP HANA database system. The larger host can be registered to the SAP HANA database system with the rename option in the resident HDBLCM tool.
In this way, the complete SAP HANA system or an individual instance (node or host) can be moved.
Every part is realized with different steps. To initialize this task, use the resident HDBLCMGUI, or the command-line tool. This is an easy way to relocate your current SAP HANA system onto new hosts without the use of reinstall or backup and restore mechanisms.
The steps for scenario unregister are as follows:
- Log on to the source host
- Navigate to the resident HDBLCM tool directory
- Execute:
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hdblcm --action=unregister_system
Unregister the SAP HANA Database System
Example Scenario: Register
The steps to register the new host are as follows:
- Log on to the target host and mount the shared area
- Execute:
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hdblcm –action=register_rename_system
- Execute the host mapping
Renaming an SAP HANA Database
Install or Update Additional Components
Once the SAP HANA database system is installed, you can easily add additional components to the system. This can even be done after the SAP HANA database has been upgraded to a higher Support Package Stack (SPS) or version.
To install or update SAP HANA components, first check that you have downloaded the components you want from the SAP Support Portal (https://support.sap.com). The component version must match the SAP HANA database version.
After you have unpacked the component, start the resident HDBLCM tool and point it to the download location. The directory is searched, and any found components are shown as options that can be installed or updated.
Additional Features for the Resident HDBLCM Tool
You might experience that SAP delivers from time to time, new or enhanced features with new Support Package Stacks. This also applies to the resident HDBLCM tool. The command-line version can have more features than the graphical version, and can also be used in scripts to automate recurring system administration tasks.
