SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near
Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to
Guide
This paper should help customers to understand Near Zero Downtime
Maintenance Tool for SAP NetWeaver Process Integration. It provides an
introduction into how the nZDM Tool for PI procedure works, the prerequisites
to be considered and shows where and how the tool can be used.
All features planned are based on latest information provided by SAP
NetWeaver product management and might be changed at any time.
This paper applies to following SAP products and releases:




SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI) 7.1 and Enhancement Package 1 for PI
7.1
SAP NetWeaver 7.3 and Enhancement Package 1 (Usage Type Process
Integration)
SAP NetWeaver 7.4 (Usage Type Process Integration)
Software Logistic Toolset (SL Toolset) SP6 and higher
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
AUTHOR BIO
Author:
Company:
Created on:
Jonas Blatter
SAP Deutschland AG & Co.KG
September 2013
Jonas Blatter is Technology Consultant in the area of
He joins SAP in 2009 and started his career in PI
Application Lifecycle Management of PI from SAP
perspective. He is responsible for all upgrade related
Community.
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration.
development. His main focus is on
Basis but also from PI application
PI topics within the SAP internal PO
2
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR BIO .................................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 4
NEAR ZERO DOWNTIME MAINTENANCE TOOL FOR SAP NETWEAVER PI OVERVIEW ....................... 5
About Near Zero Downtime Maintenance (nZDM) Tool for PI ..................................................................... 5
Technical Prerequisites of nZDM Tool for PI ................................................................................................ 5
Requirements Related to SAP NetWeaver Process Integration Release ......................................................... 5
Requirements Related to SAP Kernel ............................................................................................................... 5
Supported Operating System and Database Combinations.............................................................................. 5
Hardware Requirements for nZDM Tool for PI .................................................................................................. 6
Phases of nZDM Tool for PI ............................................................................................................................ 6
SAP NETWEAVER PROCESS INTEGRATION AND NEAR ZERO DOWNTIME MAINTENANCE TOOL.... 8
SAP NetWeaver PI Installation Options Overview ....................................................................................... 8
SAP NetWeaver PI Architecture Options Overview ..................................................................................... 8
SAP NetWeaver PI Architecture Options and Usage of Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool ........... 9
nZDM Tool for PI for Distributed PI With Connected Non-central Adapter Engine(s) ............................ 11
Critical Points to be Considered When Using nZDM Tool for PI ..................................................................... 11
Possible Downtime Reduction Options for Non-central Adapter Engine(s) .................................................... 12
RELATED CONTENT ..................................................................................................................................... 13
3
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
INTRODUCTION
As customer demand increases to reduce business downtime, SAP introduces new technologies to reduce
both planned and unplanned business downtime for SAP solutions. Since SAP NetWeaver Process
Integration is a technical hub (middleware) to connect different systems (communication components) to run
business-critical processes and message exchange, it must be considered intensively when reducing
downtime because of a simple reason: when a middleware is down or not available all connected systems
and configured processes are down and cannot process any business (critical) data.
Thus, SAP introduces a tool called near Zero Downtime Maintenance (nZDM) Tool for PI to enable
customers to reduce their planned business downtime for certain maintenance tasks. The nZDM Tool for PI
itself, its prerequisites and single tasks are introduced by this guide. Additionally, this guide clarifies what is
covered by latest version of nZDM tool for PI, what is currently not covered but planned and guides
customers with best practices from SAP Consulting for customer requirements not covered yet.
Currently, most SAP NetWeaver Process Integration customers are still on releases and architecture options
which are covered by latest version of nZDM Tool for PI; about 2 of 3 customers. Additionally, even more
than 80% of SAPs productive PI customers have chosen an architecture option which is covered by latest
version.
4
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
NEAR ZERO DOWNTIME MAINTENANCE TOOL FOR SAP NETWEAVER PI OVERVIEW
Please refer for latest releases and information about SL Toolset and nZDM Tool for PI to the corresponding
and regularly updated SAP Notes:


SL Toolset Central Release Note: SAP Note 1563579
Near Zero Downtime Management Central Note: SAP Note 1435235
About Near Zero Downtime Maintenance (nZDM) Tool for PI
Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool for SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI) is a tool shipped by the
Software Logistics Toolset (SL-Toolset) SP6 and higher.
NZDM Tool for PI helps SAP customers to reduce the planned technical downtime up to approximately 30
minutes for implementing Support Packages or a Support Package Stack to SAP NetWeaver Process
Integration. All operating system and database related maintenance tasks are not covered by nZDM Tool for
PI. Please find all information in regard to supported PI releases and platforms in chapter
Technical Prerequisites of nZDM Tool for PI below.
To enable this downtime reduction on the PI system, nZDM Tool for PI exports relevant data (nontransactional data) into a shadow system. In this shadow system the maintenance task is executed.
Afterwards the relevant data are exported from the shadow system and imported to the production system
into separate shadow tables within the database. To activate the maintained and imported data, the
database tables must be switched within the production system. This switch can freely be started manually.
Please note that in this case as of the reduced possibility to test the PI scenarios after the database table
switch the technical downtime of the PI system is also the business downtime.
Technical Prerequisites of nZDM Tool for PI
Requirements Related to SAP NetWeaver Process Integration Release





SAP NetWeaver for Process Integration 7.1 SPS05 or higher
SAP Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver for Process Integration 7.1 SPS03 or higher
SAP NetWeaver 7.3 (Usage Type Process Integration) SPS02 or higher
SAP Enhancement Package 1 for SAP NetWeaver 7.3 (Usage Type Process Integration) SPS03 or
higher
SAP NetWeaver 7.4 (Usage Type Process Integration) SPS02 or higher
Requirements Related to SAP Kernel

SAP Kernel 720 Patch Level 62 or higher
Supported Operating System and Database Combinations
Operating System
Database
Windows
SAP MaxDB
Oracle
IBM DB2
MS SQL Server
Unix
(AIX 64Bit, HP-UX on
IA64, Linux on x86_64,
Solaris on SPARC 64bit)
SAP MaxDB
Oracle
IBM DB2
Table 1: Supported Platforms for nZDM Tool for PI
5
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
For technical details in regard to database version and patch level supported for nZDM Tool for PI please
refer to SAP Note 1435235. Both OS and DB must be supported according to SAPs Product Availability
Matrix (PAM).
Hardware Requirements for nZDM Tool for PI
As an additional host is required to store the exported data and implement the SPs/SPS below requirements
must be met.


Separate update host with same OS/DB combination
RAM and local disk requirements on update host:
o
o
o
o

8 GB RAM for small PI installations
20 GB disc space for swap files
10 GB disc space for SAP & DB software
50 GB disc space for database
About 40 GB additional local disc space on DB host of production system for shadow tables
Further requirements have to be checked individually described in specific how-to guides of nZDM Tool for
PI which are available at SAP Service Marketplace and can be accessed via this SMP page.
Please note that compressed databases neither for Java schema nor for ABAP schema are currently
supported by nZDM for PI Tool.
Phases of nZDM Tool for PI
In general, the nZDM Tool for PI is divided into below steps:
Figure 1: Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool for PI Phases
6
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
Below table shows the sequence of tasks to be executed during nZDM Tool for PI procedure:
Step
System Affected
Task
(please see legend below)
#1
Export
Copy non-transactional data and set production system to 'business
only' mode. During this mode no changes to design or configuration
objects are possible, PI scenarios are still processed.
Production system
#2
Installation
Update system (shadow)
#3
Apply Support Packages or SP Stacks
Update system (shadow)
#4
Export
Update system (shadow)
#5
Import
Production system
1.
2.
Shadow import (during uptime) and preparation of switch incl.
consistency check
Note: This consistency check is supported by SAP CSS
message
Switch of non-transactional data (downtime required)
Shut down production system manually, start system switch to
updated non-transactional data and start up system manually.
Table 2: nZDM Tool for PI Procedure Overview
Legend:
Production system
Update system
The PI system that should be updated. This term is used independently of the system
role within customers PI system landscape (Development, Test/Quality Assurance,
Production).
An separate SAP system that is temporarily created during the nZDM Tool for PI
procedure as a copy of the production system.
For further information about the steps of nZDM Tool for PI please refer to the How-to Guide relevant for
your PI release and platform combination available on SAP Service Marketplace which can be accessed via
this SMP page.
Please note that above information might be outdated although this guide is updated on regular basis. To
ensure considering the latest version and prerequisites for nZDM Tool for PI it is highly recommended to
refer to related SAP Notes and other sources listed in Related Content.
7
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
SAP NETWEAVER PROCESS INTEGRATION AND NEAR ZERO DOWNTIME MAINTENANCE TOOL
SAP NetWeaver PI Installation Options Overview
Below table provides an overview of current available SAP NetWeaver PI installation options:
SAP NetWeaver Application
Installation Option
PI Related Components (1)
Server Architecture
Dual-stack Process
Integration
SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP
Integration Engine
Business Process Engine
SAP NetWeaver AS Java
Advanced Adapter Engine
Mapping Runtime
Advanced Adapter
Engine Extended (AEX)
SAP NetWeaver AS Java
Advanced Adapter Engine
Mapping Runtime
Process Orchestration
(PO)
SAP NetWeaver AS Java
Advanced Adapter Engine
Mapping Runtime
Business Process Management
Business Rules Management
Table 3: SAP NetWeaver Process Integration Installation Options
(1)
Please note that PI related components listed above are only the components relevant from PI application perspective
within the context of this guide. There are further (technical) components in which the installation options differ but are
not relevant for this overview.
For more details in regard to SAP NetWeaver Process Integration installation options please refer to this
SCN article.
SAP NetWeaver PI Architecture Options Overview
Below table visualizes SAP NetWeaver PI architecture options:
Architecture
Description
Visualization
Option
Central PI
A single PI system
(1)
communicating
with all
communication
components (2)
PI System
Communication
Component
8
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
Distributed PI
A single PI system
(1)
with one or more
non-central Adapter
Engines
communicating with
relevant
communication
components (2)
PI System
Adapter Engine
Communication
Component
Federated PI
Two or more PI
systems (1) within a
single landscape tier
communicating with
relevant
communication
components (2)
PI System
Communication
Component
Table 4: SAP NetWeaver Process Integration Architecture Options
(1)
PI systems could be: Dual-stack PI, Advanced Adapter Engine Extended (AEX) or Process Orchestration (PO).
Communication component is a defined object in the context of PI introduced with SAP NetWeaver 7.11. A
communication component could be: a business system, a business component and - on Dual-stack installations - a
integration process. For further information please refer to standard SAP help pages for SAP NetWeaver Process
Integration for corresponding release.
(2)
For more details in regard to SAP NetWeaver Process Integration architecture options please refer to this
SCN article.
SAP NetWeaver PI Architecture Options and Usage of Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool
According to SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI) architecture options, the following classification gives
an overview about nZDM Tool for PI support and reachable technical downtime for the corresponding
maintenance task. The maintenance tasks are:


Update: Applying Support Package(s) or Support Package Stack
Upgrade: Change release resp. implementing Enhancement Package with following upgrade paths
- PI dual-stack 7.1 to PI dual-stack 7.31
- PI dual-stack 7.11 to PI dual-stack 7.31
- PI dual-stack 7.30 to PI dual-stack 7.31
Please consider the prerequisites for PI releases mentioned in
Technical Prerequisites of nZDM Tool for PI.
9
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
Architecture
Option
Installation
Option
Maintenance
Task
nZDM Tool
Support
Central PI
Dual-stack PI
Update
Yes
Distributed PI
Federated PI
Other Tool
Support (1)
Up to 30 min
Upgrade
Planned with SUM
AEX/PO
Update
Planned with SUM
Dual-stack PI with
non-central Adapter
Engines (NAE)
Update
Yes, partial
Java support
planned
Upgrade
Planned, partial
AEX/PO with noncentral Adapter
Engines (NAE)
Update
Java support
planned
Dual-stack PI
Update
Yes
Upgrade
Technical Downtime
Reduction to
Up to 30 min for PI Dualstack, overall downtime
of PI system depends on
downtime to maintain
NAE(s).
Up to 30 min
Planned
Table 5: SAP NetWeaver PI Achitecture Options and nZDM Classification
(1)
Please note that all tasks mentioned in this column are not covered by this guide which focuses on nZDM Tool for PI.
For all functionality supported by Software Update Manager (SUM) prerequisites and other information listed in previous
chapters are not valid. For all SUM-related nZDM capabilities please refer to related SAP Notes for prerequisites and
terms and conditions applied in Related Content. As central point of information SAP Note 1825209 can be used.
Below find the summarized PI architectures (architecture option in combination with installation option)
supported resp. planned to be supported by nZDM Tool for PI.

Central PI
Dual-stack PI installations with central PI architecture are supported for nZDM Tool for PI and could
bring a downtime reduction up to 30 min to implement Support Packages resp. a Support Package
Stack for the mentioned PI releases.
Upgrade of dual-stack PI installations with central PI architecture are currently not supported but
planned for future with the Software Update Manager (SUM) according to mentioned upgrade paths.
Update of AEX resp. Process Orchestration installations with central PI architecture are currently not
supported but planned for future.

Distributed PI
Dual-stack PI installations with distributed PI architecture are supported for nZDM Tool for PI and
could bring a downtime reduction up to 30 min to implement Support Packages resp. a Support
Package Stack for mentioned PI releases using a dual-stack PI system. All non-central Adapter
Engines connected to the dual-stack PI system are not covered by the nZDM procedure and have to
be maintained separately via classical approach. For this case, please refer to chapter nZDM Tool
for PI for Distributed PI With Connected Non-central Adapter Engine(s).
Therefore please take notice that the overall technical downtime for implementing Support Packages
resp. a Support Package Stack depends on the downtime reduction reached for maintaining the noncentral Adapter Engine. NZDM Tool for PI helps to reduce downtime of the dual-stack PI system only
and does not take any effect on connected non-central Adapter Engines.
10
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
Upgrade of dual-stack PI installations with distributed PI architecture are currently not supported but
planned for future according to mentioned upgrade paths for the dual-stack PI system. Please
consider that there is no tool-based upgrade for connected non-central Adapter Engine(s). Therefore
additional downtime has to be expected to maintain the NAE(s).
Update of AEX resp. Process Orchestration installations with distributed PI architecture are currently
not supported but planned for future.

Federated PI
Dual-stack PI installations with federated PI architecture are supported for nZDM Tool for PI and
could bring a downtime reduction up to 30 min to implement Support Packages resp. a Support
Package Stack for the mentioned PI releases.
Upgrade of dual-stack PI installations with federated PI architecture are currently not supported but
planned for future according to mentioned upgrade paths.
Update of AEX resp. Process Orchestration installations with federated PI architecture are currently
not supported but planned for future.
nZDM Tool for PI for Distributed PI With Connected Non-central Adapter Engine(s)
When the distributed PI architecture is used additional considerations must be taken into account since the
nZDM Tool for PI in the latest version can only be used to maintain the dual-stack PI system. As of the highly
customer individual implementation of distributed PI architecture, it is not possible to describe a standard
procedure as recommendation how to maintain the non-central Adapter Engine(s). Therefore, critical points
are listed to be checked when planning the Support Package resp. Support Package Stack implementation
on the non-central Adapter Engines. Additionally, a possible option how to reduce the technical downtime
has been identified and should give an idea how this challenge could be solved.
Critical Points to be Considered When Using nZDM Tool for PI

Switching scenarios between Engines (Integration Engine and Adapter Engine or Adapter Engine
and Adapter Engine):
-

Cache refresh
BE (synchronous) messages
EOIO sequences of asynchronous messages
Integration Engine resp. Adapter Engine related Adapters
Usage of ccBPM
Non-central Adapter Engines
-
Network Segmentation (e.g. de-militarized zone)
Local User Management Engine (UME)
Non-SAP Adapter
Please note that the fact running adapters on different releases (SP/Patch levels) on central Adapter Engine
and non-central Adapter Engine is supported according SAP Note 1916146. Therefore it is possible to run a
distributed PI architecture using connected non-central Adapter Engines on different releases of DAE and
NAE at least temporarily during maintenance. In regards to supported use cases please refer to mentioned
SAP Note.
11
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
Possible Downtime Reduction Options for Non-central Adapter Engine(s)
Below options could be taken into consideration to decrease the technical downtime to implement Support
Packages resp. a Support Package Stack on non-central Adapter Engines:

De-connect non-central Adapter Engine
If possible in customers' landscape it could be an option to switch the PI scenarios running on the
NAE(s) to the dual-stack PI system (central AE) and therewith "de-connect" the NAE from productive
usage during the maintenance task. By this switch it is ensured that all productive PI scenarios can
benefit from the downtime reduction from nZDM Tool for PI. The NAE(s) have to be maintained
separately and can afterwards be "re-connected" to the dual-stack PI system, which means to switch
the PI scenarios back to the NAE(s).
Please note that the PI scenario switch is done by moving the Adapter Engine on which the PI
communication channels are running. Therefore this is a change of configuration objects and must
be done before activating the 'business only' mode.
Additionally note that for PI scenarios using EOIO sequences it must be ensured that all messages
related to same queues has been processed completely before switching the PI scenarios in order to
ensure the proper order of message processing.

Rolling SP/SPS implementation of non-central Adapter Engine(s)
The rolling maintenance procedure on NAE(s) is an option on which an additional NAE must be
installed and prepared properly. The PI scenarios are then switched from the current NAE to the new
built NAE. This can either be done before or after nZDM Tool for PI is used for the dual-stack PI
system. According to SAP Note it is now supported to temporarily have a different release (SP/Patch
level) of Software Components on the Central Adapter Engine and NAE(s).
When possible it might be a smart solution to switch all PI scenarios to the new NAE as therefore all
PI scenarios could run without having any downtime. For this special case additional questions must
be answered, like adapter availability on the Adapter Engine, ccBPM usage, etc.
The new NAE should use a Local User Management (UME) to enable that it can process messages
without any restriction. For further information in regard to local UME usage please refer to sources
referenced in Related Content chapter.
This additional NAE can be built on various ways:


Make a system copy of current NAE
Create a fresh installation as new NAE
It is also possible to just use a temporary NAE which is only be used during the maintenance of the
NAE used in production. After the origin NAE has been maintained it will be used again.
Please note that the rolling maintenance option implicates at least a short time period in which the
dual-stack PI system and the connect NAE(s) are running on a different SP level.
Additionally note that before the NAEs can be changed, the message queues must be drained.
Therefore first stop all sender communication channels on the NAE to be switched and control the
message processing. The change of NAE must not be done before all messages have been
processed on the old NAE.
Please note that above mentioned workarounds might also work for the maintenance task upgrade. But as
nZDM tool for PI does not provide upgrade capabilities this is out of scope.
12
SAP NetWeaver Process Integration and Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Tool - An How-to Guide
RELATED CONTENT











SL Toolset on SAP Service Marketplace: SMP page
SL Toolset Central Release SAP Note: SAP Note 1563579
Near Zero Downtime Maintenance Central SAP Note: SAP Note 1435235
Near Zero Downtime Maintenance on SAP Community Network: SCN article
Software Update Manager Central SAP Note: SAP Note 1790828
Software Update Manager and nZDM for PI SAP Note: SAP Note 1825209
SAP NetWeaver PI Installation Options on SAP Community Network: SCN article
SAP NetWeaver PI Architecture Options on SAP Community Network: SCN article
Local User Management for SAP NetWeaver PI How-to Guide: SCN article
Fast switch of SAP NetWeaver PI Integration Scenarios How-to Guides: SCN article, SCN article
Version Interoperability of Distributed PI/PRO Landscapes SAP Note: SAP Note 1916146
13
www.sap.com
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, SAP
BusinessObjects Explorer, StreamWork, SAP HANA, and other SAP
products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective
logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany
and other countries.
Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects,
Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and
other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as
well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Business Objects Software Ltd. Business Objects is an SAP
company.
Sybase and Adaptive Server, iAnywhere, Sybase 365, SQL
Anywhere, and other Sybase products and services mentioned herein
as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Sybase Inc. Sybase is an SAP company.
Crossgate, m@gic EDDY, B2B 360°, and B2B 360° Services are
registered trademarks of Crossgate AG in Germany and other
countries. Crossgate is an SAP company.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of
their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves
informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.
These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials
are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies ("SAP Group")
for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of
any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions
with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group
products and services are those that are set forth in the express
warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if
any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional
warranty.