Sap on HP-UX FAQ

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This FAQ aims to answer the most commonly asked questions relating to SAP on HP-UX and as appropriate refer to the relevant SAP notes or other links/documentation.

NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list of all SAP/HP-UX related topics. If your question is not (or only partially) answered here please search for other SAP notes or contact your support representative.

FAQ Summary[edit]

  1. Which SAP software is supported on HP-UX?
  2. How long is my HP-UX Opertaing System Version supported?
  3. What HP-UX Operating System patches do I need to install?
  4. How should I set my HP-UX Kernel parameters/tuneables?
  5. How much SWAP space do I really need to configure on HP-UX?
  6. What do I need to take care of if I’m using SAP with Java?
  7. What settings should I use for my Java VM on HP-UX?
  8. Is there a virtual machine solution available for HP-UX?
  9. My HP-UX server has a lot of memory/RAM, does this require special configuration?
  10. How should I best mount my filesystems?
  11. What blocksize should I use for my database filesystems?
  12. How do I migrate my SAP system from HP-UX on PA-RISC to HP-UX on Itanium?
  13. Where does that HP-UX terminal query come from with “sapinit” or when using “su”?
  14. What’s the current version of the HP-UX saposcol?
  15. How much RAM/physical memory do I require?
  16. Memory Usage (What is using all of the memory?)
  17. What do I need to consider when consolidating SAP instances?
  18. Does HP offer a clustering solution with SAP integration?
  19. Which Instance Numbers can cause network port conflicts on HP-UX?
  20. What parameter settings are recommended for my Database?
  21. What is the “SAPS-Meter” ?
  22. What are the recommendations for using Itanium Hyperthreading?
  23. Performance Tips

Questions and Answers[edit]

1. Which SAP software is supported on HP-UX?

Support for individual SAP applications should be checked on the “PAM” (Product Availability Matrix) at:

General SAP on HP-UX Itanium information is also available on the following HP Web SIte:

For a consolidated availability overview of SAP products and Database versions, please see the following SAP notes:

  • HP-UX Itanium – SAP note 623418HP-UX 11.31 (PA-RISC and Itanium) – SAP note 1031960

In general SAP does not support the use of PA-RISC executeables on the Itanium/IA64 platform. One exception to this is ADS (Adobe Document Services), please see SAP note 1133230 for more details. If in doubt use the unix command “file” to check if the executeable (e.g. disp+work) is for “PA-RISC” or “IA64? (Itanium).

2. How long is my HP-UX Operating System Version supported?

Please refer to SAP note 939891

NOTE: This question refers only to the support of the Operating itself from HP, and not SAP applications on HP-UX.

3. What HP-UX Operating System patches do I need to install?

Please see SAP note 837670 for a set of minimum requirements.

NOTE: Although only >= Netweaver 2004S is explicitly specified, these requirements also apply to older SAP versions. (See first paragraph of “solution” in the SAP note for details)

For SAP LiveCache please refer to the following:

  • SAP Note 916646 – LiveCache Version >= 7.5 (IA64/Itanium)
  • SAP Note 916644 – LiveCache Version >= 7.5 (PA-RISC)
  • SAP Note 752582 – LiveCache Version 7.4 (IA64/Itanium)

4. How should I set my HP-UX Kernel parameters/tunables?

Please refer to SAP note 172747 (which is most up to date and covers all current HP-UX Versions).

Older versions of HP-UX kernel parameter recommendations may also be found in the SAP Install Guides, please refer to http://service.sap.com/instguides.

For some SAP DB/MaxDB specifics please see SAP note 628131.

For Java specific information plase see SAP note 534867.

5. How much SWAP space do I really need to configure on HP-UX?

Please see SAP note 1112627 for a detailed explanation of swap sizing and pseudo-swap.

In general device swap configurations of 1.5x or 2x RAM have proven appropriate for the majority of SAP installations. The recommendation is to set device swap to 2x RAM (minimum 20GB).

Please refer to SAP note 153641 for a detailed explanation of swap requirements on a per SAP instance basis.

NOTE: the 20GB recommendation is only a minimum.

6. What do I need to take care of if I’m using SAP with Java?

For information on the currently SAP supported JDK for HP-UX see SAP note 716926 (which also includes some JDK parameters necessary for SAP)

If you need to use multiple JDK minor versions (e.g. 1.4.11 and 1.4.12) on the same HP-UX host please take care when doing so, since the default paths (e.g. /opt/java1.4 in this case) are the same. Please contact support for advice on how to do this.

7. What settings should I use for my Java VM on HP-UX?

Please see SAP note 723909 (which covers all platforms)

NOTE: When setting the heap size of SAP Java node(s), please consider that there needs to be enough physical memory to accomodate all the SAP Java nodes plus space for OS and other processes (e.g. database, ABAP Kernel etc.).

8. Is there a virtual machine solution available for HP-UX?

Yes, but only for HP Itanium systems: HP Integrity Virtual Machine (also known as “HPVM”). Please see SAP note: 901732.

9. My HP-UX server has a lot of memory/RAM, does this require special configuration?

The quantification of “a lot” changes quickly, so beware of the age of information you use. An “older” (2003) SAP note on this issue is 146528. Please always check if there may be other more current SAP notes. Consider sizing of swap space (point 5 of this FAQ). Be aware of percentual and/or dynamic HP-UX kernel paramaters: 5% of total system memory can quickly become a lot.

(be careful with buffercache/filecache settings) some HP-UX kernel parameters are dynamic and can also rapidly grow (be careful of vx_ninode and vxfs_bc_bufhwm) ask your HP support representative for advice.

10. How should I best mount my filesystems?

SAP Note 793113 contains a good overview of the main I/O topics in an Oracle context. SAP note 993848 covers the mount options topic for MaxDB/LiveCache.

See SAP note 1077887 for details on how to configure “buffered I/O”, “direct I/O” (DIO) and “concurrent I/O” (CIO).

11. What blocksize should I use for my database filesystems?

Please refer to SAP note 1077887 – section “Setting the correct blocksizes”

12. How do I migrate my SAP system from HP-UX on PA-RISC to HP-UX on Itanium?

This migration is basically a homogeneous system copy, no database export or import is necessary. The transition can be done with database tools.

Here are some of the available information sources for HP-UX migrations from PA-RISC to Itanium: SAP notes:

13. Where does that HP-UX terminal query come from with “sapinit” or when using “su”?

If you have the following error with sapinit or get queried about terminal type when using “su” then check SAP note 1038842 for more details and a solution.

# /sbin/init.d/sapinit start
TERM = (hp)

14. What’s the current version of the HP-UX saposcol?

See SAP note 918279

15. How much RAM/physical memory do I require?

The exact sizing of memory depends to a great extent on the application and system workload, however some general hints:

Base RAM sizing on System power (e.g. SAPS) and not number of CPUs/cores. The more powerful the server is, the more users/applications you will (potentially) have and that all requires more memory. PA-RISC and Itanium (aka. IA64, Integrity) have approximately the same memory usage for the same application in the same version. Although Itanium executables/libraries are larger, they are shared and do not constitute a significant memory overhead compared to the rest of the SAP system (e.g. shared memory) If upgrading application consider what impact this will have. Newer SAP kernels require more memory than older ones, unicode systems also require more memory than non-unicode.

16. Memory Usage (What is using all of the memory?)

If you believe your system to be consuming much more memory than you think, then try checking the following:

SAP Memory configurations (especially shared memory segments and Java configurations) Database Memory of HP-UX Kernel Parameters (see FAQ questions 5 and 9).

Check the following document which explains many aspects of HP-UX memory usage and how to identify memory users:

Check the following white paper for a technical explanation of HP-UX Memory concepts: com/en/1218/mem_mgt.html HP-UX Memory Management White Paper

17. What do I need to consider when consolidating SAP instances?

SAP note 21960 describes the important points to consider when consolidating multiple instances on a single Unix OS image.

On larger HP-UX systems with many consolidated SAP instances it may be necessary to increase some HP-UX OS Kernel parameters.

For further details on swap recommendations (including consolidated SAP landscapes) also see SAP Note 1112627.SAP note 39412 provides information on how many work processes to configure in an SAP Instance.HP offers a wide variety of solutions which can be used when consolidating SAP instances. This is called “HP VSE” (Virtual Server Environment).

HP VSE includes OS Partitioning Technologies (e.g. nPar, vPar and HP Virtual Machine), resource management solutions and more. For an overview please see http://www.hp.com/go/vse , specifically the Tab “Solution Components” gives an overview of the individual technologies.

Documentation on the HP VSE suite can be found at: http://docs.hp.com/en/vse.html. For a detailed discussion of SAP system consolidation and other related topics the following book is avilable from SAP Press:

English: Adaptive Hardware-Infrastructures for SAP Hardware-Solutions and TCO Optimization. Mi?ach, Gibbels, Karnst?t, Stelzel, Wagenblast. SAP PRESS 2005, ISBN 1-59229-035-3

German: Adaptive Hardware-Infrastrukturen f? SAP Hardware-L?ungen und Kostenplanung. Mi?ach, Gibbels, Karnst?t, Stelzel, Wagenblast. SAP PRESS 2005, ISBN 3-89842-499-5

18. Does HP offer a clustering solution with SAP integration?

Yes. The HP ServiceGuard cluster software offers full SAP Integration. See http://www.hp.com/go/sgesap for more details.

19. Which Instance Numbers can cause network port conflicts on HP-UX?

Please see SAP note 1154448 for details of known SAP instance port conflicts on HP-UX, including which instance numbers should not be used.

20. What parameter settings are recommended for my database?

  • DB2 ver. 8 – see SAP Note 584952
  • DB2 ver. 9.1 – see SAP Note 899322
  • DB2 ver. 9.5 – see SAP Note 1086130
  • Oracle <=9i – see SAP Note 124361
  • Oracle 10.2.0.2 – see SAP Note 830576
  • Oracle 10.2.0.4 – see SAP Note 830576

For further information on Oracle configurations see notes:

  • 592393 FAQ: Oracle
  • 618868 FAQ: Oracle performance

21. What is the “SAPS-Meter” ?

The SAPS-Meter is an HP tool for measuring computing resource consumption of an SAP system in a simplified form, e.g. to provide information which could be used for billing etc. Conatct HP for details at “sap.hp@hp.com”.

22. What are the recommendations for using Itanium Hyperthreading?

In general, the use of Hyperthreading should improve performance for most SAP workloads. However there may be workload scenarios which benefit less from Hyperthreading. See SAP Note 1329360 for further details.

23. Performance Tips

These are some general tips which apply to typical customer scenarios, there may however be exceptions to the rule. Please test & verify the effects of changes in your test environment before releasing to production.

Database: Check filesystem blocksizes (question 11 of this FAQ)Check filesystem mount options & consider using “concurrent I/O” (question 10 of this FAQ).

Oracle: If your alert log reports “log file switch (checkpoint incomplete)”, then configuring multiple DB Writer, and possibly shadow log writer, processes should improve performance.

LiveCache: For optimal LiveCache performance use HP-UX 11.31.

Reference[edit]