SAP Hana Cockpit - Installation & Administration

SAP HANA is an in-memory database that supports real-time analytics and application development. The administrators of SAP HANA will have to take care of the following key activities:

• System Management: This includes monitoring the health and performance of the SAP HANA system, managing user access, and ensuring system availability.
• Lifecycle Management: Administrators can manage the lifecycle of SAP HANA components, including installation, updates, and host management.
• Security Management: This involves setting up user roles, permissions, and auditing activities to secure data access.
• Backup and Recovery: Administrators are responsible for implementing backup strategies and recovery procedures to protect data integrity.
• Data Provisioning: This includes integrating data from various sources, including non-SAP systems, using tools like Smart Data Access

To take care of those above activities, we will need to use some specific tools.

When it comes to SAP HANA database administration tools, we can use:

1. SAP HANA Cockpit (the last topic to be showcased in depth in this article)
2. DBA Cockpit
3. SAP HANA Studio
4. Command–line interface
5. BTP cockpit - using the SAP HANA service (link to article: https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blogs-by-members/explore-sap-hana-database-by-using-sap-btp-cockpit/ba-p/13514656)

The principal tool for system administration for SAP HANA 2.0 is the SAP HANA cockpit (first from our list), a web-based tool that integrates both application and platform lifecycle management tools.

In addition, or as an alternative, other tools are available to administrators to address specific requirements. We’ll discuss each in the following sections.

DBA Cockpit

The DBA Cockpit is part of the SAP NetWeaver stack and is available for all databases supported by SAP such as IBM, DB2, SAP MaxDB, Oracle, SQL Server, and SAP ASE.

It can be used to:

• administer local and remote databases
• manage the configuration of various databases centrally
• schedule database administrative tasks such as backups via the DBA planning calendar.
• monitor and analyze performance where you can view active threads, analyze SQL statements, monitor server resources, search expensive statements for a specific user, and more.

To work with SAP HANA databases, DBA Cockpit must be running on an SAP NetWeaver system with an SAP Basis release of 7.02 SP9, 7.30 SP4, 7.31 SP1 or higher.

T-code: dbacockpit

SAP Notes: For additional information, see SAP Note 2222220 – FAQ: SAP HANA DBACOCKPIT.

SAP HANA Studio

This is a very popular choice among SAP Basis Administrators and Developers. The tool is a plugin for the open-source Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE). Eclipse has its origins in the Java world as an IDE client tool, so a Java runtime (JRE) is required, and database server connectivity is provided with Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).

At the outset, the focus for SAP HANA development has been the core in-memory computing engine and not on peripherals like tools for development and administration. Since Eclipse already provided a development environment for SAP NetWeaver Application Server for Java (SAP NetWeaver AS for Java), SAP development decided to create another plugin to add the required functionality for SAP HANA. Although the large number of menu items and perspectives related to Java development brought some clutter to the hdbstudio plugin, general familiarity with the Eclipse IDE among developers made the learning curve small, and SAP HANA studio quickly became an accepted and broadly used tool. Other SAP development tools, like ABAP Development Tools (ADT), SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) modeling, and the SAP SDK) followed this direction and were also provided as Eclipse plugins.

Development for SAP HANA studio ended with the last SAP HANA 1.0 support package stack (SPS) 12 release in May 2016.

SAP HANA studio is still included with the SAP HANA 2.0 releases but lacks the corresponding user interfaces (UIs) for the latest functionality. In 2017, a deprecation note was published for the repository, SAP HANA XS (the original implementation of the built-in application server), and related tools like SAP HANA studio. SAP HANA studio is no longer supported for use with the latest SAP HANA cloud edition (SAP HANA service for SAP BTP).

SAP announced that SAP HANA Studio will be supported until at least 2025 together with SAP HANA SP 05 (Over time, more features will become unavailable in the user interface and will have to be handled with SQL statements from the SQL console.)

SAP HANA Studio is still around and SAP still supports it, but no new features are being added, and eventually it will become deprecated. However, it is still widely used (and indispensable, given that SAP HANA cockpit does not yet provide an equivalent of all its features), and many database administrators will continue to use it.

To download SAP HANA Studio:

1. Go to the launchpad: https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/softwarecenter/
2. In the search field, select Downloads and enter SAP HANA Studio.
3. Select SAP HANA STUDIO 2 to download.
4. Use sapcar to extract the sar file. The installation does not require a license key.

SAP HANA Studio can also be downloaded from https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/. This site allows you to install various SAP development tools.

SAP Notes: For additional information, see the following SAP Notes:

• SAP Note 2073112 – FAQ: SAP HANA Studio
• SAP Note 2465027 – Deprecation of SAP HANA extended application services, classic model and SAP HANA Repository
• SAP Note 2693731 – Statement on SAP HANA Studio and SAP HANA service for SAP BTP

Command–line interface

Grownups use the good old command line. Managing the SAP HANA database by typing SQL commands may seem tedious, but it is the closest you will get to the machinery that keeps everything running. The graphical tools aim at abstracting away much of this by providing simple interfaces, which are fast and efficient but not necessarily good at helping you understand how the system works. Therefore, I recommend that you do not neglect the command line altogether. This is why I consistently describe it with all the procedures covered in SAP HANA 2.0 Administration. SAP HANA cockpit and SAP HANA Studio offer excellent interfaces for SQL statements (called the "SQL Console" in both), and you can also work directly on the database host using the HDBSQL command-line program.

The SAP HANA server runs on Linux (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)). Thus, basic operating system administration skills and a certain familiarity with Linux administration tools would certainly benefit the administrator. You’ll have access Linux tools such as vi, secure shell, top, man, kill, and, for when you’re confused, whoami. To install the SAP HANA server, you’ll need root level access to the operating system, and for best performance, you’ll need to understand file systems, mount points, storage subsystems, and the configuration of the network interfaces.

Probably the most used SAP HANA command is HDB, which is actually a script that runs the commands to start and stop a local SAP HANA instance or that lists process information (from ps). Most of the actual commands are executed with the sapcontrol utility, the same program used with SAP NetWeaver.

Monitoring and administering an SAP HANA system is more complicated from the command line than from the SAP HANA cockpit or SAP HANA Studio since there is no GUI. While the command-line interface is considered an important tool, database administrators usually lean toward using SAP HANA Cockpit or SAP HANA Studio for their intuitive approach.

Now, let's address the main topic of our article: SAP HANA Cockpit.

SAP HANA cockpit

To enable the SAP HANA administration tool for the web, the SAP HANA cockpit was added. The name references the DBA Cockpit tool from the SAP NetWeaver platform (DBA stands for database administration), just like the SAP HANA Web-Based Development Workbench echoed the ABAP Workbench.

The first version of the SAP HANA cockpit was developed for what is now called the “classic” SAP HANA XS runtime environment. Unlike with SAP HANA studio, to use SAP HANA cockpit, the database (and runtime) needs to be up and running. To support the kind of system administration activities exercised when the database was stopped or could not be reached (troubleshooting unresponsive systems), another tool was added: the SAP HANA cockpit for offline administration. A web application was added as well, this time hosted by the SAP host agent running on SAP HANA systems. Support for system landscape administration came from the SAP DB Control Center, another SAP HANA XS application.

For SAP HANA 2.0, the SAP HANA cockpit was completely redesigned and integrated the functionality of the offline cockpit and SAP DB Control Center to provide the following abilities:

• Monitoring and administration of SAP HANA system landscapes (aggregate monitoring)
• Monitoring and administration of individual SAP HANA systems and tenant databases, including resource and service management (start/stop), resource usage (CPU, memory, disk), alerts, and system properties
• Performance monitoring and analysis, including expensive statements, threads, sessions, blocked transactions, hints, SQL plan cache, and the SQL Analyzer
• System replication, including configuration, monitoring, takeovers, and failbacks
• Database user and role management
• Security administration, including monitoring critical settings managing server-side encryption, auditing, password policy configuration, and certificate management
• SAP HANA capture and replay
• Workload management
• Backup and recovery, including backup configuration, scheduling, recovery, and database copies

In addition, to execute SQL statements and to view database objects, the SAP HANA cockpit links to another web application, the database explorer. The database explorer has two views: the SQL prompt and the catalog browser, and these functionalities are also found in SAP HANA studio. The SAP HANA cockpit shares this application, technically referenced as SAP HANA runtime tools, with the SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA, superseding the SAP HANA Web-Based Development Workbench mentioned earlier.

All new applications run on the SAP HANA XS Advanced platform and not on SAP HANA XS. The SAP HANA cockpit is no longer a delivery unit shipped with the SAP HANA database but is provided instead as a totally separate component. A number of SAP HANA cockpit applications (webapps and services) are included, as is a dedicated SAP HANA, express edition system. The development and release cycles of the component are separate from the main platform. SAP HANA cockpit updates are released as support packs (SPs) at an accelerated pace. When SPS 04 was released for the SAP HANA platform, the SAP HANA cockpit was already on SP 10. As you can use the SAP HANA cockpit to administer any SAP HANA system version 1.0 SPS 12 and later, SAP recommends you always upgrade to the latest SAP HANA cockpit version to take advantage of the latest functionalities.

SAP HANA cockpit SPs are cumulative. This means that a higher SP includes all features and fixes available in earlier SPs.

As of the posting date of this article, the latest version of SAP HANA Cockpit SP was 17

SAP HANA Cockpit - Installation procedure

SAP Hana Cockpit can be installed as a tenant in an existing SAP HANA instance, share a tenant with another application, or be installed as a standalone component using SAP HANA, express edition. Administrators can also install add-on components such as SAP HANA dynamic tiering.

The supported operating systems are Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for SAP Solutions, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for SAP HANA, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) for SAP Applications or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).

In our example, we will install it as a standalone database on a host different from the ones running the HANA database that runs SLES.

Steps:

1. Make sure you have a minimum of 16GB of RAM and 16GB of disk space on your host.

2. Software Download: In the SAP Software Download Center, you have access to the installation media and components for SAP HANA cockpit

• Open Software Downoads.
• Click Installations and Upgrades and search for SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION 2.0.
• Choose the Installation Product category.
• Click Support Packages and Patches and search for SAP HANA COCKPIT 2.0
• Download the installation media.

*You will need to download SAPCAR, as it will be required for the unpack step.

In our case we have “SAPHANACOCKPIT17_1-70002299.SAR” package available on https://me.sap.com/softwarecenter

3. Move the downloaded package onto the server that will be installed on with WinSCP software

4. As "root" user, unpack the installation media using the following command:

./SAPCAR -xvf SAPHANACOCKPIT17_1-70002299.SAR

5. Navigate into HDB_SERVER_LINUX_X86_64 directory

6. As "root" user, execute command "./hdblcm --ignore check_signature_file"

7. I selected option 1 (Install a new SAP HANA Cockpit system) and entered all the requested information, such as the installation path, host name, HANA System ID, instance number, etc.

8. At the end of the installation activity, you will see 2 links:

• Launch SAP HANA cockpit (monitoring HANA DB systems)

https://<host_FQDN>:<port>/cockpit

• Launch SAP HANA cockpit manager (adding HANA DB systems)

https://<host_FQDN>:<port>/cockpit

9. Launch the SAP HANA Cockpit Manager by entering the link in a browser, and add HANA databases. (In my case, the link ended with port 51026)

10. Click on 'Register a Database' and enter the required information specific to the database you want to add (System Database and Tenant host and instance)

11. After adding the requested databases, you can view them by launching the SAP HANA Cockpit using the 'Monitoring HANA DB Systems' link provided by the installer at the beginning of this activity, or by clicking the 'Go to SAP HANA Cockpit' button located at the bottom-right corner.

SAP HANA Cockpit - Administration

What can you do with the cockpit?

Monitoring

Purpose: Proactively identify issues, maintain stable operations, and ensure that system performance meets business requirements.

• Alerts: Set up and review alerts for potential problems like high CPU usage, slow queries, insufficient memory allocation, and unusual spikes in resource utilization.
• Resource Usage and Performance Tracking: Continuously monitor CPU, memory, storage, and network I/O metrics for your databases. With this information, you can quickly isolate the root cause of performance degradation and address it before it impacts end-users.

Scope of Monitoring:

• Multiple Resources: Keep track of different hardware and software components that comprise your HANA landscape, such as multiple database hosts and application servers, in a single interface.
• Tenant Databases: Gain insights into each tenant database’s health and performance. This is particularly helpful in multi-tenant environments where you must ensure each database receives adequate resources and performs optimally.
• Individual Databases: Drill down to a granular level and examine a single database’s performance metrics, configuration, and event logs for focused troubleshooting.

Configuration

Purpose: Streamline operations and ensure each database runs optimally in alignment with organizational standards and performance goals.

• System Properties: Adjust core database settings, such as memory allocation, index settings, and data persistence options, to better align with workloads and service-level agreements.
• Alerts: Fine-tune alert thresholds and conditions to reduce noise and false positives, enabling you to focus on genuine issues before they escalate.
• Tenant Databases: Configure parameters for each tenant database to meet unique operational or compliance requirements, ensuring that isolated workloads get the right resources and configurations.

Analysis and Diagnosis

Purpose: Quickly identify and resolve issues that could lead to downtime, performance bottlenecks, or system instability.

• Trace and Diagnosis Files: Access and analyze trace files, error logs, and diagnostic information to pinpoint the source of errors or performance issues. With comprehensive logging, you can rapidly understand what went wrong.
• SAP HANA Database Explorer: Use this built-in tool to run SQL queries against system views and catalog tables, helping you investigate anomalies, verify configurations, and confirm that recent changes had the intended effect.
• Collecting Diagnosis Information for SAP Support: Easily gather and package diagnostic data for SAP Support teams to expedite the troubleshooting and resolution process, minimizing downtime.
• Troubleshooting Unresponsive Resources: Identify why certain processes, services, or queries are unresponsive, and take appropriate remediation steps—like killing a hung session or redistributing the workload.

Performance Optimization

Purpose: Ensure the database consistently meets performance benchmarks, supporting critical business applications with minimal latency.

• Performance Monitor: Gain real-time visibility into metrics such as query runtimes, memory consumption, and I/O throughput to quickly spot bottlenecks.
• Workload Analyzer: Understand trends in database usage and find opportunities to optimize query plans, indexing strategies, or data distribution.
• SQL Analyzer: Investigate specific SQL statements for inefficiencies. Identify long-running queries, high resource consumers, and optimize them through indexing or rewriting.
• Capture and Replay: Record a representative workload and replay it in a test environment to understand how planned changes (e.g., upgrades, configuration tweaks) will affect performance before implementing them in production.

Business Continuity

Purpose: Sustain essential business operations during planned maintenance or unplanned outages, preserving data integrity and availability.

• System Replication: Set up primary and secondary systems so that, if the primary goes down, the secondary can seamlessly take over, minimizing disruption.
• Backup and Recovery: Easily manage database backups and restorations, ensuring data can be quickly recovered after a corruption event or accidental deletion. This includes scheduling regular backups and validating their integrity.

Security

Purpose: Protect sensitive enterprise data, comply with regulatory requirements, and ensure that users have appropriate access levels.

• User Provisioning and Roles: Assign roles to users so they only have the permissions they need, reducing the attack surface and preventing unauthorized access.
• Monitoring Critical Settings: Keep an eye on security configurations, password policies, and encryption settings to ensure alignment with internal policies and industry standards.
• Auditing Database Activities: Track user logins, data changes, and configuration adjustments to maintain an audit trail. This helps with investigations, compliance audits, and detecting suspicious activity.
• Encrypting Data: Use built-in encryption features to secure data at rest and in transit, protecting sensitive information from theft or unauthorized access.

Other SAP HANA Capabilities

Purpose: Extend SAP HANA’s functionality to meet diverse enterprise needs and integrate with specialized services.

• SAP HANA Accelerator for SAP ASE: Improve query response times for SAP ASE databases by leveraging HANA’s in-memory capabilities as a high-speed accelerator.
• SAP HANA Dynamic Tiering: Automatically move infrequently accessed data to cheaper storage tiers without sacrificing accessibility, thus optimizing costs and performance.
• SAP HANA Remote Data Sync: Synchronize data between SAP HANA and remote databases or edge devices, ensuring timely data updates and consistent global views.
• SAP HANA Streaming Analytics: Process and analyze real-time streaming data—such as sensor outputs, financial ticks, or social media feeds—directly within SAP HANA for instant insights and actionable intelligence.

Links to keep handy:

https://blog.sap-press.com/tag/administration/page/2

https://learning.sap-press.com/

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/sap_hana_administration/index.htm

https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blogs-by-sap/sap-hana-cockpit-2-0-sp-07-what-s-new-by-the-sap-hana-academy/ba-p/13370591

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any suggestions for improvement or additional information to include, please let me know.

For any collaboration opportunities, feel free to message me on LinkedIn.