Distribute SAP HANA systems using "System Archive Link"

[Hay Bouten]

In SAP HANA Studio SPS07 there is a new function called “Add System Archive Link...”.

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This function allows linking your SAP HANA Studio to a centrally stored SAP HANA Systems Archive file. The SAP HANA System Administrator only needs to maintain this central file once. All the linked SAP HANA Studios will display the SAP HANA Systems maintained in this central file.

Configuring SAP HANA Studio using "System Archive Link"

Maintain all SAP HANA System centrally on your central SAP HANA Studio. Don't use the studio on you own laptop as a central studio, this because as a system administrator you might have SAP HANA systems in your list that shouldn't be distributed to other people yet. I use the SAP HANA Studio on the SAP HANA Server, because it is available and it is central for all the studios in you companies network.

After you have maintained the system landscape in the central studio you need to export it. In SAP HANA Studio goto File -> Export. In the pop-up windows select SAP HANA => Landscape.

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In the next screen (shown below) you can select which systems should be exported and you can select the location where the landscape.xml needs to be stored. Click Finish to export the landscape.xml.

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Copy the landscape.xml file to a location that can be shared with all SAP HANA Studios.

Link the non-central SAP HANA Studio to the central landscape.xml file

Now the landscape.xml file is on a central place I start my local SAP HANA Studio. In the Systems view I open the context menu and select "Add System Archive Link...".

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In the pop-up fill in the field as shown below.

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Click Finish to complete the action. In my local SAP HANA Studio I see now the system landscape that I exported from the central studio. The little chain icon shows that this is a linked system landscape.

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This feature makes my life as SAP HANA System Administrator a bit easier, but exporting the system landscape every time I changed something in my setup is to much work.

Making it all even more easier

I think this whole setup can be done without exporting the landscape.xml file from the central studio every time I have changed the landscape. So I took a look at the central studio and found that the SAP HANA Studio stores it's system landscape in the file hdbstudio.xml located in the directory <workspace>/.metadata/.plugins/com.sap.ndb.studio.datamodel

It is also possible to start SAP HANA Studio with different workspaces using the -data <new workspace location> argument on the command line. With this knowledge I setup a new workspace in the shared /hana file system on my server. I call this the SharedWorkspace.

As of now I start my central SAP HANA Studio with the command /hana/shared/HAY/hdbstudio/hdbstudio -data /hana/SharedWorkspace/ to make sure that the file hdbstudio.xml is on my shared /hana file system.

On my Linux Mint laptop I use the "add System Archive Link.." and linked to the file /hana/SharedWorkspace/.metadata/.plugins/com.sap.ndb.studio.datamodel/hdbstudio.xml Using the System Archive Link function to link to the always up to date central hdbstudio.xml makes sure that I don't need to export the landscape.xml file anymore. Every time I start my local SAP HANA Studio it automatically pickup the changes from the central setup in the hdbstudio.xml file. Now my life really easier!

To wrap up things

This worked for me in my test landscape, but your mileage may vary depending on your local SAP HANA System landscape and the security settings on the use of nfs between systems. I hope this also helps to make your life, as a SAP HANA System Administrator, a bit easier.