Common

Establish a Connection in a Target System

Used in Integrate and Mass Maintenance, a template defines how data is posted into an ERP system. Templates are not tied to data, but rather act as an independent guide for posting that can be assigned to many processes.

Integrate and Mass Maintenance templates use connections to a data source to download data from a target system. A process template posts data to the target system instance.  

The connection allows for the set up and configuration of these instances for Integrate and Mass Maintenance.

This instance is used for:

  • Posting data (Integrate, Mass Maintenance, Master Data Management)
  • Gathering metadata about templates (Integrate)
  • Recording a BDC Script or GUI Script (Integrate, Mass Maintenance)

    NOTE: This is used for SAP connections only.

  • Providing an RFC/BAPI to use to post data (Common)

    NOTE: This is used for SAP connections only.

  • Providing a data source for transfer of user defined files (Common)

    NOTE: The instance to post data to or transfer files to may be overridden at the process post level.

    NOTE: When establishing a connection, the Administrator can configure the connection to directly connect to the Application Server or use a Message Server. A Message Server uses load balancing to manage Server resources and connects dynamically to an Application Server. Once connected using either method, there is no difference in functionality. Only one type of connection, direct or through a Message Server, can be created for a connection.

    NOTE: The system can use other methods to obtain user credentials. Refer to User Credentials in Mass Maintenance or User Credentials in Integrate for more information.

    NOTE: If a user adds a request based on this template and does not select a connection ID, the default connection assigned to the Integrate Template is used for the request.

To establish a target system connection:

Establish a Connection via a Direct Connection to the Application Server

This task is performed by an Administrator.

Before performing this task, gather information about the target system instance, such as the application server name, system number and log in credentials.

The connection allows for the set up and configuration of the target system instances for Integrate and Mass Maintenance.

NOTE: The steps below are used when establishing an SAP connection. Information about connection types to other target systems is available on the Data Source Registry page’s Vertical View.

To establish a connection that directly connects to the Application Server:

  1. Select Configuration > Data Source Registry in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Add.

    View the field descriptions for the Data Source Registry page.

    NOTE: Though they are not marked as required on the page, the following fields are required when adding an SAP Application Server data source.

  3. Enter the data source name in NAME field.
  4. Select SAP Application Server (%) from the APPLICATION DATA SOURCE TYPE list box.
  5. Click Save; the Vertical View displays.
  6. Enter a value in the SAP System ID field.

    NOTE: The SAP System ID is a three-character alpha-numeric identifier for the SAP system.

  7. Enter the name of the SAP server in the SAP APPLICATION SERVER field.
  8. Enter the SAP system number in the SAP SYSTEM NUMBER field.

    NOTE: The System Number is a two character integer that identifies the SAP instance. It is used as a parameter in the SAP GUI Logon client for the SAP connection. The SAP System Number displays in SAP on the SAP GUI Change Item screen.

  9. Enter a value in the SAP MAX POOL SIZE field, if needed.

    NOTE: Max Pool Size is a value to specify how many RFC connections are left open for the current user, even if the connections are not being used actively. A pooled RFC connection is allocated much faster than a new connection. Therefore, increasing the pool size minimizes the time needed to get a new connection.
    However, if a connection is pooled, it is not available for other users. Typically, ABAP backend systems define an upper limit for the number of RFC connections. If this number has been fully allocated by pooled connections, then new users requesting a new connection may not succeed because the maximum number of connections allowed by the ABAP system has already been allocated.
    Typically, the maximum pool size is kept very low and may even be set to 0. If there are substantially fewer concurrent users than the number of concurrent RFC connections to an ABAP system, then increase the pool size to improve performance.
    The recommended setting for Max Pool Size is 10 in highly parallel environments.

  10. Click Save.

Continue with Add Default User Credentials to a Connection or Add User Credentials to a Connection for a User.

Establish a Connection via a Message Server

Connecting to a target system via a Message Server uses load balancing to manage server resources. Load Balancing dynamically distributes the SAP users to application server instances when connecting to the Application Server. Load Balancing is used to download tables from the source.

NOTE: The steps below are used when establishing an SAP connection. Information about connection types to other target systems is available on the Data Source Registry page’s Vertical View.

To establish an SAP connection that connects to the Application Server through a Message Server in Common:

  1. Select Configuration > Data Source Registry in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Add.

    View the field descriptions for the Data Source Registry page.

  3. Enter the data source name in the NAME field.
  4. Select SAP Application Server (%) from the APPLICATION DATA SOURCE TYPE list box.
  5. Click Save; the Vertical View displays.
  6. Enter a value in the SAP System ID field.

    NOTE:  The SAP System ID is a three-character alpha-numeric identifier for the SAP system.

  7. Enter the server name in the SAP MESSAGE SERVER field.
  8. Enter the group name in the LOGON GROUP field.
  9. Enter a value in the SAP MAX POOL SIZE field, if needed.

NOTE: Max Pool Size is a value to specify how many RFC connections are left open for the current user, even if the connections are not being used actively. A pooled RFC connection is allocated much faster than a new connection. Therefore, increasing the pool size minimizes the time needed to get a new connection.
However, if a connection is pooled, it is not available for other users. Typically, ABAP backend systems define an upper limit for the number of RFC connections. If this number has been fully allocated by pooled connections, then new users requesting a new connection may not succeed because the maximum number of connections allowed by the ABAP system has already been allocated.
Typically, the maximum pool size is kept very low and may even be set to 0. If there are substantially fewer concurrent users than the number of concurrent RFC connections to an ABAP system, then increase the pool size to improve performance.
The recommended setting for Max Pool Size is 10 in highly parallel environments.

  1. Click Save.

Continue with Add Default User Credentials to a Connection or Add User Credentials to a Connection for a User.

Add Default User Credentials to a Connection

This task is performed by an Administrator.

Before performing this task:

NOTE: If a user adds a request based on a template and does not select a connection ID, the default connection assigned to the Integrate Template is used for the request.

When connecting to SAP, the default credentials are used for all users except for those with user credentials set on the Data Source Registry User Credentials page. Refer to Add User Credentials to a Connection for a User for more information.

To add default credentials in Common:

  1. Select Configuration > Data Source Registry in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Vertical View for the SAP Connection.
  3. Click Edit.

    View the field descriptions for the Data Source Registry page

  4. Enter the SAP client number in the SAP CLIENT field.
  5. Select the language usedwhen SAP interfaces with the Stewardship Tier and when logging in to SAP inthe SAP Language list box.
  6. Enter the user name the connection uses when logging in to SAP in the SAP User ID field.
  7. Enter the user password the connection uses when logging in to SAP in the SAP Password field.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Click the Test Connection icon to attempt to connect to the SAP instance using the supplied credentials.

Add User Credentials to a Connection for a User

An Administrator can add SAP Login credentials for specific users to track that user’s updates posted to SAP.

If no user credentials have been added for the current user, the Stewardship Tier uses the default credentials entered on the Vertical View of the Data Source Registry  page for an SAP Application Server connection type.

Before performing this task, gather information about the SAP instance, such as the SAP application server name, system number and log in credentials.

When downloading data from or posting data to SAP, the Stewardship Tier uses the default credentials added on the Data Source Registry page’s Vertical View when connecting to SAP. Refer to Add Default User Credentials to an SAP Connection for more information.

To add credentials for a specific user in Common:

  1. Select Configuration > Data Source Registry in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Vertical View for the data source with an APPLICATION DATA SOURCE TYPE of SAP Application Server.
  3. Click the User Credentials icon.
  4. If no records exist, the page displays in add mode. Otherwise, Click Add.

    View the field descriptions for the Data Source Registry User Credentials page

  5. Select the user name in the USER list box.
  6. Click Save; Vertical View displays.
  7. Select the language of the SAP instance if other than English in the Language list box.

    NOTE: The language is used when SAP interfaces with the Stewardship Tier and is used when logging in to SAP for the selected user.

  8. Enter the user name specific to this user the connection uses when logging in to SAP in the SAP User ID field.
  9. Enter the password specific to this user the connection uses when logging in to SAP in the SAP Password field.
  10. Click Save.
  11. Click the Test Connection icon to attempt to connect to the SAP instance using the supplied credentials.