SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 GA

Release Notes

These are the release notes of SLES for SAP Applications. SLES for SAP
Applications combines SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and its High Availability
Extension with additional software specifically meant to simplify running and
managing SAP applications.

These release notes are updated periodically. The latest version is always
available at https://www.suse.com/releasenotes. General documentation can be
found at: https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles_for_sap/.

Publication Date: 2018-06-05, Version: 15.0.20180605

1 SLES for SAP Applications
2 Features
3 Installation and Upgrade
4 More Information and Feedback
5 How to Obtain Source Code
6 Legal Notices

1 SLES for SAP Applications

Make sure to also review the release notes for the base product, SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 15 GA which are published at https://www.suse.com/
releasenotes/x86_64/SUSE-SLES/15.

1.1 Support Statement for SLES for SAP Applications

Support requires an appropriate subscription from SUSE. For more information,
see https://www.suse.com/products/sles-for-sap.

General Support Statement

The following definitions apply:

  o L1: Installation and problem determination - technical support designed to
    provide compatibility information, installation and configuration
    assistance, usage support, on-going maintenance and basic troubleshooting.
    Level 1 Support is not intended to correct product defect errors.

  o L2: Reproduction of problem isolation - technical support designed to
    duplicate customer problems, isolate problem areas and potential issues,
    and provide resolution for problems not resolved by Level 1 Support.

  o L3: Code Debugging and problem resolution - technical support designed to
    resolve complex problems by engaging engineering in patch provision,
    resolution of product defects which have been identified by Level 2
    Support.

SUSE will only support the usage of original (unchanged or not recompiled)
packages.

2 Features

This section includes an overview of major new features provided by SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server for SAP Applications.

2.1 sapconf Automatically Starts Dependent Daemons After Installation

sapconf now will automatically set parameters and start necessary daemons after
the installation of the sapconf package. The following daemons will be started
automatically via systemd dependencies: tuned, uuidd.socket, and sysstat.

Important

Important: Reboot to Enable Parameter UserTaskMax

During the first installation of the sapconf package, the parameter UserTaskMax
will be set to the recommended value. However, to be effective, a system reboot
is still needed.

2.2 sapconf Legacy Command-Line Interface /usr/sbin/sapconf Has Been Removed

The CLI of sapconf was deprecated since the release of SLES for SAP 12 SP1 and
kept only for backward compatibility with SLES 11.

With SLES 15, /usr/bin/sapconf was removed completely. To enable tuning
profiles, use tuned-adm directly: tuned-adm profile [PROFILE].

2.3 New sapconf Profile Is Used Instead of Profiles for Specific SAP
Applications

In the past, sapconf provided profiles for specific SAP applications that was
deployed, for example, SAP HANA, SAP Netweaver, SAP ASE, SAP BOBJ, but then
demanded more steps during the system configuration for SAP applications.

To simplify the system configuration for deployment of SAP applications and
after a revision of the configurations needed by each profile, all
configurations were consolidated in only one profile, called sapconf that will
is used to configure the system for any SAP applications.

3 Installation and Upgrade

3.1 Installation

3.1.1 New SLES for SAP Applications System Role

With the adoption of a unified installer in SLE 15, system roles are the way to
customize the installation for each product's needs.

The new SLES for SAP Applications system roles provides the same installation
workflow provided on the SLES for SAP 12 SP3 installation media, offering
specific steps specially designed for SAP Applications, such as:

  o SAP Installation Wizard usage option

  o Special partitioning recommendations

  o RDP access enablement

  o Skip the first user creation

  o Base, Gnome Basic and SAP Server Pattern installation

3.1.2 Page Cache Limit Is Now Opt-in cgroup Isolation

The kernel swaps out rarely accessed memory pages to use freed memory pages as
cache to speed up file system operations, for example during backup operations.
Certain applicaitons use large amounts of memory for accelerated access to
business data. Rarely accessed parts of this memory are subject of this swap
out. Later access to swapped out memory regions results in poor application
response times.

In previous SUSE Linux Enterprise versions there was a tunable known as page
cache limit to mitigate this problem. This has now been replaced with a more
mature mainline mechanism known as opt-in memory cgroup isolation.

A memory cgroup can define its so-called low limit (memory.low_limit_in_bytes)
which works as a protection against memory pressure. Work loads that need to be
isolated from outside memory management activity should set the value to the
expected Resident Set Size (RSS) plus some head room. If a memory pressure
condition triggers on the system and the particular group is still under its
low limit, its memory is protected against being reclaimed. As a result, work
loads outside of the cgroup do not need the aforementioned capping.

3.1.3 sapconf SAP Tuning Tool Sets All Specified Tuning Values on OS
Irrespective of Current Value

The previous solution only allowed sapconf to increase values, but in some
cases a lower value may be the correct path to take. Therefore, sapconf needed
to set all values irrespective of whether the current value is greater than or
less than what sapconf wants to set.

sapconf provides a default set of values for SAP workloads which should apply
to the majority of use cases. If a default sapconf value is not appropriate for
any reason (for example, special workloads, support cases), then sapconf offers
the possibility to enter own values.

4 More Information and Feedback

  o Read the READMEs on the media.

  o Get detailed changelog information about a particular package from the RPM:

    rpm --changelog -qp FILE_NAME.rpm

    FILE_NAME is the name of the RPM.

  o Check the ChangeLog file in the top level of the first medium for a
    chronological log of all changes made to the updated packages.

  o Find more information in the docu directory of first medium of the SLES for
    SAP Applications media.

  o https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles_for_sap/ contains additional or
    updated documentation for SLES for SAP Applications.

  o For the latest product news from SUSE, visit http://www.suse.com/products/.

5 How to Obtain Source Code

This SUSE product includes materials licensed to SUSE under the GNU General
Public License (GPL). The GPL requires SUSE to provide the source code that
corresponds to the GPL-licensed material. The source code is available for
download at https://www.suse.com/download-linux/source-code.html. Also, for up
to three years after distribution of the SUSE product, upon request, SUSE will
mail a copy of the source code. Requests should be sent by e-mail to
mailto:sle_source_request@suse.com or as otherwise instructed at https://
www.suse.com/download-linux/source-code.html. SUSE may charge a reasonable fee
to recover distribution costs.

6 Legal Notices

SUSE makes no representations or warranties with regard to the contents or use
of this documentation, and specifically disclaims any express or implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further,
SUSE reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes to its
content, at any time, without the obligation to notify any person or entity of
such revisions or changes.

Further, SUSE makes no representations or warranties with regard to any
software, and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, SUSE reserves
the right to make changes to any and all parts of SUSE software, at any time,
without any obligation to notify any person or entity of such changes.

Any products or technical information provided under this Agreement may be
subject to U.S. export controls and the trade laws of other countries. You
agree to comply with all export control regulations and to obtain any required
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export laws. You agree to not use deliverables for prohibited nuclear, missile,
or chemical/biological weaponry end uses. Refer to https://www.suse.com/company
/legal/ for more information on exporting SUSE software. SUSE assumes no
responsibility for your failure to obtain any necessary export approvals.

Copyright (C) 2010- 2018 SUSE LLC. This release notes document is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License (CC-BY-ND-3.0
US, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/).

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