Deploying SAP Power Virtual Server

Deploying a separate private network for SAP systems

For each SAP system that you create, a separate private network that is used to communicate between virtual server instances is needed. This network is tuned for maximum performance. To create separate private network for the SAP system, use the following steps.

1. In the workspace for Power Virtual Server, create a private network for SAP system as described here.
2. Attach created network to both IBM Cloud Connections.

Deploying optional Power Virtual Server instance for SAP shared file systems

Each SAP system deployment based on SAP NetWeaver as application server contains file systems that are shared between multiple application server instances. It is a good practice to set up a separate virtual service instance for the shared file systems. One single Power Virtual Server instance for shared file systems can be used by multiple SAP systems. Your security requirements determine how many Power Virtual Server instances for shared file systems that you need.

To deploy Power Virtual Server instance for shared file systems, go to your workspace for Power Virtual Server and create Power Virtual Server instance as described here. Specify following selections:

1. In the General section, make the following selections:

   General shared file systems selections

   Field	Details
   Instance name	Enter a unique name for the instance.
   Number of instances	Enter '1'.
   Server placement group (optional)	You can skip this selection if you don't use placement groups.
   VM pinning (optional)	Keeping this selection is recommended.
   SSH key	Select the key that you created previously.

2. In the Boot image section, make the following selections:

   Shared file systems boot image selections

   Field	Details
   Operating system	Select Linux for SAP (NetWeaver).
   Image	Select operating system and version. Make sure that you use the same operating system and version for all deployments.
   Tier	Select the tier that best fits your needs.
   Storage pool variations	Select the variation that best fits your needs.

3. In the Profile section, make the following selections:

   Share file system profile selections

   Field	Details
   Machine type	Select the type that best fits your needs.
   Core type	Select the core type that best fits your needs.
   Cores and Memory (GiB)	Select based on your performance requirements.

4. In the Storage volumes section, make the following selection:

   • Attach one or more storage volumes to make sure that you have enough capacity for your shared file system.

5. In the Networking section, make the following selections:

   • Keep 'Public networks' deactivated

   • Attach both your private networks (management and backup). Make sure that you specify the IP addresses as entered in the DNS configuration for the corresponding hostnames. If IP addresses are assigned dynamically, you need to adapt the DNS entries for the system hostnames.

It takes some time until the Power Virtual Server instance for shared file systems becomes available. The deployment is finished when you can log in to the instance over the VPC access host by using the SSH command:

>ssh -A -o ServerAliveInterval=60 -o ServerAliveCountMax=600 -o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p root@\<access_host_floating_ip\>" root@\<shared_fs_pvs_mgmt_ip\>*'

Where shared_fs_pvs_mgmt_ip is the virtual server instance IP address in the management subnet.

Deploying an SAP NetWeaver Power Virtual Server on Linux

To deploy Power Virtual Server instance for SAP NetWeaver, go to your workspace for Power Virtual Server and create Power Virtual Server instance as described here. Specify the following selections:

1. In the General section, make the following selections:

   SAP NetWeaver Linux general selections

   Field	Details
   Instance name	Enter a unique name for the instance.
   Number of instances	Enter '1'.
   Server placement group (optional)	You can skip this selection if you don't use placement groups.
   VM pinning (optional)	Keeping this selection is recommended.
   SSH key	Select the key that you created previously.

2. In the Boot image section, make the following selections:

   Shared file systems boot image selections

   Field	Details
   Operating system	Select 'Linux for SAP (NetWeaver)'.
   Image	Select operating system and version. Make sure that you use the same operating system and version for all deployments.
   Tier	Select the tier that best fits your needs.
   Storage pool variations	Select the variation that best fits your needs.

3. In the Profile section, make the following selections:

   Shared file systems profile selections

   Field	Details
   Machine type	Select the type that best fits your needs.
   Core type	Select the core type that best fits your needs.
   Cores and Memory (GiB)	Select based on your performance requirements. For more information, see Power virtual server profiles.

4. In the Storage volumes section, make the following selection:

   • Attach one or more volumes to make sure that you have enough capacity for the file system for SAP NetWeaver (/usr/sap)

5. In the Networking section, make the following selections:

   • Keep 'Public networks' deactivated
   • Attach both private networks (management and backup) and any separate private networks for the SAP system. Enter the IP addresses as entered in the DNS configuration for the corresponding hostnames. If the IP addresses are assigned dynamically, you need to adapt the DNS entries for the hostnames of this system.

It takes some time until the Power Virtual Server instance for SAP NetWeaver becomes available. The deployment is finished when you can log in to the instance over the VPC access host by using the SSH command:

ssh -A -o ServerAliveInterval=60 -o ServerAliveCountMax=600 -o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p root@\<access_host_floating_ip\>" root@\<netweaver_pvs_mgmt_ip\>*'

Where netweaver_pvs_mgmt_ip is the virtual server instance IP address in the management subnet.

Deploying an SAP HANA Power Virtual Server

To deploy Power Virtual Server instance for SAP HANA, go to your workspace for Power Virtual Server.

1. In the General section, make the following selections:

   SAP HANA general selections

   Field	Details
   Instance name	Enter a unique name for the instance.
   Number of instances	Enter '1'.
   Server placement group (optional)	You can skip this selection if you don't use placement groups.
   VM pinning (optional)	"Soft" is the recommended selection.
   SSH key	Select the key that you created previously.

2. In the Boot image section, make the following selections:

   SAP HANA boot image selections

   Field	Details
   Operating system	Select 'Linux for SAP (NetWeaver)'.
   Image	Select operating system and version. Make sure that you use the same operating system and version for all deployments.
   Tier	Select the tier that best fits your needs.
   Storage pool	Select the tier that best fits your needs.

3. In the Profile section, make the following selection:

   • Select a profile that fits your needs. For more information, see SAP HANA profiles.

4. In the Storage volumes section, make the following selection:

   • For SAP HANA the attached volumes are on different storage tiers 'Tier 1' and 'Tier 3'. You can't mix storage tiers in the instance creation process, so you need to attach storage volumes later. Keep this list empty.

5. In the Networking section, make the following selections:

   • Keep Public networks deactivated.
   • Attach both private networks (management and backup) and any separate private networks. Enter the IP addresses as entered in the DNS configuration for the corresponding host names. If the IP addresses are assigned dynamically, you need to adapt the DNS entries for the host names of this system.

It takes some time until the Power Virtual Server instance for SAP HANA becomes available. The deployment is finished when you can log in to the instance over the VPC access host by using the SSH command:

ssh -A -o ServerAliveInterval=60 -o ServerAliveCountMax=600 -o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p root@\<access_host_floating_ip\>" root@\<hana_pvs_mgmt_ip\>*'

where hana_pvs_mgmt_ip the virtual server instance IP address is in the management subnet.

Creating an SAP HANA Power Virtual Server storage volume

Modify the created Power Virtual Server instance for SAP HANA and attach extra storage volumes as described in Modifying volume network. Attach the following volumes:

• A storage volume for SAP HANA shared file system. Volume size must be MIN (1 x RAM; 1 TB). Storage tier "Tier 3" is sufficient. 'Shareable' switch can stay 'off'.
• Four or eight storage volumes of the same size for SAP HANA log file system. File system size must be MIN (1/2xRAM; 512 GB). Divide file system size through Four or eight to determine the size for each storage volume. Select "Tier 1" as the storage tier. 'Shareable' switch can stay 'off'.
• Four or eight storage volumes of the same size for SAP HANA data file system. File system size must be at minimum equal to the amount of RAM. Divide file system size through Four or eight to determine the size for each storage volume. Select "Tier 1" as the storage tier. 'Shareable' switch can stay 'off'.
• An extra storage volume of chosen size for extra data (such as '/usr/sap' file system). Storage tier "Tier 3" is sufficient. 'Shareable' switch can stay 'off'.
• You can attach extra volumes for backup or export.

Configuring a Power Virtual Server instance

Complete following configurations on your Power Virtual Server instances.

export http_proxy=http://\<SQUID_PROXY_SERVER\>:3128
export https_proxy= http://\<SQUID_PROXY_SERVER\>:3128
export HTTP_proxy= http://\<SQUID_PROXY_SERVER\>:3128
export HTTPS_proxy =http://\<SQUID_PROXY_SERVER\>:3128

ansible-galaxy collection install ibm.power_linux_sap

client_config: {
  proxy: { enable: true, squid_server_ip_port: \"SQUID_PROXY_SERVER\", no_proxy_hosts: '161.0.0.0/8' }
}

ansible-playbook \--connection=local -i \"localhost,\" powervs-services.yml -e \@vars/sample_client_services_variable_file.yml

zypper update

yum -y update

ansible-galaxy collection install ibm.power_linux_sap

ansible-playbook \--connection=local -i \"localhost,\" powervs-rhel.yml

ansible-playbook \--connection=local -i \"localhost,\" powervs-sles.yml

zypper install -y chrony

yum install -y chrony

ansible-galaxy collection install ibm.power_linux_sap

client_config: {
  ntp: { enable: true, ntp_server_ip: \"NTP_SERVER_IP\" }
}

ansible-playbook \--connection=local -i \"localhost,\" powervs-services.yml -e \@vars/sample_client_services_variable_file.yml

/usr/bin/rescan-scsi-bus.sh -a -c -v

multipath -ll
3600507681081814ce80000000000054d dm-4 IBM,2145
size=100G features=\'0\' hwhandler=\'1 alua\' wp=rwv

export pv_size=60G
export lv_name=hana_data_lv
export vg_name=hana_data_vg
export mount=/hana/data
# use following command if you USE multipath aliases 
devices=$(multipath -ll | grep -B 1 $pv_size | grep dm- | awk '{print "/dev/"$3}' | tr '\n' ' ')
stripes=$(multipath -ll | grep -B 1 $pv_size | grep dm- | awk '{print "/dev/"$2}' | wc | awk '{print $1}')
pvcreate $devices
vgcreate ${vg_name} ${devices}
lvcreate -i${stripes} -I64 -l100%VG -n ${lv_name} ${vg_name}
mkfs.xfs /dev/mapper/${vg_name}-${lv_name}
mkdir -p ${mount}

export pv_size=110G
export lv_name=hana_log_lv
export vg_name=hana_log_vg
export mount=/hana/log
# use following command if you USE multipath aliases 
devices=$(multipath -ll | grep -B 1 $pv_size | grep dm- | awk '{print "/dev/"$3}' | tr '\n' ' ')
stripes=$(multipath -ll | grep -B 1 $pv_size | grep dm- | awk '{print "/dev/"$2}' | wc | awk '{print $1}')
pvcreate $devices
vgcreate ${vg_name} ${devices}
lvcreate -i${stripes} -I64 -l100%VG -n ${lv_name} ${vg_name}
mkfs.xfs /dev/mapper/${vg_name}-${lv_name}
mkdir -p ${mount}

export pv_size=400G
export lv_name=hana_shared_lv
export vg_name=hana_shared_vg
export mount=/hana/shared
# use following command if you USE multipath aliases 
devices=$(multipath -ll | grep -B 1 $pv_size | grep dm- | awk '{print "/dev/"$3}' | tr '\n' ' ')
stripes=$(multipath -ll | grep -B 1 $pv_size | grep dm- | awk '{print "/dev/"$2}' | wc | awk '{print $1}')
pvcreate $devices
vgcreate ${vg_name} ${devices}
lvcreate -i${stripes} -I64 -l100%VG -n ${lv_name} ${vg_name}
mkfs.xfs /dev/mapper/${vg_name}-${lv_name}
mkdir -p ${mount}

ansible-galaxy collection install ibm.power_linux_sap

zypper install insserv

ls -ltr /root/
total 28
-rw\-\-\-\-\-\--. 1 root root 6777 Oct 29 2019 original-ks.cfg
-rw\-\-\-\-\-\--. 1 root root 7030 Oct 29 2019 anaconda-ks.cfg
-rw-r\--r\--. 1 root root 104 Jan 30 03:38 sap-netweaver.yml
-rw-r\--r\--. 1 root root 99 Jan 30 03:38 sap-hana.yml
-rw-r\--r\--. 1 root root 71 Jan 30 03:38 sap-preconfigure.yml

ansible-playbook /root/sap-hana.yml

ansible-playbook -i /root/inventory /root/sap-hana.yml 

ansible-playbook /root/sap-netweaver.yml

ansible-playbook -i /root/inventory /root/sap-netweaver.yml

cd /etc/sysconfig/network
vi ifcfg-envX # choose correct name of tje ethernet device that is used for communication between SAP instances (instead of envX)

BROADCAST=''
ETHTOOL_OPTS='-K ethX tso on ' # choose correct name of ethernet device used for communication between SAP instances (instead of ethX)
BOOTPROTO='static'
IPADDR='xx.xx.xx.xx/xx'
NAME='Virtual Ethernet card 0' NETWORK=''
REMOTE_IPADDR=''
STARTMODE='auto'
USERCONTROL='no'
MTU='9000'

cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
vi ifcfg-envX # choose correct name of the ethernet device that is used for communication between SAP instances (instead of envX)

BROADCAST=''
ETHTOOL_OPTS='-K envX tso on ' # choose correct name of ethernet device used for communication between SAP instances (instead of envX)
config fileBOOTPROTO='static'
IPADDR='xx.xx.xx.xx/xx'
NAME='Virtual Ethernet card 0' NETWORK=''
REMOTE_IPADDR=''
STARTMODE='auto'
USERCONTROL='no'
MTU='9000'

Next Steps

After the previous steps are completed, your infrastructure is ready to install the SAP software. Complete the following steps to install the SAP software.

1. Install a Windows server in management or in workload VPCs and use it for SAP administration.
2. Move SAP installation binary files to the NFS server in the virtual server instance that is running in workload VPC.
3. Log in through SSH and perform SAP installation by using the CLI on Power Virtual Server instances.
4. Log in with Windows server and perform SAP installation by using the SAP GUI on Power Virtual Server instances.
5. Create extra instances and extend the environment.
6. Create more instances on edge VPC and install internet-facing SAP applications such as SAP routed or SAP Web Dispatcher.
7. Install IBM Spectrum Protect as a backup solution in workload VPC and configure IBM Spectrum Protect client on Power Virtual Server instances.
8. Configure VPN in management VPC and deactivate floating IP address on the access host.