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Friday 20 May 2011

SAP Basis Daily Monitoring Tcodes



Proactive monitoring of the SAP systems, will help to understand issues in advance & helps us to take corrective actions and  thus will lead to lesser downtime of the systems, improving profitability of the business organisation.

 Monitoring can be focused on ABAP stack(including database checks), Java Stack and Oslevel checks.


ABAP Stack Checks :

SM50 : (Process Overview)


This transaction code will be useful to view the processes that are running currently in an sap insance. In this view you can check whether there are free workprocesses to execute the processes. If all the workprocesses are in running state and no work process is idle it means that wait times will increase for the processes that are waiting in the dispatcher queue leading to performance degradation. If you find that there are no free workprocceses for maximum times that you may consider, increasing the number of workprocesses.



SM66 : (Global process overview)


This transaction code will be useful to view the processes that are running across all instances/application servers of a SAP system. Similar to SM50 checks can be done in this transaction as well.

SM51 : (Application servers status)


This transaction code will be useful to view all the hostnames and application servers status. If any application server is down, the same can be identified using status of the server column. We can also figure out different Message types (Dialog, Batch, Update, Upd2, Spool, ICM etc) configured for the respective servers.

SM12 : (Lock entry list)


This transaction code will be useful to view all the sap locks that are present in the system. As part of monitoring, we need to look for any old sap locks that are more than 1 day. If any such locks, we need to analyse the reason for that lock for such longer duration and take actions accordingly. A lock can be set for such a long duration due to a long running background job or a lock is not released due to an application error or a program terminated abruptly but lock not released etc.


How to delete a sap lock?





ST22  : (ABAP Dumps )


This transaction code will be useful to view all the abap dumps that have occured in the system on a given day. As part of daily monitoring, it is the responsibility of the basis administrator to analyse the dumps and take necessary actions to avoid issues.

Some of the examples of abap dumps are timeout issue, database space issue, spool overflow issue etc

SM21 : (System log)


This transaction is useful to view the log of the sap system for various operations. This log will be very useful to identify various issue in advance and to take necessary measures. System log is the place to check out for any timeout, network issues, database space issues, message server issues, spool overflow, locktable overflow etc issues.

Additional details :

SAP System log

SM13 : (Update Requests overview)


This transaction is useful to figure the status of update system. Incase an update is inactive we can figure out the same from this transaction and necessary action can be taken and update can be activated again.




Update got deactivated. what is the reason for update deactivation? How to activate the update ?


SM14 transaction can be called internally from SM13. These both transactions are useful for update administration.

In SM13, you can select status (canceled, to be updated, v1 executed, v2 executed, all ) and time interval during which you would like to view the status execute to check the overview of updates as per the status and time interval selected.

In case of canceled updates, analysis to be done whether to repeat update.

ST02 : (Tune summary )


This transaction will be used to monitor

  •  Buffer statistics like hitratio, swaps, db access details, size of buffer and free size of buffer etc

  •  Important statistics related to  Roll area, Page area, Extended memory and heap memory

  • Call statistics like select, insert, update and delete

As a basis administrator, it is our responsibility to ensure there is more hit ratio for the buffers and less swaps to ensure efficient performance of the sap system. In case you see there are more swaps and less hit ratios for most of the buffers, then tuning buffers to be carried out to ensure optimal performance.
 
DB12 (Backup logs) : This transaction is useful to check the details of
 
  • last successful backup
  • overview of database backups ( Success / failure of backup with log details)
  • Archiving directory status (Free space of oraarch )
  • Overview of redolog files ( Number of redologs that are not yet backed up)
  • overview of redolog backups (Success / failure of backup with log details)
 
DB13 (DBA Planning calender) :


This transaction will be useful to schedule various database backups & clean up jobs like ( whole database backup offline/online, Full backup online/offline, incremental backup offline/online, redolog backup, update statistics, check db, cleanup logs, compress database, verify database, initialize tape and validate structure jobs).

In this transaction, you can also check the status of every job that was scheduled and can reschedule in case of failures.


DB14  (DBA operations log) :


This transaction will be useful to check the status of following :

  • Database backup
  • Redolog backup
  • BRSPACE log (extend tablespace issues etc)
  • BRCONNECT operations (Update optimiser statistics , database check etc)
  As an sap basis administrator it is our responsibility to check and ensure backups and other cleanup jobs are successful everyday. Incase of failures, should figure out root cause and take actions like rescheduling and ensure these jobs are successful.


SM37 ( Job status overview) :

This transaction will be useful to have an overview of jobs with different statuses.
As part of daily monitoring, SAP basis administrator should use this transaction to findout canceled jobs and active jobs(for eg: long running - more than 24hrs etc).

Incase of canceled jobs, root cause for the failure to be figured out from the logs of the respective job and to be actioned by rescheduling etc.
Incase of long running jobs, we need to figure out the reason for long running and action them accordingly.

In SM37, using extended job selection option, we can even select the jobs based on start condition, steps (like abap program, external command or external program), period etc



How to troubleshoot a background job running for long duration in sap?




 
ST04 (Database alert logs and performance) :


This transaction will be useful for (oracle) database administration. In this screen, goto Alerts and drill down further. Click on "Database Check" to find out any errors or warnings related to database like MISSING_STATISTICS, STATS_TOO_OLD, LAST_BACKUP_FAILED, LAST_ARCHIVE_FAILED etc. After going through the error or warning in details take necessary corrective actions based on the error like running update stats again, re-triggering backup etc

Under Alerts, you can view Alert monitor which will summarize status of the database under different heads like

  • Space Management
  • Performance
  • Backup/restore
  • SAP Consistency
  • Health
Drill down on each of these to find out potential problems. These are color coded for ease of administrator (Red for errors, yellow for Warnings and Green for OK status)

For Eg: If PSAPSR3 tablespace is >90%, you can see Space management in red color. Then it is the responsibility of Basis administrator to take necessary actions on the same.

SP01 ( Check Spool status ) :


This transaction is useful to find out the status of spool request and output request. In SP01 transcation, you can list the spool requests or output requests between a given interval.

In the list generated, you can check out the status of spool requests and findout any errors by drilling down further.

For eg: if so many spools are in waiting status, find out whether output device is available or not.

If many spool are in error status, figure out if there is any network issue and take necessary actions.


If  customers complain that they are not able print anything from SAP, check out whether there is any spool overflow.


SXI_Cache : This Tcode is specific to XI or PI system. This Tcode is used to findout whether cache refresh is happening or not. Incase if cache refresh is happening successfully, it will indicate the same in green color. Otherwise it will be in red indicating a problem with cache refresh.

If there is a problem with cache refresh then basis administrator has to troubleshoot the same.


SLDCHECK : This Tcode will be useful to figure out whether connection to the SLD system from the system on which you are testing is fine or not. In case the connection is fine, all checks will appear in green. Incase of any issues, it will appear in red or yellow and then basis administator has to troubleshoot it and make sure SLDCHECK is working fine.

Ensuring SLDCHECK is working fine is important to keep all systems in the landscape in sync.


SXI_MONITOR : This TCode is specific to XI or PI system. This transaction will be useful to figure out any errors or warnings in the processing of XI or PI messages. In case of any issues, this needs to be informed to functional team and should be troubleshooted accordingly with the functional team inputs.


DBO1 : This transaction code is useful to findout the database locks that are present in the SAP system.

As part of daily monitoring, SAP Basis administrator has to figure out if there are any long pending locks more than 1 day etc and analyse reasons for the same. Sometimes if programs/jobs got terminated abruptly without removing the database locks set, this will lead to performance issues as other programs which needs that lock cannot set etc and they have to wait indefinitely as these locks won't get released automatically. In case of any long pending locks, Basis administrators should contact DBA team if any an dfigure out the reason for these locks and action accordingly

Jack Stack Checks :  Please refer below links to understand Daily Java monitoring of SAP Landscape:


SAP Java monitoring check list 2

To monitor live Cache system, please refer below link :

Live Cache Monitoring in SAP


Please find below table which summarizes daily monitoring tasks that are to be performed by the SAP Basis Administrator :

 
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SnoTask
ABAP Stack Checks
1Check process overview(SM50)
2Check overall system process overview(SM66)
3Check application servers status(SM51)
4Check for any pending locks (SM12)
5Check for Dumps in the system(ST22)
6Check System log for any errors(SM21)
7Check for any hanged updates or update status(SM13)
8Check for excessive swapping (ST02)
9Check for critical job status like backup,updatestats,checkdb etc(DB13)
10Check for longrunning/failed jobs status(SM37)
11Check database alertlogs and performance(ST04)
12Check spool job status (SP01)
13Check cache status (sxi_cache) for PI System
14Check SLD functionality(SLDCHECK)
15Check SXI_MONITOR for PI system
16Check for Database locks(DB01)
Java Stack Checks
1Check java portal accessibility using link
2Check server0 log for java system for critical errors
3Check accessibility of management console
4Check server node status 
5Check default trace for critical java errors
6Check java reports for memoryconsumption/swapping
Os level checks
1Check filesystems usage (shouldb be <80%)
2Check for swap space using topas etc
3Check for work directory log files at oslevel for errors


Useful Links :


How to change SAP parameter ?






61 comments:

Eric said...

sublime!

Anonymous said...

nice ..

Anonymous said...

Thanks its very nice..

Anonymous said...

Superb....

Anonymous said...

Good Job Durga !

Anonymous said...

can u give full monitoring of st03 step by step , would be thankful if you give step by step

Prashant said...

This is very excellent article. Very well documented and explained. A job well done.

Anonymous said...

Superb explanation. durga prasad! can you please explain what is the difference between SM50 and SM66

Anonymous said...

I´m sap basis administrator and I found this blog yesterday and I have to give all the support and congrat you for this, all the effort that you put here is very useful for all of us, for all the people who, like me, want to read and search for credible information about sap basis activity!
Go ahead! Hugs

PAVAN KUMAR PALEPU said...

god bless you sir

Unknown said...

Really great... marvelous work sir....this blog is really need / Asset for fresher as well as Experience candidates

Anonymous said...

Sm50 is the process overview of the particular server,and sm66 is the process overview of all instances or servers...........

google said...

I started to take notes from the entire blog for my interview
Thank you so much,
Rathish

cireddy krishna reddy said...

How many updates can be active per instance?

Unknown said...

very useful sir..

Anonymous said...

What can we do if SAP system is not working

Unknown said...

very useful the above monitoring t code

Unknown said...

very usefull

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks Eric

DurgaPrasad said...

Hi...SM50 will give you local workprocess overview where as SM66 will give you global workprocess overview.

It means, if you have multiple application servers installed in an sap system, for a particular server you can view workprocess overview through SM50 and if you want to view workprocess overview of all application servers at one place, you can use SM66.

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks much friend...your words are really motivates for me to spend more time on blog

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks Dude..It sounds music to my ears

DurgaPrasad said...

Thank U Prashant

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks my friend

DurgaPrasad said...

Hi krishna,

we can configure maximum 100 V1 updates and 100 V2 updates per instance. However in real life these many are not required and you can configure much lesser values.

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks Elumalai

DurgaPrasad said...

So many checks to be done...I hope it demands to write a separate article on this!1

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks much Pradip

DurgaPrasad said...

Thanks dude

Anonymous said...

very informative and very well explained , Helped me Alot

Anonymous said...

Durga, I came across your blow recently, and trust me these are simply wonderful .. This helps a lot of people like me .. Was desperately waiting for something 'easy to understand' materials, and I found it all in one place

Anonymous said...

Hello Durga Prasad Sir,

I have gone through your blog,its really informative.

Anonymous said...

your posts are really informative. keep it up!
thanks a lot for sharing!

Venkat said...

Hi Durga,

This is an excellent blog! Great job!
Reading the posts I see that so many people are benefiting from this. Keep up your good work.
All the best!

Venkat

Anonymous said...

really informative!!

Anonymous said...

Hi durga,
can you please explain in detail about T-code Db13 with screenshots....how to schedule backup etc...!

Unknown said...

Hi Mr.Prasad,
Could you please explain me the relation between below words.. I'm in so confusion..
Support package no, Patch no, Stack, EHP, kernel version, kernel supp no, sap version..?

Anonymous said...

Please spend some more time and give us more information SIR

Unknown said...

super

Praveen said...

useful content...

Anonymous said...

Hi Prasad ,

Thanks for the Blog , It is very useful for the new admin like me .

Unknown said...

differents b/w netweaver 7.0 & 7.1 ,7.1&7.3 , 7.2&7.3

gopi said...

excellent description and very useful Durga Prasad. its very helpful.

Unknown said...

hi
This is santhosh if job is failed then what i am do

DurgaPrasad said...

If it is functional related job, we need to contact respective job owner and inform him. If it is failing due to issue from functional side, they will take care. Otherwise, we need to help them resolving issue. If it is basis job or any functional job failed due to basis reasons, we need to troubleshoot. We need to check job log for reason for job failure. We need to see if job is failing throwing any dump... If so, please analyse that dump... Search in market place for any notes applicable to fix this job failure or dump..

Unknown said...

Sir Thank you its very useful , Appreciate your time

Anonymous said...

its very useful for beginners

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this informative content. Learnt so much from your blog - Preethi Asha

Anonymous said...

really useful..

sandeep said...

simply super, no words, an outstanding work

Unknown said...

really good job it will helpful for all sap basis candidates




Unknown said...

Nice work Asom

chsn said...

Hi Prasad,

super block,nice work....

Unknown said...

I cleared my basis interview and working in a MNC by following various blogs.

But this blog is the place from where I got 90% of my notes material and doubts cleared.

Thanks a lot for making this happen

Unknown said...

Hi Prasad garu

could you please post your mail id .

sapbasisdurgaprasad said...

Awesome, Durga Mam. Thanks

Anonymous said...

Good job! Keep up the good work..

Unknown said...

very well explained

Afreen said...

Hi I have just started learning SAP basis
Can you please help me from where to start in your blog?

Afreen said...

Hi Durgaprasad,

I have just started learning SAP basis, can you please tell me as a beginner where to start from?

MarathiKavita said...

hello sir i m beginner for sap basis so please suggest me where to start in your blogs please give me reply on mail id rajendrapatil2025@gmail.com

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