SAP Solution Manager 7.2 in SAP CAL - "This page can't be displayed" error message fix!

[estoddard]

Hello everyone:

It's Evan Stoddard,with a little tip when accessing your SAP Solution Manager 7.2 system in SAP CAL.

We had a few customers report that when they are accessing their new 7.2 system in CAL from their local SAPGUI or local browser, and then they launch the new Solution Documentation UI (or any other browser-based application), they get the message "The page cannot be displayed".

The reason the page cannot be displayed is that the user’s local PC browser needs to resolve the hostname of the instance (vhala4hci.wdf.sap.corp) with the instance’s IP address. As the instance IP address is dynamically assigned upon instance creation, it is not possible to hard-code this into a Favorite.

This is a common issue with SAP CAL systems, regardless of product version, whenever you access any SAP CAL system when using your local SAPGUI or browser on your own PC. In short, the application uses a system hostname, but your local PC does not know the IP address for it.

This issue is addressed in three ways:

1. Edit the favorite in the system Favorites list, by changing the host name to the IP address. This will work for this link, but will not work if you navigate to additional browser-based applications, like SOLMAN_SETUP.  You can also make a local PC browser favorite for the link, where the hostname is replaced by the system’s IP address.

2. Edit your local hosts file, located at c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc. Editing is done by starting Notepad as an Administrator, and opening the file. You need to add the hostname vhala4hcl.wdf.sap.corp, then a few spaces, then the IP address. However if you access a different 7.2 system in CAL you will need to change the IP address in the file each time, this can be annoying.

3. Lastly, the recommended approach is to connect to the system via the Windows Frontend using the Connect option in the CAL console. When you do this and use the SAPGUI there, all hostnames and IP addresses are automatically resolved. This is the purpose of including a Windows Server in the solution.