I guess you know: Enhancement Package 8 for SAP ECC 6.0 is different, from our technical perspective of Software Logistics.
These are the aspects that I am aware of:
- EHP 8 is an "upgrade"
SAP Business Suite 7 Innovations 2016 with SAP ECC 6.0 EHP 8 (6.18) is based on SAP NetWeaver 7.50 (NW 7.50), and the procedure is load-based. It is not an update in the sense of the Enhancement Packages (EHPs) until now. It is an upgrade, as the shadow system is created from DVDs, not cloned from the customer system (compare my outdated SCN blog on shadow system: SUM: introduction to shadow system).
You may check the following SAP notes: SAP Note 2318321, SAP Note 530335. on the load-based approach.
Note
- the load-based approach does not allow any inactive objects, see SAP Note 2435892.
- with SUM 1.0 SP 19 and higher, the Report RSUPG_TADIR_COMPONENT_CHECK (attached in SAP Note 2318321) will be executed by SUM automatically.
- Unicode only
NW 7.50 is unicode-only, and SAP has announced long time ago [see SAP Note 2033243] that the successor of SAP NetWeaver 7.40 will only by offered as Unicode system, and that the path to the successor of SAP NetWeaver 7.40 can only be reached from a unicode system ... what was that again? I mean to say that you have to start from a Unicode system to reach NW 7.50 (and to reach EHP 8). For NW 7.50, we do not have a non-unicode kernel. But the SUM procedure to create a shadow system requires the non-unicode kernel for a non-unicode source system. Further one, there is no non-unicode load for the load-based procedure for NW 7.50.
- ASCS split
The SUM will create a separate ASCS instance for the following condition (all have to apply together):
- The SUM maintenance activity (like an upgrade) is targeting NW 7.50
- The source system does not yet has a separate ASCS.
- The source system has more than one instance
If the source has just one instance, no specific handling happens. Note that the SUM does not explicitely mention this behavior on the dialog, only in the log files. For SUM SP 17, I can imagine that the ASCS split could be offered as option for target 7.40 as well - just an idea.
[Added on 2016-07-11] Note that with SUM SP 17, for a target based on 7.40, SUM will offer to (optionally) split ASCS.
Attention
important side effect for DMO and the (optional) use of an Additional Application Server (AAS, fka DI): if your target for DMO is 7.50, and your system does not yet has an ASCS, and you decide to run the SUM on an AAS (e.g. for better performance), then the SUM will create the (required) ASCS on the AAS. And (strange but true): from the perspective of the SUM running on AAS, the PAS (CI) is handled as a remote dialog instance. DMO cannot handle and cannot start remote instances (other than ASCS), so your CI will not come up at the end of the SUM procedure.
Kind regards, Boris Rubarth
[Product Management Software Logistics, SAP SE]
