AUTOSTART=1 Not to Be Used

[maryjane_steele2]

I am having an issue with AUTOSTART=1 not working on 2 of my systems.  The system does not start until I open the MMC, interestingly I don't have to manually start the instance, just opening the MMC kicks off the AUTOSTART process.  I opened a ticket with SAP and I was told that AUTOSTART=1 should be not used any more because

Apart from the fact that using Autostart parameter can change the control in the start of the instances, the recommendations of changes

in the service definition are not necessary and  can be dangerous because customer could use versions in other directories that could

change  the security settings and even provoke the instance doesn´t start. This is dangerous and can create more problems in the systems.

Juding from the number of topics on SDN, I see that many people are still using AUTOSTART=1 but what does one use to start an instance after a reboot if we can't use AUTOSTART=1.

[maryjane_steele2 · Accepted solution]

So AUTOSTART is now working on the two systems again.  I switched out my DB server and now AUTOSTART works again.   I guess something in the Database Copy procedure in SWPM fixed something.

[former_member224961]

To start or stop sap system Create two Batch files as following:

1 - StartSap.bat

<Drive>:\usr\sap\<SID>\DVEBMGS00\exe\startsap name=SID nr=01 SAPDIAHOST=<Host name>

<Drive>:\usr\sap\<SID>\DVEBMGS00\exe\startsap name=SRD nr=00 SAPDIAHOST=<Host Name>

Example:

c:\usr\sap\ERM\DVEBMGS00\exe\startsap name=SID nr=01 SAPDIAHOST=windows1Q002

c:\usr\sap\ERM\DVEBMGS00\exe\startsap name=SRD nr=00 SAPDIAHOST=windows1Q002

2 - StopSap.bat

<Drive>:\usr\sap\<SID>\DVEBMGS00\exe\stopsap name=SID nr=01 SAPDIAHOST=<Host name>

<Drive>:\usr\sap\<SID>\DVEBMGS00\exe\stopsap name=SRD nr=00 SAPDIAHOST=<Host Name>

Example:

c:\usr\sap\ERM\DVEBMGS00\exe\ stopsap name=SID nr=01 SAPDIAHOST=windows1Q002

c:\usr\sap\ERM\DVEBMGS00\exe\ stopsap name=SRD nr=00 SAPDIAHOST=windows1Q002

note : nr=" you need add row for all instants in yellow color"

[Former Member]

Mary - Are the 2 systems that you are having issues autostarting Java only?

Autostart parameter won't work with Java only systems. 

If these are Java stacks, then you will need to use Windows scheduler or cron for Unix to run a script.

[Former Member]

Hi,

It should work.

did you placed the parameter at the right profile file (start profile of each instance). Use

Autostart=1

Remember to put at least one break line at the end of the profile file.

And no comment after the parameter in the same line.

I suggest to put this parameter at the top of the file to make sure, there is no other problem at the profile file.

If there is ASCS instance and dialog instance, put a delay on the dialog instance service.

You need to make sure ASCS or SCS instance is started first.

You need to restart the service after changing the start profile.

If it is a newer system 73x and higher (maybe also 71x), there is no start profile. And you should make the changes on the instance profiles.

[maryjane_steele2]

Yes, there is a line break, it is a central instance and there is a start profile.   I have sent the ticket back to SAP stating that since they provide the parameter and there is no official document, i.e. note saying not to use it, I expect support.  We'll see what they say.

[Former Member]

Hi Mary,

Did SAP provided you any information on this issue?

Thank you in advance!

Best regards,

Sreenu

[Former Member]

Hi Mary,

I noticed that this profile parameter is available for NW 7.4 and not for ERP 6.0. I don't understand, why SAP restricted it for ERP 6.0 systems.

Any ideas, please?

Thank you,

Sreenu

[maryjane_steele2]

FYI:  I am using AUTOSTART = 1 on (3) 7.4 ABAP systems and it works.  All I can tell ya'll is what SAP told me.  (Their reply is in italics in the original post).  SAP's solution is to use SAPCONTROL, I played with it, but if you script it, you have to use the <sid>adm id and the password which is a major security hole, plus I never could get it to work after a reboot.  I only have two systems on which AUTOSTART = 1 won't work for some reason so I just decided to leave everything as is (using AUTOSTART).  AUTOSTART =1 was so easy, leave it to SAP to complicate things with a new and improved solution!

[Matt_Fraser]

It should work, but I generally agree with the advice you got, which is that it shouldn't be used. After a reboot, I prefer to maintain manual control over the starting the application. Partly, this is for the (hopefully unlikely) chance of a system crash in which the system reboots itself. If that happens, I don't want the application to start until I've had an opportunity to ensure the database is ok, etc.

That said, it is possible to start the application via scripts, so if you are looking for an automated way to handle a reboot, start to end, you could build a script to do it.

[maryjane_steele2]

Yes but when you are only the source of support for critical systems and you would like a personal and not get reamed for having the systems down for too long,  AUTOSTART can be a life saver.  Don't know why it won't work on those two systems, very weird that just opening the MMC kicks off the process.

SAP suggested SAPCONTROL which I have never heard of.

[TomCenens]

Hi Matt

We don't use it in general but we do have it on our Amazon AWS cloud environment which is partially provisioned through SAP Cloud Appliance Library (SAP CAL). There it makes sense to have autostart 1 as it provides a functional consultant without any technical know-how to simply start up an instance (Suite on HANA nowadays mostly) and be able to log on without anyone else having to assist there ~ we keep those on-demand to lower the cost. Those are not critical systems either but discovery / learning type of systems.

Kr

Tom