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This is part 2 of my Netweaver Trial series - Part 1 - Netweaver 7.01 ABAP Trial Tips if you want general tips on the Netweaver Trial.

After installing SAP Netweaver Trial, I realised that it would be very convenient if I could connect to my SAP server at home from a remote location such as my laptop while I was at a client's site. This would enable me to access all my test code, or have a familiar environment to figure out problems that I may have already come across while playing around at home.

I will discuss the options I thought of to achieve this - Remote Desktop, VPN and Static IP Address.

Yes, there is the option to install the server on my laptop, but all the heavy resource requirements steered me away from that decision. In fact, I installed the Netweaver 2004 Trail on my previous laptop with Windows XP. It was very convenient, but it slowed down the performance of my laptop to a grinding halt, and every time I wanted to start or stop the SAP server, it would take about 10 or 15 minutes - during which I couldn't do any work. It also used a huge amount of valuable disk space which meant I couldn't store as much music any more - We can't tolerate that, now can we!? 🙂

Remote Desktop Tool

The first option is to use a remote desktop tool. This would mean that instead of using your SAPGui to login directly from your laptop to your SAP server at home, you would need to literally control your home PC from your laptop. This is probably the quickest and easiest way to start out, but has a lot of downsides.

Using a free remote desktop tool such as Team Viewer, you will be able to see your home PC's desktop and control it from a remote location, as if you were sitting right in front of it. I use Team Viewer for all remote support - it works really well. Make sure to install the Team Viewer client on your home PC as a windows service, and then have it start with Windows. In the options you can set a "permanent" password so that you can always connect to your home PC from anywhere.

VPN Access

Basically, a VPN connects you to your home network over the internet. Once you are connected to your home network, you have access to the IP addresses in the network - This means that you will be able to use your laptop with SAPGui to connect to the SAP server once connected to the VPN. I played around with this but was unable to find an easy to configure and free solution. If you have experience with any free VPN solutions, please comment and let me know more details. Using this solution you would probably have to enable port forwarding on your network router - I discuss this in the next section.

Static IP Address

My favourite solution is to use a static IP address or something similar. Usually your router at home works with a dynamic IP address - Every time you restart your router, it could be assigned a different IP address. To get around this, you can subscribe and get a static IP address, but there will be a price tag. The free solution would be to use Dynamic DNS - You are given a domain like mysapserver.dyndns.org, and you assign your router's IP address to it. There is client software that you install on the server which updates your Dynamic DNS account every time your router's IP address is changed.

Here are the summarised steps to setting up your new URL: (Go here for a really good step by step guide)

  1. Go to www.dyndns.com and create a new account - this is free.
  2. Once you have registered, from your home server (the one that has the SAP server on it), sign in and go to https://www.dyndns.com/account/services/hosts/add.html
  3. Enter a host name - something that you will remember, like "mysapserver", and then select a domain to use. It really doesn't matter which domain you use - Whatever your preference is...
  4. Select "Host with IP address"
  5. Click the "Use the auto detected IP address ..." link - This will fill the IP address that you are currently connected with (hopefully the IP address of your router!)
  6. Now click "Add to Cart" - It will take you through a purchasing transaction process, but everything will be free, so don't stress - Just click Next, and then "Activate Services".
  7. Go to https://www.dyndns.com/support/clients/and download the client for your platform. Install on your SAP server and enter your dyndns account details - This will then keep your dyndns URL up to date, even if your router's IP address is changed.

Ok, now you have a URL that points to your router. By default, routers have firewalls enabled that block incoming connections - This will prevent you from accessing your SAP server. You will have to open up certain ports and point them to your SAP server for things to work...

  1. Go to http://portforward.com/to get exact instructions on how to set up port forwarding for your router - Select your router from the lists. I have the Netgear DG834G. Once you click on the router link, you will be shown an advert page - Click the link on the top right to skip the advert. Read the instructions and background - Don't worry about trying to find SAP in their program list. Just click on the "Default Guide" link.
  2. Make sure to carefully read everything - especially the section on static IP address!
  3. The guide will take you through all the necessary steps to enable port forwarding - You need to forward the following ports to the IP address of your SAP server: 3200, 3300, 3600, 5403, 5404

Now you must make sure that your firewall does not stop the ports from being reached on your SAP server. My SAP installation is installed on Windows Vista Ultimate:

  1. Open the control panel
  2. Go to Windows Firewall
  3. Click on the "Change Settings" link
  4. Go to the Exception tab
  5. Click the Add Port button
  6. Enter SAP 3200 as the description, and 3200 as the port number
  7. Do the same for port 3300, 3600, 5403 and 5404
  8. Apply and save settings

Now you need to configure your SAPGui connection on your laptop or work PC. All you have to do is add a new connection, set the application server to your new URL (e.i. mysapserver.dyndns.org), set the system number to 00, system ID to NSP, and save - You should now be able to connect and see the SAP login screen!

If you have any problems connecting from outside the network that your SAP server is on, make sure that nothing is blocking incoming or outgoing connections on the port numbers that I mentioned above. After initially setting mine up, the connection worked, but then suddenly stopped - It was completely random, and I eventually figured out that my windows firewall on the SAP server was blocking me, but only when it felt like it - Good work Microsoft.

Series

Part 1 - Netweaver 7.01 ABAP Trial Tips gives general tips for running SAP Netweaver Trial

Part 2 - Netweaver Trial Remote Access tells you how to access your Netweaver trial at home from anywhere

Part 3 - Enable Transport System on Netweaver 7.01 Trial talks about how to enable the transport system in Netweaver 7.01

Part 4 - Configure the Workflow Engine in Netweaver Trial 7.01 shows how to set up the workflow engine
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