I have been providing consultancy for many years, I had the opportunity to work on many SAP XI/PI/PO systems. I have seen in many of my clients that the systems have never been updated and that they are not aware of many innovations.
This causes consultants to develop non-standard solutions. As processes become complex, their maintenance becomes difficult. And I heard many complaints stating that the integration tools are inadequate.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that integration consultants do not have enough information and do not warn customers for necessary steps in this regard. I recommend keeping your systems up to date, including new features in your system, and keeping bugs away. You should keep your system up to date to increase the performance, power, and flexibility of your integration tool. My main purpose in writing this blog is to raise awareness on this issue.
In the rest of the article, I would like to share some important features added after version 7.5 SP14 to illustrate my point.
I will not include the PIT(SAP Process Integration Test Tool) in this post, because many detailed blog posts have been written about it.
Yes, I can guess what everyone has been saying about this for years, I wish we could select and delete the messages. As you know, this operation was not allowed in the monitoring screens. Starting with version 7.50 SP14, this feature was included in the system and also it is added to the latest versions of 7.31 and 7.40. You can only delete messages in the final state with an expired retention period. When you use this process, security logs are updated for each message.
To use this feature, you need to add the "NWA_DELETE_MSGM" UME action to your user.
Now you can delete:
In older versions, we could see logs for Cancel and Delete job types. This feature is now implemented for all job types after 7.50 SP14 version. Also, it was added to the latest versions of 7.31.
The capabilities on this adapter continue to increase day by day, usually used for SOAP 1.1, 1.2, WS-Reliable Messaging 1.0 and 1.1 message protocols.
Previously, only WS-RM attributes: "MessageID", "SequenceID", and "LastMessage" dynamic properties could be transferred.
WS_AAE adapter allows writing/read XI dynamic attributes from any HTTP header, SOAP header or WS-Addressing header with new updates.
These features are available on 7.50 SP14 and SP15 systems.
The following values are now available for the sender channel
The following values are now available for the receiver channel
You can now use the startTLS feature on the mail receiver adapter. To use this feature, it is enough to add the following module parameter.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP14 and SP15 systems.
With a new clusterSyncMode option, you can configure a specific node for polling operations. For details on this subject, you can review the note below.
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2784288
Example nodes, you have to get node IDs from SAP Management Console:
Example configuration:
Multiple rows could not be created at once on previous NWDS versions. You can create multiple rows after NWDS SP16. You can use the Add Rows button or right click on the data type for this action.
With this feature, the maximum number of files to be read during the polling process in the file adapter can be configured. The old version is trying to read all the files at once(The default value of the parameter is "-1"). This situation can cause performance problems. You can use the polling limit to avoid such problems.
Example of 10 files per polling.
XSRF Token Authentication feature can be used in systems after 7.50 SP15 for the REST receiver and REST Poller channel.
You can enable this feature on the rest sender adapter to protect the system against XSRF(Cross-Side Request Forgery) attacks.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP16 and SP17 systems.
You can use HMAC Authentication on the REST Receiver Adapter.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP17
You can review the following HMAC blogs for pre-SP17 systems.
https://blogs.sap.com/2017/09/27/sap-pi-hmac-authentication-using-secret-key/
https://blogs.sap.com/2019/05/31/integrating-amazon-simple-storage-service-amazon-s3-and-sap-ecc-v6....
You can limit calls on the rest sender channel over HTTPS only.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP17
I have picked updates that are most important for the consultants. There are many other updates that contain bug fixes and performance improvements behind the scenes. Keep your system up to date.
I know it has its own challenges since SAP Process Orchestration is a Java-based system. But it is really an easy process. Keep your system admins and integration consultants in contact and better yet systemize the update process.
Thanks for reading!
This causes consultants to develop non-standard solutions. As processes become complex, their maintenance becomes difficult. And I heard many complaints stating that the integration tools are inadequate.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that integration consultants do not have enough information and do not warn customers for necessary steps in this regard. I recommend keeping your systems up to date, including new features in your system, and keeping bugs away. You should keep your system up to date to increase the performance, power, and flexibility of your integration tool. My main purpose in writing this blog is to raise awareness on this issue.
In the rest of the article, I would like to share some important features added after version 7.5 SP14 to illustrate my point.
I will not include the PIT(SAP Process Integration Test Tool) in this post, because many detailed blog posts have been written about it.
Let's start...
Permanently delete the message
Yes, I can guess what everyone has been saying about this for years, I wish we could select and delete the messages. As you know, this operation was not allowed in the monitoring screens. Starting with version 7.50 SP14, this feature was included in the system and also it is added to the latest versions of 7.31 and 7.40. You can only delete messages in the final state with an expired retention period. When you use this process, security logs are updated for each message.
To use this feature, you need to add the "NWA_DELETE_MSGM" UME action to your user.
Now you can delete:
Log of Background Jobs
In older versions, we could see logs for Cancel and Delete job types. This feature is now implemented for all job types after 7.50 SP14 version. Also, it was added to the latest versions of 7.31.
Updates for WS_AAE adapter
The capabilities on this adapter continue to increase day by day, usually used for SOAP 1.1, 1.2, WS-Reliable Messaging 1.0 and 1.1 message protocols.
Previously, only WS-RM attributes: "MessageID", "SequenceID", and "LastMessage" dynamic properties could be transferred.
WS_AAE adapter allows writing/read XI dynamic attributes from any HTTP header, SOAP header or WS-Addressing header with new updates.
These features are available on 7.50 SP14 and SP15 systems.
The following values are now available for the sender channel
The following values are now available for the receiver channel
Mail Receiver Adapter - STARTTLS
You can now use the startTLS feature on the mail receiver adapter. To use this feature, it is enough to add the following module parameter.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP14 and SP15 systems.
Polling Improvements for the Jdbc Sender Channel
With a new clusterSyncMode option, you can configure a specific node for polling operations. For details on this subject, you can review the note below.
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2784288
Example nodes, you have to get node IDs from SAP Management Console:
Example configuration:
Datatype Designer Updates - NWDS
Multiple rows could not be created at once on previous NWDS versions. You can create multiple rows after NWDS SP16. You can use the Add Rows button or right click on the data type for this action.
Polling Restriction - File Adapter
With this feature, the maximum number of files to be read during the polling process in the file adapter can be configured. The old version is trying to read all the files at once(The default value of the parameter is "-1"). This situation can cause performance problems. You can use the polling limit to avoid such problems.
Example of 10 files per polling.
REST Adapter Receiver - XSRF Token Support
XSRF Token Authentication feature can be used in systems after 7.50 SP15 for the REST receiver and REST Poller channel.
REST Adapter Sender - XSRF Attack Protection
You can enable this feature on the rest sender adapter to protect the system against XSRF(Cross-Side Request Forgery) attacks.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP16 and SP17 systems.
REST Adapter - HMAC Authentication
You can use HMAC Authentication on the REST Receiver Adapter.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP17
You can review the following HMAC blogs for pre-SP17 systems.
https://blogs.sap.com/2017/09/27/sap-pi-hmac-authentication-using-secret-key/
https://blogs.sap.com/2019/05/31/integrating-amazon-simple-storage-service-amazon-s3-and-sap-ecc-v6....
REST Adapter - Inbound HTTP Security
You can limit calls on the rest sender channel over HTTPS only.
The feature is available on 7.50 SP17
Conclusion
I have picked updates that are most important for the consultants. There are many other updates that contain bug fixes and performance improvements behind the scenes. Keep your system up to date.
I know it has its own challenges since SAP Process Orchestration is a Java-based system. But it is really an easy process. Keep your system admins and integration consultants in contact and better yet systemize the update process.
Thanks for reading!
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