So you have read SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA - Technical Catalog Migration – Why and Getting Ready for Migration. You are considering migrating your custom technical catalogs and would like to know how the migration process works. The good news is migration is an easy process and non-disruptive for your business users and non-disruptive for your existing launchpad content assignments.
In previous customer experiences at even large sites, converting several custom catalogs only took a few hours for catalogs that were ready to migrate.
The main steps are shown below:
- Before you start, prepare your custom technical catalogs for migration.
- Phase 1 - Create new technical catalogs for launchpad app manager
- Phase 2 – Migrate texts - that is catalog-related, non-original-language texts
- Phase 3 – Delete old technical catalogs from launchpad designer
Hint: Custom technical catalogs are ready for migration if they follow best practice recommendations in SAP Note 3397026 - SAP Fiori Launchpad - Technical Catalog Migration - Content Cleanup Risks. You use the migration tool to confirm that all custom technical catalogs meet the requirements.
IMPORTANT: Remember that you must be on SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS01 or higher to use the migration tool. In earlier releases, you can minimize future upgrade effort by applying the Getting your catalogs ready for migration advice in the previous post SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Technical Catalog Migration – Why and Getting Ready for Migration.
In the previous post you learned:
- Why you need to migrate your catalogs
- Benefits of using the new tools and best practices
- When to migrate your catalogs
- Getting your catalogs ready for migration
In this blog post you will learn:
- How the migration process works
- FAQ
You can also refer to the official documentation in the SAP Note 3444719 - Documentation Correction: Missing Topics in SAP Fiori Launchpad Guide - SAP for Me.
Hint: You do not need to worry about SAP delivered technical catalogs. SAP has already migrated all of them in SAP S/4HANA releases 2020 and 2021.
How the migration process works
The migration provides a phased approach.
All phases are managed by the Technical Catalog Migration tool - transaction /UI2/MGR_TC.
The phases are sequential. You move each of your custom technical catalogs through these phases as needed, until all your catalogs are migrated.
IMPORTANT: You execute all phases in your Development environment.
The phases are:
- Preparation – Assess and clean your custom technical catalogs in Launchpad Designer
- Phase 1 – Create new standard technical catalogs for the launchpad app manager
- Phase 2 – Migrate texts in non-original languages
- Phase 3 – Delete the old technical catalogs from Launchpad Designer
The Technical Catalog Migration tool includes detailed help documentation to guide you through the migration.
IMPORTANT: You can stagger the conversion process over time, moving selected custom technical catalogs and then others. For example, you might migrate catalogs for one line of business completely, then move to the next set of catalogs and so on.
Hint: To help with planning your migration activities, it is a very good idea to at least do the Preparation phase as part of or immediately after upgrade to check if you need to do any additional preparation work on your custom technical catalogs before they can be migrated.
Preparation: Verify the status of your custom technical catalogs
You should do a first assessment as part of or immediately after upgrade to check:
- Which of your custom technical catalogs are Ready for Migration – for these you can move on to Phase 1
- Which of your custom technical catalogs are Ready for Migration – Assignment Required – these will need a small extra step in Phase 1
- Which of your custom technical catalogs are Not Ready for Migration – these need to be remediated before they can be migrated. In some cases, you may have custom technical catalogs that need to be manually migrated, such as custom technical catalogs containing developer-created custom tile types.
- Which of your custom catalogs are Not Relevant for Migration – usually these are custom business catalogs that do not require any further action.
Hint: By default the tool lists all catalogs in your system. If you want to focus on specific catalogs, use the Search Catalogs field to restrict the search.
Start by using the migration tool select Migration Status = Ready for Migration.
This will show catalogs that are ready to be migrated. For any of these catalogs you can move on to Phase 1.
Next use the migration tool select Migration Status = Ready for Migration – Assignment Required. This finds catalogs that are ready to migrate, however will need a small additional step during phase 1 to complete the target mapping to tile assignment. For example, when your custom technical catalogs contain Target Mappings that match to multiple tiles, you will need to nominate the default tile. For these catalogs you can also move onto Phase 1.
Next use the migration tool select Migration Status = Not Ready for Migration
Review the error messages to see what issues have been found. Where there are multiple errors, you can select the long text to see the individual errors found and get advice on what to remediate.
For example, the message “Target Mapping has content issues” can be expanded to see the long text explaining the content issues and guidance on how to remediate the issues.
You may also find some custom technical catalogs containing developer-created custom tile types that cannot be migrated by the migration tool. These must be managed manually.
Finally, using the migration tool, select Migration Status = Not Relevant for Migration. These catalogs do not require any further action because they are:
- Business catalogs - That is, catalogs that only contain references to tiles and target mappings. They already follow best practices and can already be maintained with the Launchpad content manager.
Hint: Custom technical catalogs that have already been migrated will have the status Migration Finished. This includes custom technical catalogs that are already of type standard catalog. Refer to section Maintain Allowed Catalog Types for Launchpad App Manager in the SAP Fiori Launchpad administration guide.
Standard catalogs already follow best practices and can already be maintained with the launchpad app manager. No further action is needed on catalogs in status Migration Finished.
Phase 1: Create new catalogs
To start this phase, the catalog must be in status Ready for Migration or Ready for Migration – Assignment Required.
Select the catalog you want to migration and press Create New Catalog.
The new catalog will be of catalog type standard type and can be maintained in the launchpad app manager - transaction /UI2/FLPAM
IMPORTANT: All new catalogs will be cross-client (“CONF” mode). Technical catalogs are always cross-client to maximize reusability across multiple business catalogs and business roles.
All tile/target mapping combinations will be migrated to launchpad app descriptor items (technical object UIAD), including original language entries of the tile texts and link texts.
If the catalog was in status Ready for Migration – Assignment Required you need to complete the assignment of target mappings to tiles. Select the catalog to review which assignments need to be completed.
Assignments are listed by the intent (i.e. the SemanticObject-Action combination) that matches them.
- Assignments that are ok show a green tick.
- Assignments that need to be completed show a red cross.
- You can select an assignment with a red cross to see what is needed to complete the assignment.
- Each target mapping must be matched to zero, one or multiple tiles.
- Each tile must be matched to a target mapping (tile only is not permitted, except for URL tiles.
The possible actions are:
- Where a target mapping has multiple tiles, nominate the default tile by selecting the tile and then button “Set as Default Tile”
- Where there are target mappings with the same intent (i.e. assigned the same SemanticObject-action) as one or more tiles, in addition to confirming the correct tile is marked as the default tile, you need to confirm which target mapping/tile combinations are correct. If needed, you can use the Assign or Unassign options to correct the tile to target mappings.
- If needed, you can also Assign or Unassign a Target Mapping, i.e. to decouple the tile and target mapping.
Hint: Where a target mapping has multiple tiles, after migration you will also be able to adjust which tile is marked as the default tile in the launchpad app manager.
Once the assignment is complete the intent and the target mapping will have a green check icon and you can remediate any other assignments until the whole catalog is complete.
You can now move to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Migrate texts
To start this phase, the catalog must be in status Ready for Text Migration.
IMPORTANT: If you only maintain custom catalogs in a single language, Phase 2 - Migrate Texts can be skipped, and you can move to Phase 3 - Delete old catalogs. You should consider using the migration status Ready for Text Migration to check that there are no texts maintained in the non-original language.
Launchpad content includes translatable texts such as tile texts, link texts, and descriptions. These translations may be held:
- In the same system
- In a separate dedicated translation system
IMPORTANT: If you are using a separate dedicated translation system, you must complete the text migration in the dedicated translation system using the migration tool. Make sure the catalogs are showing as Ready for Catalog Deletion in both the original and the dedicated translation system before deleting the catalogs. Naturally, you delete the old catalogs in your development system.
When first migrated in Phase 1 Create new catalogs, only the original language entries are migrated. The translations are held in separate technical objects and must be mapped to the new LADis.
To start the migration of texts, select the catalog and press Migrate Translated Texts.
You can run the text migration in test mode first.
Running in test mode will give you a log to check which texts are being migrated. This can save on troubleshooting later, e.g. if the tile was supposed to be migrated into a certain language but the text in that language is missing from the original translations. You can see an example of the log below.
Provided there are no major issues, you can then uncheck the test mode and execute the text migration in production mode (i.e. with test mode = false).
Once texts have been migrated, you are ready to test your catalogs. Your test should make sure all the assignments and translations are still working.
To compare the texts you can bring up the technical catalog in the Launchpad Designer and side-by-side in a separate browser window to the SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager. When you are logged into the SAP Fiori launchpad, you can use the menu option User Actions > Settings > Language and Region to switch between languages and check the tile translations have all come across correctly. Refer to the section Maintaining Your Language and Regional Settings in the SAP Fiori Launchpad User Guide.
Phase 3: Delete old catalogs
The final stage is to remove the old catalog from the launchpad designer. This avoids any mistakes in maintenance later.
Select the status Ready for Catalog Deletion. Select the catalog you want to delete and press button “Delete old catalog”.
IMPORTANT: Review the warnings about testing your migrated catalogs and translations before you delete the old Launchpad Designer catalog.
Once you have completed all steps, the migrated catalogs can be seen in the tool with migration status = Migration Finished.
You can then maintain your custom technical catalogs using the SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager - transaction /UI2/FLPAM.
IMPORTANT: Once all catalogs are migrated, you should consider locking all users out of the Launchpad Designer to avoid anyone creating more catalogs that in turn will need to be migrated.
IMPORTANT: If you need to retain Launchpad Designer while you are migrating your layouts from Groups to Spaces and Pages, then carefully control who has access to this environment. Refer to Info Package: Making the Move from Launchpad Groups to Spaces (In SAP S/4HANA and in SAP S/4HANA Clo...
FAQ
Do I need to worry about SAP catalogs at all?
No. SAP migrated all of its catalogs back in SAP S/4HANA 2020 and 2021.
Do I need to migrate custom business catalogs?
No.
Business catalogs only contain references.
Business catalogs should be maintained in the launchpad content manager - transaction /UI2/FLPCM_CUST.
The launchpad content manager has best practices built in that ensure only references can be assigned to business catalogs,
The migration tool ignores business catalogs.
Do I need to change the referencing business catalogs at all?
There is no need to change the referencing business catalogs. The migration process keeps names and IDs stable.
Do I need to make change to the business role assignments?
Provided your custom technical catalogs are ready for migration, there are no changes needed by the migration process itself. That is, you do not need to make any changes in either in the launchpad content manager or in PFCG.
If your custom technical catalogs have NOT followed best practices – e.g. you have a mix of original entries and references in the same catalog – you may need to make some assignment changes to resolve the content issues.
You can find the detailed rules for launchpad content in SAP Note 3397026 - SAP Fiori Launchpad - Technical Catalog Migration - Content Cleanup Risks.
However, there are no changes needed by the migration process once your custom content is Ready for Migration.
What is the main difference for the launchpad content maintenance team before and after migration?
Before migration – Your custom technical catalogs are missing in the launchpad app manager. You can only see your custom technical catalogs in the Launchpad Designer or in launchpad content manager. You can only edit your custom technical catalogs in the Launchpad Designer - transactions /UI2/FLPD_CONF and /UI2/FLPD_CUST - as described in the SAP Fiori launchpad Administration Guide section: Updating Content Created with the Launchpad Designer. You cannot use new catalog features only supported by the launchpad app manager.
After migration – You will only see your custom technical catalogs in read-only mode in the Launchpad Designer. You can view and edit your custom technical catalogs in the launchpad app manager - transaction /UI2/FLPAM - as described in the SAP Fiori launchpad administration guide section: Setting Up Technical Catalogs with the SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager. You will have full access to catalog features supported by the launchpad app manager.
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