SAP Note

1075118 - SAP on HP-UX: FAQ

Version 46 Validity: 07.11.2014 - active Language English (Master)

Header Data
Released On 07.11.2014 21:59:12
Release Status Released for Customer
Component BC-OP-HPX HP-UX
Priority Recommendations / Additional Info
Category FAQ

Symptom
This FAQ aims to answer the most commonly asked questions relating to SAP on HP-UX and as
appropriate refer to the relevant SAP notes or other links/documentation.
NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list of all SAP/HP-UX related topics. If your question is not (or
only partially) answered here please search for other SAP notes or contact your support
representative.
**** Please see SAP SDN for the most current "SAP on HP-UX" FAQ content ****

SAP SDN Links:

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/hpux then "SAP on HP-UX Best Practices"
or direct SDN link:

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/hpux?rid=/webcontent/uuid/70e40989-f 8 9 7-2 d 1 0-d b a d-

e9e9ff272413#Consolidation

Other Terms
HP-UX, 11i, 11iv1, 11iv2, 11iv3, 11.11, 11.23, 11.31, hpia64, hp_64, Itanium, Integrity, PA-RISC,
installation, upgrade, migration, consolidation,

Reason and Prerequisites

FAQ Summary:
1. Which SAP software is supported on HP-U X ?
2. How long is my HP-UX Opertaing System Version supported?
3. What HP-UX Operating System patches do I need to install?
4. How should I set my HP-UX Kernel parameters/tuneables?
5. How much SWAP space do I really need to configure on HP-U X ?
6. What do I need to take care of if I'm using SAP with Java?
7. What settings should I use for my Java VM on HP-U X ?
8. Is there a virtual machine solution available for HP-U X ?
9. My HP-UX server has a lot of memory/RAM, does this require special configuration?
10. How should I best mount my filesystems?
11. What blocksize should I use for my database filesystems?
12. How do I migrate my SAP system from HP-UX on PA-RISC to HP-UX on Itanium?
13. Where does that HP-UX terminal query come from with "sapinit" or when using "su"?
14. What's the current version of the HP-UX saposcol?
15. How much RAM/physical memory do I require?
16. Memory Usage (What is using all of the memory?)
17. What do I need to consider when consolidating SAP instances?
18. Does HP offer a clustering solution with SAP integration?
19. Which Instance Numbers can cause network port conflicts on HP-U X ?
20. What parameter settings are recommended for my Database?
21. What is the "SAPS-Meter" ?
22. What are the recommendations for using Itanium Hyperthreading?
23. Performance Tips
24. SAP support for HP Servers based on Intel Itanium "Tukwila" processors
25. SAP support for HP Servers based on Intel Itanium "Poulson" processors
26. *NEW* Which partitioning solutions are are supported for SAP systems on HP-U X ?

Solution

1. Which SAP software is supported on HP-U X ?

Support for individual SAP applications should be checked on the "PAM" (Product Availability Matrix)
at http://service.sap.com/pam
General SAP on HP-UX Itanium information is also available on the following HP Web Site:
http://www.hp.com/go/sap/integrity
In general SAP does not support the use of PA-RISC executables on the Itanium/IA64 platform. One
exception to this is ADS (Adobe Document Services), please see SAP note 1133230 for more details.

If in doubt use the unix command "file" to check if the executable (e.g. disp+work) is for "PA-RISC"
or "IA64" (Itanium).

2. How long is my HP-UX Operating System Version supported?

Please refer to SAP note 939891

NOTE: This question refers only to the support of the Operating iteself from HP, and not SAP
applications on HP-UX.

3. What HP-UX Operating System patches do I need to install?

For SAP ABAP Kernel see SAP note 837670

For SAP LiveCache see:

- SAP Note 916646 - LiveCache Version >= 7.5(IA64/Itanium)
- SAP Note 916644 - LiveCache Version >= 7.5(PA-RISC)
- SAP Note 752582 - LiveCache Version 7.4 (IA64/Itanium)

For SAPJVM see SAP Note 1367498

4. How should I set my HP-UX Kernel parameters/tuneables?

Please refer to SAP note 172747 (which is most up to date and covers all current HP-UX Versions)

Older versions of HP-UX kernel parameter recommendations may also be found in the SAP Install
Guides, please refer to http://service.sap.com/instguides

For some SAP DB/MaxDB specifics please see SAP note 628131.

For Java specific information plase see SAP note 534867.

5. How much SWAP space do I really need to configure on HP-U X ?

Please see SAP note 1112627 for a detailed explanation of swap sizing and pseudo-swap.

In general device swap configurations of 1.5x or 2x RAM have proven appropriate for the majority of
SAP installations. The recommendation is to set device swap to 2x RAM (minimum 20GB).

Please refer to SAP note 153641 for a detailed explanation of swap requirements on a per SAP
instance basis.

NOTE: the 20GB recommendation is only a minimum.

6. What do I need to take care of if I'm using SAP with Java?

Depending on SAP Kernel version either the Platform JDK will be used, or the SAPJVM.

l For information on the SAP supported Platform JDK for HP-UX see SAP Note 716926 "Recommendations
for the HP JDK" (which also includes the JDK parameters necessary for SAP)

If you need to use multiple JDK versions (e.g. 1.4.11 and 1.4. 12) on the same HP-UX
host, special care needs to be taken. Please refer to SAP Note 1302762 "Multiple JKDs on a single
host" for details.

l For information on SAPJVM see SAP Note 1367498 for prerequisite & OS Dependency details. See SAP
Note 1396516 for information on SAP JVM Performance tips on HP-UX.

7. What settings should I use for my Java VM on HP-U X ?

l Platform JDK:

Please see SAP note 723909 (which covers all platforms)

NOTE: When setting the heap size of SAP Java node(s), please consider that there needs to
be enough physical memory to accommodate all the SAP Java nodes plus space for OS and other
processes (e.g. database, ABAP Kernel etc.).

l SAPJVM:

SAPJVM settings are predefined in the configuration templates of the relevant SAP
product.

8. Is there a virtual machine solution available for HP-U X ?

Yes, but only for HP Itanium systems: HP Integrity Virtual Machine (also known as "HPVM"). Please
see SAP note: 901732

9. My HP-UX server has a lot of memory/RAM, does this require special configuration?

l The quantification of "a lot" changes quickly, so beware of the age of information you use.
 l An "older" (2003) SAP note on this issue is 146528. Please always check if there may be other
more current SAP notes.

l Consider sizing of swap space (point 5 of this FAQ)

l Be aware of percentual and/or dynamic HP-UX kernel paramaters:

5% of memory can quickly become a lot.

(be careful with buffercache/filecache settings)

some HP-UX kernel parameters are dynamic and can also rapidly grow

(be careful of vx_ninode and vxfs_bc_bufhwm)

ask your HP support representative for advice.

10. How should I best mount my filesystems?

SAP Note 793113 contains a good overview of the main I/O topics in an Oracle context. SAP note
993848 covers the mount options topic for MaxDB/LiveCache.

See SAP note 1077887 for details on how to configure "buffered I/O", "direct I/O" (DIO) and
"concurrent I/O" (CIO).

11. What blocksize should I use for my database filesystems?

Please refer to SAP note 1077887 - section "Setting the correct blocksizes"

12. How do I migrate my SAP system from HP-UX on PA-RISC to HP-UX on Itanium?

This migration is basically a homogeneous system copy, no database export or import is necessary.
The transition can be done with database tools.
Here are some of the available information sources for HP-UX migrations from PA-RISC to Itanium:

l SAP notes:

612796 Move to HP-UX Itanium systems

671804 Oracle database migration from HP-UX PA-Risc to Itanium

l White Papers:

"Transition SAP environments from HP-UX 11i on HP 9000 servers to HP-UX 11i on Integrity
servers" http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA1-4510ENW.pdf
"Oracle 9i or 10g database migration between the HP 9000 and HP Integrity platforms"
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA1-7190ENW.pdf

13. Where does that HP-UX terminal query come from with "sapinit" or when using "su"?

If you have the following error with sapinit or get queried about terminal type when using "su" then
check SAP note 1038842 for more details and a solution.

# /sbin/init.d/sapinit start
TERM = (hp)

14. What's the current version of the HP-UX saposcol?

See SAP note 918279

15. How much RAM/physical memory do I require?

The exact sizing of memory depends to a great extent on the application and system workload, however
some general hints:

l Base RAM sizing on System power (e.g. SAPS) and not number of CPUs/cores. The more powerful the
server is, the more users/applications you will (potentially) have and that all requires more
memory.

l PA-RISC and Itanium (aka. IA64, Integrity) have approx. the same memory usage for the same
application in the same version. Although Itanium executables/libraries are larger, they are
shared and do not constitute a significant memory overhead compared to the rest of the SAP
system (e.g. shared memory)

l If upgrading application consider what impact this will have. Newer SAP kernels require more
memory than older ones, unicode systems also require more memory than non-unicode.

16. Memory Usage (What is using all of the memory?)

If you believe your system to be consuming much more memory than you think, then try checking the
following:
 l SAP Memory configurations (especially shared memory segments and Java configurations)

l Database Memory configuration

l Configuration of HP-UX Kernel Parameters (see FAQ questions 5 and 9)

l Check the following document which explains many aspects of HP-UX memory usage and how to
identify memory users:

"HP-UX Memory Usage - What is using all of the memory": http://docs.google.com/View?

docid=dc7s6mzr_56cgsg9g

l Check the following white paper for a technical explanation of HP-UX Memory concepts:

"HP-UX Memory Management White Paper": http://docs.hp. com/en/1218/mem_mgt.html

"The HP-UX 11i v3 Memory Management Subsystem":
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02465072/c02465072.pdf

17. What do I need to consider when consolidating SAP instances?

See SAP Note 1457063 "SAP on HP-UX: Consolidating SAP Systems" for details.

18. Does HP offer a clustering solution with SAP integration?

Yes. The HP ServiceGuard cluster software offers full SAP Integration.

See http://www.hp.com/go/sgesap for more details.

19. Which Instance Numbers can cause network port conflicts on HP-U X ?
Please see SAP note 1154448 for details of known SAP instance port conflicts on HP-UX, including
which instance numbers should not be used.

20. What parameter settings are recommended for my database?

DB2 ver. 8 - see SAP Note 584952

DB2 ver. 9.1 - see SAP Note 899322
DB2 ver. 9.5 - see SAP Note 1086130
DB2 ver. 9.7 - see SAP Note 1329179
Oracle <=9i - see SAP Note 124361
Oracle 10.2.0.2 - see SAP Note 830576
Oracle 10.2.0.4 - see SAP Note 830576
Oracle 11.2.0 - see SAP Note 1431798

For further information on Oracle configurations see notes:

592393FAQ: Oracle
618868FAQ: Oracle performance

21. What is the "SAPS-Meter" ?

The SAPS-Meter is an HP tool for measuring computing resource consumption of an SAP system in a
simplified form, e.g. to provide information which could be used for billing etc. Contact HP for
details at "sap.hp@hp.com".
22. What are the recommendations for using Itanium Hyperthreading?

In general, the use of Hyperthreading should improve performance for most SAP workloads. However
there may be workload scenarios which
benefit less from Hyperthreading. See SAP Note 1329360 for further details.

23. Performance Tips

These are some general tips which apply to typical customer scenarios, there may however be
exceptions to the rule. Please test & verify the effects of changes in your test environment before
releasing to production.

Database:

l Check filesystem blocksizes (question 11 of this FAQ)

l Check filesystem mount options & consider using "concurrent I/O" (question 10 of this FAQ)

Oracle:

l If your alert log reports "log file switch (checkpoint incomplete)", then configuring multiple
DB Writer processes (DBWR), and possibly shadow log writer processes (LGWR), should improve
performance.

LiveCache:

l For optimal LiveCache performance use HP-UX 11.31, see Note 1357553 for details.

24. SAP support for HP Servers based on Intel Itanium "Tukwila" processors
SAP certifies UNIX Systems (e.g. HP-UX) based on operating system version and not hardware (see SAP
Note 84855).

Since HP Tukwila based Servers also run HP-UX 11.31 (also known as HP-UX 11iv3) then all SAP
products supporting HP-UX 11.31 are also supported on HP Tukwila based servers.

Further Information:

l "Tukwila" is the Intel codename for the latest Itanium processor, also known as "Intel Itanium
9300 Series"

l See the following Intel White Paper for technical details on the Itanium Tukwila processor:
http://download.intel.com/products/processor/itanium/323247.pdf

l The following HP Servers offer "Tukwila" processors:

HP rx2800 i2 (http://www.hp.com/go/integrity)

HP Integrity Server Blades BL8x0c i2 (http://www.hp.com/go/integrityblades)

HP Superdome 2 (http://www.hp.com/go/superdome2)

25. SAP support for HP Servers based on Intel Itanium "Poulson" processors

SAP certifies UNIX Systems (e.g. HP-UX) based on operating system version and not hardware (see SAP
Note 84855).

Since HP Poulson based Servers also run HP-UX 11.31 (also known as HP-UX 11iv3) then all SAP
products supporting HP-UX 11.31 are also supported on HP Poulson based servers.
See the HP press release on http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=1319693

Further Information:

l "Poulson" is the Intel codename for the latest Itanium processor, also known as "Intel Itanium
9500 Series"

l See the following Intel White Paper for technical details on the Itanium Poulson processor:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/itanium/itanium-poulson-isscc-paper.html

l The following HP Servers offer "Poulson" processors:

HP rx2800 i4 (http://www.hp.com/go/integrity) - planned shipment in December 2012

HP Integrity Server Blades BL8x0c i4 (http://www.hp.com/go/integrityblades) - planned

shipment start in December 2012

HP Superdome 2 CB900s i4 blades (http://www.hp.com/go/superdome2) - planned shipment start

in January 2013

26. *NEW* Which partitioning solutions are are supported for SAP systems on HP-U X ?

Please see SAP note 2091988for details about the supported partitioning solutions on HP-UX.

Validity
This document is not restricted to a software component or software component version

References
This document refers to:
SAP Notes
2091988 SAP on HP-UX: Supported Partitioning Solutions
1851832 DB6: DB2 10.5 Standard Parameter Settings
1769849 HP-UX platform library for SAP ACC and SAP LVM
1692571 DB6: DB2 10.1 Standard Parameter Settings
1575609 Future HPUX support for SAP on Oracle databases
1506703 Oracle 11.2 ccNUMA optimization on HP-UX
1457063 SAP on HP-UX: Consolidating SAP Systems
1431798 Oracle 11.2.0: Database Parameter Settings
1396516 SAP JVM performance on HP-UX
1357553 MaxDB / liveCache Performance on HP-UX
1329360 Using Itanium Hyperthreading on HP-UX
1329179 DB6: DB2 9.7 Standard Parameter Settings
1302762 Multiple JDKs on a single host
1154448 SAP on HP-UX: Instance number limitations on HP-UX
1133230 ADS support on HP-UX IA64 platform
1112627 SAP on HP-UX: Recommendations for swap and pseudo swap
1077887 SAP on HP-UX:mount & filesystem options for best performance
1038842 HP-UX terminal error with sapinit and su
1031960 Recommendations and availability of HP-UX 11.31
993848 Direct I/O mount options for liveCache/MaxDB
939891 HP-UX: End of Support Dates
918279 HP-UX SAPOSCOL version history
916646 System requirements HP-UX IA64 liveCache/MaxDB 7.5-7.9
916644 System requirements HP-UX PA-RISC liveCache/MaxDB 7.5-7.9
901732 SAP on HP Integrity Virtual Machines (HPVM)
837670 Minimum OS patch recommendations for HP-UX
830576 Parameter recommendations for Oracle 10g
793113 FAQ: Oracle I/O configuration
752582 SAP liveCache 7.4: Availability & requirements on HP-UX IA64
723909 Java VM settings for J2EE 6.40/7.0
716926 Recommendations for the HP JDK
671804 Oracle database migration from HP-UX PA-Risc to Itanium
628131 SAP MaxDB/liveCache operating system parameters on UNIX
618868 FAQ: Oracle performance
612796 Move to HP-UX Itanium systems
592393 FAQ: Oracle
534867 j2ee server on HP-UX unable to create new native thread
308375 64-bit SAP software
172747 SAP on HP-UX: OS kernel parameter recommendations
153641 Swap space requirement for R/3 64-bit kernel
146528 Configuration of R/3 on hosts with much RAM
39412 How many work processes should be configured?

This document is referenced by:

SAP Notes (42)
830576 Parameter recommendations for Oracle 10g
716926 Recommendations for the HP JDK
1154448 SAP on HP-UX: Instance number limitations on HP-UX
916644 System requirements HP-UX PA-RISC liveCache/MaxDB 7.5-7.9
916646 System requirements HP-UX IA64 liveCache/MaxDB 7.5-7.9
918279 HP-UX SAPOSCOL version history
837670 Minimum OS patch recommendations for HP-UX
592393 FAQ: Oracle
1431798 Oracle 11.2.0: Database Parameter Settings
723909 Java VM settings for J2EE 6.40/7.0
1302762 Multiple JDKs on a single host
1031960 Recommendations and availability of HP-UX 11.31
612796 Move to HP-UX Itanium systems
1357553 MaxDB / liveCache Performance on HP-UX
618868 FAQ: Oracle performance
752582 SAP liveCache 7.4: Availability & requirements on HP-UX IA64
628131 SAP MaxDB/liveCache operating system parameters on UNIX
671804 Oracle database migration from HP-UX PA-Risc to Itanium
1112627 SAP on HP-UX: Recommendations for swap and pseudo swap
534867 j2ee server on HP-UX unable to create new native thread
793113 FAQ: Oracle I/O configuration
308375 64-bit SAP software
39412 How many work processes should be configured?
146528 Configuration of R/3 on hosts with much RAM
172747 SAP on HP-UX: OS kernel parameter recommendations
153641 Swap space requirement for R/3 64-bit kernel
1692571 DB6: DB2 10.1 Standard Parameter Settings
1038842 HP-UX terminal error with sapinit and su
1133230 ADS support on HP-UX IA64 platform
939891 HP-UX: End of Support Dates
1575609 Future HPUX support for SAP on Oracle databases
1457063 SAP on HP-UX: Consolidating SAP Systems
1329179 DB6: DB2 9.7 Standard Parameter Settings
1329360 Using Itanium Hyperthreading on HP-UX
1077887 SAP on HP-UX:mount & filesystem options for best performance
1506703 Oracle 11.2 ccNUMA optimization on HP-UX
1851832 DB6: DB2 10.5 Standard Parameter Settings
993848 Direct I/O mount options for liveCache/MaxDB
1769849 HP-UX platform library for SAP ACC and SAP LVM
1396516 SAP JVM performance on HP-UX
901732 SAP on HP Integrity Virtual Machines (HPVM)
2091988 SAP on HP-UX: Supported Partitioning Solutions