Automation and Reporting

This page documents programs included in ABAP Agent packages that can be used for task automation, technical metric reporting and connector testing.

Automatic HTTP SDK Restart

HTTP SDK instances can be terminated when system restarts and do not start automatically by default. There are two methods to automate the process depending on how the HTTP SDK is installed:

1.  HTTP SDK is installed automatically on SAP application servers with supported OS.
   1. ABAP agent is delivered with SAP report /DVD/APPD_REGENERATE_AGENTS. This report checks status of HTTP SDK instances and starts instances that are currently stopped. When the Force start all agent parameter is checked, all HTTP SDK instances are started or restarted, regardless of current status.

   2. This report can be scheduled as a periodic background job with start condition that waits for event SAP_SYSTEM_START (triggered after SAP system startup) using transaction code SM36. Please check the 'Periodic job' checkbox to make it persistent.

      

      Recommended job name to use is APPD_AGENT_REGENERATE. As of release 22.11.0, background job APPD_AGENT_REGENERATE is scheduled automatically upon activation of integration in transaction /DVD/APPD_CUST. With local HTTP SDK installed, this job makes HTTP SDK start automatically whenever SAP application server host is restarted (it is triggered by the event SAP_SYSTEM_START).

   3. The scheduled job can be customized with a variant. Available parameters:

      • Start stopped HTTP SDK - when checked, the report attempts to start HTTP SDK instances that were not yet started or were stopped manually via t-code /DVD/APPD_STATUS

      • Restart running HTTP SDK - when checked, the report will restart HTTP SDK instances that are currently running

      • Number of attempts - the report will try to start or restart HTTP SDK instances this many times until all relevant instances are running

2. HTTP SDK was installed manually on a remote Linux 64-bit server because SAP application server(s) run on unsupported OS
   1. SDK manager has a built-in feature that restarts all HTTP SDK instances that were active during termination of the SDK manager process.
   2. SDK manager startup script can be added to the OS startup script list of the remote Linux 64-bit server where SDK manager and HTTP SDK instances are running. Exact procedure depends on the used Linux version.

HTTP SDK Heartbeat

HTTP SDK instance is presented on the controller as active only when some traffic flows through it. When the SAP system does not generate much traffic or SNP CrystalBridge® Monitoring is not started on the system, the Agent status indicator can be misleading. To overcome this limitation, SAP report /DVD/APPD_AGENT_HEARTBEAT can be manually scheduled as periodic background job to be executed once per minute.

The SAP report sends a metric 'Application Infrastructure Performance -> <TIER> -> Individual Nodes -> <NODE> -> Custom Metrics -> SAP -> Heartbeat' through HTTP SDK instance on each SAP application server of SAP system where the SAP report is executed. This generates sufficient traffic to show correct value in the Agent status field on the controller.

SNP CrystalBridge® Monitoring License Statistics

SNP CrystalBridge® Monitoring license usage can normally be checked only via SAPGUI on each individual SAP ABAP system. Program /DVD/APPD_DI_LICENSE_METRICS can be manually scheduled as a periodic background job and report the following tier level custom metrics to the controller:

• Monitoring License -> License is installed
• Monitoring License -> License is valid
• Monitoring License -> Licensed server count
• Monitoring License -> Servers in use
• Monitoring License -> Days remaining

These metrics can be found using the metric browser under the following metric path 'Application Infrastructure Performance -> <TIER> -> Individual Nodes -> Custom Metrics -> SAP'. These metrics reflect the validity, expiration, and current usage of SNP CrystalBridge® Monitoring license that is installed on the systems.

Connector Testing

The following programs exist for testing and troubleshooting purposes:

Business Transaction Test

Program /DVD/APPD_BT_TEST is intended for basic testing of Business Transaction reporting functionality, i.e. validation of connectivity between ABAP Agent, HTTP SDK and the controller. This program can be used to validate if all components are setup correctly and ABAP Agent can successfully report Business Transaction data to the controller.

Metrics Test

Program /DVD/APPD_METRIC_TEST is intended for testing of metric reporting functionality of the Machine Agent HTTP listener adapter. Specify metric value and name that will be reported under the following metric browser path 'Application Infrastructure Performance -> <TIER> -> Individual Nodes -> <NODE>'.

The adapter can either use host and port values from ABAP Agent customizing (transaction /DVD/APPD_CUST), or host and port values can be specified directly in the program

Event Test

Program /DVD/APPD_EVENT_TEST is used to test Application Event API Adapters. You can set event severity, event type, and event summary. Up to 4 event properties or details can be specified in the following order:

1. property key
2. detail key
3. property 
4. detail value

Select either HTTP SDK or Machine Agent event API (adapter). Machine Agent HTTP listener host and port parameters can be customized the same way as in the metric test program.