Chapter 5. Quick Start Guide to RHEL System Roles for SAP

Procedure

1. Run the command on the local host to check the current setting.

   # locale

2. The output should display either C or en_US.UTF-8 in the line starting with LC_MESSAGES=.

   1. If the command does not produce the expected output, run the following command on the local host before executing the ansible-playbook command:

      # export LC_ALL=C

      Or

      # export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8

      Note

      These steps are necessary because by default, the LC_* variables are forwarded to a remote system (see man ssh_config and man sshd_config), and the roles are evaluating certain command outputs from remote systems.

Procedure

1. Make a bakckup, if you would like to preserve the original configuration of the server.

   Note

   These roles are run after the installation of RHEL, therefore a backup should not be required.

2. Create a YAML file named sap-netweaver.yml with the following content:

   - hosts: localhost
     connection: local
     roles:
       - sap_general_preconfigure
       - sap_netweaver_preconfigure

   Important

   The correct indentation of 2 spaces in front of roles: is essential.

3. Run the RHEL System Roles sap_general_preconfigure and sap_netweaver_preconfigure to prepare the managed nodes for the installation of SAP NetWeaver.

   # ansible-playbook sap-netweaver.yml

4. At the end of the playbook run, the role will likely report that a reboot is required, for example because certain packages had been installed. In this case, reboot the system at this time.

Procedure

1. Create a YAML file named sap-netweaver.yml with the following content:

   - hosts: localhost
     connection: local
     vars:
       sap_general_preconfigure_assert: yes
       sap_general_preconfigure_assert_ignore_errors: yes
       sap_netweaver_preconfigure_assert: yes
       sap_netweaver_preconfigure_assert_ignore_errors: yes
     roles:
       - sap_general_preconfigure
       - sap_netweaver_preconfigure

2. Run the following command:

   # ansible-playbook sap-netweaver.yml

   In case you would like to get a more compact output, you can pipe the output to the shell script beautify-assert-output.sh, located in the tools directory of each of the preconfigure roles, to just display the essential FAIL or PASS information for each assertion. Assuming you have copied the script to directory ~/bin, the command would be:

   # ansible-playbook sap-netweaver-assert.yml |
   ./bin/beautify-assert-output.sh

   If you are using a terminal with dark background, replace all occurrences of color code [30m in the following command sequence by [37m. Otherwise, the output of some lines will be unreadable due to a dark font on a dark background. In case you accidentally ran the above command in a terminal with a dark background, you can re-enable the default white font again with the following command:

   # echo -e "\033[37mResetting font color\n"

Procedure

1. Make a backup if you would like to preserve the original configuration of the server.

2. Create an inventory file or modify file /etc/ansible/hosts that contains the name of a group of hosts and each system which you intend to configure (=managed node) in a separate line (example for three hosts in a host group named sap_hana):

   [sap_hana]
   host01
   host02
   host03

3. Verify that you can log in to all three hosts using ssh without password. Example:

   # ssh host01 uname -a
   # ssh host02 hostname
   # ssh host03 echo test

4. Create a YAML file named sap-hana.yml with the following content:

   - hosts: sap_hana
     roles:
       - sap_general_preconfigure
       - sap_hana_preconfigure

   Important

   The correct indentation (e.g. 2 spaces in front of roles:) is essential.

5. Run the RHEL System Roles sap_general_preconfigure and sap_hana_preconfigure to prepare the managed nodes for the installation of SAP HANA.

   # ansible-playbook sap-hana.yml

   Note
   • The roles are designed to be used right after the initial installation of a managed node. If you want to run these roles against an SAP or other production system, run them in assertion mode first so you can detect which settings deviate from SAP’s recommendations as per applicable SAP notes. When run in normal mode, the roles will enforce the SAP recommended configuration on the managed node(s). Unusual system configuration settings might in rare cases still lead to unintended changes by the role. Before using the roles in normal mode on production systems, it is strongly recommended to backup the system and test the roles on a test and QA system first.
   • At the end of the playbook run, the command will report for each managed node that a reboot is required. Reboot the managed nodes at this time.