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Alfresco Content Connector for SAP Applications

Install SAP Connector

The SAP Connector capability for Content Services is delivered as a distribution zip file containing repository and Share

AMP
Alfresco Module Package
files, server files for the SAP Connector, and third-party license information.

In these topics you’ll install and set up everything you need to run the SAP Connector. See Prerequisites and Supported platforms for information on what you require before you start the installation.

You can download the Alfresco Content Connector for SAP applications software from Hyland Community.

Prerequisites

Below are the environment/software prerequisites for installing and using the SAP Connector.

General requirements

  • A valid license for SAP Connector.
  • Both systems, Content Services and SAP, must be available in the same network, or connected through a VPN.
  • Access to the SAP Support Portal to download the native libraries of the SAP Java Connector for your current system architecture.

SAP requirements

  • SAP
    ECC
    SAP ERP Central Component
     6.0 (or up to latest) with at least SAP GUI 7.30
  • SAP S/4HANA (build 1809 or up to latest) with at least SAP GUI 7.50
  • SAP dialog user who is able to:
    • Create new SAP Content Repositories (transaction OAC0)
    • Create related ArchiveLink customization as described in the SAP Implementation Guide (available via transaction SPRO)
    • Test the ArchiveLink interface in any related module (for example transaction FB03 for Finance)
  • SAP system user who is able to:
    • Invoke BAPIs (
      ABAP
      Advanced Business Application Programming (SAP)
       function modules via RFC connection)
  • SAP Java Connector (JCo): JCo 3.1.x must be installed

Alfresco requirements

  • Content Services - see Supported platforms for compatible versions.
  • Alfresco server system architecture must be one of the following (for these architectures, SAP offers native Java Connector versions):
    • Linux 64bit x86
    • Windows 64bit x86
    • Windows 64bit Itanium
    • Linux 64bit Itanium
    • Linux IBM eServer z Series 64bit
    • Linux IBM PowerPC processors 64bit BE and LE
    • HP-UX 64bit PA-RISC
    • HP-UX 64bit Itanium
    • IBM AIX 64bit
    • IBM z/OS 64bit
    • IBM i 64bit
    • Sun OS 64bit SPARC
    • Sun OS 64bit x86
    • Mac OS X (for Intel) 64bit x86
  • Firewall does not block HTTP traffic on port 80 / 8080 / 8082.
  • Access to the Content Services server with administrator privileges to:
    • Apply the SAP Connector
      AMP
      Alfresco Module Package
       files
    • Edit alfresco-global.properties file
    • Stop/start the application server
  • Alfresco user with administrator permissions.

Install overview

The SAP Connector is packaged as Alfresco Module Package (AMP) files. There are several stages to installing the SAP Connector: re-package the repository AMP, and then install the AMP files.

Note: The SAP Connector uses the advantages of the SAP Java Connector for the communication between Content Services and the SAP system. According to the SAP terms & conditions, the redistribution of the native Java Connector libraries is no longer allowed. Hence, these libraries aren’t included in the SAP Connector delivery package, and must be downloaded manually from the SAP Support Portal (requires an S-ID to log in). Once done, these libraries must be merged with the repository AMP file for the SAP Connector before starting the installation.

Download files

Use the following steps to download the files required to install the SAP Connector.

  1. Go to Hyland Community, click Product downloads, and then download the SAP Connector distribution zip, which contains the following files:

    • sap-content-connector-repo-6.0.x.amp for Content Services.
    • sap-content-connector-share-6.0.x.amp for Alfresco Share.
    • sap-content-connector-jco-packer-2.x.jar - the SAP JCo Packer tool for merging the native SAP Java Connector libraries into the repository AMP file.
    • sap-content-connector-encryptor-2.0.jar to encrypt plain-text passwords for all SAP Connector related properties in the alfresco-global.properties file.
    • alfresco-global.properties_append contains all required property keys to be added in the alfresco-global.properties for an SAP connection.

  2. Log in to the SAP Support Portal with your SAP Universal ID:

    1. Download the native libraries for the SAP Java Connector based on your current system architecture.

      Important: Ensure you download the correct SAP Java Connector version, which is related to the current system architecture of your Content Services server.

    2. Once all the required files have been downloaded, the next step is to copy the required SAP Java Connector libraries into the SAP Connector repository AMP file before starting the installation.

Re-package the repository AMP

Use the SAP JCo Packer tool provided in the distribution zip to merge the native SAP Java Connector libraries into the SAP Connector repository AMP.

Before continuing, make sure you’ve downloaded all the required files.

The re-packaging is done by using the SAP JCo Packer tool (sap-content-connector-jco-packer-2.x.jar), which helps to create a merged AMP file that’s used as the foundation for the installation.

Important: You must have at least Java Version 8 installed in order to run the distributed SAP JCo Packer tool.

  1. Prepare the files for merge:

    1. Create a new temporary directory and copy the following files into it:

      • sap-content-connector-jco-packer-2.x.jar
      • sap-content-connector-repo-6.0.x.amp

      • sapjco31P_3-20009381.zip (example file name for native Java Connector libraries, downloaded from the SAP Support Portal)

        Note: The ZIP name could be different, depending on your chosen system architecture.

    2. Verify the sap-content-connector-repo-6.0.x.amp file size. It should be less than 1 MB.

  2. Run the merge tool:

    Starting from your temporary folder, run the SAP JCo Packer tool:

     java -jar .\sap-content-connector-jco-packer-2.x.jar

    You’ll see a few log statements to show what’s happening, and the tool should finally return: Processing finished…

  3. Verify the merge:

    Verify that the merge is successful and double-check the file size of the sap-content-connector-repo-6.0.x.amp again. This should now be much larger than before.

    Note: Depending on the chosen system architecture of the SAP Java Connector, the repository AMP file may be up to 7 MB. This indicates that the required native SAP libraries are now available inside the AMP file.

  4. Copy and save the re-packaged AMP file:

    The re-packaged sap-content-connector-repo-6.0.x.amp file should now be saved for the future. This is the final file that’s needed to install the SAP Connector.

    Note: You only need to merge the native SAP Java Connector libraries once for a specific release of the SAP Connector.

  5. Cleanup:

    Once the re-packaged AMP file is saved and stored outside the current temporary folder, you can safely delete the temporary folder.

Install the SAP Connector

These steps describe how to install the SAP Connector to an instance of Content Services.

Note: Ensure that you’ve followed the instructions to repackage the repository AMP before installing the SAP Connector AMPs.

  1. You need the following files to apply the SAP Connector:

    • sap-content-connector-repo-6.0.x.amp for Content Services

      Note: This must be the re-packed file which includes the native SAP Java Connector libraries. Don’t use the original file from the delivery package without the required changes.

    • sap-content-connector-share-6.0.x.amp for Alfresco Share

  2. Use the Module Management Tool (MMT) to install the

    AMP
    Alfresco Module Package
    files into the Repository WAR (alfresco.war) and the Share WAR (share.war).

    For more information, see Using the Module Management Tool (MMT) and Installing an Alfresco Module Package.

  3. Add the related properties to the alfresco-global.properties file.

    See Configure repository for more information.

    You’ll need to adapt the related property values to your configuration.

  4. Check that the configuration is set up correctly for your environment.

  5. Start Content Services.

Configure repository

These are the minimum required properties that must be appended to the alfresco-global.properties in order to establish the connection between Content Services (the Repository) and SAP.

Note: There are additional properties that can be used to login to the SAP system via the SAP JavaConnector (such as using Logon Groups instead of the Gateway). See Additional SAP JCo properties which lists the additional properties that are supported.

  1. Open alfresco-global.properties in your Content Services installation.

  2. Add all properties from the table below to the end of the file and set their values according to your environment.

  3. Save the file.

    Note: There are up to 100 possible SAP System Configurations. The table below shows the basic configuration for the first configuration. Therefore, the property contains the number 1 in the key.

    The letters al in some keys are the abbreviation for Archivelink. These settings are mandatory for the basic communication between SAP and Content Services.

Property Key Description
integrations.sap.system.1.al.alfrescoUser Username for the connection used to login to Content Services (should have administrator role).
Example value: admin
integrations.sap.system.1.al.alfrescoPassword Password for the user. Either plain-text or use encrypted password. See Encrypting passwords for more.
Example value: H3ll0W0rlD112! or ENC(XbfE4Z112==)
integrations.sap.system.1.al.archiveIds Comma separated list of all connected SAP Content Repositories of this configuration.
Example value: M1 or M2,M3,M4
integrations.sap.system.1.al.documentRoot The document root folder where all documents from the SAP Content Repositories of the current SAP System Configuration are stored. Must exist and must be entered in XPath syntax.
Example value: /app:company_home/st:sites/cm:sap/cm:documentLibrary/cm:SAP_Documents
integrations.sap.system.1.al.checkSignature Enables the signature check for the HTTP Content Server interface. If disabled, all requests will be accepted no matter if they are signed or not.
Example value: true (default) or false
integrations.sap.system.1.al.checkExpiration If enabled, a check occurs, whether the signed requests have been sent in the valid time window.
Example value: true (default) or false
integrations.sap.system.1.enabled Whether data replication should be enabled for the current SAP System Configuration or not. If true, the following properties must be present with correct values.
Example value: true or false (default)
integrations.sap.system.1.name An arbitrary value for the current SAP System Configuration. Should not contain special characters. Must be unique across all available SAP System Configurations. Recommendation: Should contain the name of the connected SAP system.
Example value: NSP SAP System or NSP Repos M1, M2
integrations.sap.system.1.host The IP address of the SAP server or the SAP Router string.
Example value: 192.168.112.112 or sap.mydomain.com or /H/80.112.112.112/H/192.168.112.112/S/3201
integrations.sap.system.1.client The SAP client used to log in to the SAP system.
Example value: 100 or 800
integrations.sap.system.1.systemNumber The SAP system number.
Example value: 00 or 01
integrations.sap.system.1.user SAP system user used for the login.
Example value: ALFR3SC0
integrations.sap.system.1.password Password for the SAP user. Either plain-text or use encrypted password. See Encrypting passwords for more.
Example value: H3ll0W0rlD112! or ENC(XbfE4Z112==)
integrations.sap.system.1.language The SAP system language used to login.
Example value: EN or DE
integrations.sap.system.5.webClient.enabled Enables the document action “Open corresponding business object in SAP” in Alfresco Share to be opened in the SAP Web-GUI. If true, the webclient.url below must resolve.
Example value: true or false (default)
integrations.sap.system.5.webClient.url The url to the SAP Web-GUI.
Example value: https://sapserver:port/sap/bc/gui/sap/its/webgui
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorReplicate.enabled Enables the metadata replication job. Adds the aspect SAP Replicate Details
Example value: true or false (default)
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorReplicate.cronExpression The CRON expression used for the job.
Example value: 0 0/1 * 1/1 * ? *
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorPlus.enabled Enables the additional metadata replication job. Adds the aspect SAP Replicate Plus Details
Example value: true or false (default)
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorPlus.cronExpression The CRON expression used for the job.
Example value: 0 0/1 * 1/1 * ? *
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorBarcode.enabled Enables the barcode job.
Example value: true or false (default)
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorBarcode.cronExpression The CRON expression used for the job.
Example value: 0 0/1 * 1/1 * ? *
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorDirReplicate.enabled Enables the SAP DIR replication job. Adds the aspect SAP Document Info Record (DIR) Details
Example value: true or false (default)
integrations.sap.system.1.jobs. sapContentConnectorDirReplicate.cronExpression The CRON expression used for the job.
Example value: 0 0/1 * 1/1 * ? *

Install the license

The access and use of the SAP Connector is managed by a license. Any limitations are set when you purchased the license. To increase the limitations, contact Alfresco to obtain a new license. If you don’t have a license yet, you can request a trial license.

Note: Make sure you have a valid license file available before continuing. The name of the license file is content-connector-for-sap.l4j.

Apply the license via the Alfresco Share user interface

  1. Log in to Alfresco Share as an administrator.

  2. Navigate to Admin Tools and click menu SAP Integration. This displays the SAP Connector Administration Console.

  3. In the License Information section click Choose Files.

  4. Select file content-connector-for-sap.l4j, and then click Upload.

    Note: The new license is applied immediately- no restart of Content Services is required.

    sap_inst_001_license

An existing license file is backed up, renamed with the current time stamp, and remains on the file system (for example: sapContentConnectorYYYY-mm-dd_hh:mm:ss.l4j).

Apply the license via the file system

  1. Open the file alfresco-global.properties and search for the key dir.license.external. Note this value as you’ll need it next.
  2. Navigate to the folder provided in the property value.
  3. Copy the license file content-connector-for-sap.l4j into that folder.
  4. Restart the Content Services application server.

Set up in a cluster

To set up the SAP Connector in clustered landscapes for high availability:

  1. Install the sap-content-connector-repo-5.x.amp for Content Services on each node in the cluster.

    Important: Make sure you only use the merged SAP Connector repository AMP file, which includes the native SAP libraries, as described in Installing overview.

  2. Install the sap-content-connector-share-5.x.amp for Alfresco Share on each node in the cluster.
  3. Update the alfresco-global.properties with the SAP related properties.
  4. On the SAP side, for each SAP Content Repository (transaction OAC0), the HTTP-Server must point to the load balancer instead of a dedicated application server instance. See the Content Services documentation for high availability.

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