Configure SAP system parameters

Configuration for SAP Deployment Automation Framework happens through parameters files. You provide information about your SAP system infrastructure in a tfvars file, which the automation framework uses for deployment. You can find examples of the variable file in the samples repository.

The automation supports creating resources (green-field deployment) or using existing resources (brown-field deployment):

  • Green-field scenario: The automation defines default names for resources, but some resource names might be defined in the tfvars file.
  • Brown-field scenario: The Azure resource identifiers for the resources must be specified.

Deployment topologies

You can use the automation framework to deploy the following SAP architectures:

  • Standalone
  • Distributed
  • Distributed (highly available)

Standalone

In the standalone architecture, all the SAP roles are installed on a single server.

To configure this topology, define the database tier values and set enable_app_tier_deployment to false.

Distributed

The distributed architecture has a separate database server and application tier. The application tier can further be separated by having SAP central services on a virtual machine and one or more application servers.

To configure this topology, define the database tier values and define scs_server_count = 1, application_server_count >= 1.

High availability

The distributed (highly available) deployment is similar to the distributed architecture. In this deployment, the database and/or SAP central services can both be configured by using a highly available configuration that uses two virtual machines, each with Pacemaker clusters or Windows failover clustering.

To configure this topology, define the database tier values and set database_high_availability to true. Set scs_server_count = 1 and scs_high_availability = true and application_server_count >= 1.

Environment parameters

This section contains the parameters that define the environment settings.

Variable Description Type Notes
environment Identifier for the workload zone (max five characters) Mandatory For example, PROD for a production environment and NP for a nonproduction environment.
location The Azure region in which to deploy Required
custom_prefix Specifies the custom prefix used in the resource naming Optional
use_prefix Controls if the resource naming includes the prefix Optional DEV-WEEU-SAP01-X00_xxxx
name_override_file Name override file Optional See Custom naming.
save_naming_information Creates a sample naming JSON file Optional See Custom naming.
tags A dictionary of tags to associate with all resources. Optional

Resource group parameters

This section contains the parameters that define the resource group.

Variable Description Type
resourcegroup_name Name of the resource group to be created Optional
resourcegroup_arm_id Azure resource identifier for an existing resource group Optional
resourcegroup_tags Tags to be associated to the resource group Optional

Infrastructure parameters

This section contains the parameters related to the Azure infrastructure.

Variable Description Type
custom_disk_sizes_filename Defines the disk sizing file name, See Custom sizing. Optional
resource_offset Provides an offset for resource naming. Optional
use_loadbalancers_for_standalone_deployments Controls if load balancers are deployed for standalone installations Optional
user_assigned_identity_id User assigned identity to assign to the virtual machines Optional
vm_disk_encryption_set_id The disk encryption key to use for encrypting managed disks by using customer-provided keys. Optional
use_random_id_for_storageaccounts If defined will append a random string to the storage account name Optional
use_scalesets_for_deployment Use Flexible Virtual Machine Scale Sets for the deployment Optional
scaleset_id Azure resource identifier for the virtual machine scale set Optional
proximityplacementgroup_arm_ids Specifies the Azure resource identifiers of existing proximity placement groups.
proximityplacementgroup_names Specifies the names of the proximity placement groups.
use_app_proximityplacementgroups Controls if the app tier virtual machines are placed in a different ppg from the database. Optional
app_proximityplacementgroup_arm_ids Specifies the Azure resource identifiers of existing proximity placement groups for the app tier.
app_proximityplacementgroup_names Specifies the names of the proximity placement groups for the app tier.
use_spn If defined the deployment will be performed using a Service Principal, otherwise an MSI Optional
use_private_endpoint Use private endpoints. Optional

The resource_offset parameter controls the naming of resources. For example, if you set the resource_offset to 1, the first disk will be named disk1. The default value is 0.

SAP Application parameters

This section contains the parameters related to the SAP Application.

Variable Description Type
sid Defines the SAP application SID Required
database_sid Defines the database SID Required
web_sid Defines the Web Dispatcher SID Required
scs_instance_number The instance number of SCS Optional
ers_instance_number The instance number of ERS Optional
pas_instance_number The instance number of the Primary Application Server Optional
app_instance_number The instance number of the Application Server Optional
database_instance_number The instance number of SCS Optional
web_instance_number The instance number of the Web Dispatcher Optional
bom_name Defines the name of the Bill of MAterials file Optional

SAP virtual hostname parameters

In SAP Deployment Automation Framework, the SAP virtual hostname is defined by specifying the use_secondary_ips parameter.

Variable Description Type
use_secondary_ips Boolean flag that indicates if SAP should be installed by using virtual hostnames Optional

Database tier parameters

The database tier defines the infrastructure for the database tier. Supported database back ends are:

  • HANA
  • DB2
  • ORACLE
  • ORACLE-ASM
  • ASE
  • SQLSERVER
  • NONE (in this case, no database tier is deployed)

See High-availability configuration for information on how to configure high availability.

Variable Description Type Notes
database_platform Defines the database back end Required
database_vm_image Defines the virtual machine image to use Optional
database_vm_sku Defines the virtual machine SKU to use Optional
database_server_count Defines the number of database servers Optional
database_high_availability Defines if the database tier is deployed highly available Optional
database_vm_zones Defines the availability zones for the database servers Optional
db_sizing_dictionary_key Defines the database sizing information Required See Custom sizing.
database_vm_use_DHCP Controls if Azure subnet-provided IP addresses should be used Optional
database_vm_db_nic_ips Defines the IP addresses for the database servers (database subnet) Optional
database_vm_db_nic_secondary_ips Defines the secondary IP addresses for the database servers (database subnet) Optional
database_vm_admin_nic_ips Defines the IP addresses for the database servers (admin subnet) Optional
database_loadbalancer_ips List of IP addresses for the database load balancer (db subnet) Optional
database_vm_authentication_type Defines the authentication type (key/password) Optional
database_use_avset Controls if the database servers are placed in availability sets Optional
database_use_ppg Controls if the database servers are placed in proximity placement groups Optional
database_vm_avset_arm_ids Defines the existing availability sets Azure resource IDs Optional Primarily used with ANF pinning.
database_use_premium_v2_storage Controls if the database tier will use premium storage v2 (HANA) Optional
database_dual_nics Controls if the HANA database servers will have dual network interfaces Optional
database_tags Defines a list of tags to be applied to the database servers Optional

The virtual machine and the operating system image are defined by using the following structure:

{
  os_type="linux"
  type="marketplace"
  source_image_id=""
  publisher="SUSE"
  offer="sles-sap-15-sp3"
  sku="gen2"
  version="latest"
}

Common application tier parameters

The application tier defines the infrastructure for the application tier, which can consist of application servers, central services servers, and web dispatch servers.

Variable Description Type Notes
enable_app_tier_deployment Defines if the application tier is deployed Optional
app_tier_sizing_dictionary_key Lookup value that defines the VM SKU and the disk layout for the application tier servers Optional
app_disk_sizes_filename Defines the custom disk size file for the application tier servers Optional See Custom sizing.
app_tier_authentication_type Defines the authentication type for the application tier virtual machines Optional
app_tier_use_DHCP Controls if Azure subnet-provided IP addresses should be used (dynamic) Optional
app_tier_dual_nics Defines if the application tier server will have two network interfaces Optional

SAP central services parameters

Variable Description Type Notes
scs_server_count Defines the number of SCS servers Required
scs_high_availability Defines if the central services is highly available Optional See High availability configuration.
scs_server_sku Defines the virtual machine SKU to use Optional
scs_server_image Defines the virtual machine image to use Required
scs_server_zones Defines the availability zones of the SCS servers Optional
scs_server_app_nic_ips List of IP addresses for the SCS servers (app subnet) Optional
scs_server_app_nic_secondary_ips List of secondary IP addresses for the SCS servers (app subnet) Optional
scs_server_app_admin_nic_ips List of IP addresses for the SCS servers (admin subnet) Optional
scs_server_loadbalancer_ips List of IP addresses for the scs load balancer (app subnet) Optional
scs_server_use_ppg Controls if the SCS servers are placed in availability sets Optional
scs_server_use_avset Controls if the SCS servers are placed in proximity placement groups Optional
scs_server_tags Defines a list of tags to be applied to the SCS servers Optional

Application server parameters

Variable Description Type Notes
application_server_count Defines the number of application servers Required
application_server_sku Defines the virtual machine SKU to use Optional
application_server_image Defines the virtual machine image to use Required
application_server_zones Defines the availability zones to which the application servers are deployed Optional
application_server_admin_nic_ips List of IP addresses for the application server (admin subnet) Optional
application_server_app_nic_ips[] List of IP addresses for the application servers (app subnet) Optional
application_server_nic_secondary_ips[] List of secondary IP addresses for the application servers (app subnet) Optional
application_server_use_ppg Controls if application servers are placed in availability sets Optional
application_server_use_avset Controls if application servers are placed in proximity placement groups Optional
application_server_tags Defines a list of tags to be applied to the application servers Optional
application_server_vm_avset_arm_ids[] List of Availability Set Resource Ids for the application servers Optional

Web dispatcher parameters

Variable Description Type Notes
webdispatcher_server_count Defines the number of web dispatcher servers Required
webdispatcher_server_sku Defines the virtual machine SKU to use Optional
webdispatcher_server_image Defines the virtual machine image to use Optional
webdispatcher_server_zones Defines the availability zones to which the web dispatchers are deployed Optional
webdispatcher_server_app_nic_ips[] List of IP addresses for the web dispatcher server (app/web subnet) Optional
webdispatcher_server_nic_secondary_ips[] List of secondary IP addresses for the web dispatcher server (app/web subnet) Optional
webdispatcher_server_app_admin_nic_ips List of IP addresses for the web dispatcher server (admin subnet) Optional
webdispatcher_server_use_ppg Controls if web dispatchers are placed in availability sets Optional
webdispatcher_server_use_avset Controls if web dispatchers are placed in proximity placement groups Optional
webdispatcher_server_tags Defines a list of tags to be applied to the web dispatcher servers Optional
webdispatcher_server_loadbalancer_ips List of IP addresses for the web load balancer (web/app subnet) Optional

Network parameters

If the subnets aren't deployed using the workload zone deployment, they can be added in the system's tfvars file.

The automation framework can either deploy the virtual network and the subnets (green-field deployment) or use an existing virtual network and existing subnets (brown-field deployments):

  • Green-field scenario: The virtual network address space and the subnet address prefixes must be specified.
  • Brown-field scenario: The Azure resource identifier for the virtual network and the subnets must be specified.

Ensure that the virtual network address space is large enough to host all the resources.

This section contains the networking parameters.

Variable Description Type Notes
network_logical_name The logical name of the network Required
admin_subnet_name The name of the admin subnet Optional
admin_subnet_address_prefix The address range for the admin subnet Mandatory For green-field deployments
admin_subnet_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the admin subnet Mandatory For brown-field deployments
admin_subnet_nsg_name The name of the admin network security group Optional
admin_subnet_nsg_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the admin network security group Mandatory For brown-field deployments
db_subnet_name The name of the db subnet Optional
db_subnet_address_prefix The address range for the db subnet Mandatory For green-field deployments
db_subnet_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the db subnet Mandatory For brown-field deployments
db_subnet_nsg_name The name of the db network security group name Optional
db_subnet_nsg_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the db network security group Mandatory For brown-field deployments
app_subnet_name The name of the app subnet Optional
app_subnet_address_prefix The address range for the app subnet Mandatory For green-field deployments
app_subnet_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the app subnet Mandatory For brown-field deployments
app_subnet_nsg_name The name of the app network security group name Optional
app_subnet_nsg_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the app network security group Mandatory For brown-field deployments
web_subnet_name The name of the web subnet Optional
web_subnet_address_prefix The address range for the web subnet Mandatory For green-field deployments
web_subnet_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the web subnet Mandatory For brown-field deployments
web_subnet_nsg_name The name of the web network security group name Optional
web_subnet_nsg_arm_id * The Azure resource identifier for the web network security group Mandatory For brown-field deployments
deploy_application_security_groups Controls application security group deployments Optional
nsg_asg_with_vnet If true, the network security group will be placed with the VNet Optional

* = Required for brown-field deployments

Key vault parameters

If you don't want to use the workload zone key vault but another one, you can define the key vault's Azure resource identifier in the system's tfvar file.

This section defines the parameters used for defining the key vault information.

Variable Description Type Notes
user_keyvault_id Azure resource identifier for existing system credentials key vault Optional
spn_keyvault_id Azure resource identifier for existing deployment credentials (SPNs) key vault Optional
enable_purge_control_for_keyvaults Disables the purge protection for Azure key vaults Optional Only use for test environments.

Anchor virtual machine parameters

SAP Deployment Automation Framework supports having an anchor virtual machine. The anchor virtual machine is the first virtual machine to be deployed. It's used to anchor the proximity placement group.

This section contains the parameters related to the anchor virtual machine.

Variable Description Type
deploy_anchor_vm Defines if the anchor virtual machine is used Optional
anchor_vm_accelerated_networking Defines if the anchor VM is configured to use accelerated networking Optional
anchor_vm_authentication_type Defines the authentication type for the anchor VM (key or password) Optional
anchor_vm_authentication_username Defines the username for the anchor VM Optional
anchor_vm_image Defines the VM image to use (as shown in the following code sample) Optional
anchor_vm_nic_ips[] List of IP addresses for the anchor VMs (app subnet) Optional
anchor_vm_sku Defines the VM SKU to use, for example, Standard_D4s_v3 Optional
anchor_vm_use_DHCP Controls whether to use dynamic IP addresses provided by Azure subnet Optional

The virtual machine and the operating system image are defined by using the following structure:

{
  os_type         = "linux"
  type            = "marketplace"
  source_image_id = ""
  publisher       = "SUSE"
  offer           = "sles-sap-15-sp5"
  sku             = "gen2"
  version=        " latest"
}

Authentication parameters

By default, the SAP system deployment uses the credentials from the SAP workload zone. If the SAP system needs unique credentials, you can provide them by using these parameters.

Variable Description Type
automation_username Administrator account name Optional
automation_password Administrator password Optional
automation_path_to_public_key Path to existing public key Optional
automation_path_to_private_key Path to existing private key Optional

Miscellaneous parameters

Variable Description
license_type Specifies the license type for the virtual machines. Possible values are RHEL_BYOS and SLES_BYOS. For Windows, the possible values are None, Windows_Client, and Windows_Server.
use_zonal_markers Specifies if zonal virtual machines will include a zonal identifier: xooscs_z1_00l### versus xooscs00l###.
deploy_v1_monitoring_extension Defines if the Microsoft.AzureCAT.AzureEnhancedMonitoring extension will be deployed

NFS support

Variable Description Type
NFS_provider Defines what NFS back end to use. The options are AFS for Azure Files NFS or ANF for Azure NetApp files. Optional
sapmnt_volume_size Defines the size (in GB) for the sapmnt volume. Optional

Azure files NFS support

Variable Description Type
azure_files_sapmnt_id If provided, the Azure resource ID of the storage account used for sapmnt Optional
sapmnt_private_endpoint_id If provided, the Azure resource ID of the sapmnt private endpoint Optional

HANA Scaleout support

Variable Description Type Notes
database_HANA_use_ANF_scaleout_scenario Defines if HANA scaleout is used. Optional
stand_by_node_count The number of standby nodes. Optional

Azure NetApp Files support

Variable Description Type Notes
ANF_HANA_use_AVG Use Application Volume Group for the volumes. Optional
ANF_HANA_use_Zones Deploy the Azure NetApp Files volume zonally. Optional
ANF_HANA_data Create Azure NetApp Files volume for HANA data. Optional
ANF_HANA_data_use_existing_volume Use existing Azure NetApp Files volume for HANA data. Optional Use for pre-created volumes.
ANF_HANA_data_volume_count Number of HANA data volumes. Optional
ANF_HANA_data_volume_name Azure NetApp Files volume name for HANA data. Optional
ANF_HANA_data_volume_size Azure NetApp Files volume size in GB for HANA data. Optional Default size is 256.
ANF_HANA_data_volume_throughput Azure NetApp Files volume throughput for HANA data. Optional Default is 128 MBs/s.
ANF_HANA_log Create Azure NetApp Files volume for HANA log. Optional
ANF_HANA_log_use_existing Use existing Azure NetApp Files volume for HANA log. Optional Use for pre-created volumes.
ANF_HANA_log_volume_count Number of HANA log volumes. Optional
ANF_HANA_log_volume_name Azure NetApp Files volume name for HANA log. Optional
ANF_HANA_log_volume_size Azure NetApp Files volume size in GB for HANA log. Optional Default size is 128.
ANF_HANA_log_volume_throughput Azure NetApp Files volume throughput for HANA log. Optional Default is 128 MBs/s.
ANF_HANA_shared Create Azure NetApp Files volume for HANA shared. Optional
ANF_HANA_shared_use_existing Use existing Azure NetApp Files volume for HANA shared. Optional Use for pre-created volumes.
ANF_HANA_shared_volume_name Azure NetApp Files volume name for HANA shared. Optional
ANF_HANA_shared_volume_size Azure NetApp Files volume size in GB for HANA shared. Optional Default size is 128.
ANF_HANA_shared_volume_throughput Azure NetApp Files volume throughput for HANA shared. Optional Default is 128 MBs/s.
ANF_sapmnt Create Azure NetApp Files volume for sapmnt. Optional
ANF_sapmnt_use_existing_volume Use existing Azure NetApp Files volume for sapmnt. Optional Use for pre-created volumes.
ANF_sapmnt_volume_name Azure NetApp Files volume name for sapmnt. Optional
ANF_sapmnt_volume_size Azure NetApp Files volume size in GB for sapmnt. Optional Default size is 128.
ANF_sapmnt_throughput Azure NetApp Files volume throughput for sapmnt. Optional Default is 128 MBs/s.
ANF_sapmnt_use_clone_in_secondary_zone Create the secondary sapmnt volume as a clone Optional Default is 128 MBs/s.
ANF_usr_sap Create Azure NetApp Files volume for usrsap. Optional
ANF_usr_sap_use_existing Use existing Azure NetApp Files volume for usrsap. Optional Use for pre-created volumes.
ANF_usr_sap_volume_name Azure NetApp Files volume name for usrsap. Optional
ANF_usr_sap_volume_size Azure NetApp Files volume size in GB for usrsap. Optional Default size is 128.
ANF_usr_sap_throughput Azure NetApp Files volume throughput for usrsap. Optional Default is 128 MBs/s.

Oracle parameters

These parameters need to be updated in the sap-parameters.yaml file when you deploy Oracle-based systems.

Variable Description Type Notes
ora_release Release of Oracle, for example, 19 Mandatory
ora_version Version of Oracle, for example, 19.0.0 Mandatory
oracle_sbp_patch Oracle SBP patch file name, for example, SAP19P_2202-70004508.ZIP Mandatory Must be part of the Bill of Materials
use_observer Defines if an observer will be used Optional

You can use the configuration_settings variable to let Terraform add them to sap-parameters.yaml file.

configuration_settings = {
                           ora_release          = "19",
                           ora_version          = "19.0.0",
                           oracle_sbp_patch     = "SAP19P_2202-70004508.ZIP",
                           oraclegrid_sbp_patch = "GIRU19P_2202-70004508.ZIP",
                         }

DNS support

Variable Description Type
management_dns_resourcegroup_name Resource group that contains the private DNS zone. Optional
management_dns_subscription_id Subscription ID for the subscription that contains the private DNS zone. Optional
use_custom_dns_a_registration Use an existing private DNS zone. Optional
dns_a_records_for_secondary_names Registers A records for the secondary IP addresses. Optional

Azure Monitor for SAP parameters

Variable Description Type Notes
ams_resource_id Defines the ARM resource ID for Azure Monitor for SAP Optional
enable_ha_monitoring Defines if Prometheus high availability cluster monitoring is enabled Optional
enable_os_monitoring Defines if Prometheus high availability OS monitoring is enabled Optional

Other parameters

Variable Description Type Notes
Agent_IP IP address of the agent. Optional
add_Agent_IP Controls if Agent IP is added to the key vault and storage account firewalls Optional

Terraform parameters

This section contains the Terraform parameters. These parameters need to be entered manually if you're not using the deployment scripts.

Variable Description Type
tfstate_resource_id Azure resource identifier for the storage account in the SAP library that will contain the Terraform state files Required *
deployer_tfstate_key The name of the state file for the deployer Required *
landscaper_tfstate_key The name of the state file for the workload zone Required *

* = Required for manual deployments

High-availability configuration

The high-availability configuration for the database tier and the SCS tier is configured by using the database_high_availability and scs_high_availability flags. Red Hat and SUSE should use the appropriate HA version of the virtual machine images (RHEL-SAP-HA, sles-sap-15-sp?).

High-availability configurations use Pacemaker with Azure fencing agents.

Cluster parameters

This section contains the parameters related to the cluster configuration.

Variable Description Type
database_cluster_disk_lun Specifies the The LUN of the shared disk for the Database cluster. Optional
database_cluster_disk_size The size of the shared disk for the Database cluster. Optional
database_cluster_type Cluster quorum type; AFA (Azure Fencing Agent), ASD (Azure Shared Disk), ISCSI Optional
fencing_role_name Specifies the Azure role assignment to assign to enable fencing. Optional
idle_timeout_scs_ers Sets the idle timeout setting for the SCS and ERS loadbalancer. Optional
scs_cluster_disk_lun Specifies the The LUN of the shared disk for the Central Services cluster. Optional
scs_cluster_disk_size The size of the shared disk for the Central Services cluster. Optional
scs_cluster_type Cluster quorum type; AFA (Azure Fencing Agent), ASD (Azure Shared Disk), ISCSI Optional
use_msi_for_clusters If defined, configures the Pacemaker cluster by using managed identities. Optional
use_simple_mount Specifies if simple mounts are used (applicable for SLES 15 SP# or newer). Optional
use_fence_kdump Configure fencing device based on the fence agent fence_kdump Optional
use_fence_kdump_lun_db Default lun number of the kdump disk (database) Optional
use_fence_kdump_lun_scs Default lun number of the kdump disk (Central Services) Optional
use_fence_kdump_size_gb_db Default size of the kdump disk (database) Optional
use_fence_kdump_size_gb_scs Default size of the kdump disk (Central Services) Optional

Note

The highly available central services deployment requires using a shared file system for sap_mnt. You can use Azure Files or Azure NetApp Files by using the NFS_provider attribute. The default is Azure Files. To use Azure NetApp Files, set the NFS_provider attribute to ANF.

Fencing agent configuration

SAP Deployment Automation Framework supports using either managed identities or service principals for fencing agents. The following section describes how to configure each option.

If you set the variable use_msi_for_clusters to true, the fencing agent uses managed identities.

If you want to use a service principal for the fencing agent, set that variable to false.

The fencing agents should be configured to use a unique service principal with permissions to stop and start virtual machines. For more information, see Create a fencing agent.

az ad sp create-for-rbac --role="Linux Fence Agent Role" --scopes="/subscriptions/<subscriptionID>" --name="<prefix>-Fencing-Agent"

Replace <prefix> with the name prefix of your environment, such as DEV-WEEU-SAP01. Replace <subscriptionID> with the workload zone subscription ID.

Important

The name of the fencing agent service principal must be unique in the tenant. The script assumes that a role Linux Fence Agent Role was already created.

Record the values from the fencing agent SPN:

  • appId
  • password
  • tenant

The fencing agent details must be stored in the workload zone key vault by using a predefined naming convention. Replace <prefix> with the name prefix of your environment, such as DEV-WEEU-SAP01. Replace <workload_kv_name> with the name of the key vault from the workload zone resource group. For the other values, use the values recorded from the previous step and run the script.

az keyvault secret set --name "<prefix>-fencing-spn-id" --vault-name "<workload_kv_name>" --value "<appId>";
az keyvault secret set --name "<prefix>-fencing-spn-pwd" --vault-name "<workload_kv_name>" --value "<password>";
az keyvault secret set --name "<prefix>-fencing-spn-tenant" --vault-name "<workload_kv_name>" --value "<tenant>";

Next steps