SAP Process Status Test

The following processes are considered key for the proper functioning of a SAP ABAP instance:

Dispatcher: The ABAP dispatcher is the central process of the SAP ABAP. The main task of the ABAP dispatcher is to distribute requests to its work processes.
Message server: The SAP message server runs as a separate process, mostly on the same host as the central instance, and performs the following tasks in the SAP ABAP system:
- Serves as a central communication channel between the individual application servers (instances) of the system;
- Performs load distribution of logons using SAP GUI and RFC with logon group;
- Acts as an information point for the Web Dispatcher and the application servers
IGS Watchdog: The Internet Graphics Service (IGS) constitutes the infrastructure to enable the application developers to display graphics in an Internet browser with a minimum of effort. The IGS has been integrated in the different SAP UI technologies from HTML GUI to Web Dynpro ABAP/Java and provides a server architecture where data from an SAP system or another source can be used to generate graphical or non-graphical output.

If any of these processes is offline, or experiences Critical errors, or reboots often, then the SAP ABAP system may not be able to perform the related operations. For instance, if say, the Dispatcher process is offline, then request processing will come to a standstill. Likewise, if the message server is not running, then no communication will happen between SAP instances. To avoid such issues, administrators should periodically run the SAP Process Status test to check on the health state (whether Critical, Normal, Offline, or Online) and operational state (whether running or not running) of each of the critical processes described above, and capture process failures before they impact the critical operations of the SAP ABAP system.

Target of the test : A SAP ABAP Instance

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Dispatcher, IGS Watchdog, and Message server processes.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed
Host	Host name of the server for which the test is to be configured.
PortNo	Enter the port to which the specified host listens.
Use SAPControl	Set this flag to Yes if you want the test to use the SAPControl web service for determining the current state of the critical processes. Set this flag to No if you want the test to use the SAPJCO to report on process state. By default, this flag is set to Yes.
WSDL Port	This parameter appears only if the Use SAPControl flag is set to Yes – i.e., if the test uses the SAPControl web service for collecting measures. In this text box, specify the port number of the SAPControl web service. To determine the exact port number of the SAPControl web service, you can look up the etc/services file on the SAP ABAP system being monitored. If the port number is not declared in the etc/services file, you can specify the default port number of the web service against WSDL Port If the web service is not SSL-enabled, then the default port number of the web service will be: 5<NR>13. Similarly, if the web service is SSL-enabled, then the default port number of the web service will be: 5<NR>14. <NR> in the port number refers to the system number of the SAP server being monitored. The system number is an indicator of the TCP/IP port at which the SAP server listens. For example, for a server that listens at port 3200, the system number will be ‘00’. Similarly, if the SAP server port is 3201, the system number will have to be specified as ‘01’. Accordingly, the default port number of an SSL-enabled SAPControl web service will be 50014 , if the system number is 00, or 50114, if the system number is 01.
OS Username and OS Password	This parameter appears only if the Use SAPControl flag is set to Yes – i.e., if the test uses the SAPControl web service for collecting measure.To enable the test to access the SAPControl web service and determine process state, you need to configure the OS Username and OS Password parameters of the test with the credentials (i.e., name and password) of an OS user, who fulfills one of the following conditions: The name of the OS user should be declared using the service\admin_users profile parameter; (OR) The name of the user group to which the OS user belongs should be declared using the service\admin_groups profile parameter; (OR) The OS user should have the permission to execute the sapstartsrv executable
Confirm Password	This parameter appears only if the Use SAPControl flag is set to Yes – i.e., if the test uses the SAPControl web service for collecting measures. Confirm the os password by retyping it here.
SSL	This parameter appears only if the Use SAPControl flag is set to Yes – i.e., if the test uses the SAPControl web service for collecting measures. Set this flag to Yes, if the SAPControl web service is SSL-enabled. Set this flag to No, if the SAPControl web service is not SSL-enabled.
DD Frequency	Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD Frequency.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement

Description

Measurement Unit

Interpretation

Process status

Indicates the current health state of this process.

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value	Numeric Value
Normal	1
Critical	2
Error	3
Offline	4

Note:

By default, the test reports the Measure Values in the table above to indicate process state. In the graph of this measure however, the same is represented using the numeric equivalents only.

If the value of this measure is Critical, Error, or Offline, you can use the detailed diagnosis of the measure to determine the probable cause of the abnormal process status. The detailed diagnosis will also reveal when the process was started and the elapsed time of the process. From this information, you can figure out when the problem could have occurred and how long the problem may have persisted.

Is process running?

Indicates whether/not this process is running currently.

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value	Numeric Value
Yes	1
No	2

Note:

By default, the test reports the Measure Values in the table above to indicate whether a process is running or not. In the graph of this measure however, the same is represented using the numeric equivalents only.

Has process restarted?

Indicates whether/not the process was restarted in the last measurement period.

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value	Numeric Value
No	1
Yes	2

Note:

By default, the test reports the Measure Values in the table above to indicate whether a process was restarted or not. In the graph of this measure however, the same is represented using the numeric equivalents only.