SAP has released a new component of the SL Toolset which replaces the installation tools for SAP NetWeaver 7.3 and higher e.g. for products like PI 7.31 or BW 7.3
In detail, the SWPM can handle installations, system copies etc. for the following products
It also includes tools that are valid for all SAP NetWeaver releases like the SAP Tools for Microsoft SQL Server. Details about these tools are described in one of my previous blogs
Let’s first take a look at the current lifecycle of an installation DVD. The installation DVD is released by SAP and cannot be patched afterwards e.g. by uploading a new installation DVD to the SAP marketplace. If SAP wants to fix an issue, it depends on how complex it would be to patch the installation DVD.
If the fix is easy, SAP describes in a SAP note how the installation DVD must be patched e.g. changing some lines in the control.xml file or another file.
If the fix is considered to be too complex for the customer to fix it, a patched file is attached to a SAP note. The customer must exchange this file on the installation DVD with the attached file.
For an example see SAP Note 1152240 (login required)
While this was a valid approach for many years, SAP has decided to develop a tool that is always up to date and does not need to be patched prior to execution.
The SAP Software Provisioning Manager is part of the SL Toolset and is therefore shipped with it regularly. The new versions include bug fixes and can include new features like installation of a new SAP release.
The major difference though is that SAP can fix bugs in already released SWPM versions and always provide an up to date version of the SWPM for their customers. The patched versions is always available on the SAP marketplace.
Also, older releases like e.g. SAP NetWeaver 7.3 benefit from the improvements and development that is done as part of new releases e.g. SAP EPH1 for SAP NetWeaver 7.3.
See SAP Note 1680045 (login required) on how to download the current version of SWPM.
For more details about SL Toolset and the SAP Software Provisioning Manager, read the following SAP notes
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