Login on sap.com with multiple accounts = pain in the back

[Jelena]

Since I had to get a new S-ID and P-ID for SCN, using sap.com has become a nightmare. I have 2 certificates for 2 valid S-IDs and a separate user ID for SCN. Here are the specific issues that I came across so far.

1. When using the same browser, it seems to be impossible to tell different areas of sap.com to use different login. As soon as I select a certificate to access Launchpad, I can't get rid of it to access SCN. SCN does not prompt me to pick a certificate (or chose no certificate and login manually) and just somehow sees login used for Launchpad and tries to run with it. Which brings me to the next issue.

2. I do not want to use S-ID for SCN anymore. But SCN sees my new S-ID and stubbornly prompts me to "Upgrade account for SAP.com". It would be merely an annoyance but SCN does not even offer me an option to say "no". This is what I see when I open SCN after opening Launchpad with new S-ID, there is no Cancel button or anything:

Now I have 14 emails "Activate Your Account..." that I never asked for and had no chance to opt out from:

Side note - why does it say "Activate... for sap.com"? It's already very much active, I use it in the Support Launchpad. It's just SCN that apparently needs some "upgrade". Absolutely ridiculous.

3. After I clear out the cookies in browser and finally get into SCN with the right user ID, the fun continues on the Launchpad side. Now Launchpad does not prompt me for any choice and just somehow sees my SCN login and complaints that I cannot user Launchpad with P-user and have to use S-user. Yet it offers me no option to pick a certificate or even enter another user ID. (No screenshot but when I see it again I'll add it.) There is a link to log off that only gives you a message and that's it. (But, thankfully, unlike SCN, at least after closing browser and opening it again I get a certificate prompt in Launchpad.)

Edit: here you go, didn't have to wait long. Note that this message appears after I get a certificate prompt and click on the valid certificate with the new S-ID!

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To pre-empt some replies: no, I don't want to use 3 different browsers or clear cookies 3 times a day or get rid of certificates or do any other ceremonial dancing stuff. Please make the technology work for the users, not the other way around.

Multiple user IDs can be managed very easily on Yahoo, for example. If you chose so, it remembers your last login. If you want to use a different login - there is a simple button "log out" and then you can enter a different user ID.

It should be feasible to allow the users to chose either one of the certificates or none. And have an option to do it at any time. Ideally, I'd prefer Launchpad and SCN remember separately what I used but if at least I can get a choice that's fine.

Quite ironically, before that SCN could not remember me when I had one user and one certificate. Now I can't seem to make it forget a wrong ID. 😞

Edit: I'm using Chrome but pretty much the same issue occurs in IE (both use the certificates).

[VolkerBarth]

I strongly second that suggestion (in case anyone notices that hidden comment...):

With SCN, I have used my P-user ID right from the start, obviously a good choice. Besides that, I'm using some S-user IDs, all with separate SAP passports.

Anytime I want to visit the Support Portal (which I do rarely because of the login management), I have to close my browser in order to be able to choose the desired passport, and when I want to use another S-user, again, I have to close the browser to choose another one. That's annyoing, no question.

It gets somewhat bizarre when I am asked for almost every new page in the Support Portal to choose the fitting certificate again (and ignoring the fact that I'm confirming to remember the certificate in the Firefox certificate choice dialog). I just downloaded a new support package and had to answer that certificate choice dialog six times during the simple task.

So, please SAP, let my choose the desired passport when entering your portals, provide me with a logout command and let me choose another passport - and please remember my chosen passport in-between!

[VeselinaPeykova]

Post, aimed at the unfortunate souls, who need to use multiple S-users simultaneously (possibly with certificates):

I have just tested the option in Firefox -P -no-remote with two separate shortcuts:

• the first has as target "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "default" -no-remote

• the second one has as target "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "SCNPOC" -no-remote

By starting the browser from these shortcuts, one can use SCN or SAP One Support Launchpad, etc. simultaneously in a single browser installation with different logins.

SCNPOC is a profile, which I created through the Profile Manager (you can create and name as many profiles, as you need), default is the in-built one.

Of course, having separate shortcuts is not a must - you could simply run firefox.exe -P -no-remote and select profiles from the list, but I find the shortcut option easier, because I use custom toolbars.

From what I can tell, the feature works well (except for slightly higher RAM usage - if you have an outdated PC, don't go wild with 30+ tabs per profile) and as I expected (tested on FF ESR 52.2.0, Windows). Add-ons, banking certificates, privacy settings etc., are not shared across profiles (there is the inconvenience of syncing bookmarks, but this is not a huge problem).

Unfortunately, I could not test specifically with multiple SAP certificates, because I do not use this option.

From what I have read, a similar option - using multiple profiles simultaneously, is available in Google Chrome, but I have never tried it, so I cannot tell whether it is comparable to Firefox behavior.

I know, this 'solution' is really, really, really lame, but this is not my fault!

I wish there was an easy way to switch between SAP identities in the same Firefox window without ritual sacrifices.

[Jelena]

Veselina - as usual, you take the cake. 🙂

IMHO this really is the best answer, however, I can't mark it so because it'd "answer" my question and on the large scale it's far from being answered. Still would love to see some more official replies.

Thank you though.

[VeselinaPeykova]

No worries, it is important to find a working solution. 🙂

An official solution to the problem is long overdue...

[former_member186338]

My solution for this issue (I use P-ID for SCN and S-ID to browse notes):

I use 2 browsers: Firefox for SCN with P-ID and IE for Launchpad with S-ID.

[Jelena]

It's a workaround rather than a solution. 🙂

Firefox does not want to work with our corporate spyware, that's why I switched to Chrome only at work. I know some companies limit the employees to IE only (or a single browser), at least officially.

[former_member186338]

For sure it's a workaround! But I can't find anything better then using 2 different browsers (not only Firefox/IE, other combinations will work also).

[VeselinaPeykova]

There is a Firefox feature, which looks promising:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "MyProfile" -no-remote 

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Opening_a_new_instance_of_Firefox_with_another_profile

I do not use it, because I have other reasons for separate browsers, but it is probably worth trying.

[former_member186338]

The result will be the same as using 2 different browsers: in SCN (with P-ID) you can't open the link to SAP note... you have to open it in a separate instance.

[VeselinaPeykova]

Yes, but on some corporate laptops you cannot (legally) install additional browsers, and some people just don't like portable browser options.

[former_member186338]

Well, IE is always present 🙂

[VeselinaPeykova]

Only in Windows, and I remember, in one company they had to keep it as a lower version, because updates broke some features in other applications, so people were not supposed to use it for non-Intranet purposes.