Introduction
As we know system landscape upgrades are often a necessity in a quest to resolve issues and obtain the newest functionality offerred by NW Platforms. By the end the end of 2017, EP 7.0X versions will no longer be supported, and therefore we are suggesting to upgrade to a higher version now if you are currrently operating on an older Product release.
- The key point to emphasize here is not to wait till the last moment.
The recommended version to upgrade to is that of EP 7.5, which has the longest maintenance period, and moreover, you have many new features including the Fiori Framework Page and other features that are only available in the latest versions.
System Changes - Overview
Now an upgrade is an extensive business process which involves alot of planning and testing along with diligent preparation. In most cases when performing an upgrade (unless installing a fresh setup) there is content or applications from your older system release that you woud like to transport and migrate to the newer system understandably.
If you currently have a large NW landscape in place with multiple end-users there are some important guides to follow and review beginning with:
This is your core baseline reference before commencing upgrade planning and consideration and in truth is the central entry point for completing a Portal Upgrade.
Migrating Applications
Let us create a sample scenario in which you are upgrading to a fresh NW 7.5 System from NW 7.02.
Within your NW 7.02 setup there are numerous applications which are pivotal to everyday business operations and therefore these along with the content associated to them need to be "carried over" to NW 7.5.
In order for full functionality to be achieved all required Portal Applications need to be deployed directly to the Target System.
PAR / WAR & EAR
As of NW 7.3+ Versions PAR files are no longer a supported operation. Instead PAR Files have been replaced by EAR Files. Therefore as in this scenario applications which need to be upgraded to NW 7.5 entail migrating (older) PAR Files to WAR Files (within EAR Files) and this can be achieved via the PAR Migration Tool.- SAP KBA: 2015621 - Review and select par files for migration - what to do...
- SAP Note: 725797 - EP6.0 NW04: Export of PAR files within EPA packages
Using the PAR Migration Tool:
Checking the Application has been migrated and deployed?
Upon running the deployment and migration phase to the newer system you can verify that the application has been transported successfully by verifying its existence and visibility within the PCD (Portal Content Directory).
In order to deploy application(s) themselves along with the objects associated this should be achievable by following the four key steps at the end of this documentation:Transporting Portal Objects
https://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw73/helpdata/en/49/7448153660423ee10000000a421938/frameset.htm
Application Data?
Once all desired applications have been deployed to the target systems you can transport all PCD objects such as Folders , Iviews, Pages, Roles etc by creating a (EPA) transport package in within your Development enviornment for testing. These can be then subsequently exported locally before exporting them to the QA System.
The transportation of EPA files from 7.0 / 7.01 & 7.02 to 7.5 is supported for regular portal content such as iViews, pages, etc.
- However, if the content is based on custom applications then these applications should be upgraded separately aftewards so the desired setup is transported to the new enviornment.
How To Migrate Custom Portal Applications to SAP NetWeaver 7.3+
https://archive.sap.com/documents/docs/DOC-22884
Reference Documentation
- SAP KBA: 1715441 - Deploy/Undeploy/Force Redeploy EAR/WAR/SDA/SCA files on SAP servers:7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4,7.5
