FYI - if you have not had time to fill out the survey we do every other year in collaboration with DSAG, you still have time.  The link to the survery is here.  The results will be presented at the 2014 ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando in June.  The session is the Archiving and ILM Open Forum on Tuesday, June 3rd at 12:30 PM.  The results will also be presented at a DSAG event as well.  The results will be posted in the ASUG Archiving & ILM Discussion Forum after the conference.

We will leave the survey open for another week!

Best Regards,

Karin Tillotson

ASUG Archiving & ILM SIG Program Chair

Hi all

In archiving info records,I use object MM_EINA and the first step is done. in the second step of archiving I see files and it seems that everything is ok and it is run. But I see the documents again in table EINA and when I check the jobs in SARA I see that they are cancelled! when I check the job details I see that I have had a runtime error. In ST22 I face this error:

At the statment

      "Convert object to integer"

only number-type data objects are supported at the argument positio

"object".

In this particular case, the operand "object" has the non-number-type type

"r".

When i want to change the mentioned info record there is a warning that "the doc X in archived and cannot be changed" but I still can see it in display mode. When I chack the second step in SARA I see the deletion files again like this:

can anyone help me?

Dear all,

In order to delete the infostructures from object  MM_MATBEL, I use the report AS_AINDDEL_DATE.

The program is run in background.

However the program run for 100 hours for one year and for 10 hours for one archiving run (one date).

Archiving started on 2002 and this is the first time we are trying to delete infostructures.

Did you already have performance problems while emptying infostructures ?

Best regards,

Hi ILM Experts:

I have archived some BW IDOCs to Content Repository, and for end-of-life, I need to delete those documents from the storage system along w/ its meta data.

I have flagged those sessions as "To be Archived" in SARA for IDOC under Management, but when I use BC_ARCHIVE to delete the Administration Data the job says "Run 39 still contains archving jobs".

Does any one know what the issue could be and why my job is not executing?

Thanks,

Jane

Hello All,

We are archiving Serial Numbers using the archiving object PM_OBJLIST. We are scheduling the delete jobs manually. The issue is that the Delete jobs are taking huge times (many hours) in execution, and we are scheduling the detele jobs one by one. This activity is taking a lot of time, since there are many such delete jobs to be scheduled.

• Can we schedule the archival Delete jobs in parallel?
• If Yes, How many jobs can be scheduled at a time?

• Is it Archival Object specific, or can be followed for any object?

• Can we schedule WRITE and STORE jobs also in Parallel?

Kindly help me in finding a solution to the above queries.

With Regards,

Soumya

Hallo together,

I have one questions.

How long must I keep the object "WORITEM" in a SAP-System? Is there any retention time from the law or any other time?

We have a lot of "completed" and "canceld" "WORKITEMS" and we want archive and delete the object "WORKITEM".

But we do not know how we must keep the object "WORKITEM" in the system.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Sonja

Dear all,

My client is decommissioning their SAP Landscape (ERP EHP6, Portal, SRM) as they will not be using SAP any more (migrating to other software). They are keeping SAP BW/BI/BPC though.  I have been reading about ILM and how this can help my client have read only access to data in the future through BW queries without the need of keeping legacy SAP systems.

However, from what I have read so far, it looks like that the Retention Warehouse is part of SAP ERP and my client wants to decommission their ERP system. If we need to keep the ERP system to have ILM, we are not saving much in running costs, licenses, etc. We might as well keep the ERP system intact without implementing ILM. It is a medium size ERP system (200G).  our ERP is used mainly for FI/CO

Any thoughts please?

Regards

Andreas

Hi Experts,

I have a requirement for migration of Archive data from one server to another,

Currently we are doing archiving in IXOS server version 9.5 and we planned to upgrade the server but due to

hardware requirements we planned to install new version of Open text 10.1.1 in new hardware but the problem is

how to  migrate the Archive data from old server to new server. Even after successfull migration is it able to access

archive data without any in consistence..?

Please share your valuable suggestions or if you can share process steps for Migrating the data is appreciable.

With regards,

Tony.

Hi Experts,

I would like to read SAP archived data (*.ARCHIVE.ARCHIVING)  with non-SAP application. I already know, that data is automatically compressed (and maybe encrypted?).

My question: Is there some possibility to read archive files outside of SAP? I suppose that would be needed to do some decompress first.

Your help is appreciated. Thank you!

Jan

Hello there,

My MM_MATNR archiving session completed successfully stating Deletion completed but the only one marked for deletion material that I included as a test in the archiving variant ( and that was not a test run ) is still there at MARA, MARC, .....  ( please refer to attached file )

The only additional info that may be relevant is that the archiving session Storage attribute displays a red light with text "Not stored" ....

How come this can happen that the material is not deleted from the database? I would appreciate any hint or additional check I can make to find out what went wrong ..

Regards, Carlos Soares

Hi,

we have configured basic steps of ILM thru which we are able to see ILM in transaction code SARA.

we would like to use Open text as archive storage solution. however, we are unable to figure out how to configure the same. Documents talk about XML DAS but my understanding is we should have Java stack for this....

please note that we have only ABAP stack in our ECC system and there is no AS JAVA.

earlier, we used to configure contain repository in transaction code OAC0 and thru this we used to access Opentext server.

thanks for your support.

regards,

Lemeax

Archiving SAP data and how to access it after the delete run

For a customer I needed to archive the different types of data from the SAP system. This is not really difficult via the standard SAP transaction SARA and with the standard archiving objects. My question upfront was: how to access the data after the archiving delete run. So how do we get the SAP users to still see the data that was deleted from the database after the archiving.

I will use two examples with different outcome:

• the archiving object FI_DOCUMNT
• the archiving object MM_ACCTIT

I’m a technical consultant and the steps below are from a technical point of view.

Preparations

In this example we will use the file system to store our archiving files.Before we start with archiving we need to specify the archiving filename and archiving directory.

Destination folder and filename

Check the destination folder and name convention.SAP transaction FILEFilename = ARCHIVE_DATA_FILEDestination folder = ARCHIVE_GLOBAL_PATH

Check tables in archiving object

Before we start archiving of course we need to decide together with the business what data to archive and what the retention times will be. In this example we will focus on the technical part of archiving.Check which tables are touched with a certain archiving object.SAP transaction DB15

Execution

For archiving we use SAP transaction SARA.

From a high level point of view the procedure is basically the same for FI_DOCUMNT and MM_ACCTIT:

1. Write (the data to the archive files)
2. Delete (the data from the database)
3. Management (to see the status of the archiving)

The SAP transaction SARA for the archiving object FI_DOCUMNT looks like:So the first step is Write.Simply click on the Write button and the next steps are self explainatory. You have to create a variant in which you specify which data you want to archive. You have to specify a printer and a startdate.After this, background jobs are created and started.After this you can check the joblogs, spool files, files generated at operating system.Also check the SARA Management button to see the status.(status will be yellow because the delete run has not been done)The step after this is the Delete.Simply click on the Delete button and the next steps are self explainatory. You have to select the archive files from the previous step and this data will be deleted from the database.After this you can check the logs and check the SARA Management button to see the status.(status will be green)Specifically for the FI_DOCUMNT there is the step “PostProc” in SARA. So this one is not available for MM_ACCTIT.

View data from archive file after the delete run

So how can SAP users still see SAP data from within the SAP system?This differs per archiving object.Therefore in this example we have two archiving objects.FI_DOCUMNTSo the data is archived via SARA and is deleted from the database.The normal transaction that users perform does not show data unless we perform some actions.Create a secondary index via SAPF048S:SE38 > SAPF048SUse the Archive selection button to select the archived data.Uncheck Creation only Acc to RuntimeCheck Production ModeSAP transaction SARI (indexing and archive files)Click on “Customizing”Search for *FI_DOC* and choose SAP_FI_DOC_002And choose ActivateThis on itself is not yet enough, we need to perform a build using menu > Goto > buildAfter this the status in SARI looks good:Now we are done.And besides the fact that we can display the archived and deleted data via SAP transaction SARI we can also display it directly via FB03 or ALO1So after the SARA delete run, to make the data still available for SAP users via the original transactions, we have to:

• Create index via SAPF048S
• via SARI activate Archive Infostructure SAP_FI_DOC_002
• via SARI build Archive Infostructure

MM_ACCTIT

So for the data archived via FI_DOCUMNT we were able to have the data accessible via the original transactions. Unfortunately this is an exception. Normally data is only accessible via transaction SARI. We will see this with the data that is archived via MM_ACCTIT.

So the data is archived via SARA and is deleted from the database.

SAP transaction SARI (indexing the archive files)

Click on “Customizing”

Search for *ACCTIT* and choose SAP_MM_ACCTIT02

And choose Activate

This on itself is not yet enough, we need to perform a build using menu > Goto > build according to date

After this the status in SARI looks good:

Now we are done.

We can display the archived and deleted data via SAP transaction SARI > Archive Explorer.

Best regards,

Marco

Starting with the SAP Data Retention Tool (DaRT)

For a company I work for there was a need for archiving data as the database was growing. But there was also the need to keep data available for future audits.

What if we delete the data from the database and it is needed for an audit? Well then we still have the archive files and we still can view the data.

See "Archiving SAP data and how to access it after the delete run"

Although that is true, the customer wanted to work with DaRT extract to be able to give a future auditor exactly what they needed. And this DaRT process is normally done before the archiving project starts.

So in the below steps I will show you the steps how to configure and create a DaRT extract.

It will be shown from a technical point of view (as I'm a technical consultant).

Of course you also need a functional- or business-consultant to determine the data to be captured (for example the period and the company code).

First a small definition of DaRT, compared to ILM (information Lifecycle Management):

(see http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-28852)

DaRT is a tool offered as part of the SAP Business Suite. The main purpose is to retain the relevant finance and tax data from a productive system to make it available to auditors. The data being exported (so called DaRT extracts) is not deleted within the productive database which leads to a duplication of data. As soon as the data is needed to support an audit, the exported files are imported into the “DaRT Viewer”

SAP Netweaver ILM is a total solution of which Retention Management is part of. It applies to productive systems and enhances archive files with their specific retention time, stores the files and enables automated destruction once the retention time expired. The technical foundation is the standard data archiving provided as part of the SAP Business Suite.

In this example I performed the DaRT extracts for a French company code and there were a few notes to be imported specifically:

0001906078 -  FTW1A: BADI for additional selections from BKPF

0001923322 -  DaRT: View file creation for France Legal Requirement

0001935509 -  Carry forward postings for new GL in France

Related transaction codes

First an overview of DaRT related transactions:

DaRT configuration

SAP transaction FTWP

In this example we choose Financial documents and Tax data.

Go to tab File directories and create a new one:

The 0 is placed automatically. Leave this field blank.

If your SAP system has separate application servers, make sure this directory is accessible from all systems.

The other tabs we can leave default

Create DaRT extract

We use SAP transaction FTW1A

Here we choose need the functional- or business-consultant to determine the data to be captured. In this example we choose a certain company code and a certain fiscal year.

Result:

At operating system we see that the files are created:

DaRT logging

Use SAP transaction FTWL to see the DaRT logging after the run is done:

DaRT extract browser

SAP transaction FTWF to browse through the DaRT extract

Double click on a line to see the detailed data.

DaRT data view queries

Besides the SAP transaction FTWF to browse through the DaRT extract we have transaction FTWH for the DaRT data view queries

Because we created a Tax related DaRT extract we now choose: "0SAP_BSET  Tax data document segment".

In the next screen select the source extract and directory set and execute.

Then the data is shown which an auditor needs to see/review

Best Regards,

Marco

Hi,

After archive a condition price via archiving object: SD_COND, is there any standard SAP transaction code to read the cited condition from the archive ?    I tried with VK13 but it did not work.....

Thanking in advance for your help

Best regards

Joseph Sangoi

Hello,

I have implemented the archiving object = FI_SL_DATA and  I customized his corresponding infostructure Z_FI_SL_DATA_03 from the field catalog = Z_FI_SL_001.

So after succesful archive executions I tried to read the corresponding data from archive via AS by TCODE=GD20 selecting Data Source = Archive&Archive Information System and then the system shows the following message:

#GD_ARCHIV184: "Activate info structures to read archived data using SAP AS"

with the following diagnosis:

"The archived data cannot be read using AS as no active info structure exists for the following field catalog(s):  SAP_FI_SL_001"

But I checked and currently the only active infostructure is the Z_FI_SL_DATA_03 and his corresponding field catalog is the Z_FI_SL_001 NOT

the SAP_FI_SL_001 ???

Additonally on GD20 when I select the archive file manually it works fine ???

Is there someone that could help me on solve this issue ?

Best regards

Joseph Sangoi

Hi all

In archiving info records,I use object MM_EINA and the first step is done. in the second step of archiving I see files and it seems that everything is ok and it is run. But I see the documents again in table EINA and when I check the jobs in SARA I see that they are cancelled! when I check the job details I see that I have had a runtime error. In ST22 I face this error:

At the statment

      "Convert object to integer"

only number-type data objects are supported at the argument positio

"object".

In this particular case, the operand "object" has the non-number-type type

"r".

When i want to change the mentioned info record there is a warning that "the doc X in archived and cannot be changed" but I still can see it in display mode. When I chack the second step in SARA I see the deletion files again like this:

can anyone help me?

Hi,

As TCODE=VF31 can not generate output from archived billing documents, I would kindly ask you if is there any other alternative standard SAP way to do it ?

Thanking in advance for your help, best regards

Joseph Sangoi

NLS at SAP BW

At 1930 first FIFA world cup final Uruguay Vs Argentina , The Uruguay had made a change in team by replacing Castro with Anselmo due to his health failure .

Now in 24^th June 2014 FIFA world cup Uruguay’s Luis Suarez has officially charged with biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in the match.

Does both the information are not attractive for FIFA fans?

Now if you think both are important then let’s think about the business data and see how much historical data are spread across and giving us value?  Answer will be yes both historical and current data are giving value.

So is that meaning I should retain all the data (Historical & Current data) as they are adding value?  Once again the answer is yes.

But over a period of time the storage system/database has taken a generation transformation along with revolution of hardware- SAP HANA and it’s costly to store all the data here and as well the legacy database has similar challenges along with deteriorating performance.

Will the traditional way of archiving the data into unplugged device and retaining offline and once again connecting on need basis after complex retrieval logic add the same value given the time and cost in mind. No.

Then how should manage it? The answer is Near line storage, it is nothing but a storage between Primary storage, frequently accessed data in a 24 X 7 environment and offline storage, removable media such as tape. It has many advantages from database space reduction, Cost effective storage, Faster & Less complex access to data…..

There are few SAP certified vendors to implement Near line storage along with different solutions.

http://www.sap.com/partners/overview.html

Here I would like to emphasis the Sybase – IQ as an optimal NLS solution and it’s a self-implementable. The Sybase IQ is tightly integrated with SAP BW and it comes along with adapters for near line solution and as well the data can be read directly by traditional BEx queries without any complex logic or data reload.

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-54468

Here goes an idea on SAP BW environment to manage all the type of data.

Data need to be categorized by Information life cycle according to importance/Age and its volatility as Hot (Frequently accessed & Updated), Warm (Accessed at low frequency & Minimum update), Cold (Rarely accessed & No update), Frozen (Very Rarely accessed/Record purpose & No update)

Over this categorization the data can be stored at different storage to build a single Infoprovider at BW environment.

•      Hot data can be stored in SAP HANA Main Memory.
•      Warm data can be stored in SAP HANA Disk Memory.
•      Cold data can be stored  in Sybase-IQ
•      Frozen data can be stored in Offline storage – Hard disk, Tape…

Hi All,

Currently we are doing data archiving using SAP Content server. Now we installed OpenText archive server and going to move to OpenText data archiving.

We are now trying to migrate data that we archived previously through SAP Content server to content repository in OpenText Archive server.

We have tried retrieving all the files from SAP Content server storage back into SAP global exchange directory.

Also we have created new content repository on the OT environment and SAP.

Now the files cannot be selected to move further to OpenText  Content repository.

Please suggest solution to migrated all files that in SAP content server to OpenText archive server so that we can retrieve those old data in all respective SAP transactions.

Thanks,

Roby.

In this document, i would like to show link between sap document and opentext archive server.

Let take an example :

I would like to have information of SAP object ID 00001925250100 which is a Doc Type ZCS_ATTCHT of object type KNB1.

With transaction OAC3 (table  TOAOM_C), we get the cont Rep on which document is stored (F6) and we can see the table which is use to make link between SAP doc and opentext doc (TOA03):

table which use to link SAP doc and arch doc for doc type ZCS_ATTCHT is TOA03. We can see the name of content repository F6. This content repository must exist in archvie server:

In TOA03, we get number of archive doc (ARC_DOC_ID):

In order to know information in archive server, we can use SQL statement on Archive server database (need TOA03.ARC_DOC_ID= DS_DOC.DOCIDSTR)

select * from IXDS.DS_DOC WHERE DOCIDSTR

IN (

'529CB3EFA7ED0FE0E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52A442C4B5D23110E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52A517D4E96C1D70E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52A60E47DFFD3110E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52F7D186C46139C0E10080000A7E7B6E');

select * from IXDS.DS_COMP WHERE DOCIDNO IN (SELECT DOCIDNO FROM IXDS.DS_DOC WHERE DOCIDSTR

IN (

'529CB3EFA7ED0FE0E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52A442C4B5D23110E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52A517D4E96C1D70E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52A60E47DFFD3110E10080000A7E7B6E',

'52F7D186C46139C0E10080000A7E7B6E'));

select * from IXDS.DS_ARCH  WHERE ARCHIVENO='88';

select * from IXDS.DS_VOLID WHERE VOLID='8';