Install AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA
In this blog post, i put together a quick guide to install, configure and test AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA.
AWS Documentation Reference:
Introduction:
AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA is an SAP-certified backup and restore solution for SAP HANA workloads running on Amazon EC2 instances. AWS Backint Agent backs up SAP HANA database to Amazon S3 and restores it using SAP management tools, such as SAP HANA Cockpit, SAP HANA Studio, or SQL commands. AWS Backint Agent supports full, incremental, differential and log backup of SAP HANA database and catalogs to Amazon S3.
AWS Backint Agent runs on an SAP HANA database server, where backups and catalogs are transferred from the SAP HANA database to the Backint Agent. AWS Backint Agent stores your files in the Amazon S3 bucket specified in the agent configuration file. To restore your SAP HANA database server, SAP HANA reads the catalog files stored in your S3 bucket using AWS Backint Agent and initiates a request to restore the required files from the S3 bucket.
There is no cost to use AWS Backint Agent. You only pay for the underlying AWS services you use. AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA is available in all commercial regions.
PreRequisites:
Supported Operating Systems:
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Supported SAP HANA Versions:
AWS Backint Agent supports the following databases:
- SAP HANA 1.0 SP12 (single node and multi node)
- SAP HANA 2.0 and later (single node and multi node)
EC2 Instance Prerequisites:
- AWS CLI with minimum version of 1.15.x.
- The S3 bucket where backups are stored must have been created after May 2019
- EC2 instance must be assigned with an instance profile having S3 Get, Put, List & Delete permissions.
- To run SSM document “AWSSAP-InstallBackint”, ssm agent must be installed on EC2 instances and should be able to connect back to AWS system manager via proxy or NatGateway (Especially for the SAP HANA instances which are deployed in private subnets).
Installation Procedure:
The easiest way to install and configure the AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA is using AWS Systems Manager document “AWSSAP-InstallBackint”
** Also it can be installed directly on server with interactive mode or silent mode, in case installing it via SSM is not feasible for you.
Below are the parameters required to install the the AWS Backint agent.
Bucket Name: S3 bucket name where Backint agent uploads HANA backups
Bucket Folder: This is an optional parameter, you can specify the folder with in the bucket direct the backups into specific folder, this is useful in case of multiple HANA systems backups are stored in same bucket, can have separate folder for each system.
SystemID: HANA Database SID ( Its a three letter System Identifier for HANA Database)
Bucket Region: AWS Region of the specified S3 bucket.
Bucket Owner Account ID: This is a 12 digit numeric number assigned to a AWS account, provide AWS account ID of S3 bucket.
Kms Key: This is the AWS Resource Name link of the AWS Key Management Service for the S3 encryption, this is an optional parameter.
Installation Directory: This is the location where AWS BackintAgent going to be installed on operating system. by default it is /hana/shared, however it can be changed.
Modify Global Ini File: Choose how you want to modify the global.ini file. The global.ini file of the SAP HANA SYSTEM must be updated to complete the setup.
i. “modify” — AWS Backint installer will update the global.ini file directly.
ii. “sql” — AWS Backint installer will create a file called modify_global_ini.sql with SQL statements that you can run in your target SAP HANA system to set the required parameters. You can find the modify_global_ini.sql file in the /aws-backint-agent/ folder.
iii. “none” — No action will be taken by AWS Backint installer to modify the global.ini file.
Debug Mode: select “yes” to activate debug mode while running installation & “ no” to run installation in normal mode.
Ensure No Backup In Process: Deactivate automatic HANA backups and select option “yes”. selecting option “no” leads to failure of the Backint installation.
Once AWSSAP-InstallBackint document is run on the HANA Server output looks like below;
Full installation log can be found in below location on SUSE Server;
/var/lib/amazon/ssm/packages/AWSSAP-Backint/1.0/aws-backint-agent-install-<date-time>.log
Verification:
1. Check HANA DB Backup configuration changed to AWS Backint Agent:
2. Run a test backup
From HANA Studio, select the tenant database you would like to backup and make sure you select the destination Type as Backint
the detailed log of backup can be found in below location;
/hana/shared/aws-backint-agent
3. Check Backup file uploaded in S3Bucket:
The backup is stored in specified S3 bucket under the path something like below;
<S3bucketname>/<foldername>/<SID>/usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/hdb/backint/DB_<TenantDBSID>/COMPLETE_DATA_BACKUP_databackup_0_1/BackupID/key_00001_<keyID>
This makes backups less expensive for SAP HANA as there is no need to have a local EBS volume to stage the backup locally and then upload them to S3.
Feedback & comments are welcome !!!
