Installing SUSE 15 SP1 for SAP in a VM

This is third in the series that will end with a proper install of SAP B1 10 on SAP HANA 2.0. The first article was on how to setup a new dedicated Hetzner Server as a base. The second article was on how to install Proxmox on Hetzner server

In this article we will see how to install SUSE 15 SP1 on VM that would then be used a a base to install both SAP B1 version 10 and SAP HANA version 2.0.

VM requirements

SAP HANA is a high-performance in-memory database that speeds data-driven, real-time decisions and actions. As such it has quite heavy system requirements. For the purposes of this article we are using the VM with following specs:

Device	Specs
RAM	128GB
HDD	1TB
CPU Cores	10

VM Creation process

• Create a new VM in Proxmox

• Under General, give a proper name to the VM so that it is easier to locate if you end up having many VMs on the server

• Under OS, choose the right ISO, in this case SLE-15-SP1, for installing

• Under System, all the default settings are fine

• Under Hard Drive, make sure to assign at least 900GB space to the VM, in this case we are assigning 1000GB

• Under CPU, we are assigning 10 CPU cores and most importantly, under CPU Type, we need to set it to Host. This will allow VM to use all the available CPU extensions on the Host CPU. This is required, otherwise you will not be able to install SAP HANA on the VM.

• Under Memory, assign 128GB RAM and 64GB as minimum RAM.

• Under Network, no changes required, all default values are fine.

After a minute or so you’ll find that your new VM has been created, and you can see it under Datacenter -> proxmox -> 100 (saphana2). Right click on 100 (saphana2) and choose Start, then Right click on 100 (saphana2) again and choose Console to see the UI, from where you will install SUSE.

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SUSE Install Process

• Start Install Process by choosing Installation from the boot menu

• Make sure to select SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1

• Accept the License Terms

• You will now be shown the network settings. This is very important screen because if the network is not setup properly then the install of SUSE and SAP software will not proceed. Follow the next few steps to setup the Network properly (in case you are using Hetzner Bare metal server as described in Article 1 and 2). If you are using some other cloud or bare metal provider then hopefully your network will already be setup properly to use DHCP, so you might not need to make changes mentioned here.

The screen below shows the default network setting before you make any changes.

• Press Next to start the network config process.

• In the Network Card Setup, in the Address tab, ensure that:

  • Configuration Name is eth0
  • Statically Assigned IP Address is selected
  • IP: enter one of the free IP address from the additional IP subnet assigned to you, in this case 100.100.100.33
  • Subnet Mask: Make sure its set to 255.255.255.255
  • Hostname: Full FQDN to be assigned as hostname (saphana.example.com shown here). Without this SAP will not get installed

• Press Next to save the above.

Make sure that the settings that you entered are reflected in the Network Settings screen that is shown.

• Important: Make sure to press Hostname/DNS tab and not the Next button

• In this tab, make sure to enter the following:

  • Hostname, enter the first part of the FQDN you entered in last screen, here saphana2 is shown but it should have been saphana
  • Make sure Set Hostname via DHCP is set to no
  • Enter Name Server 1 & 2, it is recommended to use Google DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) but you can also use some other setting like Hetzner DNS, (213.133.98.98, 213.133.99.99, 213.133.100.100)

• Important: Make sure to press Routing tab and not the Next button

• Routing Settings

  • First set the Default IPv4 Gateway to your main IP address, which in this case is 11.11.11.11
  • Device: Make sure its set to eth0
  • Ensure Enable IPv4 Forwarding is checked

Click the Add button and then in the routing table popup add your main IP address i.e. 11.11.11.11 as the Destination while making sure eth0 is selected in the Device

• After adding the entry into the Routing Table, press Next

At this point you will have to enter the Registration Code and its related Email Id of your SUSE License. In case you do not have the license, you can create an Account on SUSE site and then request a trial code from SUSE, from this link, that you can use on this screen.

• Choose Yes to continue

• The next screen is very important as here you need to choose all the software that will be required for proper SAP Install. Make sure to select the following:

1. SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension
2. SUSE Package Hub
3. Basesystem Module
4. Desktop Applications Module
5. Development Tools Module
6. Legacy Module
7. Python 2 Module
8. SAP Applications Module
9. Server Applications Module
10. Web and Systems Module

• Select Next to continue

• The install process will contact SUSE server and register the install

• Make sure to select Trust to get the PnuPG key to procees

• No need to select anything on this screen, just press Next to continue

• Make sure that SLES for SAP Applications is selected and then press Next

• Here unselect the Launch SAP product installation wizard... as we will be installing SAP using the install files we have manually downloaded from SAP site. In case you have SAP install media then you can check this option

• Partitioning is another critical part of the install process. This is what you will see as the default or suggested partitioning. SAP recommends that following partitions be created for SAP to work properly.

Mount Point	Partition Usage	Recommended Partition Size	Our Partition Size
/hana/shared	SAP Installation Path	1 x System RAM	128GB
/hana/data	SAP Data Volume	3 x System RAM	384GB
/hana/log	SAP Log Volume	1 x System RAM	128GB
/usr/sap	SAP System Instance	minimum 50 GB	Remaining space

• Select Expert Partitioner -> Start with Current Proposal

• You will need to create 4 partitions based on the SAP recommendations. To create the partition, click on the Hard Disks and then select Partitions -> Add Partition

• Choose Custom Size and the enter the required Partition Size, 128GiB in this case

• Make sure to choose Data and ISV Applications

• Add the mount location of the Partition under Mount Point, which in this case is /hana/shared

• Do this for process of adding Partitions for all the partitions required by SAP as mentioned above.

• For /usr/sap, you can just allocate whatever HDD space is left, in this case 277.99GiB

• Confirm that all the Partitions are defined as required by SAP and then press Next

• Choose the Timezone by clicking the map and then press Next

• Make sure to give a secure password for the root user and press Next

• Enable ssh under Security as it will be disabled by default

• Verify all the setting are correct before pressing Next to start the install process

• It will take about 5-10 minutes to install SUSE, depending on your server speed. After the install you will be able to log in to the server and start the SAP install proces

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