This blog contains experience gained over the years of implementing (and de-implementing) large scale IT applications/software.

Java 8 SE – I Just Removed It

Remove Java 8 SE

I have just removed Java 8 SE from my computer.
I wrote a blog post a while back about how Oracle was changing the way it licenses the Java virtual machine 8 Standard Edition (SE).
You can read it here: SAP JVM and the Oracle Java SE 8 Licensing Confusion

At the time of the post, it was not very clear how the license changes were going to impact the use of the Java 8 SE virtual machine.

What’s Changed?

Briefly, at the end of January 2019, Oracle have essentially now stopped free updates to the Java 8 SE for non-personal customers.
This means that you as a personal user can continue to update Java 8 SE, but as a corporate user you may only apply updates to Java 8 SE if you have purchased a subscription to receive the updates.

I’m a Corporate User

If you are a corporate user of the Oracle 8 SE, unless you have a subscription, you can no longer update Java 8 SE.
If you wish to remain secure and remove security risks from your computers, you should de-install it if you do not want to purchase a subscription from Oracle.
If you do not uninstall Java 8 SE, but continue to update it, and you are audited by Oracle, then you may need to pay for a subscription.

Can Oracle Audit Me?

The Java 8 SE auto-update application now displays a prompt on machines that have the auto-update enabled and that have an internet connection.
If you choose to “Install” (you already have it installed) then at that point Oracle deem that you have accepted the license agreement and they can audit your company for the use of Oracle products.

How Do I Remove Java 8 SE?

For me it was easy.
My Java 8 SE installation has the auto-update function enabled, so it simply told me the license terms had changed and offered me the button to simply remove it. So I did.

You may need to uninstall it from within the Windows program uninstallation tool within Windows Control Panel.
Your IT teams may have already started the removal process automatically.

What If I Need an Up-to-date Java 8 VM?

If you need a Java 8 JVM, you can move to an open source version of Java, such as OpenJDK, or a number of others.

For SAP customers wanting to run their SAP tools, you can actually use the SAPJVM for use with your SAP tools such as SAP Software Download Manager, SAP HANA Studio, SAP ABAP tools on Eclipse and other Java based tools.

How Do I Download SAPJVM?

Downloading the SAPJVM is simple.
Take a look at SAP note 1442124 “How to download a SAP JVM patch from the SMP”.


References:

https://www.it-implementor.co.uk/2019/01/sap-jvm-and-oracle-java-se-8-licensing.html
https://blogs.oracle.com/java-platform-group/extension-of-oracle-java-se-8-public-updates-and-java-web-start-support
upperedge.com/oracle/top-3-reasons-oracle-java-users-are-unknowingly-out-of-compliance/
www.oracle.com/downloads/licenses/binary-code-license.html www.oracle.com/downloads/licenses/javase-license1.html www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/terms/oaa.html

SAP SLD Change Log Cleanup Table Reorg

When you apply changes or content updates to the SLD (system landscape directory) in SAP, the change log grows.
It’s possible to see the change log entries from the SLD administrator page.
Due to this growth, the underlying database table will benefit from reorganisation at some point.
In our scenario, this was on DB2.
We decided to run the cleanup, but first here was the size of the table BC_SLD_CHANGELOG:

db2prd> db2 “SELECT TABNAME, NPAGES FROM SYSCAT.TABLES
ORDER BY NPAGES DESC”
TABNAME                       NPAGES
—————————- ——————–
BC_SLD_CHANGELOG              14162
BC_SLD_INST                   12830
J2EE_CONFIGENTRY              5870
BC_SLD_ASSINST                3905
EP_ATTR_VALUES3               3082
J2EE_CONFIG                   2163
DBH_STG_PKG_CACHE_METRICS     1421
SYSCOLDIST                    1193

Then delete the change log in https://<server>/sld
Select “Administration -> Maintenance -> Clean Up Change Log -> Remove Entries”.
I then scheduled a standard job to do this work from the “Cleanup Task Configuration” tab.
Finally, reorg the following tables to release the space:

db2 “REORG INDEXES ALL FOR TABLE SAPPODDB.BC_SLD_CHANGELOG”

db2 “runstats on table SAPPODDB.BC_SLD_CHANGELOG AND INDEXES ALL”

db2 “SELECT TABNAME, NPAGES FROM SYSCAT.TABLES WHERE TABNAME = ‘BC_SLD_CHANGELOG'”

TABNAME                       NPAGES
—————————- ——————–
BC_SLD_CHANGELOG              1205

That’s it.

Drop a SAP DB2 10.1 Database & Remove Instance

In case you have installed an IBM DB2 database instance using the SAP Software Provisioning Manager, and you would now like to remove this database and the DB2 software installation (SAP DB instance), then here’s a quick method:

As db2<sid>:

db2<sid> # db2stop
db2<sid> # db2 drop database
Then as root:

# cd /db2/db2<sid>/db2_software/instance
# ./db2idrop db2<sid>

# cd /db2/db2<sid>/db2_software/install
# ./db2_deinstall -a

Finally, remove DB related directories (if necessary):

# rm -rf /db2/<SID>/db2dump/*
# rm -rf /db2/<SID>/log_dir/*
# rm -rf /db2/<SID>/*archlogs/*

SAP HANA – Migrate Statistics Server 1917938

Since SAP note “1917938 – Migration of statistics server with upgrade to SPS 7” seems to be going missing rather a lot, I’ve noted the content here for reference based on v10 05-05-2014.

If you do not monitor or administrate the upgraded SAP HANA database with the DBA Cockpit or Solution Manager, you can activate the new statistics server. If the DBA Cockpit or Solution Manager is active, you are only allowed to activate the new statistics server if you observe SAP Note 1925684.

A configuration change is required to activate the new statistics server:

nameserver.ini -> [statisticsserver]->active=true

The data held in the persistence of the statistics server is now transferred to the persistence of the master index server. At the end of the migration, the statistics server is automatically stopped and removed from the database configuration (topology). The functions of the statistics server are distributed to other services.

The migration of the statistics server is carried out without interrupting the backup history, which means that data and log backups created before the migration can still be used to restore the SAP HANA database.

The HANA instance must not be restarted during the migration.
The migration is completed when no statisticsserver process is running in the HANA instance.
It is not necessary to restart the HANA instance following the migration.

HowTo: Disable HANA Web Dispatcher

Scenario: The SAP HANA Web Dispatcher seems to be automatically running in HANA 1.0 SPS70.  I am supposing that this is mainly for the XS-Engine.

If you have already removed the XS-Engine (see my post here), then you can also disable the Web Dispatcher as follows (this will save around 300MB of memory).

From HANA Studio, change the daemon.ini configuration parameter “sapwebdisp -> instances” to “0” for your host(s):

HANA sapwebdisp instances

Restart the HANA instance.
The Web Dispatcher process will be no longer present:

HANA processes no sapwebdisp

No more Web Dispatcher.