New – AWS Systems Manager for SAP Configuration Management: Automated Best Practice Validation for SAP HANA

Today, we are announcing AWS Systems Manager for SAP Configuration Management, a new AWS System Manager for SAP feature that lets you validate your SAP HANA database configurations against the SAP Lens of AWS Well-Architected Framework and AWS for SAP Technical Documentation. This feature enables customers to identify potential misconfiguration and ensure optimal performance, security, and reliability of their SAP HANA workloads on AWS.

SAP applications are critical for enterprises, powering their core business processes from finance to supply chain. While AWS provides a robust foundation for running these applications, SAP administrators must review extensive documentation from AWS, SAP, and operating system vendors to maintain optimal configurations. This validation process is complex and time-consuming, often requiring deep technical expertise. To help streamline this process, AWS Systems Manager for SAP now offers Configuration Checks – a feature focused on SAP on AWS specific configurations that provides automated validation of key settings with minimal setup. The checks are logically grouped to provide context and include references to detailed documentation, helping administrators maintain their SAP environments effectively.

AWS Systems Manager for SAP Configuration Management simplifies this process by providing automated configuration validation capabilities. At launch, it offers three key configuration checks:

1. SAP EC2 Instance Type Selection: Checks any Amazon EC2 Instances Associated with this SAP HANA Application, and evaluates whether the Instance Type is certified for running SAP applications and that necessary hardware settings are in place.
2. SAP HANA EBS Storage Configuration: Checks Amazon EBS Storage Configuration and SAP HANA file system setup on Amazon EC2 Instances against AWS recommended storage configuration.
3. SAP HANA Pacemaker Configuration: Checks Pacemaker Cluster Configuration for SAP HANA databases configured with High Availability

Each check provides a comprehensive assessment of a specific configuration area through a set of individual rules. These rules evaluate different aspects of your configuration, with each rule returning a status of OKAY, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, or UNKNOWN. The checks are tailored to the particular feature providing guidance on expected values, reference links or remediation guidance via relevant technical documentation. To support these checks, we have refreshed our technical documentation for SAP HANA storage configuration and Pacemaker high availability setup to provide additional clarity and align with current best practices.

This approach helps customers prevent configuration-related issues, reduce manual verification effort, and maintain compliance with AWS and SAP standards while quickly identifying and resolving any misconfiguration.

Getting Started

To get started with AWS System Manager for SAP Configuration Manager, first register your SAP HANA databases with systems manager for SAP. This registration is required before you can evaluate application configurations against best practices

Getting started is simple. After registering your SAP HANA databases with AWS Systems Manager for SAP, from the AWS Management Console, navigate to the AWS Systems Manager —> Application Manager. In the search field, select Application source as SAP to quickly locate your registered SAP HANA systems. Select the SAP HANA application you want to evaluate, then click the ‘Actions’ drop down menu and choose ‘SAP check configuration’.

On the configuration checker page, you’ll see a list of available checks for your SAP HANA application. You can select one or multiple checks to run against your system. By selecting Run check, you can initiate the configuration check process. Within minutes, you’ll see the results of the evaluation, complete with detailed references used for validation. If any misconfigurations are detected, you’ll also receive guidance on how to resolve them, making it easy to maintain your SAP HANA system’s optimal performance and reliability.

Each configuration check consists of multiple sub-checks that thoroughly evaluate different aspects of your HANA system. You can review these sub-checks individually, making it easier to prioritize and address specific configuration items.

Using the ‘Evaluated’ dropdown menu, you can access configuration check results from the past 30 days to monitor how your configurations have changed over time. You can use this historical view to verify remediation actions and evaluate the impact of system changes, such as SAP HANA upgrades or operating system patches. This feature helps you maintain a record of your configuration state and system improvements.

As applications can drift from best practices over time, it’s important to regularly validate your configurations. AWS Systems Manager Configuration Management for SAP enables automated scheduling of configuration checks using a simple API call. You can integrate this command into any scheduler of your choice (like cron, AWS Systems Manager State Manager):

aws ssm-sap start-configuration-checks --application-id <your-application-id> --check-ids <check-id-1> <check-id-2>

This new capability serves as your configuration assessment companion, helping identify potential misconfigurations in your SAP HANA systems and providing the necessary guidance for resolution. While remediation remains in your control, the detailed insights and documentation references enable your team to make informed configuration decisions and maintain system optimization over time.

Availability and pricing

AWS Systems Manager Configuration Management for SAP is now available in all regions where Systems Manager for SAP is supported. The service is priced on a pay-as-you-go basis at $0.25 per configuration check run per application, with no upfront commitments or minimum fees. This transparent pricing model allows you to run configuration checks as needed while maintaining cost control

Conclusion

In this blog post, we introduced AWS Systems Manager for SAP Configuration Manager, a new capability that helps you evaluate your SAP HANA configurations against best practices. You learned how to use Configuration Manager through the AWS Systems Manager Application Manager console to assess your SAP HANA database configurations, view detailed check results, and track configuration changes over time. This feature complements existing SAP operational capabilities in Systems Manager, providing you with a comprehensive solution to manage, monitor, and optimize your SAP workloads on AWS. To get started with Configuration Manager, register your SAP applications with AWS Systems Manager for SAP and begin evaluating your configurations today. For more information, visit the AWS Systems Manager for SAP documentation page.