SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease)

Release Notes

Abstract

This document provides guidance and an overview to high-level general features
and updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 
(prerelease). In addition to architecture- or product-specific information, it
also describes the capabilities and limitations of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease).

This product will be released in June 2025. The latest version of these release
notes is always available at https://www.suse.com/releasenotes. Drafts of the
general documentation can be found at https://susedoc.github.io/doc-slesforsap/
main.

Publication Date: 2024-09-12, Version: 15.7.20240912

1 About the release notes
2 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications
3 Modules, Extensions, and Related Products
4 Changes affecting all architectures
5 New Features, Changes & Fixes
6 Known Issues & Workarounds
7 Obtaining source code
8 Legal notices
A Changelog for 15 SP7 (prerelease)
    A.1 2024-09-12
    A.2 2024-08-05
    A.3 2024-05-15
    A.4 2024-04-17
    A.5 2023-10-19

1 About the release notes

These Release Notes are identical across all architectures, and the most recent
version is always available online at https://www.suse.com/releasenotes.

Entries are only listed once but they can be referenced in several places if
they are important and belong to more than one section.

Release notes usually only list changes that happened between two subsequent
releases. Certain important entries from the release notes of previous product
versions are repeated. To make these entries easier to identify, they contain a
note to that effect.

However, repeated entries are provided as a courtesy only. Therefore, if you
are skipping one or more service packs, check the release notes of the skipped
service packs as well. If you are only reading the release notes of the current
release, you could miss important changes.

2 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) is the
leading Linux platform for SAP HANA, SAP NetWeaver, and SAP S/4HANA
applications that provides optimized performance, reduced downtime, and faster
SAP landscape deployments. It includes features to secure SAP HANA systems and
ease the transition to SAP S/4HANA for systems administrators. SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server for SAP Applications combines SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
and SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability with additional software
specifically meant to simplify running and managing SAP applications. This
document provides an overview of high-level general features, capabilities and
limitations of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 
(prerelease) and important product updates.

2.1 What Is New?

2.1.1 General Changes in SLE 15

Media Changes

    The Unified Installer and Packages DVDs known from SUSE Linux Enterprise
    Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 are deprecated and have been replaced by
    the following media:

      ? Online Installation Media: All SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 products can be
        installed with this stand-alone media, after entering a registration
        key. The necessary packages are fetched from online repositories only.
        For information about available modules, see https://www.suse.com/
        releasenotes/x86_64/SUSE-SLES/15-SP2#Intro.ModuleExtensionRelated

      ? Full Installation Media: All SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
        Applications 15 products can be installed without network connection
        with this media, for offline installation scenarios. The media contains
        all necessary packages. It consists of directories with module
        repositories which need to be added manually as needed. RMT (Repository
        Mirroring Tool) and SUSE Manager provide additional options for
        disconnected or managed installation.

Extended Package Search

    Use the new Zypper command zypper search-packages to search across all SUSE
    repositories available for your product even if they are not yet enabled.
    This functionality makes it easier for administrators and system architects
    to find the software packages needed. To do so, it leverages the SUSE
    Customer Center.

Software Development Kit

    With SLE 15, the Software Development Kit is now integrated into the
    products. Development packages are packaged alongside regular packages.
    Also, the Development Tools module contains the tools for development.

RMT Replaces SMT

    SMT (Subscription Management Tool) has been removed. Instead, RMT
    (Repository Mirroring Tool) now allows mirroring SUSE repositories and
    custom repositories. You can then register systems directly with RMT. In
    environments with tightened security, RMT can also proxy other RMT servers.

Major updates to the software selection:

Salt

    SLE 15 SP7 (prerelease) can be managed via salt to help integration into
    up-to-date management solutions, such as SUSE Manager.

Python 3

    As the first enterprise distribution, SLE 15 offers full support for Python
    3 development besides Python 2.

Directory Server

    389 Directory Server replaces OpenLDAP to provide a sustainable directory
    service.

2.1.2 General Changes in 15 SP7 (prerelease)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease)
introduces changes compared to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
Applications 15 SP6. The most important changes are listed below:

Kernel

    SLE 15 SP7 (prerelease) comes with Kernel 6.4. This new kernel release
    includes upstream features like 16 million new IPv4 addresses, utilization
    clamping support in the task scheduler, power-efficient userspace waiting
    with the umwait x86 instructions and many more.

2.2 Important Sections of This Document

If you are upgrading from a previous SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
Applications release, you should review at least the following sections:

  o Section 2.6, "Support statement for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
    Applications"

2.3 Security, Standards, and Certification

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) has been
submitted to the certification bodies for:

  o FIPS 140-3 validation, see http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/
    140-1/140InProcess.pdf

For more information about certification, see https://www.suse.com/security/
certificates.html.

2.4 Documentation and other information

2.4.1 Available on the product media

  o Read the READMEs on the media.

  o Get the detailed change log information about a particular package from the
    RPM (where FILENAME.rpm is the name of the RPM):

    rpm --changelog -qp FILENAME.rpm

  o Check the ChangeLog file in the top level of the installation medium for a
    chronological log of all changes made to the updated packages.

  o Find more information in the docu directory of the installation medium of
    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease). This
    directory includes PDF versions of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
    Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) Installation Quick Start Guide.

  o Get list of manual pages with usage information about a particular package
    from the RPM (where FILENAME.rpm is the name of the RPM):

    rpm --docfiles -qp FILENAME.rpm | grep man

2.4.2 Online documentation

  o For the most up-to-date version of the documentation for SUSE Linux
    Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease), see https://
    susedoc.github.io/doc-slesforsap/main (draft version).

2.5 Support and lifecycle

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications is backed by award-winning
support from SUSE, an established technology leader with a proven history of
delivering enterprise-quality support services.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications includes Extended Service
Pack Overlay Support (ESPOS). This provides an additional 3 years of support
for each SP following the end of general support. Combined with the standard 6
months overlay, it offers a total of 3.5 years of overlay support after the
launch of the next Service Pack.

For more information, check our Support Policy page https://www.suse.com/
support/policy.html or the Long Term Service Pack Support Page https://
www.suse.com/support/programs/long-term-service-pack-support.html.

2.6 Support statement for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications

To receive support, you need an appropriate subscription with SUSE. For more
information, see https://www.suse.com/support/programs/subscriptions/?id=
SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server_for_SAP_Applications.

The following definitions apply:

L1

    Problem determination, which means technical support designed to provide
    compatibility information, usage support, ongoing maintenance, information
    gathering and basic troubleshooting using available documentation.

L2

    Problem isolation, which means technical support designed to analyze data,
    reproduce customer problems, isolate problem area and provide a resolution
    for problems not resolved by Level 1 or prepare for Level 3.

L3

    Problem resolution, which means technical support designed to resolve
    problems by engaging engineering to resolve product defects which have been
    identified by Level 2 Support.

For contracted customers and partners, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
Applications is delivered with L3 support for all packages, except for the
following:

  o Technology Previews, see Section 2.7, "Technology Previews"

  o Sound, graphics, fonts and artwork

  o Certain packages shipped as part of the module Workstation Extension are
    L2-supported only

  o Packages with names ending in -devel (containing header files and similar
    developer resources) are only supported together with their main packages.

SUSE only supports the usage of original packages. That is, packages that are
unchanged and not recompiled.

2.6.1 General support

To learn about supported features and limitations, refer to the following
sections in this document:

  o Section 5, "New Features, Changes & Fixes"

  o Section 6, "Known Issues & Workarounds"

2.6.2 Software requiring specific contracts

Certain software delivered as part of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
Applications may require an external contract. Check the support status of
individual packages using the RPM metadata that can be viewed with rpm, zypper,
or YaST.

Major packages and groups of packages affected by this are:

  o PostgreSQL (all versions, including all subpackages)

  o sap-convergent-resource-agents

2.6.3 SAP Support Statement

Make sure to also review the SAP Product Availability Matrix and/or SAP Note
2235581 - SAP HANA: Supported Operating Systems for official SAP support and
certification statements.

2.6.4 Software under GNU AGPL

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) (and the
SUSE Linux Enterprise modules) includes the following software that is shipped 
only under a GNU AGPL software license:

  o Ghostscript (including subpackages)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) (and the
SUSE Linux Enterprise modules) includes the following software that is shipped
under multiple licenses that include a GNU AGPL software license:

  o MySpell dictionaries and LightProof

  o ArgyllCMS

2.7 Technology Previews

Technology previews are packages, stacks or features delivered by SUSE which
are not supported. They may be functionally incomplete, unstable or in other
ways not suitable for production use. They are included for your convenience
and give you a chance to test new technologies within an enterprise
environment.

Whether a technology preview becomes a fully supported technology later depends
on customer and market feedback. Technology previews can be dropped at any time
and SUSE does not commit to providing a supported version of such technologies
in the future.

Give your SUSE representative feedback about technology previews, including
your experience and use case.

3 Modules, Extensions, and Related Products

This section comprises information about modules and extensions for SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease). Modules and
extensions add functionality to the system.

3.1 Modules in the SLE 15 SP7 (prerelease) Product Line

The SLE 15 SP7 (prerelease) product line is made up of modules that contain
software packages. Each module has a defined scope. Modules differ in their
life cycles and update timelines.

The modules available within the product line based on SUSE Linux Enterprise
15 SP7 (prerelease) at the release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) are listed in the Modules and Extensions Quick
Start at https://susedoc.github.io/doc-sle/main/html/SLES-modulesquick/ (draft
version).

Not all SLE modules are available with a subscription for SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) itself (see the column 
Available for).

For information about the availability of individual packages within modules,
see https://scc.suse.com/packages.

3.2 Available Extensions

Extensions add extra functionality to the system and require their own
registration key, usually at additional cost. Most extensions have their own
release notes documents that are available from https://www.suse.com/
releasenotes.

The following extensions are available for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP
Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease):

  o SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching: https://www.suse.com/products/
    live-patching

The following extension is not covered by SUSE support agreements, available at
no additional cost, and without an extra registration key:

  o SUSE Package Hub: https://packagehub.suse.com/

3.3 Derived and Related Products

This sections lists derived and related products. Usually, these products have
their own release notes documents that are available from https://www.suse.com/
releasenotes.

  o SUSE Linux Enterprise Server: https://www.suse.com/products/server

  o SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop: https://www.suse.com/products/desktop

  o SUSE Linux Enterprise for High-Performance Computing: https://www.suse.com/
    products/server/hpc

  o SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time: https://www.suse.com/products/realtime

  o SUSE Manager: https://www.suse.com/products/suse-manager

4 Changes affecting all architectures

Information in this section applies to all architectures supported by SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease).

5 New Features, Changes & Fixes

Information in this section applies to all architectures supported by SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 (prerelease) unless noted
otherwise.

5.1 HA for SAP Convergent Mediation

The package sap-convergent-resource-agents ships resource agent (RA) for making
the SAP Convergent Mediation (CM) ControlZone (by Digital Route) highly
available. The RA uses CM's mzsh as interface. See man page
ocd_suse_SAPCMControlZone(7) for details.

This package is supported only in the context of SAP RISE.

5.2 Silence KillMode=None messages

The log level of the deprecation warnings regarding killmode=None have been
reduced. Instead of warning, they are now logged at the debug log level.

5.3 Enriched system visibility in the SUSE Customer Center (SCC)

SUSE is committed to helping provide better insights into the consumption of
SUSE subscriptions regardless of where they are running or how they are
managed; physical or virtual, on-premises or in the cloud, connected to SCC or
Repository Mirroring Tool (RMT), or managed by SUSE Manager. To help you
identify or filter out systems in SCC that are no longer running or
decommissioned, SUSEConnect now features a daily "ping", which updates system
information automatically.

For more details see the documentation at https://documentation.suse.com/
subscription/suseconnect/single-html/SLE-suseconnect-visibility/.

5.4 SAPHanaSR-angi: SAP HANA SR - Advanced Next Generation Interface

SAPHanaSR-angi is "SAP HANA SR - Advanced Next Generation Interface" for SUSE
high availabilty clusters to manage SAP HANA databases with system replication.
Goal of SAPHanaSR-angi is consolidating and finally replacing the SAPHanaSR and
SAPHanaSR-ScaleOut packages. Nevertheless, CIB attributes are not backward
compatible between SAPHanaSR-angi and SAPHanaSR or SAPHanaSR-ScaleOut.
Upgrading from SAPHanaSR or SAPHanaSR-ScaleOut requires a certain procedure,
see man page SAPHanaSR_upgrade_to_angi(7) for details. New deployments should
be done with SAPHanaSR-angi, see man page SAPHanaSR-angi(7) for further
information.

6 Known Issues & Workarounds

This is a list of known issues for this release.

6.1 Workarounds to Enable SAP HANA Workloads on Intel Optane DC Memory

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 supports Intel Optane DC
persistent memory. This enables SAP workloads, such as SAP HANA to benefit from
persistent memory This shortens start times of the system and provides better
system stability.

From a file system perspective, the XFS file system is supported for persistent
memory, with SAP HANA running in DAX mode. Make sure to also check the SAP
instructions for using persistent memory with SAP HANA. SUSE is working closely
with SAP on future developments.

If there are pmem namespaces, these need to be destroyed before the
installation. To mount persistent memory directly on boot, the respective
entries need to be added to /etc/fstab, for example:

/dev/pmem0    /mnt/pmem0    xfs    dax    0  0
/dev/pmem1    /mnt/pmem1    xfs    dax    0  0

Namespaces need to be created individually. Execute the following command for
each namespace you want to create:

ndctl create-namespace --mode=fsdax --map=dev

Because the systemd and udev default timeout may be too short for large memory
setups to become usable, your system may run into a timeout and the boot
process may stop with an emergency shell. To prevent this from happening,
increase the timeout to 1200 seconds. Create the file /etc/systemd/system/
systemd-udev-settle.service.d/00-override.conf with the following content:

[Service]
TimeoutSec=1200s
ExecStart=/usr/bin/udevadm settle -t 300

Important

Important

In an earlier version of this document, we recommended mounting persistent
memory with the nofail option in /etc/fstab. This frequently required a manual
mount of pmem devices on reboot. To automatically mount pmem file systems after
reboot, we strongly recommend removing the nofail option and modifying the
timeout value as described above.

7 Obtaining source code

This SUSE product includes materials licensed to SUSE under the GNU General
Public License (GPL). The GPL requires SUSE to provide the source code that
corresponds to the GPL-licensed material. The source code is available for
download at https://www.suse.com/download/sle-sap/ on Medium 2. For up to three
years after distribution of the SUSE product, upon request, SUSE will mail a
copy of the source code. Send requests by e-mail to sle_source_request@suse.com
. SUSE may charge a reasonable fee to recover distribution costs.

8 Legal notices

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Further, SUSE makes no representations or warranties with regard to any
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Copyright (C) 2010-2024 SUSE LLC.

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A Changelog for 15 SP7 (prerelease)

A.1 2024-09-12

A.1.1 New

  o Initial SP7 release

A.2 2024-08-05

A.2.1 New

  o Section 5.1, "HA for SAP Convergent Mediation" (Jira)

      ? Also add the package to the list in Section 2.6.2, "Software requiring
        specific contracts"

A.2.2 Updated

  o Section 2.1, "What Is New?" has been split into Codestream- and SP-specific
    changes (Bugzilla)

A.3 2024-05-15

A.3.1 Updated

  o Changed Section 2.3, "Security, Standards, and Certification" to say that
    15 SP7 (prerelease) will be submitted for certification

A.4 2024-04-17

A.4.1 Updated

  o Changed the wording of the support statement in Section 2.5, "Support and
    lifecycle":

      ? Removed the erroneous phrase "full support"

      ? Clarified the total of 3.5 years

  o Changed kernel version to 6.4 throughout the document (Bugzilla)

A.4.2 Removed

  o Removed erroneous listing of Common Criteria from Section 2.3, "Security,
    Standards, and Certification"

A.5 2023-10-19

A.5.1 New

  o Initial 15 SP7 (prerelease) release

(C) 2024 SUSE

