SAP PAPM Cloud SM integration with SAP cTMS

[Paulo_Moncada]

At the moment, we can export and download as an environment content zip file using Content Management from SAP Profitability and Performance Management Cloud Standard Model (SAP PaPM Cloud SM) application, then upload and import the content into the subsequent tenant.

Although this feature remains functional, we observe that certain content managers are seeking an extra capability to control the movement of environments between, for example, DEV and PROD, who will adhere to audit norms. We heard you!

Therefore, in this blogpost allow me to introduce you to the much-awaited integration of SAP PaPM Cloud SM and SAP Cloud Transport Management (SAP cTMS)

What is SAP cTMS?

SAP Cloud Transport Management service (cTMS) lets you manage software deliverables between accounts of different environments (such as Cloud Foundry, ABAP, and Neo), by transporting them across various runtimes. This includes application artifacts as well as their respective application-specific content and adds transparency to the audit trail of changes so that you get information about who performed which changes in your production environment, and when they did it.

To understand more about cTMS, you can visit What Is SAP Cloud Transport Management?

Before we proceed further, as an admin/content manager you need to take note of these important points:

1. SAP cTMS will not replace the existing Content Management; however, it will serve as an additional flavor for content managers when managing the content between tenants/
2. SAP cTMS application is NOT included or bundled with SAP PaPM Cloud SM, therefore it is important to consider this information before deciding to use cTMS.
3. A single cTMS subscription can be shared across multiple sub-accounts. For instance, a single Cloud Transport Management instance can be assigned as a new Destination in SAP BTP Cockpit for two or more different PaPM subaccounts from which you wish to export environments, such as PaPM Source_A, PaPM Source_B, and so on.

Let us imagine an example company that uses SAP PaPM Cloud SM and has three stages: Development, Test, and Production. This company has developed a new environment in the development stage, and now it needs to transport it into the test stage and, after successful testing, into the production stage. SAP cTMS can be used for precisely this purpose.

Let’s begin!

In your SAP PaPM Cloud SM application inside Content Management, you might be surprised to see the Transport Environment icon is disabled, even though you have an admin role with write access in your user.

The Transport Environment icon will be enabled once cTMS has been successfully subscribed to and configured. After setting up cTMS, you must create a landscape with nodes and routes, which will define the flow of how environments are transported.

For detailed instructions on how to set up the integration use SAP PAPM Cloud’s Admin Guide.

In this simple example, I created a landscape with transport nodes and routes. One virtual node named DEV_Node and two non-virtual nodes named TEST_Node and PROD_Node in cTMS.

The environment is first exported from the PaPM source tenant to the Virtual Node (DEV_Node). The virtual node functions as an object / transport group that bundles the environment before sending it to a specific target tenant. The idea is for the virtual node to transfer the environment to the first target tenant: TEST_Node and once this transfer is successful, the environment can then be moved to the next tenant: PROD_Node.

Now, I will walk you through the steps to perform environment transport using cTMS, based on the environment flow outlined in the above created landscape.

1. In your SAP PaPM Cloud SM application inside Content Management, choose Transport Environment icon
2. Select an environment that you want to transport
3. Then choose CONFIRM
4. In the Export to Cloud Transport Management dialog, choose the Transport Node. In this case, our virtual node DEV_Node
5. Then choose EXPORT

NOTE: The transport node dropdown option will only display the nodes that are configured with the option Allow Upload to Nodes set to "Yes". For more information, see Create Transport Nodes.

Once successfully exported, the environment will now appear as a blob (Transport Request) in the DEV_Node Import queue. Since DEV_Node has a Forward Mode = Manual, there will be no automatic forwarding of transport requests to target tenants. However, if you wish to do it automatically, the options Pre-Import, Post-Import, or On Success can be maximized depending on your requirements.

Now in your SAP cTMS:

1. Choose DEV_Node and go to the node’s import queue.
2. Choose a transport request
3. Then choose Import Selected
   💡Alternatively, you can use the 'Import All' option as multiple transport requests can be selected and imported simultaneously
4. Choose OK if you approve the transport from this source node into the next node or target tenant
5. Choose the transport request and choose Forward
6. Then choose OK

This will then forwarded the environment content from DEV_Node into TEST_Node.

To validate if the transport is successful, go to TEST_Node and go to the node’s import queue. The same transport request number should be moved and visible in the queue.

1. Choose the transport request
2. Choose Import Selected
3. Then choose OK if you approve the transport to this target node

Depending on how you configured the URL in the destination, the content will either be imported or uploaded to the target PaPM Cloud Standard Model application.

Import	Use import in the URL if you want the environment to be automatically created as new in the target tenant during Cloud Transport Management import. Example: https://<PaPMServiceKey.url>/sap/opu/odata/NXI/tms/import ⚠️ This will overwrite any existing environment with the same environment ID and version
Upload	Use upload in the URL if you want the environment to be only uploaded to the Content Management application of SAP Profitability and Performance Cloud Standard Model as a ZIP file, without immediate import. In this case, you need to manually import the environment later. Example: https://<PaPMServiceKey.url>/sap/opu/odata/NXI/tms/upload

For this example, I used the “import” option in the URL, therefore the same Environment ID and Version has been created automatically in my Test tenant’s Environment (Main) Screen and there is no environment content uploaded in Content Management Screen. For “upload” option though, once you choose Forward, the environment content will first be uploaded to Content Management and you can then manually import the content.

After all the activities are finished in Test stage, you can perform the same steps to forward the environment content from Test into Production. That easy!

I hope this blogpost helped you with this additional option to have a smoother and secured transfer of environment contents from your source tenant to your target tenants with the help of cTMS integrated to your SAP PaPM Cloud – Standard Model.