Tips & tricks for an optimized HANA 2.0, express edition installation on an Intel 6th generation NUC

[architectSAP]

To start with, I install VMware ESXi on my Intel NUC6i5SYK (which is not much larger than a Rasperry Pi with an USB WiFi Dongle attached to it):



For this I fit a Crucial 32GB (16GBx2) DDR4 2133 MT/s (PC4-17000) SODIMM 260-Pin Memory Kit and a Samsung 500GB 850 EVO M.2 SSD.

Next I could just deploy the HANA 2.0, express edition Server + applications virtual machine, but that is a 12 GB download and does not allow a fully qualified host name for the XS advanced applications.

Therefore, I am using an alternative approach, similar to Upgrade your HANA, express edition to HANA 2, and start with installing the HANA, express edition Server only virtual machine. For this I use the VMware OVF Tool:



And follow the progress in my VMware ESXi Embedded Host Client:



Since this is a small virtual machine, the deployment does not take long, and to prepare for the subsequent Server + applications installation, I increase the memory and add a second drive onto which I will mount the data volumes later:



I then start the virtual machine, secure the installation, and connect to it with HANA Studio to stop the database for uninstallation:



Uninstalling the HANA, express edition is straight forward and does not take long:



Before I restart the system, I change the hostname to a fully qualified one, that I had previously reserved with Dyn to avoid having to edit any hosts files and especially to set a signed certificate for my XSA applications later as well:



After a restart, I sFTP the two HANA 2.0, express edition binary installer files for the Server only Installer and the Applications to the /tmp folder of my virtual machine (do NOT use a folder under /root since the installation would fail reproducibly due to an authorization issue!):



Next, I extract both archives:





And start the installation:



As a result, I got a fully working HANA 2.0, express edition Server + applications system that I can connect to with the XS Advanced Command-Line Client and set a signed SSL certificate (please check SAP Note 2243019 - Providing SSL certificates for domains defined in SAP HANA extended application s... to ensure that your key and certificate are in the required format – if they were not, this is a guide How to convert a certificate into the appropriate format😞



If you were interested in the details of this step, please check out my respective blog Providing OpenSSL certificates for domains defined in HANA XSA.

Since I have to restart my system for these changes to take effect anyway, I use this opportunity to mount the data volumes to the second virtual disk I had created earlier.

First I check, to which device my new virtual disk has been mapped to:



Then I create a primary partition:



And format it with xfs:



As a result, I can mount my device and move the data volumes onto it (please remember to sudo each command ;):



To automatically mount the device after a restart, I add a respective configuration line to /etc/fstab:



After a restart I am rewarded with a nice disk layout:



And a secure login to my XSA applications without the need for any hosts file modifications: