SAP ABAP Platform 1909, Developer Edition: See New Blog Post

[julieplummer20]

Update, 31st July, 2023

Dear all,

This version of the developer edition has now been superceded by this one:

https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blogs-by-sap/abap-cloud-developer-trial-2022-available-now/b... 

Please bookmark that one for all updates, comments, feedback etc.

Introduction

ABAP Platform 1909 At A Glance

 

The ABAP Platform on SAP HANA 2.0 provides a great platform for trying out the ABAP language and toolset. It is extensively pre-configured with Fiori launchpad, SAP Cloud Connector, SAP Java Virtual Machine, pre-configured backend /frontend connections, roles, and sample applications.

This solution is intended for two groups of developers:

• Non-ABAP developers, who are interested in learning more about the ABAP language and development tools

• ABAP developers, who are interested in learning about version 7.54

Additional products and material: SAPGUI for Windows / SAPGUI for Java, Readme, miniSAP License

All available in SAP Developers Trials and Downloads .

 

SAP Cloud Appliance Library (CAL) appliance template, version 1909

As an alternative to the developer edition on Docker, we are now also offering this as a CAL appliance template.

15th May, 2023

We have now released SP07 of this version, available here:

SAP ABAP Platform 1909 SP07, developer edition as CAL appliance template

Highlights of the 1909 Edition

ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP)

ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model – The Big Picture

The ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (short: RAP) offers developers an efficient way to build enterprise-ready, SAP HANA-optimized, OData-based Fiori UI services and Web APIs in the cloud as well as on-premise. It is the evolutionary successor to the ABAP Programming Model for SAP Fiori.

To make it easier for you to get started, we have also added the demo and training data model, the ABAP Flight Reference Scenario.

For more information, see:

• The blog post Getting Started with the ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP), by carine.tchoutouodjomo

• The SAP Help Portal: ABAP RESTful  Application Programming Model

Git-Enabled Change and Transport System (gCTS)

gCTS = CTS + git

A new way of transporting objects, gCTS enables you to use Git to store your ABAP development objects. gCTS makes use of special Git features, such as working on local copies of a central remote Git repository. Software development takes place in the usual editors like ABAP Development Tools (ADT). Changes to objects are still recorded in transport requests. Current states of objects can be pushed to remote Git repositories, either by releasing a transport request or while you’re working.’

For more general information on gCTS, see this blog post: gCTS is here, by karin.spiegel

For the official documentation overview, see: Git-Enabled Change and Transport System

The official documentation for configuration, Configuring Git-enabled Change and Transport System contains three steps. However, we have preconfigured the first two, so you only have to complete the third,  Configure Repositories.

Some certificates are already available. If you would like to connect to your own GitHub server or to a provider other than github.com, you have to add the appropriate certificates to the ABAP system in transaction STRUST. The configuration has been done for the default user ‘DEVELOPER’.

To get started with gCTS, simply open the gCTS app in the SAP Fiori Launchpad (FLP).

If you are a SAP customer, partner, or employee, the following SAP Note provides additional information: SAP Note: 2821718 . However, the essential configuration has already been done for everyone.

Custom Code Migration with the ABAP Test Cockpit (ATC)

We actually introduced this in AS ABAP 7.52 SP04, Developer Edition and it was very popular, so we decided to include it again. Basically,we’ve preconfigured the developer edition to run as a central check system for those checks. You can test this out of the box locally in SAP ADT, then configure the rest of your landscape to work with it.

This is particularly useful for SAP S/4HANA Readiness Checks and SAP Cloud Readiness Check.

For more general information on ATC, see these two excellent blogs, by olga.dolinskaja:

• Remote Code Analysis in ATC

• ATC in ABAP Development Tools (ADT)

SAP Cloud Connector

SAP Cloud Connector

SAP Cloud Connector provides a link between SAP Cloud Platform applications and on-premise systems. It runs as on-premise agent in a secured network; acts as a reverse invoke proxy between the on-premise network and SAP Cloud Platform; and lets you use existing on-premise assets without exposing the entire internal landscape.

If you are interested in connecting your developer edition with a licensed version of SAP Cloud Platform, ABAP Environment (aka "Steampunk"), I have written a tutorial mission on this: Connect Your On-Premise System with SAP Cloud Platform, ABAP Environment

For more information, see:

• SAP Help Portal, SAP Cloud Platform Connectivity: SAP Cloud Connector

• SAP Community blog post (third-party content): SAP Cloud Platform Cloud Connector – A Brief Guide for Beginners

abapGit

Yes, abapGit is available out of the box.

Documentation is here: abapGit Documentation

If you are not yet familiar with abapGit, this post by Graham Robinson is a great introduction, with how-to videos:

abapGit So Easy

Other Highlights of ABAP Platform 1909: Overview

Blog post: ABAP Platform for SAP S/4HANA 1909, from October 2019, by olga.dolinskaja

Official slide deck for ABAP Platform in SAP S/4HANA 1909 – Overview and Product Highlights.

Troubleshooting

From now on, please DO NOT post a blog comment if you require troubleshooting.

Why?

• Very few people follow these blog posts, so you will not get help from the vast majority of the community

• It makes it difficult for other users to find similar issues in future, which leads to many duplicated errors

• There is no capacity to monitor all blogs for all released versions

A. If it's a problem downloading the files, rather than installing the downloaded files, please try the following:

1. Delete your cache.

1. Try a different browser.

1. If that fails, please email SCNContent [at]sap[dot]com, with:
   - User ID
   - User IP
   - Date, Time, Time zone, and location (country) of attempted downloads
   - screenshot of the error
   - URL of download
   - Note: URL must be in the form: (https://www.sap.com/registration/trial.GUID1.html?id=guid2&external-site=GUID3)

B. If it's a problem while you are using the developer edtion, please post on the ABAP Development forum : ABAP Development: Ask a Question , using the hashtag #ABAP_Trial.

I have also started compiling FAQ and Troubleshooting – so if you have any questions, please check there first.

Thank you for your understanding.

Update, 19th March, 2021: André Fischer has written a short blog post: How to gracefully shutdown your SAP ABAP Platform Developer Edition when shutting down Windows

 

Guides and Tutorials

If you’re not sure where to start with your new system, we have written several tutorials.

FAQ and Troubleshooting also contains some info on Cookbook-style projects, where Community members have described projects involving different versions of the developer edition.

Enjoy!

[julieplummer20]

Hi Martin,

No it's not daft. Breaking SAP Compliance standards would arguably be daft :-).

These exist because a tiny handful of actors are malevolent.

Also, not all users are experts at setting up their environment.

I understand the frustration.

However, we can't go faster by cutting corners.

Sorry. I'll be delighted to broadcast the re-release of 1909 as soon as possible.

Best wishes,

Julie Plummer, SAP SE.

 

[julieplummer20]

Hi Philipp,

I apologise but not yet. I will post at the top of this blog post as soon as there is any new information.

Best wishes,

Julie.

[julieplummer20]

Hi Markus,

Just to be clear: There were no issues specific to log4j.

What has happened is that SAP's Compliance and Program Management standards have evolved.

Therefore, we need to ensure that we are compliant with the new standards.

I will post at the top of this blog post as soon as there is any new information.

I apologise for the inconvenience.

Best wishes,

Julie Plummer.

[MarkusRest]

Dear Julie,

your own statement from December 21 reads:

Hi Gaurav,

The Docker image is temporarily unavailable, due to the worldwide log4j issue.

It does not appear that the Docker image is affected, but we need to analyze this independently, before we restore it on Docker Hub.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[emphasizes done by me]
It hasn't come up since, so the initial takedown was because of the log4j issue.

After all the situation for devs is:

• No gCTS or S/4 testsystem, that does come without cost (And NO! the "free" Dev solution from SAP Cloud still costs real money, because I have to pay to AWS/Azure/Google/...)
• In many OpenSAP and SAP Courses the missing docker is referenced as a good learning opportunity

If the SAP's Compliance and Program Management standards have evolved, thats totally fine for the next ABAP Dev Container 2109 or 2209, but after log4j is not the issue anymore I dont see any reason to not upload the 1909 container again.
Thankfully I can still download the 7.51 and 7.52 dev trials to test some things, and they may not meet the evolved standards either.

ABAP Devs all around the world are now waiting for over six months for the container to be available. We, as the developers, need to learn this things! Because we are the ones telling consultants and controllers about new and exciting features and possibilities we need to provide better tested and faster deployed (CI/CD !!!!) results.

Does SAP want to get rid of all ABAP developers, who are interested in new technologies?

Best wishes

Markus

[dmcardlenl]

Hi Julie,

 

"the re-release of 1909"

 

Does this mean that BOTH 1909 and 2020 will be available when the time is right?

 

Regards,

Declan.

 

[pascalrode]

Difference between Docker Image and Version in SAP Cal (Cloud Appliance Library)? 

I would like to know what is the difference between the version as Docker image and the one available in SAP Cal. It seems that this one can also be launched as an instance without any restriction so far. I would obviously not like to ensure with my question that this version is also no longer available. However, I wonder if the same reasons apply here with the associated risks as for the Docker version.

Regards,
Pascal

[max_vweienborn]

Hi Julie, last update is almost three month old. Is there anything new? Thanks! Max

[GHashiguchi]

Hi Julie, do you know when we could receive any news about this? I was hoping to use this for self-study.

Thanks.

[former_member204783]

Hi Julie,

Any news about the new release ?

Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Karim

[MBartsch71]

Hi Guillermo,

I think you can bury this topic. It seems that SAP doesn’t have anymore the intention to support the developers in this way.

There only focus lies on the cloud solutions. Everything On-Premise or local is dead.

Kind regards

Matthias

[GHashiguchi]

Hi Matthias,

Thanks for your answer, but i really hope you're wrong. Testing and learning abap in your own local server without all the limitations of cloud would be fantastic, but at the end, i think you're right.

Regards.

Guillermo

[TomHoepping]

From a Dev/Ops perspective this docker image is quite interesting - so I really hope there will be some update on this. But yeah, it looks like as you're right.  Bests Tom

[Hyuk_Oh]

..

[JaimeRodriguez]

"product standards at SAP have evolved"

Translator SAP -> English

"if it is not a cloud product, it is dead for us"

[bztoy]

I hope SAP will make it clear soon.

It doesn't matter that SAP would prefer customer choose cloud solution over On-Prim but from developer point of view, local development tools is still very important especially for new tech stack like this which we have to spend a lot of time to learn them.

when SAP suddenly dropped this image on Docker Hub, I thought Oh that just because Docker has changed their policy and SAP had to adjust something to compile with those new restrictions but it seems my thought was wrong.

If SAP would like to help developer to have more chance to learn and play with their tech stack, podman is another good choice if Docker has limitation.

It is a bit difficult for me to afford a bill if I have create an instance on cloud provider to run  ABAP 1909 there.

I hope SAP will listen to a little voice and help us to continue have container image of ABAP development.

[dmitry_yudin]

Hello.
I was getting the error "HDB license has expired" when I was starting my image - and it took me some time before I understood that I should be using HDB - SAP HANA Platform Edition (64GB) option in the link you provided  https://go.support.sap.com/minisap/#/minisap

Do you think you could alter the description in the top?

[Attila]

Dear Julie,

as we understood, there will be no more new local versions of ABAP Develeopr editions available: Unfortunately, these standards apply to all locally installed delivery formats.

Do we have any alternative ? Will be new Developer Editions above 1909 published on CAL ?

At the moment the only option is to keep track the evolution of ABAP, and jump in as ABAPer is the BTP ABAP Trial Environment. It was closed recently on EU then moved again to US. One hand lot of developers who like to learn ABAP or keep and improve their skills with new ABAP need a stable system, on the other hand it would be good that not everyone is put into a big Trial ABAP system like in the Cloud. There are plenty of objects from all around the world, often with collision and different needs of some ABAP tooling with different versions. Our objects BTW not protected from changes by others. This developer edition was a basic need to make usage of ABAP wider in the development universe. I started with developer editions around 15 years ago, and now this line is cut. Without that I could not be an ABAP developer today.  I know plenty of university students in our country, who is using this safe approach to not bother others, and not get bothered having their own system, when they are prototyping and learning. And this does not the need to have CAL subscription and pay cloud fees.

Thank You, if You can provide us alternatives with Ralf, to have a private developer edition with the latest ABAP to learn, which might not realized by Your team.

Kind regards
Attila , an expert developer who is also a student when it comes to new technologies

[ralf_henning]

Hi Attila,

we're working on an ABAP Developer Edition 1909 CAL Version, probably on SP07.

Kind regards Ralf

 

[GreggHinkle]

Hi Julie,

First of all, I would like to thank you, Ralf and your team for the work that you have done to provide the SAP developer community with the different ABAP Developer Editions throughout the years. I am sure that you and your team has spent countless hours creating, updating, documenting and maintaining these developer editions. As others have commented, these have been invaluable to learning and advancing our skillsets as developers.

With the discontinuation of the SAP ABAP Platform 1909 Developers Edition on Docker, what is your recommendation for ABAP developers to continue our ability to learn and advance our skills outside of the workplace? From what I see, there are 3 possibilities

1. AS ABAP 7.52 SP04 Developer Edition.
   • Pro
     • Available to install locally on developer's computer without any additional cost
     • Able to use off-line
     • Private system without worrying about anyone else changing your code
     • Full Control of the system by the developer
   • Con
     • Netweaver 7.52 is dated and does not contain the latest features
     • Cannot develop using RAP
     • Cannot use gCTS
     • No HANA database
2. SAP ABAP Platform 1909, Developer Edition on CAL
   • Pro
     • Able to develop using RAP
     • HANA database
     • Private system without worrying about anyone else changing your code
     • Mostly Full Control of the system by the developer
   • Con
     • Not Free, charges incurred by cloud provider
     • Limited Use with gCTS
     • Requires internet connection
     • Newest features in ABAP not available
3. BTP Trial Account ABAP Environment in the Cloud
   • Pro
     • Can create BTP trial account free of charge
     • Able to develop using RAP
     • HANA database
     • Newest features of ABAP is available including gCTS
   • Con
     • Public environment. Your code can be overwritten or changed by others
     • Trial Account only last 365 days
     • Requires internet connection
     • Certain On-Premise ABAP Platform syntax are not available in BTP ABAP Environment in the Cloud
     • No control of underlying system by the developer

From a developer's perspective, none of the remaining available options are great. If SAP were to provide developers with ABAP in the Cloud accounts for free that do not expire and are private without having to worry that someone could overlay or change your code or if the SAP ABAP Platform 1909, Developer Edition on CAL was able to be used without having to incur the cost from the cloud provider, then I would say that there is a good alternative to the SAP ABAP Platform 1909 Developers Edition on Docker.

Thanks again for all your work in the past on these Developer Editions and hopefully a new option will become available to the ABAP developer community.

Regards,

Gregg Hinkle

[poliva1]

Hi Ralf,

 

Do exists some way to obtain a replica, or backup system, to restore in a pristine environment to use an installation like this?

 

Patricio

[JoeGoerlich]

R.I.P. MiniSAP aka. SAP Developer Edition.

It's a shame that this offer to play around with SAP ABAP systems - offline, full controlled, on low TCO - is no longer provided. It was not only of value for developers, but also for security researchers and many others.

julie.plummer, ralf.henning will there be a summary what exactly is affected by "these standards apply to all locally installed delivery formats", maybe out of https://developers.sap.com/trials-downloads.html?

As HANA Express Edition is a regular product, I would assume this is not affected, right?

Best regards,

Joe

[gregorw]

Hi Attila,

with the BTP Free Tier that also includes Steampunk you have the private option the ABAP Environment availabe.

Best Regards
Gregor

[gregorw]

Please do not forget the BTP Free Tier option.

[dmitry_yudin]

Could you possibly provide a link to this option? I was not aware that you get a free instance of netweaver with free tier option that is private one (of course there is a shared instance of abap in the cloud)

[gregorw]

It's not a NetWeaver but a full SAP BTP ABAP Environment. Check the description at SAP Discovery Center -> Services -> SAP BTP, ABAP environment

[abo]

"The instance will be only available during regular office hours."

Have you actually had issues because of this? I was a bit skeptical of this limitation.

[gregorw]

Until now I never had a time where I can't connect. SAP HANA Cloud is shut down during the night and you have to start it. I've not seen a start button for Steampunk yet.

[Attila]

Hi Patricio,

Technically:
If anyone still has this running, he/she can use the docker command to export the original image, and this can be used for fresh "installation".
This option works, when the changes to the container was not committed to the image, but that command has to be done explicitly, and most probably very few people did something like that. Otherwise You receive a version with all the changes already made on that system.

Legal stuff:
I think people may not redistribute it, it is against SAP legal terms. But Ralf can confirm it.

[Attila]

Thank You Ralf !

[Attila]

Thank You Gregor, I will check this out!

[abo]

If they stop providing keys to existing installations, this will have a knock-on effect on opensource projects as well. Extremely disappointed to see such shortsightedness from SAP!

Still, hats off to julie.plummer and ralf.henning for the good work until now!

[cyclingfisch_]

Thanks julie.plummer and ralf.henning for all the support! I know, it was not your decision!

That story could be a chapter in a book called "how to make my own technology irrelevant by killing my own developer community".

I can only guess, but I assume at the end of the day it was a decision based on money. I'm sure, in the long run this will be way more expensive for SAP!

[GreggHinkle]

HI Gregor,

I did not mention the BTP free tier since you need a BTP Pay-As-You-Go account to use that. With BTP Pay-as-you-go, you need to create your global account in the SAP Store and add a credit card. If you happen to use a non-free-tier service by mistake, you will be charged or if you exceed your entitlements, you will be charged. We use BTP Pay-As-You-Go and the free tier services  at my employer for Proof of Concept and investigating functionality, but we have incurred charges even doing that. The BTP Trial account really seems to be meant for individual developers for self-learning purposes. At least that is my take from my usages of both types of accounts.

[abo]

Thanks for the information, gregg.hinkle !

Unless there is company-wide interest for that, I am so NOT going to try the free tier, like ever! Unfortunately, the trial account just doesn't cut it for some scenarios, such as using abapGit to work on an opensource project.

[gregorw]

Hi Gregg,

which isn't different to any other Cloud Provider or? But of course in many cases SAP still needs to be more transparent and provide a way to set a cost limit.

CU
Gregor

[BK]

I suspect that gradually more and more functions will be released. Quote from the release note ADT 3.28: "You can now connect ADT to SAP S/4HANA Cloud ABAP Environment by creating an ABAP cloud project".

Perhaps in the future they will also allow access to the cloud again with the SAP GUI. Technically, this would probably already be possible today.

It just needs enough pressure from the customers and it has to happen carefully because SAP has to keep up the appearance to the shareholders to be a modern cloud company.

Then there will be a "MiniSAP" again at some point.

 

[TomHoepping]

Also from a DevOps perspective the image made a lot of sense. With SAP's investment in gCTS and Project Piper, the image was a good starting point to play with a local developer workplace. Just like other technologies have enabled for years.

[abo]

Absolutely, it makes a ton of sense to use this as a stepping stone!

[bztoy]

Thanks to julie.plummer and ralf.henning and the team for your big efforts put into this great project. it helps me a lot.

It would be difficult for an independent ABAP developer to learn or practice in SAP development.

[phil_enslin]

Hi

There is actually another option, assuming SAP would agree to it, and that is to reactivate the current Docker image without further enhancements.  It would be the more affordable option given the high cost of some of the alternatives. At the same time, it would fill the gap left by the lack of a mini-SAP as at present.

 

Regards

 

Phil Enslin

 

 

[abo]

They could have simply NOT pulled the image in the first place, if that were the case!

IMHO, log4j was a good cover story... anyway, if you don't need HANA features you could always use the slightly older AS ABAP 7.52SP04 version. True, you need to setup a Linux system first but the guide is reasonably complete and gets you through all key steps.

[WRoeckelein]

@gregorw BTP Free Tier ABAP Environment has IMHO still a limitation of 500 development artefacts, which will be reached quickly and is thus ruled out for me for anything than very simple education purposes.

[WRoeckelein]

At least me is living in 2022 and not in 2019. Esp. ABAP RAP is evolving rapidly.

[GreggHinkle]

You are correct that if you look at it like using the SAP ABAP Platform 1909, Developer Edition on CAL where you need to pay your Cloud Provider's usage charges, it is similar. It is also nice that with the Free-Tier ABAP environment you have your own private environment that no one else can change or update. However the fact that you can't create a BTP Pay-As-You-Go account without placing a credit card in it and there is always the risk of incurring unexpected charges by using a service that you did not realize was not part of the Free-Tier or you do not watch your entitlements closely and go over is not great.

I created and setup the Global Pay-As-You-Go account for my employer and I am the administrator of it. We have been very careful trying to only use free-tier services and even I even used the Prepare an Account for ABAP Development (Free-Tier) booster when setting up our ABAP environment. However when I or others on my team follow some of the Tutorials or Missions from SAP, we have been sent down the road of using something that was not part of the Free-Tier service without knowing it. Since I setup the account, I get the emails from SAP of what our monthly charge is. I then have to explain to management why we are receiving a charge for a "Free-Tier" account in order to expense it. To be fair, these monthly charges have never been more than $100 USD each month which is a non-issue for many companies. However for a individual learner to have to pay these charges each month out of their own pocket can be an issue. If you could place a charge lock on the global account where you can't use a service or additional entitlements if you would incur a change, then this would be a good option. I just don't like the surprise of unexpected charges.

[gregorw]

Great feedback. Getting maxskalatsky from the Free Tier team into the loop here.

[petrosy]

Thanks for all the effort and info. I must say this is rather disappointing as the current cloud options are not very affordable for an individual.

The old docker 752 system was more than adequate for most ABAP testing and the fact that it's been removed is rather annoying.

[former_member820655]

 reactivate the current Docker image without further enhancements

quote

[MassimoX]

There is actually another option, assuming SAP would agree to it, and that is to reactivate the current Docker image without further enhancements.

 

quote

 

[poliva1]

It's the simplest way. Pleeease, could you consider it?

[Former Member]

Hello Julie,

First of all, thank you, julie.plummer, ralf.henning, and the team for the efforts to create this great project and keep it in motion. Like many people here, it has been a great learning tool.

That said, I would like to say that this is terrible news for the community. If there's any chance for this project to return, please do so.

Again, thank you for your efforts.

Rafael