- SAP Managed Tags:
Latest Updates:
- November 2024: Added the SAP Business Role Extensibility Specialist which enables you to make, monitor, and transport key user extensions across your system landscape.
- October 2024: Some image changes and formatting corrections. Some link corrections due to microlearning videos being moved to https://learning.sap.com
- December 2023:
- IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a lower SAP S/4HANA release, and currently using standalone (hub) mode, please be aware that standalone mode will be retired from SAP S/4HANA 2025.
- You can now opt to use only CDS View based searches. You can opt to activate by business catalogs - i.e. at the sub level of a business role. You can mix and match business role activation and business catalog activation as needed.
- December 2021: The microlearning for Activating Enterprise Search for SAP Fiori is now available. It shows how to activate enterprise search, how to deactivate search objects you don't need, and a quick look at SAP Fiori app F3036 Manage Search Models. You will also find more on how to remove search connectors you don't want in post activation steps via blog post SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Resolving duplicate search objects
- November 2021: Added some hints on how to move from standalone to embedded mode. jbaltazar reminded me there is a new blog post and guide for activating SAP Fiori in multiple clients, so I have added these in the FAQ question on multiple clients.
Did you know you can turn on your SAP Fiori launchpad, main SAP Fiori features, and all the SAP Business Roles and the related SAP Fiori apps that you want to explore in less than 1 day?
Yes this is true!
Set your timer! Yes you can activate SAP Fiori in less than 1 day
Many of you have personally proven this over and over and over again in our 5 Steps to Fiori bootcamp SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – 5 Steps to Fiori Bootcamp for Customers. This bootcamp has been run for customers, partners, and employees using SAP S/4HANA releases 1809, 1909, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Turning on SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA is not onerous or effortful, particularly when running your SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA with your SAP Fiori front-end server in Embedded mode, i.e. as a component of your SAP S/4HANA system. The Rapid Activation task lists and other tools these days make turning on the delivered SAP content a reliable and relatively swift process.
Like most occasional tasks a little guidance and a few examples make it even easier.
Below you will find:
- The video playlist for rapid activation of SAP Fiori using task lists
- Essential Prerequisites - that you should check before you run the task lists
- Troubleshooting tips - for occasional issues
- FAQ
- What to do next - post activation
- Understanding Task Lists
- Hint: Read this section first if you have not used task lists before
IMPORTANT:
This blog post is based on the official advice provided in SAP Note 2902673 - Rapid Activation for SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA - Overview and our repeated experience with customers, partners, and internal SAP systems.
You can also find guidance on each of the task lists in the exercises in the openSAP course Gain Experience with a System Conversion to SAP S/4HANA – units 7 and 8. You can access the course by enrolling now (until November 18, 2021) or later (after November 18) in self-paced mode.
IMPORTANT: Task lists are generated and executed in SAP GUI transaction STC01. You can execute tasks in dialog (while you wait) or background mode. You can monitor the status of task lists and resume a task list in SAP GUI transaction STC02.
The video playlist for rapid activation of SAP Fiori using task lists
Activating SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA is a 5 step process supported by 5 main task lists
In this section you will find the 5 main tasks lists needed to activate SAP Fiori, their related SAP Notes and the playlist of openSAP microlearnings to assist you. Please note that we are still building this collection and will update the playlist as new videos become available.
IMPORTANT: All videos are based on a system architecture where SAP Fiori front-end server is deployed in Embedded mode. i.e. as a component of your SAP S/4HANA system.
Embedded mode has been the primary recommended mode for SAP S/4HANA since December 2017. Refer to blog post SAP Fiori deployment options and SAP Fiori front-end server strategy – UPDATE 2023 and the linked document SAP Fiori Deployment Options and System Landscape Recommendations
IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading from a lower SAP S/4HANA release, and currently using standalone (hub) mode, please be aware that standalone mode will be retired from SAP S/4HANA 2025.
*** NEW VERSION OF THE GUIDE COMING SOON ***
- You should considering moving from standalone (hub) to embedded, you will want to read SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Transition from Standalone to Embedded Deployment in SAP S/4HANA
- You can take a look at this guide on how to do this with minimal disruption to your users: Moving from Standalone to Embedded Deployment in Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
Thanks to my colleagues Ashuta Sheth and Gabriel Young for their hard work on the microlearnings videos, and to Nana Yamamoto for the original idea for this blog post!
STEP 1: Activate Embedded Analytics
Task list SAP_BW_SETUP_INITIAL_S4HANA
SAP Note 2289865 - Configuration steps for SAP S/4HANA Analytics
Sorry no video for this one... Activating Embedded Analytics
This task list activates the embedded analytics engine. There are usually a few post processing steps.
Estimated time: 40 minutes (including post-processing steps)
STEP 2: Activate Enterprise Search
Task list: SAP_ESH_INITIAL_SETUP_WRK_CLIENT
SAP Note: 2626107 - How to execute task list SAP_ESH_INITIAL_SETUP_WRK_CLIENT
Learning video: Activating Enterprise Search for SAP Fiori
This task list activates the enterprise search connectors. While this is easily the longest duration task list, it can be executed:
- In parallel to other task lists
- In background mode
- After all other task lists
Searches are of 2 types: classic index-based searches and CDS View based searches. CDS View searches do not need to be indexed. You can opt to use CDS View searches only.
HINT: If you don’t want to deal with classic searches at all you can restrict the system to CDS View based searches only. Refer to SAP Note 2665111 – Setup of ESH connector ESH_CONNECTOR for systems with only CDS connectors
IMPORTANT: By default the launchpad will only show Search by Apps until this Enterprise Search task list has been run. You can see the difference in the before and after images below.
BEFORE: SAP Fiori launchpad - Search for apps only - Search task list has not yet been run
AFTER: SAP Fiori launchpad - Search as it appears once search objects have been activated via the task list with All, Apps, and assigned search objects for the user shown in a dropdown box
Estimated time: Between 1.5 hours and 3.5 hours depending on volume of data to be indexed
STEP 3: Activate the ABAP Gateway for SAP Fiori
Task list: SAP_GW_FIORI_ERP_ONE_CLNT_SETUP
SAP Note 2510134 - Fiori Setup: Updates for task lists for Gateway/Fiori configuration
Sorry no video for this one yet.. : Activating the Gateway for SAP Fiori
This task list prepares your ABAP Gateway as a foundation for running the SAP Fiori launchpad and apps, such as setting up system aliases, RFC destinations, and activating required services.
Estimated time: 20 minutes.
STEP 4: Activate SAP Fiori Launchpad and main launchpad features
Task list: SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4
SAP Note 2712785 - Fiori Setup: Initial Setup for Fiori Applications S/4
Learning video: Activating SAP Fiori Launchpad Using Fiori Foundation Task List [10:28]
This is the main task list for setting up the SAP Fiori launchpad and main shared features, such as notifications, user assistant, navigation behaviours, etc.
Estimated time: 20 minutes
STEP 5: Activate SAP Fiori apps via Rapid Activation
Task list: SAP_FIORI_CONTENT_ACTIVATION
SAP Note 2686456 - Fiori Setup: Content Activation for SAP Business Roles
Learning video available: Activating Fiori Apps Via Rapid Activation [18:40]
This is the main task list for activating SAP Business Roles and their content, including SAP Fiori apps, classic UIs, app to app navigations, etc. The aim is to provide roles ready for exploration. You can activate roles over time, for example, when adopting UX over a multi-phase roadmap.
IMPORTANT: When you have many roles to activate, you can bundle related roles together. A good general rule of thumb is approx. 10-12 business roles at a time, e.g. all of the roles of line of business area together. Bundling roles makes it simpler to troubleshoot the occasional issue. It also provides an easy way to prioritize different teams on your project. For example you could bundle the Finance roles, then the Procurement roles, etc.
HINT: You can now opt to activate by business catalog. For example, if you want to expand on a role, after an upgrade to a role, or to when you want to assign a business catalog that has not yet been assigned to any role. Refer to SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Activating Apps by Business Catalog
Estimated time: Between 1 and 1.5 hours (this includes 2 to 3 runs and some troubleshooting)
OPTIONAL: Generating test users for SAP Business Roles
Microlearning video (coming later maybe): Generating test users using Rapid Activation
The rapid activation task list includes an optional task “Create users with generated business roles” for generating test users to help jump start your exploration of SAP Fiori. Creating a test user per SAP Business Role is highly recommended because this will help you:
- Explore SAP Fiori from a business user perspective, by focusing on the experience of a single business role
- Explore some common types of apps, launchpad features, and the most important personalization options available to that role
- Review the default layout including quick access apps
- For example, SAP Fiori app F1990 Procurement Overview Page provides different cards for the roles Strategic Buyer, Purchasing Manager, and Purchaser.
- Understand authorizations that change app behaviour where the same app is used by multiple business roles
The test user is given an administrator-set password. This means the same test user can be used repeatedly by multiple people to experience the SAP Fiori launchpad and assigned content from the perspective of a single business role.
By first exploring the system with test users assigned to single business roles, you avoid unnecessary effort and rework often caused by confusion when multiple roles are assigned to the same user too early.
New in 2022: Alternatively in the latest S/4HANA release 2022 you can choose the task "Assign generated business roles to users" to assign the generated roles to existing test users.
Estimated time: since this is can be done as part of rapid activation, no extra time is needed.
What sort of timings should I expect?
So if you add up the above estimated timings, the steps work out as:
- 40 minutes (including manual steps)
- 1.5 to 3.5 hours (remember this can be done in background, in parallel to or after other steps)
- 20 minutes
- 20 minutes
- 1 to 1.5 hours
Total time: 3 hours 50 minutes to 6 hours 20 minutes - that's less than 1 day!
How accurate are these timings? All of these times are approximate and can be affected by your release, the volume of data to be indexed for search, and the occasional challenges related to your architecture and other settings. That said, over and over in our bootcamps customers have completed all tasks in a few hours.
You can also find a complete end to end video with timings at for your specific SAP S/4HANA release at:
New Installation of SAP S/4HANA 2023 FPS1 – Part 4 – Rapid Activation for Fiori
New Installation of SAP S/4HANA 2022 FPS0 – Part 4 – Rapid Activation for Fiori
New Installation of SAP S/4HANA 2021 FPS0 – Part 4 – Rapid Activation for Fiori
New Installation of SAP S/4HANA 2020 FPS2 – Part 4 – Rapid Activation for Fiori
New Installation of S/4HANA 1909FPS2 – Part 4 – Rapid Activation for Fiori
You will find links to earlier releases and feature pack stacks (FPS) in each blog post.
Essential Prerequisites
As usual you need to check the prerequisites before you start
You have sized your system for SAP Fiori.
You have installed the components:
- SAP S/4HANA
- SAP Fiori Frontend server in embedded mode – i.e. as a component of your SAP S/4HANA server
- SAP FIORI FOR SAP S/4HANA
You have set up your SAP Web Dispatcher or Reverse Proxy. This is recommended, but optional and can be deferred.
You have checked the relevant system parameters and technical prerequisite. Typical activities include making sure you have:
- Validated your FQDN system parameters for your host/port
- Configured your ICM server ports
- Verified your ABAP Shared Memory is sufficient to run the task lists
- Verified your Program Execution Area (PXA) is sufficient for Enterprise Search
- Obtained Single Sign on trusted certificates from your Certificate Authority
- Check your security authorization tables have been correctly initialized (SAP GUI transaction SU25)
You will also need to have:
- Activated any business functions you intend to use (SAP GUI transaction SFW5)
- Agreed which client of your system will be the BW client
Make sure you have the latest versions of the task lists for your release by applying the latest version of the following SAP Notes:
You have checked the section Special Roles – Prerequisites of the central rapid activation SAP Note for your SAP S/4HANA release and feature pack stack. You will find all the notes for all releases listed in:
2902673 - Rapid Activation for SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA - Overview
Typical Special Roles - Prerequisites include:
- Some SAP Fiori apps are part of an optional business function, and depend on that business function being activated
- Some SAP Fiori apps depending on specific business function switches being active
- Some SAP Fiori apps are industry-specific, and depend on the industry business function being activated
Troubleshooting tips for occasional issues
Be prepared to diagnose and resolve the occasional issue, then resume your progress
There is a consistent approach to fixing any issues with errors raised during task lists:
- Check the section Activation issues with the following business roles of the central rapid activation SAP Note for your SAP S/4HANA release and feature pack stack. You will find all the notes for all releases listed in:2902673 - Rapid Activation for SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA - Overview
- If the issue is listed, apply the recommended resolution
- If the issue is not listed, check for SAP Notes
- If you cannot find a relevant SAP Note that fixes the issue, raise a SAP incident to get further advice
- Once the issue is resolved, find the incomplete task list in transaction STC02
- Resume the task list from the point it failed
Typical issue resolutions include:
- SAP Notes that need to be applied to correct an OData service
- OData services that need to be activated manually in transaction /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE
- ICF nodes that need to be activated manually
FAQ
In this FAQ list you will find the usual questions most customers ask about the activation process
But I only need a few apps, isn’t it faster to turn on just those apps?
No.
Turning on apps 1 by 1 is very effortful, even with only a few apps. This is can be difficult to identify all the dependencies, all the authorizations, and all the related apps a user may need to navigate to complete their task.
When you explore the role as a whole, you can focus on the apps you want to include and quickly capture all of the apps you need using the About info. Refer to SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Finding the technical name of an app
So in practice it's much easier to:
- turn on the whole role in your sandbox system
- explore the apps in context of the role
- capture which apps you want to retain
- copy and refine the role down to just want to use in your development system
- activate the apps you want to retain using the custom role activation task list (task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION) in your development system
- Or you can use the catalog activation task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CATALOG_ACTIVATION e.g. for delta changes
For how to refine your role in your development system to activate only the apps you want to retain, refer to the SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Creating your custom business roles – the end-to-end process and video p...
But I only need a few apps, why do I need to turn on the whole SAP Business Role?
See the question above... in summary it is easier to turn on the whole SAP Business Role, then refine the role to remove what you don't need as explained in SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Creating your custom business roles – the end-to-end process and video p...
I don’t know what roles my team needs, should I turn on all SAP Business Roles?
No.
Some SAP Business Roles are dependent on business functions, business function switches, or industries. Turning on all SAP Business Roles can cause unnecessary troubleshooting effort.
A better approach is to turn on a small selection of well-used roles in the line of businesses in scope for your initial UX adoption. For example:
For Finance:
- General Ledger Accountant
- Accounts Payable Accountant
- Accounts Payable Manager
- Accounts Receivable Accountant
- Accounts Receivable Manager
For Procurement:
- Employee - Procurement
- Purchaser
- Purchasing Manager
- Strategic Buyer
Are there any SAP Business Roles I should always turn on?
Yes!
In the task list SAP_FIORI_CONTENT_ACTIVATION and SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION you will find an option to “Select Recommended Roles”.
The recommended roles are the roles needed to configure, adapt and extend SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA as explained in SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Yes you need SAP Fiori to Configure, Adapt and Extend SAP S/4HANA. Currently the recommended roles are:
- Administrator
- Analytics Specialist
- Business Process Specialist
- Configuration Expert - Business Process Configuration
In SAP S/4HANA systems release 2022 or higher, you should also turn on the SAP Business Role
- Extensibility Specialist (SAP_BR_EXTENSIBILITY_SPEC)
The Extensibility Specialist contains the apps needed for Clean Core key user extensions - apps where you can make, monitor, and manage the transport of extensions across your system landscape.
Can I transport SAP Business Roles I activate?
Yes!
You will find tasks to create the necessary transport requests are included in task lists SAP_FIORI_CONTENT_ACTIVATION and SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION. You can also refer to guide SAP S/4HANA Fiori Rapid Activation Transport Move To Production Strategy
Can I use SAP_ALL to assign all SAP Fiori apps to a user?
No.
The special profile SAP_ALL does not assign SAP Fiori apps to users. Assigning a user to all SAP Fiori apps is not a valid approach for accessing apps from SAP Fiori launchpad.
Refer to blog post SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Granting Project Users SAP Fiori Launchpad Access
Can I access SAP Fiori apps without using the SAP Fiori launchpad?
No.
The SAP Fiori launchpad shell provides central capabilities essential to apps including:
- App to app (intent-based) navigation
- Personalization options
- In-app (key user) extensibility options
- App discovery features – such as the Home navigation button, App Finder, and Search on Apps
Accessing apps standalone is not permitted in SAP S/4HANA.
Why do I need the generated Fiori Foundation roles for Administrators and Users?
The task list SAP_FIORI_FOUNDATION_S4 generates roles in the customer namespace for:
- Administrators – to give quick access to launchpad content and layout management tools
- Users – for basic access to the Launchpad and common launchpad features, such as Search, Notifications, Settings (personalization options) and User Assistant (context sensitive help)
Once generated, you can adjust or extend these authorizations as needed. This avoids having to maintain basic access across all SAP business roles.
I have a role that doesn’t follow the SAP_BR_ format, so how do I activate it?
As explained in 3085127 - Composite SAP note: Rapid Activation for SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA 2021 SAP business roles with different naming convention than "SAP_BR*" but containing Fiori catalogs can be activated via task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION.
Can I run SAP Fiori in multiple clients?
Yes, this is possible.
Refer to blog post SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – SAP S/4HANA Embedded Fiori Configuration for Multiple Client Systems and guide with FAQ list: SAP S/4HANA Embedded Fiori Configuration for Multiple Client Systems
What to do next - post activation
So SAP Fiori is activated, know what you need to do next
Apart from starting to explore your SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA solution, there are some common adjustments you should consider as a technical team.
- Configuring apps
- General maintenance of SAP Fiori
- Adjusting SAP Fiori launchpad features
- Adjusting Search Connectors
- Refining SAP Business Roles and/or Creating custom business roles from scratch
Configuring apps
Most apps do not require any additional configuration.
However, there are always exceptions, such as SAP Fiori app F0862 My Inbox. Refer to SAP Note 2676990 - Release Information note for SAP Fiori My Inbox
If you the app does not appear as you expect, check the app’s documentation for any configuration prerequisites required for your SAP S/4HANA release. You can find the link to the App Documentation in the SAP Fiori apps reference library.
General maintenance of SAP Fiori
SAPUI5 is the primary underlying technology of SAP Fiori.
To maximize available features and minimize resolving any rendering or behaviour issues, you want to patch up your SAPUI5 release to the most recent minor patch version for your release.
The minor patch is the final digit of the format 1.<major version>. <minor version>. For example, if your SAPUI5 version is 1.84.6 you want to patch up to the latest available ABAP SAPUI5 patch for 1.84, which at time of writing was 1.84.20
Refer to Microlearning video How to Patch SAP Fiori (SAPUI5) and Why
Adjusting SAP Fiori launchpad features
You can adjust the available SAP Fiori launchpad features using configuration parameters.
Reference the SAP Fiori Launchpad guide for your SAP S/4HANA release on the SAP Help Portal.
You can find all of the guides on the SAP Fiori Launchpad product page.
Adjusting Search Connectors
You have already performed the initial setup with task list SAP_ESH_INITIAL_SETUP_WRK_CLIENT and now want to create some specific models from a specific software component, or delete some specific models, without affecting all the others.
Refer to SAP Note 2826614 - How to run task list SAP_ESH_CREATE_INDEX_SC
You might also want to deactivate search objects you don't need. Find out more in blog post SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Resolving duplicate search objects
Refining SAP Business Roles and/or Creating custom business roles from scratch
Once you have explored the delivered SAP Business Roles and know what you want to use
SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Creating your custom business roles – the end-to-end process and video p...
The video playlist includes the task list: SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION
SAP Note 2813396 - Fiori Setup: Content Activation for Business Roles
Understanding task lists
Task lists have proven a huge boon to the activation process. What are task lists? In the past you needed to track down all the configuration you need by reading lots of documentation and trawling through the SAP Reference Implementation Guide in SAP GUI transaction SPRO. Now task lists bring all/most of the configuration to you complete with:
- Default selection of tasks for initial activation
- Default settings and recommendations
- Optional popular tasks, e.g. to generate test users for SAP Fiori
- Documentation of each task
- Transport options so you can run the task list in Development and transport your settings through to your production landscape.
- Options to include/exclude selected tasks
By using the options to include/exclude selected tasks, you can reuse the task list when you upgrade or patch your system to bring in the latest features, such as Spaces and Pages for the Launchpad.
You can:
- Run the task list in dialog or background mode using SAP GUI transaction STC01
- Review the status of all your task lists in SAP GUI transaction STC02
- Resume incomplete task lists, e.g. after resolving issues with failed tasks
Becoming a SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA guru
You’ll find much more on our SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA topic page
Other helpful links:
- See all questions and answers about SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
- Follow SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA for more blogs and updates
- Ask a Question about SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
Brought to you by the SAP S/4HANA RIG and Customer Care team.
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