CALM for implementation - Import order of many TR that belong to the same feature

[Maurizio_Manera]

Hi,
we are implementing SAP Cloud ALM Deployment scenario for SAP ABAP systems and I've found in the online documentation (https://help.sap.com/docs/CloudALM/08879d094f3b4de3ac67832f4a56a6de/5aa24f076e3b4b47839f762baa7d089a...) these recommendation:

- We recommend avoiding manual import activities in CTS with transports managed by SAP Cloud ALM.

- Do not perform buffer manipulations in CTS with transports managed by SAP Cloud ALM. There is no self-healing mechanism available.

TMS parameters is configured for NO_IMPORT_ALL and IMPORT_SINGLE_ONLY to value 1.

In the same help "Deploying Transports of a Feature" is reported:

- Caution: In the Feature app, the transports are sorted by their ID for better clarity. This is not the order how the transports were imported. The import order is always determined by the order in the respective TMS transport buffer.

My doubts are:
1) I have a feature with many TR (for example 20-30 or more) and decide to transport into test or prod. It seems import order is related to transport buffer (so it depend on the release date of TR for QAS): is it true?
Since TMS parameters do not allow "full truck" it seems import order will follow order in transport buffer.
But there is no guarantee that this is the correct order to avoid import error.
What tool/rules determine the correct sequence for avoiding import errors of a feature?

In the documentation they do not recommend to change manually buffer manipulations or import manually TR.

Regards
Maurizio

[paula_augedahl · Accepted solution]

Hi, Maurizio,

First, I would mention that Cloud ALM is not 'performing' the import.  It simply instructs TMS to do this.

My understanding is that TMS performs the import based on the order the TRs enter the buffer of the target system (date/time stamp of arrival there). 

It is important that changes are made and released in a timely fashion to avoid problems where later TRs release prior to former ones, where there is some inter-dependence, and could end up importing in a wrong order, based on those release dates.

This is not anything that has changed due to Cloud ALM.  Solution Manager would have had this same exposure for order.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Best regards,
Paula

[Maurizio_Manera · Accepted solution]

Hi Paula, so Cloud ALM only instructs TMS to do import of TR based on buffer queue; if there is an issue in the import order how can I modify this? In the ufficial documentation they do not recommend to perform buffer manipulation or manual import. As you know in a S4 Hana project there many teams that work together on different features and create different TR. Normally QAS or Pre-Prod is used to revise the correct import order for PRD system. I know that transport checks can be useful to anticipate conflicts, but if the import in the QAS is only linked to release date (it cannot be changed by Clould ALM and is not recommended to ajust buffer manually), which is the right way to solve and prevent import issues with CALM? Regards M.

[paula_augedahl · Accepted solution]

Hi, Maurizio_Manera, As Cloud ALM cannot intervene in the manipulation, it seems the only option is to do so directly on the managed system via STMS. Any questions or such manipulation would need to be addressed to the STMS TMS (BC-CTS-TMS) team.