SAP Cloud for Customer Tenant Landscapes: Considerations for Tenant Copies

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This blog series discusses C4C tenants from the aspect of how many you need and examples of recommended tenant landscapes.    The blog series includes the following topics:

1. Determine how many tenants you need

2. Tenant landscape use case examples

3. Considerations for tenant copies - this blog

4. Tenant landscape recommendations with SDK

5. Deployment recommendations with SDK

Updated:  July, 2015

Considerations for Tenant Copies

When creating a tenant, various tenant copy options are available.   The options available will vary on where the tenant is being copied from and where it is being copied to.  For example, the copy could  for a production tenant from test, a new test tenant from production, a new test tenant from test, etc.     All tenant options are outlined in detail in the business center.   The landscape deck in the business center sme.sap.com has details on the topic. 

The most common option to select when performing a tenant copy is to copy the solution profile.  The solution profile includes scoping and fine tuning. When a solution profile is copied to create a new tenant, the scope is copied and all fine-tuning settings that have a Repetition Required setting of “No” are copied.

When a solution profile is copied to a new production tenant, the following additional activities automatically occur.  It is NOT possible to trigger these activities when copying a solution profile to a new test tenant.

• Extension fields and screen layout adaptations made via key user tools are copied as long as there are no extension fields and/or screen layout adaptations already made in the new production tenant
  • Note:  Language Adaptations and Custom Business Objects are not included
• .Form adaptations are copied
• Level 0 master data (bank directory, org structure, locations, jobs, product categories, transport zones and transport lanes) is copied to a staging area where the user can choose to import the pre-populated data migration templates or ignore them.

After a solution profile is copied, all subsequent changes are required to be performed manually in each tenant.

In addition to Solution Profile settings, other objects will need to be moved via Content Transfer, Upload/Download, or recreated manually. 

The Content Transfer feature is used to move adaptations.  Examples include, but are not limited to:  page layouts, code restrictions, key user adaptations such as custom fields.  With the extension fields metadata is also moved.  This includes metadata related to Web Services, Enterprise Search, MDAV, Business Context, External Usage. 

Objects that can be downloaded and uploaded include code list mapping, ID mapping, reports, forms, custom objects, language adaptations, OData service.

Some settings must be manually redone.  This includes business roles, workflow rules, SLA's, mashup others, and other process configuration.

More details on key user adaptations and page layouts

Special considerations are required when moving key user adaptations from one tenant to another. Especially when these adaptations are used in page layouts and/or used by the SDK.    The following is the recommended guideline for moving key user adaptations.

If the key user fields have some logic in SDK:

1. Import the page layouts
2. Import/activate the SDK.

If there are page layouts on top of SDK delivered user interfaces and no key user  extension fields have SDK logic:

1. Import/activate the SDK.
2. Import the page layouts

If they have both : key user extension fields with SDK logic and page layouts on SDK delivered user interfaces:

1. Import the Page Layouts to get extension fields
2. Import/activate the SDK.
3. Import the Page Layouts ( now page layout gets applied to SDK delivered UI).

Regarding export/import of page layouts: It is recommended to select to export  "all layouts", meaning all the changes done as key user.

• "Master layout": export master layout only if you have e.g. the page layouts not yet finished but want to have the other changes in your target tenant.
• "Page layout": export a single page layout to quickly transfer these changes only to your target. Important: here the master layouts in source and target need to be in sync by e.g. a previous import.
• "All layouts": recommended! The most convenient way to keep layouts in sync across tenants.

Keep in mind:

• When requesting a tenant, review in detail the options outlined at sme.sap.com.  Ensure you know where are copying from and to.
• The solution profile will not bring everything.
• You will need to use the content transfer or downloads to move other configuration.  Some settings must be manually redone.
• When using key user adaptations and the SDK adhere to the guidelines on the order in which to move objects.
• When moving page layouts, normally you select to move all layouts in order to keep all tenants in sync.