Live Data Connection to SAP BW Using a Tunnel Connection

Setup the Cloud Connector between your SAP BW or SAP BW/4HANA system and SAP Analytics Cloud to establish a live tunnel connection.

Who does this apply to?
  • Users with Create, Read, Update, Delete and Maintain permissions for Connections.
  • Users with Execute permission for Other Data Sources.
  • Admin, Application Creator, BI Content Creator, BI Admin, and Planner Reporter standard application roles.
  • Setting up a live connection requires working with the SAP Analytics Cloud system owner and different IT and application stakeholders within your organization. Most configuration steps are done on your SAP NetWeaver ABAP Application Server (AS) before creating the connection in your SAP Analytics Cloud tenant.

Prerequisites

  • Check that you are using a supported version of SAP BW. For more information, see System Requirements and Technical Prerequisites.
    Note

    Additional correction notes must be applied for some versions of SAP BW. For more information, see SAP Note 2541557

  • Configure SSL on your SAP NetWeaver ABAP AS. For more information, see Configuring SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP to Support SSL, and SAP Note 510007.

  • Configure cross-site cookies: To ensure that Chrome and other browsers allow cross-site access to your SAP on-premise data source cookies from SAP Analytics Cloud, you must configure your SAP on-premise data source to issue cookies with specific attributes. Without these settings, user authentication to your live data connections will fail, and Story visualizations based on these connections will not render.

    For steps on how to do this, see SameSite Cookie Configuration for Live Data Connections.

  • Setup SSO (optional): If you want users to have a single sign-on experience to your data, check you are using same Identity Provider (IdP) for SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP NetWeaver. For more information on setting up your identity provider in SAP Analytics Cloud, see Enable a Custom SAML Identity Provider.
  • If you have multiple authentication methods configured on your ABAP AS, see Alternative Logon Order.

Enable InA on your ABAP Application Server

Context

SAP Information Access (InA) is a REST HTTP-based protocol used by SAP Analytics Cloud to query your data sources in real time. Confirm that your InA package is enabled and services are running on the ABAP AS for your data source.

Procedure

  1. Check that your InA package is enabled.

    To check if the Ina package is enabled, open the following URL in your browser: https://<Your_ABAP_Server>/sap/bw/ina/GetServerInfo?sap-client=<Your_Client_ID>. Make sure you are prompted for user credentials, and after login you get a JSON response. Replace <Your_ABAP_Server> with your ABAP system host, and <Your_Client_ID> with your SAP BW client ID.

  2. Check that the required Information Access Services are active in your SAP BW/4HANA or SAP BW system.
    1. Access your system using SAP Logon.
    2. Enter transaction code: SICF.
    3. Enter the Service Path: /sap/bw/ina and then select Execute.
      The following dialog will appear:

    4. Under Virtual Hosts/Services go to: Start of the navigation pathdefault_host Next navigation step sap Next navigation step bw Next navigation step inaEnd of the navigation path.
    5. Make sure that the following services are active: 
      BatchProcessing
GetCatalog
GetResponse
GetServerInfo
Logoff
ValueHelp

Configure Cloud Connector Tunnel Connection

Context

Setup the Cloud Connector between your data source system and SAP Analytics Cloud to establish a live tunnel connection.

Procedure

Follow these configuration and setup instructions:
  1. Configure Your On-Premise Systems to Use the Cloud Connector
  2. (Optional for SSO) Set Up Trust Between the Cloud Connector and Your On-Premise ABAP Systems (BW, BPC, or S/4HANA)

Create the Live Connection in SAP Analytics Cloud

Context

Now that you've configured your data source, you can finally create the live conection in SAP Analytics Cloud.

Procedure

  1. From the side navigation, choose Start of the navigation path Connections Next navigation step  (Add Connection)End of the navigation path.

    The Select a data source dialog will appear.

  2. Expand Connect to Live Data and select SAP BW.
  3. In the dialog, enter a name and description for your connection.
    The connection name cannot be changed later.
  4. Set the connection type to Tunnel.
  5. Add your data source's host name, HTTPS port, and Client.
  6. (Optional) Choose a Default Language from the list.
    This language will always be used for this connection and cannot be changed by users without administrator privileges.
    Note
    You must know which languages are installed on your data source system before adding a language code. If the language code you enter is invalid, SAP Analytics Cloud will default to the language specified by your system metadata.
  7. Under Authentication Method select one of the following:
    • User Name and Password - Enter a user name and password for your data source system. Only the user whose credentials you added will have access to the live data connection.
    • SAML Single Sign On - Select this option if you've completed the necessary prerequistes and steps for SSO outlined in the rest of this article.
    Note
    To enable single sign-on for the mobile app, see the "Cloud Connector-based Mobile Single Sign-On" topic in the SAP Analytics Cloud Mobile Administration Guide.
  8. (Optional) Select Let SAP support user sign in using basic authentication for this connection. By enabling this feature, support users are granted access to the new live data connection using basic authentication.
    Note

    Advanced features are not available when the Authentication Method is set to none.

    To enable an Advanced Feature, you must allow live on-premise data to securely leave your network.

Results

Once you've created your live data connection, test it by creating a model.