Automatically back up SAP HANA databases using Systems Manager and EventBridge

Created by Ambarish Satarkar (AWS) and Gaurav Rath (AWS)

Code repository: HDB_Backup_SSM_Document	Environment: Production	Technologies: Databases; Storage & backup
Workload: SAP	AWS services: Amazon EC2; Amazon EventBridge; Amazon S3; AWS Systems Manager

Summary

This pattern describes how to automate SAP HANA database backups using AWS Systems Manager, Amazon EventBridge, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA.

This pattern provides a shell script-based approach using the BACKUP DATA command and removes the need to maintain scripts and job configurations for each operating system (OS) instance across numerous systems.

Note: As of April 2023, AWS Backup announced support for SAP HANA databases on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). For more information, see SAP HANA databases on Amazon EC2 instances backup. Based on your organization’s needs, you can use the AWS Backup service to automatically back up your SAP HANA databases or you can use this pattern.

Prerequisites and limitations

Prerequisites 

• An existing SAP HANA instance with a supported release in running state on a managed Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance that is configured for Systems Manager

• Systems Manager Agent (SSM Agent) 2.3.274.0 or later installed

• An S3 bucket that doesn’t have public access enabled

• An hdbuserstore key named SYSTEM

• An AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role for the Automation runbook to run on schedule

• AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore and ssm:StartAutomationExecution policies are attached to Systems Manager Automation service role.

Limitations 

• AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA doesn't support deduplication.

• AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA doesn't support data compression.

Product versions

AWS Backint Agent is supported on the following operating systems:

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP

AWS Backint Agent supports the following databases: 

• SAP HANA 1.0 SP12 (single node and multiple nodes)

• SAP HANA 2.0 and later (single node and multiple nodes)

Architecture

Target technology stack

• AWS Backint Agent

• Amazon S3

• AWS Systems Manager

• Amazon EventBridge

• SAP HANA

Target architecture

The following diagram shows the installation scripts that install AWS Backint Agent, the S3 bucket, and Systems Manager and EventBridge, which use a Command document to schedule regular backups.

Automation and scale

• Multiple AWS Backint Agents can be installed by using a Systems Manager Automation runbook.

• Each run of the Systems Manager runbook can scale to n number of SAP HANA instances, based on target selection.

• EventBridge can automate SAP HANA backups.

Tools

• AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA is a standalone application that integrates with your existing workflows to back up your SAP HANA database to an S3 bucket that you specify in the configuration file. AWS Backint Agent supports full, incremental, and differential backups of SAP HANA databases. It runs on an SAP HANA database server, where backups and catalogs are transferred from the SAP HANA database to the AWS Backint Agent.

• Amazon EventBridge is a serverless event bus service that you can use to connect your applications with data from a variety of sources. EventBridge delivers a stream of real-time data from your applications, software as a service (SaaS) applications, and AWS services to targets such as AWS Lambda functions, HTTP invocation endpoints using API destinations, or event buses in other accounts.

• Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service. You can use Amazon S3 to store and retrieve any amount of data at any time, from anywhere on the web.

• AWS Systems Manager helps you to view and control your infrastructure on AWS. Using the Systems Manager console, you can view operational data from multiple AWS services and automate operational tasks across your AWS resources.

Code

The code for this pattern is available in the aws-backint-automated-backup GitHub repository.

Epics

Create an hdbuserstore key SYSTEM

Task	Description	Skills required
Create an hdbuserstore key.	Navigate to /usr/sap/<SID>/HDB<Inst No>/exe. Run the following command, with XX as the SAP HANA database instance number. hdbuserstore -i set SYSTEM <hostname>:3XX13@SYSTEMDB SYSTEM  For example,  for an SAP HANA host saphanadb with instance number 00, run the following command. hdbuserstore -i set SYSTEM saphanadb:30013@SYSTEMDB SYSTEM	AWS administrator, SAP HANA Administrator

Install AWS Backint Agent

Task	Description	Skills required
Install AWS Backint Agent.	Follow the instructions in Install and configure AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA in the AWS Backint Agent documentation.	AWS administrator, SAP HANA administrator

Create the Systems Manager Command document

Task	Description	Skills required
Create the Systems Manager Command document.	Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the AWS Systems Manager Console. Choose Documents, and choose Owned by me. Confirm that you are in the same AWS Region as your SAP HANA database. Choose Create document, Command or session to create your document.  Use a unique and descriptive name, with no spaces (for example, SAP HANA-Backup). Make sure that Document type is set to Command document.  Under the Content header, there is some sample code. Make sure that you choose the JSON code type, and replace the code with the code from the HDB_Backup_SSM_Document.json file from the GitHub repository. Choose Create document. Check your document in the Owned by me section.	AWS administrator, SAP HANA administrator

Schedule backups on a regular frequency

Task	Description	Skills required
Schedule regular backups using Amazon EventBridge.	Open the Amazon EventBridge console, choose Rules, and choose Create rule. On the Define rule detail screen, enter a unique name and description for your rule, and use the default event bus. Under Rule type, choose Schedule, and choose Next. On then Define schedule screen, choose the appropriate schedule pattern and cron or rate expression based on the required frequency. On the Select targets screen, for Target type, choose AWS service. Under Select a target, choose Systems Manager Run Command. Choose the document that you created earlier. Under Target key and Target value, provide the instance ID. You can use tag names and tag values to add multiple instances. Under Configure automation parameters, choose Constant for incremental or differential backups. If you want full backup, choose No Parameters. Choose whether to create a new role or to use an existing role. If you use an existing role, make sure that it has the policies required to invoke the target. Keep the default additional settings, and choose Next. The Configure tags screen is optional. Choose next. On the Review and create screen, review the rule settings, and choose Create. The rule should be successfully created. You can verify backup success from the S3 bucket path.   s3:/<your_bucket_name>/<target folder>/<SID>/usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/hdb/backint/DB_<SID>/ You can also verify backups from the SAP HANA backup catalog.	AWS administrator, SAP HANA administrator

Related resources

• AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA

• Install and configure AWS Backint Agent for SAP HANA