Version 1: Install and configure Google Cloud's Agent for SAP on a Bare Metal Solution server

Google Cloud's Agent for SAP is required for SAP support of SAP systems running on a Bare Metal Solution server.

If you use the following RHEL or SLES "for SAP" OS images that Google Cloud provides, then Google Cloud's Agent for SAP is packaged with the OS images:

RHEL: all "for SAP" images
SLES: SLES 15 SP4 for SAP and later versions

For information about the operating systems available for running SAP on Bare Metal Solution servers, see the following:

For SAP HANA, see Certified operating systems.
For SAP NetWeaver, see Certified operating systems.

To install and configure version 1 of Google Cloud's Agent for SAP on a Compute Engine instance, see Install Google Cloud's Agent for SAP on a Compute Engine instance.

Installation overview

You install Google Cloud's Agent for SAP by using standard operating system package management commands: on RHEL, the yum command; on SLES, the zypper command. The package management command completes the following tasks:

Downloads Google Cloud's Agent for SAP.
Creates the agent as a Linux systemd service, named google-cloud-sap-agent.
Enables and starts the service, google-cloud-sap-agent.

Install the agent

We recommend that you install the latest version of Google Cloud's Agent for SAP, which supports more features. For instructions, see Install and configure Google Cloud's Agent for SAP on a Bare Metal Solution server.

To install version 1 of Google Cloud's Agent for SAP, contact Cloud Customer Care.

After you install Google Cloud's Agent for SAP and the SAP Host Agent, validate the installation of Google Cloud's Agent for SAP, as described in Validate your installation of the agent.

Validate your installation of the agent

Establish an SSH connection with your Bare Metal Solution server.

Run the following command:

systemctl status google-cloud-sap-agent

If the agent is functioning properly, then the output contains active (running). For example:

google-cloud-sap-agent.service - Google Cloud Agent for SAP
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/google-cloud-sap-agent.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active:  active (running)  since Fri 2022-12-02 07:21:42 UTC; 4 days ago
Main PID: 1337673 (google-cloud-sa)
Tasks: 9 (limit: 100427)
Memory: 22.4 M (max: 1.0G limit: 1.0G)
CGroup: /system.slice/google-cloud-sap-agent.service
       └─1337673 /usr/bin/google-cloud-sap-agent

If the agent isn't running, then restart the agent.

Verify that SAP Host Agent is receiving metrics

To verify that the infrastructure metrics are collected by Google Cloud's Agent for SAP and sent correctly to the SAP Host Agent, follow these steps:

In your SAP system, enter transaction ST06.
In the overview pane, check the availability and content of the following fields for the correct end-to-end setup of the SAP and Google monitoring infrastructure:
- Cloud Provider: Google Cloud Platform
- Enhanced Monitoring Access: TRUE
- Enhanced Monitoring Details: ACTIVE

Configure Google Cloud's Agent for SAP on Linux

After you install Google Cloud's Agent for SAP, optionally, you can configure the agent to enable collection of Process Monitoring metrics and Workload Manager evaluation metrics. By default, the collection of only the SAP Host Agent metrics is enabled.

Workload Manager evaluation metrics and Process Monitoring metrics collection is supported only on Linux.

If you enable the Workload Manager evaluation metrics and Process Monitoring metrics collection, then you need to complete the following prerequisites:

Create an IAM service account for the agent to access the Google Cloud resources. Grant the required IAM role to the service account. See Set up a service account for details.
On Bare Metal Solution server, install the gcloud CLI. See Install the gcloud CLI for details.
To access Google Cloud, authorize the gcloud CLI. See Authorize the gcloud CLI for details.
Establish connection to Google Cloud APIs. See Configuring Private Google Access for on-premises hosts for details.

Set up a service account

To enable the agent to access Google Cloud resources from a Bare Metal Solution environment, you need to set up an IAM service account.

At a minimum, the service account that the agent uses must include the Monitoring Metric Writer (roles/monitoring.metricWriter) role.

To create a service account, follow these steps:

Create a service account:
1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Create service account page.
  Go to Create service account
2. Select your project.
3. In the Service account name field, enter a name. The Google Cloud console fills in the Service account ID field based on this name.
  
  In the Service account description field, enter a description. For example, Service account for quickstart.
4. Click Create and continue.
5. Grant the Monitoring > Monitoring Metric Writer role to the service account.
  
  To grant the role, find the Select a role list, then select Monitoring > Monitoring Metric Writer.
  
  Note: The Role field affects which resources the service account can access in your project. You can revoke these roles or grant additional roles later.
6. Click Continue.
7. Click Done to finish creating the service account.
  
  Do not close your browser window. You will use it in the next step.
Create a service account key:
1. In the Google Cloud console, click the email address for the service account that you created.
2. Click Keys.
3. Click Add key, and then click Create new key.
4. Click Create. A JSON key file is downloaded to your computer.
5. Click Close.

Upload the JSON key file to a secure location on the Bare Metal Solution server that is accessible to the agent.

Enable Process Monitoring metrics and Workload Manager evaluation metrics collection

To enable the Process Monitoring metrics and Workload Manager evaluation metrics collection, follow these steps:

Establish an SSH connection with your Bare Metal Solution server.

Open the following configuration file:

/etc/google-cloud-sap-agent/configuration.json

In the collection_configuration section, set the following parameters to true:
- collect_process_metrics: enables the agent to collect Process Monitoring metrics. For SAP HANA database metrics collection, to access and query the SAP HANA database, you need to set up additional parameters in the hana_metrics_config section.
- collect_workload_validation_metrics: enables the agent to collect Workload Manager evaluation metrics.
For more information about the parameters, see the following table.
Save the configuration file.
Restart the agent for the new settings to take effect.
```
sudo systemctl restart google-cloud-sap-agent
```

Configuration parameters

The following table explains the configuration parameters of version 1 of Google Cloud's Agent for SAP.

Parameters
`provide_sap_host_agent_metrics`	`Boolean` To enable the collection of the metrics required by the SAP Host Agent, specify `true`. Default is `true`. Don't set `provide_sap_host_agent_metrics` to `false` unless you are directed by Cloud Customer Care or SAP Support.
`bare_metal`	`Boolean` When the agent is installed on a Bare Metal Solution server, specify `true`. Default is `false`.
`log_level`	`String` To set the logging level of the agent, set the required value. The available log levels are as follows: `DEBUG` `INFO` `WARNING` `ERROR` Default is `INFO`. Don't change the logging level unless you are directed by Cloud Customer Care.
`log_to_cloud`	`Boolean` To redirect the agent's logs to Cloud Logging, specify `true`. The default is `true`.
`cloud_properties.project_id`	`String` If your SAP system is running on a Bare Metal Solution server, then specify the project ID of the Google Cloud project that you are using with Bare Metal Solution. When the agent runs on a Compute Engine instance, by default, the agent detects the project ID automatically.
`cloud_properties.instance_id`	`String` Specify the name of the Bare Metal Solution server on which you have installed the agent.
`cloud_properties.region`	`String` If your SAP system is running on a Bare Metal Solution server, then specify the region of the Bare Metal Solution server. When the agent runs on a compute instance, by default, the agent uses the region where the compute instance is deployed.
`cloud_properties.zone`	`String` When the agent runs on a compute instance, by default, the agent uses the zone where the compute instance is deployed.
`cloud_properties.image`	`String` Specify the OS image name of the instance. When the agent runs on a compute instance, by default, the agent automatically detects the OS image used by the compute instance.
`cloud_properties.numeric_project_id`	`String` Specify the numeric ID of the Google Cloud project where the SAP system is running. When the agent runs on a compute instance, by default, the agent automatically detects project number.
`collection_configuration.collect_process_metrics`	`Boolean` To enable Process Monitoring metrics collection, specify `true`. Default is `false`. This parameter is applicable only for Linux. If you enable Process metrics collection for SAP HANA, then you need to set up additional parameters listed under `hana_metrics_config`.
`collection_configuration.process_metrics_frequency`	`Int` Specify the collection frequency of the Process Monitoring metrics, in seconds. The default value for this parameter is `5` seconds. Although you can update the collection frequency of the Process Monitoring metrics, we recommend that you use the default value. If you need to modify the default value, then add the `process_metrics_frequency` parameter under the `collection_configuration` section and provide the required value.
`collection_configuration.hana_metrics_config.hana_db_user`	`String` Specify the database user account that the agent uses to query SAP HANA. Default is `SYSTEM`.
`collection_configuration.hana_metrics_config.hana_db_password`	`String` Specify the plain text password for the database user account that the agent uses to query SAP HANA. Instead of specifying a plain text password, we recommend that you use one of the following options: `hana_db_password_secret_name`, for which you specify a secret stored in Secret Manager.
`collection_configuration.hana_metrics_config.hana_db_password_secret_name`	`String` To securely provide the password for the database user account that the agent uses to query SAP HANA, specify the name of the secret that contains the security credentials for the database user account. Important: The secret and the host Compute Engine instance must exist in the same Google Cloud project. The agent collects the SAP HANA related metrics only when you specify either `hana_db_password_secret_name` or `hana_db_password`.
`collection_configuration.hana_metrics_config.sid`	`String` Specify the SID of your SAP HANA instance.
`collection_configuration.collect_workload_validation_metrics`	`Boolean` To enable Workload Manager evaluation metrics collection, specify `true`. From version 3.2, the default value is `true`. This parameter is applicable only for Linux.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_metrics_frequency`	`Int` The collection frequency of the Workload Manager evaluation metrics in seconds. The default value is `300` seconds. We recommend that you don't modify the default collection frequency as it might impact the entire feature itself. If you need to modify the collection frequency of the Workload Manager metrics, then add the `workload_validation_metrics_frequency` parameter under the `collection_configuration` section and provide the required value.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_config.hana_db_user`	`String` Specify the user account that is used to query the SAP HANA instance. The user account must have the read permission to the SAP HANA database.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_config.hana_db_password`	`String` Specify the password for the user account that is used to query the SAP HANA instance.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_config.hana_db_password_secret_name`	`String` Specify the name of the secret in Secret Manager that stores the user account's password.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_config.sid`	`String` Specify the SID of your SAP HANA instance.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_config.hostname`	`String` Specify the identifier for the machine, either local or remote, that hosts your SAP HANA instance. The following are the supported values: If the host is a local machine, then specify the string `localhost` or the localhost loopback IP address, like `127.0.0.1`. If the host is a remote machine, then specify its internal or external IP address.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_config.port`	`String` Specify the port on which your SAP HANA instance accepts queries. For the first or only tenant database instance, the port is `3NN15`, where `NN` is the instance number of the SAP HANA instance.
`collection_configuration.workload_validation_db_metrics_frequency`	`Int` The collection frequency of the SAP HANA database metrics, in seconds, for Workload Manager evaluation. Default is `3600` seconds. Although you can update the collection frequency of the SAP HANA database metrics, we recommend that you use the default value. If you need to modify the default value, then add the `workload_validation_db_metrics_frequency` parameter under the `collection_configuration` section and provide the required value. Make sure that you don't set a collection frequency greater than `3600` seconds.

Default configuration

{
  "provide_sap_host_agent_metrics": true,
  "log_level": "INFO",
  "log_to_cloud": true,
  "collection_configuration": {
    "collect_workload_validation_metrics": false,
    "collect_process_metrics": false
  }
}

Example configuration

For installing the agent on a Bare Metal Solution server, you need to add the required parameters to the configuration file. The following example shows a completed configuration file for installing the agent on a Bare Metal Solution server.

{
  "provide_sap_host_agent_metrics": true,
  "bare_metal": true,
  "log_level": "INFO",
  "log_to_cloud": true,
  "collection_configuration": {
    "collect_workload_validation_metrics": false,
    "collect_process_metrics": true,
    "hana_metrics_config": {
      "hana_db_user": "user",
      "hana_db_password_secret_name": "secret-name"
    }
  },
  "cloud_properties": {
    "project_id": "my-project",
    "instance_id": "bms-machine-1",
    "image": "rhel-8",
    "region": "us-central1"
  }
}

View the collected metrics

To visualize the Process Monitoring metrics that the agent collects, you can use the following custom dashboards that Google Cloud provides:

Agent for SAP - HANA Overview: This dashboard provides charts that display status overview for the following metrics: SAP HANA Availability, SAP HANA HA Availability, SAP HANA HA Replication, SAP HANA Service Status, HA Cluster - Node State, and HA Cluster - Resource State for SAP Instances.

The JSON file for this dashboard is sap-agent-status-overview.json.
Agent for SAP - HANA Raw Metrics: This dashboard provides charts that display raw metric values for the following metrics: SAP HANA Availability, SAP HANA HA Availability, SAP HANA HA Replication, SAP HANA Service Status, HA Cluster - Node State, and HA Cluster - Resource State for SAP Instances.

The JSON file for this dashboard is sap-agent-raw-metrics.json.

Install dashboards

To install a custom dashboard, complete the following steps:

Google Cloud console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Monitoring page:

Go to Monitoring
In the Monitoring navigation panel, click Dashboards.
Click the Sample library tab.
To filter the agent-specific custom dashboards, in the Filter field, type Agent for SAP.
(Optional) To view details about a dashboard or to preview its contents, click Preview.
Select the dashboard that you want to install.
Click Import, and then click Confirm.

The dashboard is added to the available dashboards in your Google Cloud project. To see your dashboard, follow the instructions in View the installed dashboard.

Google Cloud CLI

Open the Cloud Shell:

Open Cloud Shell

In the Cloud Shell, clone or download the repository:

git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/monitoring-dashboard-samples/

In the Cloud Shell, install the required dashboard using the corresponding JSON file:
```
gcloud monitoring dashboards create --config-from-file=CONFIG_FROM_FILE
```
Replace CONFIG_FROM_FILE with the path to the JSON file that contains the dashboard configuration. Dashboard configuration files can be located at path: monitoring-dashboard-samples/dashboards/google-cloud-agent-for-sap.

The dashboard is added to the available dashboards in your Google Cloud project. To see your dashboard, follow the instructions in View the installed dashboard.

View the installed dashboards

To view the installed dashboards, follow these steps:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Monitoring page:

Go to Monitoring
In the Monitoring navigation panel, click Dashboards.
Click the dashboard name in the list.

If you have a lot of dashboards, then you can filter for custom dashboards or for the name of the new dashboard. For information on filtering this list, see View custom dashboards.

The following image is an example that shows a part of the custom dashboard for SAP HANA metrics in Monitoring.

Screen capture shows the custom dashboard for SAP HANA metrics
in Monitoring

Troubleshooting

For information about diagnosing and resolving issues that you might encounter when you install and configure Google Cloud's Agent for SAP, see Google Cloud's Agent for SAP troubleshooting guide.

Get support

If you need help resolving problems with Google Cloud's Agent for SAP, then collect all available diagnostic information and contact Cloud Customer Care. For information about contacting Customer Care, see Getting support for SAP on Google Cloud.