Most of you know that SLES was the only supported OS for SAP HANA few years back. But for quite sometime, Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA 6.5 is certified minimum version available for productive usage, which is based on Intel IvyBridgeEX (Xeon E7 v2) CPU architecture. I was working with SLES since Nov'2009 and installed SAP HANA 1.0 built 5 for the first time. Due to other commitments, I was not looked into RHEL part till Dec'2014. Remotely, from Bangalore, I was working hands-on with RHEL colleagues on their Lab through their OPEN program and that's why collected some basic knowledge on this. SAP HANA 1.0 SPS08 is the minimum version of SAP HANA certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA is required for SAP HANA installation. In April'2015, I have successfully completed SAP HANA Installation on RHEL platform. Then using my guide, Banaglore team was successfully installed SAP HANA 1.0 SPS 09 on RHEL in VM environment. We also done successful upgrade of HANA Rev. after the basic installation. I have created the SAP HANA on RHEL Installation guide. This document discussed about the step-by-step process for preparation of RHEL OS and then SAP HANA Installation on it. It can help for TDI specific activities. One can use the same and provide feedback. The guide is here attached with.

1. SAP HANA on RHEL
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SAP HANA on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
=================================================================================================
By
Debajit Banerjee
April, 2015
=================================================================================================
Table of Contents
SAP HANA on Red Hat Enterprise Linux...............................................................2
I. Overview…………………………………………………………………………………………………………2
II. Pre-requisite for SAP HANA Installation on RHEL….………………………………………..4
III. Preparation of RHEL OS…………………………………..….…………………………………………4
A) Kernel Update…………………………………..….………………………………………………6
B) Configurations…………………………………..….……………………………………………..6
C) Optional Configurations…………..…………..….…………………………………………16
D) Creation of File System and Mount-points.…………………………………………18
E) Deployment as per SAP Note 2013638…….…………………………………………19
IV. Installation of SAP HANA….…………………………………………………………………………24
A) File System Validation Before Installation………………………………………..….24
B) Preparation of SAP HANA Software for Installation..………………………..…25
C) SAP HANA Installation…………………………….………………………………………..…26

2. SAP HANA on RHEL
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SAP HANA on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Most of you know that SLES or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server was the only supported OS for SAP HANA few years back.
But for quite some time, Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA 6.5 is certified minimum version available for
productive usage, which is based on Intel Ivy Bridge EX (Xeon E7 v2) CPU architecture.
I was working with SLES since Nov'2009 and installed SAP HANA 1.0 built 5 for the first time. Due to other commitments,
I was not looked into RHEL part till Dec'2014. Remotely, from Bangalore, I was working hands-on with RHEL colleagues
on their Lab through their OPEN program and that's why collected some basic knowledge on this.
In this document, I will primarily discuss the Pre-Requisite and Installation of SAP HANA on RHEL. RHEL installation steps
are not covered here. Basic RHEL and SAP HANA knowledge is good to have to understand this customized guide.
Note : The Screenshots used in this document by me from 2-3 different HANA System built as I forget to collect the same
sometimes; so please don’t confuse with the hostnames !!
I. Overview
As on Dec.'2014, the following configurations have been certified for SAP HANA Appliance running on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux for SAP HANA:
 HANA Version
 HANA 1.0 SPS 08 and 09
 CPU Architecture
 Intel Ivy Bridge-EX, i.e., Xeon E7 v2
SAP HANA 1.0 SPS08 is the minimum version of SAP HANA certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat Enterprise
Linux for SAP HANA is required for SAP HANA installation. There is no custom Linux kernel available for running SAP
HANA. The library compatsapc++.so is a must for SAP HANA. The additional GCC runtime environment needed for SAP
HANA on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 as SAP uses a more recent compiler for its more recent feature set.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP Business Applications subscription should be used for running SAP Business
Applications.
Single Node, Scale Out, SoH-Suite on HANA - all HANA configurations are certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP
HANA.

3. SAP HANA on RHEL
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Red Hat does not ship custom-built kernels for SAP HANA or any products, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Base Channel
is identical to a regular Red Hat Enterprise Linux channel which contains the same Linux kernel. Any additional packages
will be shipped via a child channel or an Add-On.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA contains the following channels (as of Dec. 2014) :
 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Base Channel 6.5 - Repository name : rhel-x86_64-server-6
 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA Child Channel - Repository name : rhel-x86_64-server-sap-hana-6
This Child Channel contains additional packages as follows –
 Scalable File System Add-On (XFS)
 compat-sap-c++.so package
 Tuned profiles “sap-hana”(for bare-metal) and
 Tuned profiles “sap-hana-vmware”(for virtual)

4. SAP HANA on RHEL
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II. Pre-requisite for SAP HANA Installation on RHEL
Pre-requisite for SAP HANA Installation on RHEL :
One needs the following accounts with proper authorizations to access required software & important information
 SAP S-User account
- Using S-User account, one can download SAP HANA.
- SAP Service Marketplace account required to download SAP Software, access SAP Notes and generate
license keys.
- Website : http://support.sap.com
 Red Hat Customer Portal account
- This account required for downloading Red Hat software, access support articles.
- This account is also known as Red Hat Network Classic1 or RHN account.
- Website : http://access.redhat.com
The basic requirement for SAP HANA Installation on RHEL 6.5 OS :
 Minimum memory – 24GB of RAM
 File System structure : Mount points and their corresponding size as follows –
- / (root) 10GB
- /hana/shared/<SAP_SID> 1 x RAM size 24GB
- /hana/data 1 x RAM size 24GB
- /hana/log 0.5 x RAM size 12GB
- /usr/sap 50GB
- /install Inst. Temp files 128GB
RHEL Installation
Note : When a Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA subscription is purchased, the entitlement appears in the
Red Hat Network Classic1 account used for the purchase. Red Hat Subscription Management is a local service which
tracks installed products and subscriptions on a local system to help manage subscription assignments.
- Install RHEL OS in manual method which is interactive in nature. One can install from DVD or .iso image.
- Select the “Minimal” installation option.
- Set the hostname for the server.
- Configure the basic network and check the connectivity.
- If the host is already registered, then verify the subscription.
# yum repolist
repo id repo name status
rhel-x86_64-server-sap-hana-6 RHEL 6.5 SAP HANA 2
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA channel and its repo should be visible to the current system like above.

5. SAP HANA on RHEL
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But if the registration and subscription not completed, one has to follow the below steps.
- Register the current host to the Red Hat Customer Portal or local Red Hat Satellite Server.
# subscription-manager register --username=RHN_USERNAME --password=RHN_PASSWORD
 Subscribe to the “Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA” channel using Red Hat Subscription Management.
 List all the available pools that the system is eligible to subscribe to
# subscription-manager list –available
 Identify the pool that contains “Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP Hana”, and then use its Pool ID to
subscribe
# subscription-manager subscribe --pool POOL_ID

6. SAP HANA on RHEL
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III. Preparation of RHEL OS
Preparation of RHEL Operating System :
Apart from required Kernel Update, Configurations, etc., there are some important RHEL OS settings required and for
that, one has to follow “SAP Note 2013638 – SAP HANA DB : Recommended OS Settings for RHEL 6.5”.
A)Kernel Update
Kernel Update
As of now, SAP HANA is certified for RHEL 6.5 only.
B)Configurations
Configurations
a. NTP Configuration
- Network Time Protocol (NTP) server enablement helps to keep the time & date synchronized on
all SAP HANA Servers.

7. SAP HANA on RHEL
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b. Firewall Disablement
- Firewall configuration is disabled by default. One have to configure iptables for firewall usage with
SAP HANA.
c. Installation of dependent packages
- Software Group : base Use the command : # yum -y groupinstall base
- Software Packages : gtk2 libicu xulrunner ntp sudo tcsh libssh2 expect cairo graphviz iptraf krb5-
workstation krb5-libs.i686 nfs-utils lm_sensors rsyslog openssl098e openssl xorg-x11-xauth
PackageKit-gtk-module libcanberra-gtk2 libtool-ltdl

8. SAP HANA on RHEL
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- Use this command : # yum -y install gtk2 libicu xulrunner ntp sudo tcsh
libssh2 expect cairo graphviz iptraf krb5-workstation krb5-libs.i686
nfs-utils lm_sensors rsyslog openssl098e openssl xorg-x11-xauth
PackageKit-gtk-module libcanberra-gtk2 libtool-ltdl
- Optional Package : numactl; it is highly required for TDI activities (HWCCT tool).
d. Installation of SAP JVM for SAP HANA Studio
- Download it from SAP Service Marketplace and install as it is used by SAP HANA Studio.
- As an alternative, IcedTea can be installed for testing purpose.
- Here, I am providing the IcedTea screenshots as SAP JVM screenshots are easily available.

9. SAP HANA on RHEL
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10. SAP HANA on RHEL
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e. Installation of Tuned Profile
- RHEL for SAP HANA provides two Tuned Profiles
- For bare-metal installation : sap-hana
- For VMware Hypervisor installation : sap-hana-vmware

11. SAP HANA on RHEL
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For Virtual HANA Installation

12. SAP HANA on RHEL
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In case of Physical HANA Installation

13. SAP HANA on RHEL
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f. Update of Kernel Parameters
Following parameters must be set /etc/sysctl.conf file.
- net.ipv4.tcp_slow_start_after_idle=0
- net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=0
- net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range=40000 61000
- net.ipv4.neigh.default.gc_thresh1=256
- net.ipv4.neigh.default.gc_thresh2=1024
- net.ipv4.neigh.default.gc_thresh3=4096
- net.ipv6.neigh.default.gc_thresh1=256
- net.ipv6.neigh.default.gc_thresh2=1024
- net.ipv6.neigh.default.gc_thresh3=4096
- kernel.shmmni=65536
- kernel.msgmni=32768
- kernel.sem=1250 256000 100 8192
- kernel.sysrq=1
- vm.swappiness=60
- vm.max_map_count=2000000
- vm.memory_failure_early_kill=1
- fs.file-max=20000000
- fs.aio-max-nr=458752
- It is always better set these parameter after SAP HANA is installed as the HANA installer adds
some of these parameters.

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g. Creation of Symbolic links
- Due to compatibility reasons, the follow symbolic links are required for creation
- # ln -s /usr/lib64/libssl.so.0.9.8e /usr/lib64/libssl.so.0.9.8
- # ln -s /usr/lib64/libssl.so.1.0.1e /usr/lib64/libssl.so.1.0.1
- # ln -s /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.0.9.8e /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.0.9.8
- # ln -s /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.1.0.1e /usr/lib64/libcrypto.so.1.0.1
h. Disablement of crash and core file handling at OS level
- kdump, abrt service should be disabled.
- SAP HANA has its own dump mechanism.
- One can disable core dumps for all user. To activate it, limits.conf will be as follows:
# cat /etc/security/limits.conf
* soft core 0
* hard core 0

16. SAP HANA on RHEL
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i. Installation of unrar
- There is need of installation of unrar utility to unpack the SAP HANA archive.
C) Optional Configurations
Optional Configurations
a. Lock Kernel Version
i. As of Dec’2014, SAP HANA is currently certified for RHEL 6.5 only. For that reason, lock the
kernel, kernel-firmware, kernel headers to the latest available kernel of the 2.6.32-431 series.
ii. It is better to lock the nss-softokn-freebl and nss-softokn packages to the latest version
compatible with RHEL 6.5.

17. SAP HANA on RHEL
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Use these commands for lock activities:
# echo kernel-2.6.32-431.el6.* >> /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/versionlock.list
# echo kernel-firmware-2.6.32-431.el6.* >> /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/versionlock.list
# echo kernel-headers-2.6.32-431.el6.* >> /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/versionlock.list
# echo nss-softokn-freebl-3.14.3-12.el6.* >> /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/versionlock.list
# echo nss-softokn-3.14.3-12.el6.* >> /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/versionlock.list
b. Hardware with IvyTown Sockets
i. SAP HANA depends upon specific hardware. For hardware with 8 IvyTown sockets and larger,
the maximum no of processes for the sapsys group is not sufficient. This causes the installation
of SAP HANA to fail.
ii. For the above, please create the /etc/security/limits.d/99-sapsys.conf file with below content
@sapsys soft nproc unlimited

18. SAP HANA on RHEL
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c. Installation of NIPING
i. One can download nipping program from SAP Service Marketplace.
ii. One can install NIPING in the following way:
#./SAPCAR -xvf ./NIPING.SAR
# cp niping /bin
# chmod 755 /bin/niping
D)Creation of File System and Mount-points
SAP HANA installation can be done on ext3, but XFS is the preferred one. So before SAP HANA installation
on any host, one has to perform the following activities as described in earlier chapter “Pre-requisite for SAP
HANA Installation on RHEL”.
 Install XFS
 Create Disk Partitions
 Create LVM Logical Volumes
 Create XFS File Systems
 Create Mount Points
 Mount File Systems

19. SAP HANA on RHEL
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E) Deployment as per SAP Note 2013638
As per SAP Note 2013638, we have perform the following activities on host.
1) Disablement of Transparent HugePages (THP)
2) Configuration of C-States for lower latency
3) OpenSSL Upgrade

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4) Installation of GCC 4.7 Runtime Environment

22. SAP HANA on RHEL
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5) Disablement of SELinux
SELinux will be disabled after a reboot.

23. SAP HANA on RHEL
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6) Validation the version of nss-softokn-freebl : nss-softokn-freebl-3.14.3-12

24. SAP HANA on RHEL
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IV. Installation of SAP HANA
A)File System Validation Before Installation
The mountpoints /hana/data, /hana/log and /hana/shared are mostly important apart from /usr/sap.
The /install has been used for keeping the software and unzip the same for installation. Please ignore
the other mountpoints.

25. SAP HANA on RHEL
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B)Preparation of SAP HANA Software for Installation
We already downloaded the software and then uncar the same by using SAPCAR utility.
It automatically creates the below folder structures while uncar.

26. SAP HANA on RHEL
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C) SAP HANA Installation
We will start the SAP HANA installation now. We will use hdblcm (HANA Database Life Cycle Management) Tool.
This installation is interactive one – where we have chosen 3 components to be installed – SAP HANA Server, SAP HANA
Client and SAP HANA Studio.
We have provided SAP HANA SID as “RHA”. This installation is for testing purpose, we will choose “Test” as System usage
and that too in single container database mode.

27. SAP HANA on RHEL
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So, now all the input has been completed. It will provide a Summary for checking before starting the actual installation
process.

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29. SAP HANA on RHEL
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30. SAP HANA on RHEL
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So, SAP HANA System “RHA” installation is completed.
One can configure in Linux or in Windows SAP HANA Studio for managing it, using following details –
 Hostname with Instance Number, Short Description
 SYSTEM account password

32. SAP HANA on RHEL
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From this SAP HANA Studio screenshot, one can summarize as follows :
- SAP HANA Standalone System “RHA” [SAP HANA 1.0 SPS 09 Rev. 91] is up and running.
- It is running on VMware; one can get details of RHEL OS Kernel also.
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