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Figaf 2.11 is out, enabling DevOps for SAP PI and CPI

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Now we are able to deliver Figaf IRT 2.11, it will enable automation of SAP Integration never seen before. It contains 150 tasks or bugs and 55k new lines of code. So it is a massive improvement we have worked on. It contains two main areas.

  • Transport and governance system
  • Migration of SAP PI/PO if you are still missing to migrate to 7.5

Transport and governance process

When we have talked with clients of the Figaf tool and our integration with CTS+. It seems like only 50% of the customers were using it. I could configure it on our system without much knowledge in 4 hours. So it should be possible for all SAP users to use it.

My these on why CTS+ it has not been implemented as much is that it is not adding much value, and is just complicating the process. You cannot really see what is in the transports and once you have imported the directory you anyway needed to perform manual steps to configure it.

That is the reason I’m stoked we have created our own transport approach. It is really simple to configure and make it possible to improve the delivery of SAP Integration. This is the way transports are supposed to be handled in the modern world.

The process is as follows, in most cases:

  1. Create a Ticket that links to the business requirement or failure created
  2. Add the objects that you have changed
  3. Figaf will then know what objects need to be tested and can test the flows
  4. You can create transport with all the objects.
  5. You then configure what channels will be like on other systems in the landscape
  6. A user can then approve the transport and allow you to transport in the landscape
  7. You can import the transport in the landscape, and it will then configure the communication channel
  8. You can create an Excel report of the change and upload it to Jira, Service now

You can see how this enables DevOps for SAP PI/PO in this video.

Migration of SAP PI/PO

The new release also enables users to help optimize the migration process. A lot of users still need to perform migration projects. It is quite a labor-intensive process that you need to perform. That is why it would make sense to automate the process. If you are looking for a migration project, recommend to check out the migration option. I have created a video of the process

Roadmap

There are still areas that we would love to improve, depending on what customers see as most important. Like how to perform validations on the QA system. Does it require running the test on that platform, or are there other functions that could make sense. A lot of the configuration on how transport should be imported is now possible it just requires users to figure out what they need to be.

For the migration support of Classical scenarios is also on the which list, but will require we can work with a customer to enable it.

If requested we can incorporate it with CTS+ so it will still run your transports and Figaf would handle configuration and documentation.

Get Started now

You can start using the Figaf tool for free. Just go to Figaf.com/IRT and signup. Then you will get a free license key you can use for the migration.

Get Figaf IRT

What is new in 2.11 new Transport for SAP PI/CPI

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Over the last two months, we have written a lot about all the features that are in the coming release, and that it can automate the migration. To be able to auto migration we have added quite a number of new functions, which also makes the platform more useful for everyday usage. The biggest is to make governance much tighter integration with the transports.

Transports

One of the big things we needed to figure out was how to do transports. It is one of the areas where I do not think SAP PI/CPI is lacking modern change management. Sure CTS transports work but they don’t really give good visibility of what is transported.

Figaf can handle full transport no more need for CTS+. A number of our customers are not using CTS+ and therefore have not really been able to leverage a good way to do change management. So now you can just switch a flag on the landscape definition in Figaf Integration Tool and then be able to use Figaf to handle all your transports.

In the transport, we have now added an option to set up approval. So Architects can approve all transports before they can be imported.

Speaking of transports we have added two new options for the transport.

  1. Direct access to transport configuration from one view. So you can configure what hostnames should be in production. Once the transport has been approved it is not possible to change the configuration, otherwise, you will need to create a new transport.
  2. Virtual comparisons of change of what is change when applying the change. This makes it a lot easier to see what really will be changed when applying the patch.
  • Transport overview with approval
  • Simulated import and affected change
  • Landscape configuration to specify non transportble values in QA and production

We are considering how we can improve transport better. That there should be required testing on QA/Test system or secondary approval before transport can be imported to production. Only specific users can approve transports or they are imported at specific times.

Releases

Normally you will just develop single development and fix an interface at the time with a link to the service request. Other times you have a release or wave with some new interfaces that need to be applied on at special time and that contains a number of changes. Which this functionality it is possible to group and manage multiple tickets and interface at the mime.

Demo

See the video about how thise functions work together, making governance possible.

So now we are just waiting on our tests is working satisfying so we can create our release. There is still a number of regressions and flows that we need to optimize. We hope to release a beta of it soon.

Be the first to know

You can signup now and be one of the first to know when something changes.

Get to try this release soon

Figaf IRT 2.10 Making SAP CPI development faster Git

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It has been a long time since our last release. We did have a summer vacation and had a big new function to release. 

I have been teasing that we have Git integration for SAP CPI and also added it for SAP API mgt. 

Why Git:

The thing that I like with our Git integration is that it allows users to access all sources from your project in just one simple repository. It will speed up the development because you will get easier access to all groovy script and XSLT, so you can reuse it. We have tried using Github, SAP Git from Cloud Platform and also Bitbucket, other will probably also work. Just be sure it is a private repository.

It gives you an opportunity to work in your favorite IDE like Eclipse or IntelliJ to edit the code. They have a much better code completion that allows you to write the code faster. 

It is our first Git release, so we are looking for feedback about how the workflow should be and if there are any ways we can improve it. 

Gradle Plugins:

From an SAP developer perspective, we are not really used to be able to use plugins in our IDE. SAP has released the Netweaver Developer Studio for PI that and the old Eclipse Plugin for CPI development. Here you had some function you could use, but it would only work in that IDE. The better way to deliver integration tools is to deliver Gradle plugins. Normal Java developers have a lot of Gradle plugins they can use to bundle application or run them in a specific way. So it would make sense to add some code to Gradle plugins that allow you to upload, deploy and test your iflows directly from your IDE. That way you don’t need to do leave your IDE to validate if your code is running correctly. We have created 3 plugins are all open source. One to CPI, one to API Mgt and one to handle testing with Figaf IRT. The plugins can be found in the Gradle plugins directory or on our Github page.

Simple workflow

One of the big challenges with starting your own infrastructure is that you need to configure all your plugin. That is the pain we are removing. You don’t need to be a Git expert or know a lot of Java configuration all configurations are delivered templates that you can just reuse. It makes your developers much more productive. 

Other improvements:

We have made some more improvements in the application and fixed some bugs. Among them are once you use the Figaf IRT to transport individual iflows that it use the unofficial Update metadata API. This allows you to keep the version history of your changes and do rollbacks. It is not ideal but we will use it until SAP support the option to update an iflow with the official API. 

What is next:

The next big challenge that we would like to tackle makes it easier for the user to create test data and assertations for CPI development. Half a year ago we created an option to create a Groovy script to set up a message with test data. The approach did make it easier but you had to make some manual changes. That is what we are trying to change. We want to make it possible to generate scripts both input and expected output, so you can run the test case a lot easier. This will speed up your development even more. 

Try it out now and see how it works

There is a free version of Figaf IRT that you can use. It will enable you to expose your CPI system using Git. You can run Figaf IRT on your Laptop and it takes 10 minutes to get started.

We hope to find a way to license the feature while making it easy to try. But for now, there is only a restriction on the number of agents/CPI systems you can connect with.

Figaf IRT

IRT 2.0 Release event. Taking SAP PI/PO Testing to the next level

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If I had a big marketing department this invitation would probably look like the unveiling of the new Samsung phone. But since I’m the marketing department it is just some fact. And no cool graphics. I do hope you want to join anyway.

Testing SAP PI/PO is not really fun. It takes way too much time and is challenging. That is the reason I created Figaf IRT. I got the idea for IRT two years and it is time for a new release. We are ready to IRT 2.0 Simpler, Easier and Everywhere.

One of the big challenges has been the deployment of the IRT testing application and the difference between different Java and Netweaver that gave different results. We have therefore spent 3 months planning and rewriting the application to be able to run standalone so customers will be able to run IRT if they have 7.31+.

This enables us to create different models for deployment and license options.

We have a release party on February 8 ( which coincidently also is Daniels birthday).

I will be sharing some of the new features and what it means for licensing models.

You can join by clicking the button below.

Join

And as with all good events, there is a surprise. I’m burning to share this with you also but want to keep the suspense.