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SAP System Critical Task

18 September 2022

SAP Basis Critical Transaction Codes

Certain areas of your SAP system need to be monitored on a regular basis to ensure

reliable operation. To handle these tasks, it’s useful to have a schedule to work

through at specific intervals. 

The individual checklists are, in turn, based on the following aspects:

  • Critical tasks
  • SAP system
  • Database
  • Operating system
  • Other
  • Notes

Critical Task

Some critical tasks have to be performed every morning. You can use these tasks to

determine whether the SAP system is running as normal and if your backups have

been successful. If you detect that your system isn’t running smoothly or that the

backups were not successfully completed, you need to resolve these issues promptly

to prevent system outages or data loss.

Conducting Backup Tests and Troubleshooting

You must execute these critical tasks first thing each Monday morning. If a shift is worked

between the hours of 10:00 pm and 7:00 am, you should conduct backup testing as

soon as the backups are completed.

Each defective backup identified must be investigated immediately, and the underlying

problem resolved. You should never simply have blind faith in the backup working

properly during the coming night. If this backup also fails, you’ll already be missing a

backup for another whole day.Critical Tasks—Checking the SAP System and Backups

TransactionCodeActionExplanation
UsersAL08/ SM04 Display all users currently logged on to the system, together with their user ID and terminal.Allows administrators to detect faulty or multiple logons.
OS MonitorST06Display operating system logs.Allows administrators to detect possible OS and hardware problems (e.g., a failed drive).
Select background jobs/Job Scheduling MonitorSM37/ RZ01Select and monitor batch jobs scheduled in the background.Allows the administrator to detect any critical jobs that have been executed incorrectly. Other tasks may depend on the successful execution of these jobs.
CCMS Alert MonitorRZ20Monitor servers (DEV, QAS, Test, PRD, etc.) in your environment using a central program.Alerts indicate potentially serious problems that require an immediate solution.
Select lock entriesSM12Display a list of all lock entries. Locks prevent other users from changing data records that you’re in the process of editing.Alerts indicate potentially serious problems that require an immediate solution.
Update recordsSM13Display, process, test, reset, delete, and access statistics for update records.Administrators can process any update records that haven’t yet been processed.
System logSM21Analyze system logs.Supports the administrator in the early detection of system problems in the SAP system.
Batch inputSM35Manage batch input sessions.Alerts the administrator to the existence of new or faulty batch input sessions.
Work processesSM50/ SM51Display the status of work processes; Transaction SM50 is used for systems without an application server.  Transaction SM51 is the central transaction.  Transaction SM50 is started for each application server.Allows users to monitor work processes and check whether any have been processed incorrectly or have been running for too long.
Spool requestsSP01SAP System Output Manager.Helps you resolve time-critical print job issues.
Tune summaryST02Display statistics relating to SAP buffer performance, finetuning of buffer parameters, SAP database parameters, and operating system parameters.Enables the solving of problems with extensive buffer swaps. Search for entries shown in red in the Swaps column, and monitor the time details to identify trends.
Load analysis in the SAP systemST03NDetermine system performance.If you know the normal load distribution when the system is running, you can make minor adjustments that may help when problems occur.
Database performance analysisST04High-level database performance monitor.Allows you to monitor the growth of the database, capacity, input/output statistics, and alerts. You can drill down to display additional information.
ABAP dump analysisST22Display the logs of ABAP short dumps.Allows you to determine why a report or transaction terminated.
Transport Management SystemSTMSCheck transport queues and logs.Allows you to detect errors in the import of transport requests.