Internet Communication Manager (ICM) - SAP NetWeaver

The ICM is a component of the SAP NetWeaver Application Server. It is implemented as a separate process, which is started and monitored by the ABAP dispatcher. With AS Java the startup framework does this task.

The Internet Communication Manager ensures that communication between the SAP NetWeaver Application Server (SAP system) and the outside world. In its role as server it processes requests from the Internet. The processing of URL requests is dependent on the configured server/port combination. Depending on the URL the ICM calls the relevant local handler.

You need the ICM if you want your SAP NetWeaver Application Server to communicate with the Internet via HTTP, HTTPS or SMTP, like Web applications do with Web Dynpro ABAP. In AS Java the ICM distributes the incoming requests directly to the Java server processes. For communicating with the client, P4, IIOP and Telnet protocols are used in addition to HTTP(S).

The ICM can be configured using profile parameters. Note that the ICM and SAP Web Dispatcher use the same code basis. The main difference between the two components is that the SAP Web Dispatcher performs load balancing, and passes requests to ICMs on the connected application servers rather than to work processes. This relationship makes it possible to share profile parameters and administration options. The structure of the documentation makes it clear what applies to the ICM only and what applies also to the Web dispatcher.