Synchronizing Customizing Data Between Systems

There are two important aspects of synchronizing Customizing data:

Which Customizing Data must be Adjusted between Systems?
How is the synchronization performed?

Customizing data is all the data configured in Customizing. It includes, for example, organizational units (company code, division, plant), units of measurement and many other parameters that have to be set in the system.

Customizing has to be identical in certain areas in both systems before data can be exchanged between them.

In an ALE integrated system you can specify a central maintenance system in which Customizing data objects can be maintained centrally. Customizing data is transported from the central system to the systems that need to be synchronized.

Synchronization of ALE Customizing Data

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

The synchronization of Customizing data can be divided into:

Modeling

The ALE distribution group is a central modeling element. ALE distribution groups contain client-dependent Customizing objects of category CUST.

For your own Customizing tables you have to make entries in each of the administration tables of the Customizing objects (Transaction SOBJ). These entries are made automatically if you create a maintenance interface with the table maintenance generator for your Customizing tables ( Start of the navigation path Tools Next navigation step Development Dictionary Utilities Table maintenance generator End of the navigation path , or transaction code SE11).

You must define ALE distribution groups in customizing (SAP IMG), in the system that is specified as their maintenance system:

Start of the navigation path Application Server Next navigation step IDoc Interface / Application Link Enabling (ALE) Model and Implement Business Processes Configure Customizing Data Synchronization End of the navigation path .

Note Note

In Releases before 4.6A distribution is modeled with the message type CONDAT. Customizing data (control data) for distribution must be specified as the filter objects of this message type.

You cannot use the old and new modeling processes in parallel.

For this reason you have to use a tool in the ALE IMG to generate distribution groups for existing Customizing objects.

End of the note.

Note Note

You can specify a different maintenance system for each distribution group.

End of the note.

Transport management

In ALE Administration, you can process ALE transport requests for synchronizing Customizing data between systems as follows:

In the sending system:
Generate ALE requests
In the receiving system:
Import ALE requests with Workflow connection

Consolidate and forward ALE requests