Configuring Remote Systems

In SAP Fiori launchpad, the system that a user initially connects to, and the system where applications assigned to the user are running, the so-called remote system, may be different. This section explains how you as an administrator specify those remote systems.

In the launchpad, remote targets are used in the following cases:

When navigating with tiles that point to SAP GUI transactions or Web Dynpro ABAP applications.
Since these application types are located in a backend system, you need to define remote function call (RFC) destinations from the ABAP front-end server to the ABAP back-end system(s).
When passing data origin for SAP Fiori applications via sap-system parameter
In this scenario, the application requires information from a remote system. The data origin points to the location of data used by the target application and indicates the location from where the data shall be loaded. For SAPUI5 applications, this is a backend system implementing OData services.

RFC Connections

Connection Types and Naming Conventions

You configure connections to remote systems in transaction SM59. The following connection types are relevant for the launchpad:

Table 1:
ABAP Connection (type 3)	This type is required to support navigation using RFC protocol or native application embedding. For example, you need this connection type when you integrate the launchpad in SAP Business Client and launch SAP GUI transactions using embedded SAP GUI for Windows. Create the corresponding connection using the following naming convention: `<system alias>_RFC`
HTTP(S) Connection to ABAP System (type H)	This type is required to support HTTP-based communication, e.g. all Web-browser-based application technologies such as Web Dynpro ABAP and SAP GUI for HTML. Create the corresponding connection using the following naming convention: `<system alias>_HTTP` `<system alias>_HTTPS`

Note

Transaction SM59 does not allow you to create several destinations with the same name even if the connection types are different. Therefore, we recommend you to create entries with the same base name and an extension to distinguish between the different connection types (_RFC, _HTTP, _HTTPS). Using this approach, it is possible to reference multiple connections by passing the base name (<system alias>) only.

For more information on naming conventions for RFC destinations, see Naming Convention.

Defining RFC Connections in SM59

ABAP Connection Definition
HTTP Connection Definition

Note
On the Technical Settings tab, make sure that the Path Prefix field is empty.

System Aliases

Referencing System Aliases

You specify a system alias in the target mapping to define application or data origin:

For application types Transaction, Web Dynpro and URL you define the system alias directly in the target mapping in the SAP Fiori launchpad designer.
The parameter System Alias in the target mapping configuration indicates that the application shall call the remote system that is specified.

See Configuring Target Mappings.

Launchpad Customizing (transaction LPD_CUST)
For application type SAP Fiori App using LPD_CUST you define the system alias in Launchpad Customizing (transaction LPD_CUST) on the frontend server.
The parameter System Alias in the Change Launchpad Role screen indicates that the application shall call the remote system that is specified.

See Customizing Navigation Targets in LPD_CUST.

The system alias references the RFC destinations which have been defined according to the naming conventions mentioned above.

You can use the URL parameter sap-system that is passed as part of the intent to overwrite the system alias parameter defined in LPD_CUST or launchpad designer.

See Overwriting the System Alias for the Target Application.

System Alias Mapping

To reduce maintenance effort if you have several system aliases pointing to the same physical source system, you can define a mapping for the system aliases.

See Map the Connections.