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Support Package Manager (transaction SPAM) provides you with an easy and effective way of importing SAP Support Packages into your system.

You can obtain Support Packages from the SAP Support Portal under http://service.sap.com/patches or collection CDs.

Support Package Manager runs at the SAP system level. Knowledge of the operating system is therefore not required for handling this tool.

Note Note

You can use Support Package Manager only with SAP GUI for Java and SAP GUI for Windows.

End of the note.

Note Note

The Support Package Manager update (SPAM/SAINT Update) is shipped in English and German only. If you are working in any other language, new or updated user interface elements or texts might be displayed in English or German only. We therefore recommend that you logon in either English or German when using Support Package Manager.

By pressing the Info button in Support Package Manager, you can obtain the latest version of the documentation, together with information about the new Support Package Manager functions.

End of the note.

As of 2009 you need maintenance certificates to import SAP Support Packages with the Support Package Manager. You can request these maintenance certificates in the SAP Solution Manager and distribute them automatically to the systems that are managed. This does not affect imports of Support Packages for third-party software. You can import these Support Packages without maintenance certificates.

For more information, see the SAP Support Portal under http://service.sap.com/maintenancecertificate and SAP Note 1240265.

Calling Support Package Manager

You can call Support Package Manager in one of two ways:

  • In the SAP Easy Access menu, choose the path:

      Tools   ABAP Workbench   Utilities   Maintenance   Support Package Manager  .

  • Call transaction SPAM.

Features

Support Package Manager offers you the following features and functions:

  • Loading Support Packages:

    You can load Support Packages into your system from SAP Support Portal or from collection CDs.

  • Importing Support Packages:

    • Restart capability

      When importing a Support Package into your system, Support Package Manager follows a predefined sequence of steps.

      If the Support Package import process terminates, you can resume it later. Processing resumes at the step that where it terminated.

    • Displaying the import status

      You can use Support Package Manager to find out the import status of your system at any time.

    • Special import procedure

      You can minimize the downtime with a special import procedure. (See also: Import Mode: Downtime-Minimized)

    • Start time definition

      The various phases in Support Package Manager are condensed into modules. You are free to choose any start time you want for these modules.

    • Background Processing

      You can also schedule the modules with defined start times for background processing.

You need Support Package Manager in order to perform an SAP upgrade.