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Process documentationProcessing Urgent Changes

 

You can use this process to make urgent changes in your maintenance landscape. The urgent change is mainly used for fast implementation, for example, if you want to fix an error in existing functionality. The change is transported into the production system faster than a normal change. This transaction is only permitted within a maintenance cycle.

Note Note

Test transports are not used in urgent changes. If an urgent change fails during testing, because the transport request was already released, a new transport request needs to be created. Then, the developer can continue with the implementation of the required changes.

End of the note.

Prerequisites

  • A request for change has been created and approved, and a change document of the category Urgent Change has been generated by the system. The request for change has been released for development.

  • The request for change is linked to a maintenance project. Urgent changes can only be used in maintenance projects.

  • If you have been using SAP Solution Manager before, you have configured the dialog window to create transport requests. For more information, see Configuring the Dialog Window for Creating Transport Requests in Urgent Changes.

Process

  1. The lead developer who heads a team of developers calls up the change document, and sets the status to In Development.

  2. Triggered by the action, the system displays a dialog box and asks the developer to create a transport request and a task. He adapts the relevant data in the popup, for example, the description of the transport request. He can assign the relevant system and client and change the request owner from his user to another user, if required.

    Note Note

    Various options are available in this dialog box:

    • Create several tasks at once

    • Create tasks for other users

    • Create Customizing or Workbench requests

    End of the note.

  3. Via a link provided in the Landscape assignment block, the developer logs on to the development system directly.

  4. The developer makes the urgent change in the assigned development system, saves the change to the assigned task, tests the change, and releases his task in the transport request, in the development system.

  5. The developer logs on to the development system via the Landscape assignment block. He implements the requested features in the development system and saves his work to the tasks assigned to him by the lead developer.

  6. The developer releases the transport request manually in the Transport Management assignment block.

    When releasing the transport request, a code inspector check is run. For more information, see Using the Code Inspector in Urgent Changes.

  7. The developer forwards the urgent change to testing, by choosing Start of the navigation path Actions Next navigation step Pass Urgent Change To Test End of the navigation path. He then saves the change document.

  8. The change document is now in status To be Tested and the original transport is imported into the test system.

  9. The IT operator calls up the document. He assigns the document to a tester, who can see it in his worklist.

    Note Note

    If the tester is maintained as a business partner in the system, he is automatically entered as the current processor.

    End of the note.

  10. The tester (or another user to whom the tester role is assigned) logs on to the designated test system via the Landscape assignment block, to check the urgent change.

    If the change contains no errors, the tester chooses Start of the navigation path Actions Next navigation step Confirm Successful Test End of the navigation path in the change document, which is then in status Successfully Tested.

    If errors occurred during testing, the tester returns the change document to the developer, by choosing Start of the navigation path Action Next navigation step Reset Status to In Development End of the navigation path, so that the urgent change can be corrected in a new transport request. This new change has to be tested, and the process is repeated until the changes are correctly tested.

    The change manager can now change the status of the urgent change to Authorized for Production

  11. The change manager approves the urgent change for import into the production system, by choosing Start of the navigation path Action Next navigation step Authorize Urgent Change for Production End of the navigation path, and forwards the change document to an IT operator.

  12. The IT operator calls up the document. He triggers the import of the urgent change into the production system, by choosing Start of the navigation path Action Next navigation step Import Urgent Change into Production System End of the navigation path. The status of the urgent change is now Imported into Production.

  13. The change manager confirms that the change has been made by choosing Start of the navigation path Action Next navigation step Confirm Urgent Change End of the navigation path. The status changes to “Confirmed”.

    The system updates the status of the related request for change to Implemented. This is only true if all follow-up change documents related to the request for change are in final status. The last change document related to a request for change that has the status Confirmed updates the request for change status.

  14. The change manager chooses Start of the navigation path Action Next navigation step Complete Urgent Change End of the navigation path which sets the document in the final status Completed. The change document is now locked for editing.

    Note Note

    To import a transport request for urgent changes into parallel systems, use the report /TMWFLOW/SCMA_BTCH_SYNC_TEST. For more information, see SAP Note 817289Information published on SAP site.

    End of the note.

    After the transport request of the urgent change document is imported into the QA and production systems, the transport request remains in the import buffer, so that the changes are not overwritten by other transport requests in the normal change cycle.

    Note Note

    When creating a maintenance cycle, you can choose between two tasks list variants, with different transport sequences into the production system. You make these settings in the project administration, on the Change Management tab page.

    • Use SAP0 if you want to use urgent and normal changes in your landscape. The transport request created from urgent changes remains in the import buffer if the import was triggered by executing actions in the urgent change.

    • Use SAP1 if you use urgent changes only (in a maintenance system landscape in which no project development takes place). The transport request created from urgent changes does not remain in the import buffer as no project import is possible for this task list.

    End of the note.

    Note Note

    If you want to set multiple change documents to the next status (from Approved for Import to Productive, for example), execute the batch job CRM_SOCM_SERVICE_REPORT. You can also use this report to import all changes at a scheduled time, into the follow-on systems.

    End of the note.

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