SAP Notes-854170:Set up and activate VMC

Summary

Symptom

You want to set up and activate the "VM Container" component, which is delivered with SAP Web Application Server ABAP.

Other terms

IPC

Reason and Prerequisites

The component is deactivated in the kernel in the delivered version, since it is not required for all applications in the system.
You should only activate the component "VM Container" after the installation or the upgrade, since you can only install or upgrade with a validated kernel, but the component "VM Container" may require a higher patch level (see Step 1 below).

Solution Step 1

Import the current SAP Web AS ABAP kernel (see Note 19466). The VM Container requires at least patch level 29 for the 7.00 kernel. The VM container patches are contained in the DW.SAR archive or in the SAPEXE.SAR archive.

Step 2

Import Support Package 05 for the component SAP_BASIS.

Step 3

You can activate the VM Container using the profile parameters mentioned below, which can be changed using profile maintenance (transaction RZ10). Once you have made the change, you need to restart the SAP Web Application Server instance. You need to change the following parameters:

vmcj/enable = on
vmcj/option/maxJavaHeap = 200M

In addition, in accordance with Note 1020539, set the shared memory area that is used by the VM container

Activating the VM Container increases the swap space and shared memory required by an SAP Web Application Server instance. The increased demand S (in MB) depends on the number of work processes you are using (parameter rdisp/wp_no_*), and can be calculated as follows:
  S = (rdisp/wp_no_dia +
       rdisp/wp_no_vb +
       rdisp/wp_no_vb2 +
       rdisp/wp_no_btc + 1) * (JH + VH) + P
  JH = The value of the profile parameter vmcj/option/maxJavaHeap,
       (200M according to the suggestion given above)
  VH = Value of the profile parameter vmcj/max_vm_heap_MB (the
       designated default value is 64 (MB))
  P = Value of the profile parameter vmcj/option/ps, according to the proposal in Note 1020539, therefore 768M

For a system with 10 work processes (8 online, 1 update task, 1 V2 update program), the value 3672 MB results from the above parameter proposal, therefore about 3.7 GB.
Make sure that you provide enough additional swap space before you activate the VM container. On Unix platforms you also have to provide enough shared memory. For further information, refer to the "Installation Guide SAP NetWeaver 2004s", section 3.2 "Hardware and Software Requirements".

Known problems

1) If the swap space provided is not sufficient or if, for example, the kernel parameter SHMMAX was not adjusted on HP-UX, the insufficient memory may cause terminations  in the container or you may not be able to start the system.

2) On 32-bit platforms, (Windows or Linux on x86-Processors), problems may occur with the available address space after activation, because, as with other kernel components, the VM Container creates shared memory and the total of the necessary address space for this exceeds the available size (usually approximately 3 GB). If this problem occurs, the application server cannot be started.
You can use the following steps to help solve the problem. The changes should be tested step by step in the sequence specified below, to see whether you can use them to start the application server:

• Reducing the paging and roll buffer. If you reduce the parameter rdisp/PG_SHM or rdisp/ROLL_SHM by the value of 16384, you receive 128 MB additional address space in each case.

• If you use vmcj/option/ps = 256M instead of 768M (as is listed in Note 1020539), you receive 512 MB of additional address space.

• If you use vmcj/option/maxJavaHeap = 100M instead of 200M as listed above, you receive 100 MB additional address space.

• Windows: Note 129813 describes how the address space can become defragmented on Windows. This allows you to use the 3 GB address space more efficiently. For using the VM container on Windows, you must activate the Windows 3 GB option (see Note 110172).

• Linux: Unlike Windows, in LINUX it is not possible to use the first GB in the address space for shared memories. This means there is a maximum address space of 2 GB for all shared memories. With the following reduced settings
  vmcj/option/ps = 256M
  vmcj/option/maxJavaHeap = 100M
  vmcj/max_vm_heap_MB = 64M
  and an address space of 512 MB for the extended memory (em/address_space_MB) a maximum of 1016 MB can be used for shared memories. The estimated size of the shared memories that is calculated by sappfpar may therefore comprise a maximum of 1016 MB.
  Note that in this calculation, the system only takes into account whether the pools are occupied, not the size of the pools. Therefore, if pools are configured larger than is necessary, these deltas must be added to the maximum size of the shared memories or be subtracted from the maximum usable 1016 MB.
  The attachment to this note contains a document that further clarifies how to use the address space on LINUX.

Documentation

the documentation for the VM container is attached to this document in German and English as a PDF document. You can find the latest version of the documentation in the SAP Help Portal at http://help.sap.com as part of the "SAP NetWeaver 2004s" documentation.

The documentation contains information about both the architecture and use of the VM Container and its administration tools.