SAP HANA is an in-memory platform that allows developers to create applications and solutions for various businesses in real-time. The ability to retrieve and analyze data without any lag time makes this platform an ideal tool for identifying and repairing glitches in applications.
What Is SAP HANA Express?
SAP HANA Express is the basic version of the larger SAP HANA system. A community of developers organizes the platform and offers technical support for it. These developers optimized SAP HANA Express to run on a personal computer, laptop, or inside the cloud. You can install it as part of a binary package or a virtual machine interface. The advantage of the Express edition is that you can use it even on systems that might not have the proper certifications to run most SAP HANA processes.
There are still some system requirements you will need to meet, and we will cover these before we move on to the installation guide. If you are a vendor or developer, you can start using SAP HANA Express to build applications at no cost to you.
SAP HANA Express Minimum System Requirements
You can use the information we present in this section to determine if your machine can run the Express edition of SAP HANA before you download and install it.
Hardware Requirements
RAM
You will need at least 16 gigabytes of RAM on the server. This is the minimum requirement, but we recommend increasing the amount of RAM to at least 24 gigabytes before you try to install SAP Express. If you do need to install the database using only 16 gigabytes of RAM, we recommend that you ensure your swap space is at least 32 gigabytes in size.
Hard Disk Drive
We recommend that your hard disk drive has at least 120 gigabytes of space for this installation.
Cores
You should be able to run SAP Express on a system that uses just two cores. However, even for minimum requirements, we recommend that you use a system with at least four cores if possible.
Software Requirements
Java Runtime Environment
If you want to use the download manager for SAP HANA 2.0 Express, you will need to make sure that you use the 64-bit Java Runtime Environment. However, if you are going to use the download manager that operates independently from any platform, you can choose between the 32-bit or 64-bit JREs.
Operating System Requirements
You will need to use one of the following operating systems to ensure a successful installation of SAP Express:
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server SPS 02 or higher
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for IBM Power Systems
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.2 or 7.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server for Power 7.3
More Resources for the SAP HANA Enthusiasts:
SAP HANA Remote Access Overview
SAP HANA Express Installation Process
Now that you have checked your system requirements and made sure the system is compatible, we will take you through the Express installation in a step-by-step guide.
1. Extract the Installation Files
Depending on the specific processes for the Express edition of SAP HANA that you wish to install, you will need files such as hxe.tgz, eml.tgz, hsa.tgz, sdi.tgz, and apl.tgz. These files relate to the Learning Library, the integration of smart data, streaming data analytics, and the Automated Predictive Library applications. After you have downloaded the installation package, navigate to the directory to which you wish to extract the files and send them there.
Please note that we do not recommend using a typical extraction tool to unpack these files and send them to their proper directory. It is more efficient to use the command tool to and the tar command prompt to send each file to the directory of your choice.
Step 2: Begin the Installation
After you have extracted all the installation files successfully, go to the directory that houses them. Find the ./setup_hxe.sh executable and run it. You will need to be the root user in order to run this file and may need additional administrative privileges as well.
Step 3: Use Prompts to Configure Your Installation
As you go through the installation process for SAP HANA Express, several prompts will appear to help you configure the database. Some of these prompts will relate to your preferences. You can set these items in any way you wish, but there are some guidelines you should follow when configuring SAP Express for basic security and efficiency.
You will configure a master password during the installation process. This password must be strong and meet some minimum security benchmarks for it to be valid.
- The master password must be at least eight characters in length.
- It must have at least one letter in uppercase.
- It must have at least one letter in lowercase.
- You can include a variety of special characters, but not all special characters are viable. The dollar sign, backtick, backslash, and single or double quotation marks are not valid characters.
- The password cannot contain any systemic or simplistic values.
Once you have created a password that is sufficiently strong, the program will allow your machine to install SAP Express. Note that the methods we’ve described above are for installing the Express edition of SAP as a binary tool. You can also install SAP Express as part of a virtual machine if you wish.
The process for installing SAP Express on a virtual machine is similar to the binary process. One of the key differences is the installation of a hypervisor that can help you create and run a virtual machine. Once you’ve downloaded the hypervisor of your choice, it can take you through the virtual installation process.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve found the information in our SAP HANA Express edition tutorial helpful. The Express edition of this product is a powerful tool that can help you create and manage applications with virtually no initial costs. Please feel free to share your thoughts on SAP HANA with us in the comments section.
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