IT Calendar and Work Mode Management

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IT Calendar and Work Mode Management

IT Calendar

You can use the IT Calendar in SAP Focused Run to review planned events like work modes and Contractual Maintenance Periods for the managed components (services, systems and databases, instances and hosts) which are relevant for your daily work. From the IT Calendar you can also schedule work modes like planned downtimes or peak business hours.

You can:

see detailed information on planned events by clicking on the event.
switch between hours, day and months views.create work modes for the selected managed components.
switch between a view that displays work modes on system or database level, instance level and host level.
export events to spreadsheet.
import work modes from a spreadsheet.
personalize your display by adding custom pages.

How to open IT Calendar

Open the Launchpad
Select Service Level Management (Advanced System Management before SAP Focused Run 4.0)
Select IT Calendar and Work Mode Management

Scope Selector

The scope selector allows you to select the systems, databases hosts and external services that should be displayed in IT Calendar according to different criteria.

You can define a default variant that is executed automatically the next time you open IT Calendar as follows:

Select "Select Variant"
Select "Save as" to save your search criteria in the scope selector under a name
Select "Set as Default" if the variant should be the default variant for the next time you open IT Calendar
Select "Execute on select" if the variant should be executed automatically when you reopen IT Calendar

The IT Calendar supports different views.

The "Complete View" is the view that opens by default. It shows the planned events per managed object in a separate line in the IT Calendar. It allows to identify easily which events are planned for the selected managed objects.
If you would like to get an overview which events are planned in a certain time frame for a higher amount of managed objects, choose the "Condensed view".All events for the selected managed objects are shown together. This view provides no edit options.
If you would like to get an overview over ongoing or upcoming events for your selected managed objects, choose the "Upcoming Events" page. It shows the currently active and planned events sorted by start date. It provides mass edit and mass delete options.

The Complete View provides the following features:

Settings

Via the settings button you can filter the event types to be displayed, choose in which time zone the events should be displayed and choose a holiday calendar to highlight the respective holidays in the IT Calendar.

System, instance and host display

You can choose whether to display events for systems and databases, instances or hosts .

If you have selected "Display Technical Systems" you can see all events scheduled for the selected systems and databases (databases are also modeled as technical systems) and you can schedule new work modes for the selected technical system.
If you have selected "Display Technical Instances" you can see all work modes scheduled for the instances of the selected systems and you can schedule new work modes for the selected instances .
If you have selected "Display Hosts" you can see all work modes scheduled for the hosts of the selected systems and you can schedule new work modes for the selected hosts.

Time Granularity Switch and Time Navigation

You have the following options to change the time frame displayed in IT Calendar:

The time granularity switch allows to switch between Hours, Days, Months, 1 Week, 1 Month view. The 1 Week view always renders a full week. It displays seven days on one screen. The start date is always the beginning of the week (depending on the locale). The 1 Month view shows an entire month. On desktop, the 1 Month view always displays an interval of 31 days. When the displayed month is shorter (28, 29, 30 days), days from the following month are displayed. They have a different visual state and serve as navigation to the following month.
Click on "Today" to go back to the current date/moment.
Click on the arrows to navigate to the next or previous interval.
Select the date to navigate to another time period.

Show Event Details

Click on an event to display the event details. Depending on the event type you can open the event in the originating application, copy or delete the event.

Download and Upload of Events

You can download events into an excel file as follows:

Select File → Download Events.
Select the time frame and the event types.
Select OK.

You can upload work modes from a csv file as explained further below.

The Upcoming Events View lists ongoing and upcoming events for the selected managed objects chronologically.

It provides the following features:

Via the settings button you can filter the event types to be displayed, choose in which time zone the events should be displayed and choose a holiday calendar to highlight the respective holidays in the IT Calendar.
You can choose whether to display events for systems and databases, instances or hosts .
You can download events into an excel file and upload events from a csv file
You can customize the displayed columns
You can do a live search for specific events
You can change the displayed time range. The default time range is today + 30 days.
You can edit multiple work modes efficiently together:
- You can select several ongoing work modes and press the end now button This will end the work modes by changing the end time to now
- You can select several future work modes and delete them
- You can select several work modes and modify them together. For ongoing work modes you can modify the end time only. Fur future work modes you can modify all properties together.

Work Mode Management

The Work Mode Management in SAP Focused Run allows planning and maintenance of Work Modes for Technical systems, instances, databases, hosts and external services,

The following types of work modes are supported:

Work Mode Type	Description
Planned Downtime	Work mode during which the system is technically down and you do not have access. System administrators can use this work mode to perform planned administration tasks that can only be performed during downtime.
Maintenance	Work mode during which the system is technically up and you have no access. System administrators can use this work mode to perform planned administration tasks that can only be performed during maintenance.
Peak Business Hours	Work mode during which the system is technically up and you have access. Most users are logged on to the system and load peaks are expected.
Non-Peak Business Hours	Work mode during which the system is technically up and you have access. Less users are logged on to the system, and load peaks are not expected.
Non-Business Hours	Work mode during which the system is technically up and you have access. Most users are not logged on to the system and load peaks are not expected

The different applications in SAP Focused Run react to work modes in the following ways:

Application	Description
System Monitoring	•Monitoring continues during planned downtime work modes but alert generation is switched off •Information about active work mode is shown in the System Monitoring UI
Health Monitoring	Monitoring continues during planned downtime work modes but alert generation is switched off
Job & Automation Monitoring	Monitoring continues during planned downtime work modes but alert generation is switched off
Integration & Exception Monitoring	Does not react to work modes
Real User Monitoring	Does not react to work modes
Synthetic User Monitoring	The following is configurable in the application: •Stop scenario (script) executions if one of the associated systems is in the selected work modes. •Do not consider the executions for the scenarios having one of their associated systems on the selected work modes. •Do not emit alert when an associated scenario is having one of their associated systems on the selected work modes.
Configuration & Security Analysis	•CSA Administration displays systems in planned downtime with a yellow status •No Validation Alerts are raised for a system if it is in planned downtime
Service Availability Management	As soon as the planned downtime is over, a corresponding planned outage is created in Service Availability Management if the relevant managed object has an active service definition.

You have several possibilities to schedule work modes:

Schedule them manually from IT Calendar.
Perform mass upload via excel file.
Use the provided work mode management APIs to define your own interface from external tools (see SAP Note 2508346)
If you use SAP Landscape Management, you can set planned downtimes automatically in SAP Focused Run IT Calendar when stopping instances in SAP Landscape Management .

Work Mode Scheduling from IT Calendar

You can schedule work modes manually from IT Calendar as follows:

Open the IT Calendar for the selected scope.
Select one or multiple systems, databases or instances and select "Create work modes" to create new work modes.
The work mode scheduling UI opens by default in the Simple scheduling UI . Here you can enter a work mode title, select the work mode type, enter an offset in seconds when the work mode starts and a duration in minutes .
If your require more options to schedule work modes, for example schedule it for multiple systems or define a work mode recurrence, switch to expert scheduling.

Proceed as follows to create new work modes in the Expert Scheduling UI:

Enter title, type start and end date and time. The start and end date are pre-filled from the first displayed date in IT Calendar, but you can overwrite it.
Optionally you can choose one category and maintain a description.
If you select the recurring flag, you can define recurrence pattern for the work mode. The following recurrence patterns are supported:
- Daily. These work modes are scheduled daily. Example: every day from 08:00 am until 04:00 pm. but not on holidays maintained in Holiday calendar
- Weekly. These work modes are scheduled weekly . Examples:
  every Monday to Friday from 08:00 am until 04:00 pm. but not on holidays maintained in Holiday calendar
  every Friday from 08:00 am until 11:00 am.
- Weekly Multiple Patterns.
  Example: every Monday to Friday from 08:00 am until 11:30 and from 01:00 pm until 04:00 pm
- Monthly. These work modes are scheduled monthly. Examples:
  every 1st Monday of every 2nd month
  On the 2nd of every month

For recurring work modes, you should enter a start date when the first occurrence starts and an end date when the last occurrence ends.
Note: After saving recurring work modes, not all constituents will be visible in IT Calendar directly, only the first 100 constituents. A periodic batch job generates the next work modes subsequently.

The technical component tab shows the systems, instances, hosts and databases for which the work mode shall be scheduled. By default, the components selected in IT Calendar are pre-populated. If you have started the Work Mode Scheduling UI for systems, you can add additional systems here.
- For each system, the work mode will be scheduled also on the system instances.
- You can choose whether the work mode shall be scheduled also to related system database and it's instances.
- You can choose whether the work mode shall be scheduled also to related physical or virtual hosts.
Press save button to schedule the work modes.
If it was possible to save the work modes you should get a pop-up "Workmode successfully scheduled". Otherwise check the error message and correct the problem.
Via send instant notification you can send an email informing other users that a work mode has been scheduled.

Mass Upload of Work Modes from csv File

You can maintain multiple future work modes in one csv file and upload them to IT Calendar as follows:

Select File and Upload Work Modes
Download the template
Fill the template as follows:
Enter 1 line per work mode to be created. Separate the values in the line by comma.
- Enter the name of the customer network the system belongs to. You can find the network names under Global Settings & Network Configuration → Network Creation.
- Enter a title under which the work mode shall appear in IT Calendar
- Enter the system id, host or database for which the work mode shall be created. In case of systems enter the extended ID. For technical systems, the work modes will be propagated to the system database and to the physical hosts of the system and database.
- Enter the System type (e.g. ABAP, JAVA, BOBJ, HANADB,..)
- Enter the context type as follows: 060 for Technical System, 080 for database, 030 for Technical Instance, 020 for host
- If the work mode must be created only on an instance of the specified ABAP or JAVA system, enter the instance name here. Otherwise leave the field empty.
- Enter the Work Mode Type as follows: 010 Planned Downtime, 030 Peak Business Hours, 040 Non-Peak Business Hours, 050 Non-Business Hours, 020 Maintenance.
- Enter the start and end date in the form YYYYMMDD.
- Enter start and end time in the form HHMMSS.
  Start date and time must be in the future. Creation of work modes for the past is not possible. End date and time must be after start date and time.
- Enter the time zone to identify the time zone of dates and times. You can check table TTZZ for supported time zone abbreviations.
- Enter the work mode category as follows: 001 Hardware Maintenance-General, 002 Hardware Maintenance-Application Server, 003 Hardware Maintenance-Database Server, 004 Hardware Maintenance-Middleware, 005 Hardware Maintenance-Network, 006 Hardware Maintenance, 007 Software Maintenance-General, 008 Software Maintenance-SAP, Software Maintenance-Operating System, 010 Software Maintenance-Database, 011 Software Maintenance-Other Component.
- Enter optionally a description
Upload the csv file and wait until you get a csv uplooad job notification in the UI. For high number of work modes this can take several minutes
Check if there are any error messages. The error messages indicate the line of the csv file where the error occurred. As of SAP Focused Run 4.0 FP01 you can find details about the upload job in the application log transaction SLG1 under Object IT_CALENDAR, Subobject WMM_XL_UPLOAD.

Examples

You want to create a planned downtime for ABAP System ABCCUS including its database and physical hosts. The system belongs to customer network LOCALNETWORK. Add 1 line to the csv file as follows and upload it to IT Calendar:
LOCALNETWORK,Security Patching,ABCCUS,ABAP,,060,010,20180407,20180407,110000,120000,UTC,001,Security patching for OS
You want to create a planned downtime for Database XYZCUS. The database belongs to customer network LOCALNETWORK. Add 1 line to the csv file as follows and upload it to IT Calendar:
LOCALNETWORK,Security Patching,XYZCUS,DBSYSTEM,,080,010,20180407,20180407,110000,120000,UTC,001,Security patching for OS.
You want to create a planned downtime for hosts "host1" and "host2". The hosts belong to customer network LOCALNETWORK. Add lines to the csv file as follows and upload it to IT Calendar:
LOCALNETWORK,Security Patching,host1,,,020,010,20180407,20180407,110000,120000,UTC,001,Security patching for OS
LOCALNETWORK,Security Patching,host2,,,020,010,20180407,20180407,110000,120000,UTC,001,Security patching for OS

Mass editing of Work Modes

You can edit multiple work modes in one go from the Upcoming Event view. Switch to the Upcoming events view to see a list of ongoing and upcoming work modes.

You can select multiple ongoing work modes and select button "Edit". From here you can set a new end time in the future.
You can select multiple ongoing work modes and select button "End selected events now". This will set the end time to now.
You can select multiple upcoming work modes and select button "Edit". From here you can change the title, description, start and end time. Past start and end times cannot be set.
You can select multiple upcoming work modes and select button "Delete" to delete them.

Automated Work Mode and IT Event Notifications

SAP Focused Run can send out automatic email or SMS notifications about planned work modes in a predefined schedule and using a predefined rich text or HTML template. You can configure this in Notification Management:

Define a recipient list containing the recipients which should receive notifications
Define a template including place holders that are replaced during runtime. You can also upload a HTML template including logo and rich formatting.
Define one or several schedules (e.g. 6 hours before, 1 hour before... )
Create Auto-Notification Settings where you define
1. Choose the managed components for which notifications are sent
2. Choose the template
3. Choosing the schedules to define when notifications are sent
4. Chosoe the recipient lists to define who should receive the notifications

Work Mode Propagation Rules

When you schedule a work mode for a selected managed object, the work mode might be propagated to other dependent managed objects. Some propagation rules are mandatory and some are optional and can be configured in the Work Mode Scheduling UI. The propagation rules are explained below

Managed Component Type	Mandatory propagation	Optional (configurable) propagation
You schedule a work mode on an application system. Examples: Application Server ABAP or JAVA	The work mode is propagated to the instances of the application system	You can choose whether the work mode is propagated to the hosts of the managed system You can choose whether the work mode is propagated to the database of the managed system
You schedule a work mode on the instances of an application system	No propagation	No propagation
You schedule a work mode on the hosts of an application system	The work mode is propagated to the application instances running on the host	As of FRUN 4.0 SP00 you can select hosts and then choose to schedule the work modes not on the hosts but on the application systems using these hosts.
You schedule a work mode on a HANA System Database	The work mode is propagated to the relevant tenant DBs
You schedule a work mode on a Virtual HANA Database with several physical databases that form a replication scenario	The work mode is propagated to the relevant physcial databases

Additional Information

Work Mode APIs How-To Guide (SAP Note 2508346)
IT Calendar access to Non-SAP Focused Run Users(SAP Note 2926433)
The work mode scheduling ui opens by default the Simple Scheduling UI. Since SAP Focused Run 4.0 SP00 you can configure that the Expert Scheduling UI is opened by default: Use transaction SE16 to maintain a new entry in table WMM_CUSTOM: Enter Field = WMM_UI_MODE and Value = E

Release Notes

SAP Focused Run 4.0 FP01

Several improvements in the mass work mode scheduling via csv file
- Increased the permitted file size so that it is now possible to specify more than 2000 work modes in the csv file and upload them
- Added application log logging for CSV file upload to improve troubleshooting
Provided new APIs to schedule planned downtimes especially for web dispatcher systems

SAP Focused Run 4.0 SP00

Several usability improvements:
- You can customize the displayed columns in the "Upcoming Events" view
- You can display the system description instead of system Id and system type
- You can select several ongoing planned downtimes and end them all together
- You can schedule work modes for the system(s) running on selected hosts.
- You can choose whether the work mode scheduling UI opens by default in simple or expert scheduling mode