BizTalk 2013: WCF-SAP Adapter using Messaging Servers

 

SAP supports a few different architectures when it comes to scaling out.  In some environments, mainly smaller environments, the components that facilitate sending and receiving messages (such as IDOCs, BAPIs or RFCs) may be co-hosted on an Application Server.  In some larger environments a dedicated Messaging Server(s) may be provided. We can also use a named destination that we define in our saprfc.ini file.

Up until this point all of my experience integrating with SAP has occurred through an Application Server.  This is the default Connection Type that is populated in the Send Port configuration of a WCF-SAP send port.

Recently I ran into a situation where the SAP environment was not using Application Servers.  Instead a Messaging Server was being used.  The end result was that I received the following error

 

A message sent to adapter "WCF-SAP" on send port "SendGetSAPEquipment" with URI "sap://CLIENT=010;LANG=EN;@b/*SAPSERVER*/*ENV*?RfcSdkTrace=False&AbapDebug=False" is suspended.
Error details: Microsoft.ServiceModel.Channels.Common.ConnectionException: Details: ErrorCode=RFC_OK. ErrorGroup=RFC_ERROR_COMMUNICATION. SapErrorMessage=Connect to message server failed
Connect_PM  MSHOST=*MSHOSTValue*, R3NAME=*ENV*, GROUP=PUBLIC

LOCATION    CPIC (TCP/IP) on local host with Unicode
ERROR       service *SAPSERVER* unknown
TIME        Tue Apr 23 09:38:18 201
RELEASE     700
COMPONENT   NI (network interface)
VERSION     38
RC          -3
MODULE      nixxhsl.cpp
LINE        776
DETAIL      NiHsLGetServNo: service name cached as unknown
COUNTER     1.  AdapterErrorMessage=. ---> Microsoft.Adapters.SAP.RFCException: Details: ErrorCode=RFC_OK. ErrorGroup=RFC_ERROR_COMMUNICATION. SapErrorMessage=Connect to message server failed
Connect_PM  MSHOST=*MSHOSTValue*, R3NAME=*ENV*, GROUP=PUBLIC

Microsoft.ServiceModel.Channels.Common.ConnectionException: Details:
ErrorCode=RFC_OK. ErrorGroup=RFC_ERROR_COMMUNICATION.
SapErrorMessage=Connect to message server
ailed
Connect_PM  MSHOST=*MSHOSTValue*, R3NAME=*ENV*, GROUP=*MyOrganization*

Since the SAP environment was actually using Messaging Server(s), In order to successfully make a connection to SAP, here is the correct configuration that I needed to provide:

• Application Server Group Name
• Message Server Host
• R/3 System Name
• Connection Type B

These properties will be specific to your environment and therefore I have blacked them out.  You will need to get this information from your BASIS admin.

 

However, this is not enough and this is where I got hung up.  You also need to specify TCP port where SAP will be looking for these connections.  This property is not exposed through the BizTalk GUI.  In order to specify this TCP port you need to modify the following file:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\services

Within this file you will want to add an entry like:

MSHOST            1234/tcp   # SAP ENV System Message Server Port

Once again these values will be specific to your environment.  I have added fictitious values here.  You may see something like SAPMS<ENV> but once again your mileage may vary.  In all likelihood your TCP Port will not be 1234 (that I made up).  It will likely be 4 digits though.

The most important thing to recognize is that the value in this file (that I have called MSHOST) must match the value that we see in the error message below.  This value will not match any values within your Send Port.

 

It isn’t only BizTalk that will use these values.  Your SAPGUI will also use these same values when connecting to SAP systems.  So if you are stuck, my recommendation is to find a machine that is running the SAPGUI and then copy over those values to the file that exists on your BizTalk Server(s).  I have no idea how this MSHOST value is looked up as the BizTalk Send Port has no knowledge of it. My guess is that at runtime the R3Name in combination of the Message Server Host is somehow used to lookup this MSHOST from this file.

 

Conclusion

Hopefully this blog post will save you some time.  I know that I had a tough time finding information that clearly painted the picture for me...especially in the area of the port# that is found in our services file.

BizTalk HotRod - Issue 5, Q1 2009 is now available

The latest version of BizTalk HotRod is available at http://biztalkhotrod.com/default.aspx. The issue is definitely worth reading and covers the following topics:

• BizTalk vs Dublin
• Unit Testing in BizTalk 2009
• BizTalk - Sharepoint integration
• WCF + BAM
• Operations Management for BizTalk using SCOM
• and much more

For those of you who are still unsure where BizTalk and Dublin fit in, the BizTalk vs Dublin is a much read. BizTalk and Dublin definitely have some similar features and capabilities. The author, Stephen Kaufman , provides good scenarios as to which technology stack should be used and when it should be used.

The Unit Testing article provides a great walk through of the new unit testing capabilities that are available in BizTalk 2009. Step by step examples are provided for Testing Schemas, Maps and pipelines.

Azure Services Kit - Exercise 2 (IntroServiceBus)

I have recently been evaluating the Azure Services Kit and ran across an error that I figured I would post in case anyone is looking for a solution.

The error occurs in Exercise #2 when trying to initialize the Server project to listen for requests through the .Net Services Service Bus. I would imagine that this error applies more so to IIS and WCF than the actual Service Bus.

Error
System.ServiceModel.AddressAccessDeniedException was unhandled Message="HTTP could not register URL http://+:80/services/My-Solution-Name/EchoService/. Your process does not have access rights to this namespace (see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=70353 for details)." Source="System.ServiceModel" StackTrace: at System.ServiceModel.Channels.SharedHttpTransportManager.OnOpen() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.TransportManager.Open(TransportChannelListener channelListener) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.TransportManagerContainer.Open(SelectTransportManagersCallback selectTransportManagerCallback) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.TransportChannelListener.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.HttpChannelListener.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ChannelDispatcher.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostBase.OnOpen(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open(TimeSpan timeout) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.CommunicationObject.Open() at Service.Program.Main() in D:\Development\AzureServicesKit\Labs\IntroServiceBus\Ex02-BindingsConnectionModesSample\begin\Service\Program.cs:line 34 at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args) at System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(String assemblyFile, Evidence assemblySecurity, String[] args) at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly() at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart() InnerException: System.Net.HttpListenerException Message="Access is denied" Source="System" ErrorCode=5 NativeErrorCode=5 StackTrace: at System.Net.HttpListener.AddAll() at System.Net.HttpListener.Start() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.SharedHttpTransportManager.OnOpen() InnerException:

Solution
The solution itself can be found in the link that is provided ( http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=70353) ...I know what a bonus; an error message that actually points you in the right direction to a solution.

The description of the error is not all that useful, but does cover some scenarios:
Using Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) over HTTP either requires the use of a host, such as Internet Information Services (IIS), or manual configuration of the HTTP settings through the HTTP Server API. This document describes manually configuring WCF when using HTTP and HTTPS.

In order to actually solve the problem, I ran this command on my Vista machine:

netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:80/services/My-Solution-Name/EchoService/ user=domain\user

Note:

• "My-Solution-Name" is where I inserted my Azure Solution name. You would enter yours in this place holder.
• If your machine is not part of a Domain, just use the local machine name instead of Domain

Now that I have some spare time, I plan on spending some more time with Azure and more specifically .Net Services. Hopefully, I will have some interesting posts regarding these technologies.

Microsoft - Dublin

No this isn't an announcement for a new Microsoft office in Ireland, but rather the latest technology announcement coming out of Redmond. Microsoft has publicly released some information regarding .Net 4.0 and the new "Application Server Extensions". This announcement is significant as Dublin will allow for:

• A standard host for WF/WCF applications
• Tooling and Managment for the application server
• Support for scale-out durable messaging
• Scalable monitoring and diagnostics
• Message based correlation
• Long Running applications
• Management functions via IIS Manager

Much like the BizTalk Server 2009 announcement that occurred a few weeks back, I think Microsoft wants to clear the air and provide a glimpse into what the future holds before developers make their way to PDC in LA later this month.

As much as I am a "BizTalk guy", I am very encouraged with where Microsoft is taking the Connected Systems Division. If nothing else, I feel that the WCF/WF technologies provide options for developers when implementing solutions. Microsoft has already announced their committment to BizTalk, so it is not disappearing any time soon. It should be interesting to see some of the solutions that people come up with using Dublin.

For more information regarding this annoucenemt, please visit Steve Martin's blog.