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. Can we convert Authorization field to Org, field A. Authorization field can be changed to Organization field using PFCG_ORGFIELD_CREATE or ZPFCG_ORGFIELD_CREATE Use SE38 or SA38 to run the above report. Organizational level fields should only be created before you start setting up your system. If you create organizational level fields later, you might have to do an impact analysis. The authentication data may have to be postprocessed in roles. The fields "Activity", "ACTVT" and "Transaction code", "TCD" cannot be converted into an organizational level field. In addition, all affected roles are analyzed and the authorization data is adjusted. The values of the authorization field which is now to become the organizational level field are removed and entered into the organizational level data of the role. Note: Table for Org Element- USORG Refer to Note 323817 for more detail. Q. How many profiles can be assigned to any user master record. A. Maximum Profiles that can be assigned to any user is ~ 312. Table USR04 (Profile assignments for users). This table contains both information on the change status of a user and also the list of the profile names that were assigned to the user. The field PROFS is used for saving the change flag (C = user was created, M = user was changed), and the name of the profiles assigned to the user. The field is defined with a length of 3750 characters. Since the first two characters are intended for the change flag, 3748 characters remain for the list of the profile names per user. Because of the maximum length of 12 characters per profile name, this results in a maximum number of 312 profiles per user. Q. Can you add a composite role to another composite role? A. No Q. How to reset SAP* password from oracle database. A. Logon to your database with orasid as user id and run this sql delete from sapSID.usr02 where bname='SAP*' and mandt='XXX'; commit; Where mandt is the client. Now you can login to the client using sap* and password pass Q. What is difference between role and profile. A. A role act as container that collect transaction and generates the associated profile. The profile generator (PFCG) in SAP System automatically generates the corresponding authorization profile. Developer used to perform this step manually before PFCG was introduced bySAP. Any maintenance of the generated profile should be done using PFCG. Q. What is user buffer? A. When a user logs on to the SAP R/3 System, a user buffer is built containing all authorizations for that user. Each user has their own individual user buffer. For example, if user Smith logs on to the system, his user buffer contains all authorizations of role USER_SMITH_ROLE. The user buffer can be

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. Can we convert Authorization field to Org, fieldA.  Authorization field can be changed to Organization field using  PFCG_ORGFIELD_CREATE  or ZPFCG_ORGFIELD_CREATEUse SE38 or SA38 to run the above report.

Organizational level fields should only be created before you start setting up your system. If you create organizational level fields later, you might have to do an impact analysis. The authentication data may have to be postprocessed in roles.

The fields "Activity", "ACTVT" and "Transaction code", "TCD" cannot be converted into an organizational level field.

In addition, all affected roles are analyzed and the authorization data is adjusted. The values of the authorization field which is now to become the organizational level field are removed and entered into the organizational level data of the role.Note: Table for Org Element- USORGRefer to Note 323817 for more detail.

Q. How many profiles can be assigned to any user master record. A. Maximum Profiles that can be assigned to any user is ~ 312. Table USR04 (Profile assignments for users). This table contains both information on the change status of a user and also the list of the profile names that were assigned to the user. The field PROFS is used for saving the change flag (C = user was created, M = user was changed), and the name of the profiles assigned to the user. The field is defined with a length of 3750 characters. Since the first two characters are intended for the change flag, 3748 characters remain for the list of the profile names per user. Because of the maximum length of 12 characters per profile name, this results in a maximum number of 312 profiles per user.

Q. Can you add a composite role to another composite role?A. No

Q. How to reset  SAP* password from oracle database.A. Logon to  your database with orasid as user id and run this sqldelete from sapSID.usr02 where bname='SAP*' and mandt='XXX';commit;

Where mandt is the client.

Now you can login to the client using sap* and password pass

Q. What is difference between role and profile.A. A role act as container that collect transaction and generates the associated profile. The profile generator (PFCG) in SAP System automatically generates the corresponding authorization profile. Developer used to perform this step manually before PFCG was introduced bySAP. Any maintenance of the generated profile should be done using PFCG.

Q. What is user buffer?A. When a user logs on to the SAP R/3 System, a user buffer is built containing all authorizations for that user. Each user has their own individual user buffer. For example, if user Smith logs on to the system, his user buffer contains all authorizations of role USER_SMITH_ROLE. The user buffer can be displayed in transaction SU56.

A user would fail an authorization check if:

The authorization object does not exist in the user buffer The values checked by the application are not assigned to the authorization object in

the user buffer The user buffer contains too many entries and has overflowed. The number of entries

in the user buffer can be controlled using the system profile parameter auth/number_in_userbuffer.

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Q. SAP Security T-codesA. Frequently used security T-codes

SU01 Create/ Change User SU01 Create/ Change User PFCG Maintain RolesSU10 Mass ChangesSU01D Display UserSUIM ReportsST01 TraceSU53 Authorization analysisClick here for all Security T-codes

End User

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

SU3 System --> User Profile--> Own Data

Set address/defaults/parameters

SU53 System --> Utilities --> Display Authorization Check

Display last authority check that failed

SU56 Tools --> Administration --> Monitor --> User Buffer

Display user buffer

Role Administration

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

PFCG Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Roles

Maintain roles using the Profile Generator

PFUD <none> Compare user master in dialog. This function can also be called in the Profile Generator:   Environment --> Mass compareThe Job for user master comparison is: PFCG_TIME_DEPENDENCY (to Release 4.0 RHAUTUP1)

SUPC Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Roles --> Environment --> Mass Generation

Mass Generation of Profiles

User Administration

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

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SU01 Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Users

Maintain Users

SU01D Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Display Users

Display Users

SU10 Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> User Mass Maintenance

User mass maintenance

SU02 Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Manual Maintenance --> Edit Profiles Manually

Manually create profiles

SU03 Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Manual Maintenance --> Edit Authorizations Manually

Manually create authorizations

Profile Generator Configuration

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

RZ10 Tools --> CCMS --> Configuration --> Profile Maintenance

Maintain system profile parameters. (auth/no_check_in_some_cases= Y).

SU25 IMG Activity:Enterprise IMG --> Basis Components --> System Administration --> Users and Authorizations --> Maintain authorizations and profiles using  Profile Generator --> Work on SAP check indicators and field values Select: Copy SAP check ID’s and field values

Installation1. Initial Customer Tables FillUpgrade2a. Preparation: Compare with SAP values2b. Reconcile affected transactions2c. Roles to be checked2d. Display changed transaction codes

SU24 Same as for SU25: Select: Change Check Indicators

Maintain Check Indicators

Maintain Templates

Transport

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

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SCCL Tools --> Administration --> Administration --> Client Administration --> Client Copy --> Local Copy

Local client copy (within one system, between different clients)

SCC9 Tools --> Administration --> Administration --> Client Administration --> Client Copy --> Remote  Copy

Remote Client Copy (between clients in different systems) Data exchange over a network (not files).

SCC8 Tools --> Administration --> Administration --> Client Administration --> Client Transport --> Client Export

Client transport (between clients in different systems) Data exchange using a data export at operating system level.

<none> Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Roles --> Environment --> Mass Transport

Mass transport of roles

<none> Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Roles --> Role --> Upload/Download

Upload/Download of Roles

SU25 Point 3. Transport of Check indicators

STMS Tools -->Administration --> Transports --> Transport Management System

Transport Management System

System configuration

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

RZ10 Tools --> CCMS --> Configuration --> Profile Maintenance

Maintain system profile parameters.(auth/no_check_in_some_cases = Y).

RZ11   Description of system profile parameters

SM01 Tools --> Administration --> Administration --> Transaction Code Administration

Lock transaction codes from execution

Authorization Object

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

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SU20 Tools --> ABAP Workbench --> Development --> Other Tools --> Authorization Objects --> Fields

List of authorization fields

SU21 Tools --> ABAP Workbench --> Development --> Other Tools --> Authorization Objects --> Objects

List of authorization objects (Initial screen lists by object class)

Audit

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

SE84 Tools --> Administration --> User Maintenance --> Information System

Information System for SAP R/3 Authorizations

SECR*  <none> Audit Information System

Table maintenance

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

SM30(TablesV_BRG,V_DDAT)

System --> Services --> Table Maintenance --> Extended Table Maintenance

Create table authorization groups (V_BRG)Maintain assignments to tables (V_DDAT)

Table Group

Transaction Code

Menu Path Purpose

SE43 ABAP Workbench --> Development --> Other Tools --> Area Menus

Maintain (Display) Area Menus

Common Transaction Codes for Basis Administration

AL01

SAP Alert Monitor SE14 Utilities for Dictionary Tables

SSM0 Menu Maintenance and Test

AL02 Database Alert Monitor SE15 ABAB/4 Repository Info System

SSM1 SAP and Company Menu administration

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AL03 Operating System Alert Monitor

SE30 ABAP/4 Run time Analysis

ST01 System Trace

AL04 Monitor Call Distribution SE38 ABAP/4 Editor ST02 Setup/Tune Buffers

AL05 Monitor Current Workload

SE54 Generate Table View ST03 Performance SAP statistics, Workload

AL06 Performance: Upload/Download

SE61 R/3 Documentation ST04 Select Database Activities

AL07 Early Watch Report SE80 ABAP/4 Development Workbench

ST05 SQL Trace

AL08 Users Logged On SE91 Maintain Messages ST06 Operating System Monitor

AL10 Download to Early Watch

SE92 Maintain System Log Messages

ST07 Application Monitor

AL11 Directories SE93 Maintain Transaction Codes

ST08 Network Monitor

AL12 Display Table Buffer (Exp session)

SH01 Online Help: F1 Help Server

ST09 Network Alert Monitor

AL13 Display Shared Memory (Expert mode)

SH03 Call Extended Help ST10 Table Call Statistics

AL15 Customize SAPOSCOL destination

SICK Installation Check ST11 Display Developer Traces

AL18 Local File System Monitor

SLDB Logical Databases (Tree Structure)

ST12 Application Monitor

AL19 Remote File System Monitor

SLW4 Translation: Application Hierarchy

ST14 Application Analysis

AL20 Early Watch Data Collector List

SM01 Lock Transactions ST22 ABAP/4 Runtime Error Analysis

DB01 Analyze Exclusive Lock Waits

SM02 System Messages STAT Local Transaction Statistics

DB02 Analyze Tables and SM04 User Overview STDR TADIR

Page 7: (2) SAP Security Interview Questions

Indexes Consistency Check

DB03 Parameter Changes in DB

SM12 Display and Delete Locks

STUN Performance Monitor Menu

DB11 Early Watch Profile Maintenance

SM13 Display Upgrade Records

SU01 Maintain User Records

DB12 Overview of Backup Logs

SM21 System Log SU02 Maintain Authorization Profiles

DB13 Database Administration Calendar

SM31 Table Maintenance SU03 Maintain Authorizations

DB14 Show DBA Action Logs SM35 Batch Input Monitoring SU10 Mass Changes to User Master Records

PFCG Profile Generator – Activity Groups

SM36 Background Job Scheduler

SU12 Mass Changes to User Master Records

RZ01 Job Scheduling Monitor SM37 Background Job Overview

SU20 Maintain Authorization Fields

RZ02 Network Graphics for SAP Instances

SM38 Queue Maintenance Transaction

SU21 Maintain Authorization Objects

RZ03 Presentation, Control SAP Instances

SM39 Job Analysis SU22 Auth Objects Usage in Transactions

RZ04 Maintain SAP Instances SM50 Workprocess Overview SU24 Maintain Profile Generator Tables

RZ06 Alert Thresholds Maintenance

SM51 List of SAP Servers SU25 Copy SAP to Customer Prof Gen Tables

RZ08 SAP Alert Monitor SM63 Display/Maintain Operation Mode Sets

SU30 Overall Authorization Checks

RZ10 Maintenance of Profile Parameters

SM64 Release of an Event SU50 Maintain User Defaults

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RZ11 Profile Parameters SM65 Background Processing Analysis Tool

SU51 Maintain User Address

SAR     Maintain Transaction Codes

SM66 System-wide Work Process Overview

SU52 Maintain User Parameters

SARA Archive Management SM67 Job Scheduling SU53 Analyze Authorization Error

SCAT Computer Aided Test Tool

SM68 Job Administration SU56 Display list of User Authorizations

SCC0 Client Copy SMGW Gateway Monitor SVER ABAP/4 Verification

SCU3 Table History SMLG Logon Groups SVMC Start View Maintenance with Memory

SD11 Data Modeler SMX Display Own Jobs SWT0 Configure Workflow Trace

SDBE Matchcode Objects (test)

SOFF SAPoffice: Area Menu SWU8 Technical Trace On/Off

SE01 Transports and Correction System

SP00 Spool and Related Areas

SWU9 Display Technical Trace

SE02 Environment Analyzer SP01 Output Controller SWUD Diagnostic Tools

SE03 Transport Utilities SP11 TemSe Directory SWUE Initiate Event

SE07 Transport System Status Display

SP12 TemSe Administration SWUF Workflow Monitor

SE09 Workbench Organizer SPIT Output Controller SWUH Test Method

SE10 Customizer Organizer SPAD Spool Administration SWWD Switch on Work Item Error Monitoring

SE11 ABAP/4 Dictionary Maintenance

SPAM SAP Patch Manager SYNT Display Syntax Trace Output

SE12 ABAP/4 Dictionary Display

SPAT Spool Administration - test

TU01 Call Statistics

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SE13 Maintain Technical Settings (Tables)

SPDD Display Modified DDIC objects

TU02 Active Instance Profile parameters

Q List few security TablesClick here for security tables

Q How to create users?Execute transaction SU01 and fill in all the field. When creating a new user, you must enter an initial password for that user on the Logon data tab. All other data is optional. Click here for turotial on creating sap user id

Q What is the difference between USOBX_C and USOBT_C?The table USOBX_C defines which authorization checks are to be performed within a transaction and which not (despite authority-check command programmed ). This table also determines which authorization checks are maintained in the Profile Generator.

The table USOBT_C  defines for each transaction and for each authorization object which default values an authorization created from the authorization object should have in the Profile Generator.

Q What authorization are required to create and maintain user master

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records?The following authorization objects are required to create and maintain user master records:

S_USER_GRP: User Master Maintenance: Assign user groups S_USER_PRO: User Master Maintenance: Assign authorization profile S_USER_AUT: User Master Maintenance: Create and maintain authorizations

Q List R/3 User Types

1. Dialog users are used for individual user. Check for expired/initial passwords Possible to change your own password. Check for multiple dialog logon

2. A Service user - Only user administrators can change the password. No check for expired/initial passwords. Multiple logon permitted

3. System users are not capable of interaction and are used to perform certain system activities, such as background processing, ALE, Workflow, and so on.

4. A Reference user is, like a System user, a general, non-personally related, user. Additional authorizations can be assigned within the system using a reference user. A reference user for additional rights can be assigned for every user in the Roles tab.

Q What is a derived role?

Derived roles refer to roles that already exist. The derived roles inherit the menu structure and the functions included (transactions, reports, Web links, and so on) from the role referenced. A role can only inherit menus and functions if no transaction codes have been assigned to it before.

The higher-level role passes on its authorizations to the derived role as default values which can be changed afterwards. Organizational level definitions are not passed on. They must be created anew in the inheriting role. User assignments are not passed on either.

Derived roles are an elegant way of maintaining roles that do not differ in their functionality (identical menus and identical transactions) but have different characteristics with regard to the organizational level. Follow this link for more info

Q What is a composite role?

A composite role is a container which can collect several different roles. For reasons of clarity, it does not make sense and is therefore not allowed to add composite roles to composite roles. Composite roles are also called roles.

Composite roles do not contain authorization data. If you want to change the authorizations (that are represented by a composite role), you must maintain the data for each role of the composite role.

Creating composite roles makes sense if some of your employees need authorizations from several roles. Instead of adding each user separately to each role required, you can set up a composite role and assign the users to that group.

The users assigned to a composite role are automatically assigned to the corresponding (elementary) roles during comparison. Follow the link to learn more

Q. What does the different color light mean in profile generator?A.

 

Q. What are the different tabs in PFCG?A.  

Page 11: (2) SAP Security Interview Questions

Q What does user compare do?If you are also using the role to generate authorization profiles, then you should note that the generated profile is not entered in the user master record until the user master records have been compared. You can automate this by scheduling report FCG_TIME_DEPENDENCY on a daily.

. Can we convert Authorization field to Org, fieldA.  Authorization field can be changed to Organization field using  PFCG_ORGFIELD_CREATE  or ZPFCG_ORGFIELD_CREATEUse SE38 or SA38 to run the above report.

Organizational level fields should only be created before you start setting up your system. If you create organizational level fields later, you might have to do an impact analysis. The authentication data may have to be postprocessed in roles.

The fields "Activity", "ACTVT" and "Transaction code", "TCD" cannot be converted into an organizational level field.

In addition, all affected roles are analyzed and the authorization data is adjusted. The values of the authorization field which is now to become the organizational level field are removed and entered into the organizational level data of the role.Note: Table for Org Element- USORGRefer to Note 323817 for more detail.

Q. How many profiles can be assigned to any user master record. A. Maximum Profiles that can be assigned to any user is ~ 312. Table USR04 (Profile assignments for users). This table contains both information on the change status of a user and also the list of the profile names that were assigned to the user. The field PROFS is used for saving the change flag (C = user was created, M = user was changed), and the name of the profiles assigned to the user. The field is defined with a length of 3750 characters. Since the first two characters are intended for the change flag, 3748 characters remain for the list of the profile names per user. Because of the maximum length of 12 characters per profile name, this results in a maximum number of 312 profiles per user.

Q. Can you add a composite role to another composite role?A. No

Q. How to reset  SAP* password from oracle database.A. Logon to  your database with orasid as user id and run this sqldelete from sapSID.usr02 where bname='SAP*' and mandt='XXX';commit;

Where mandt is the client.

Now you can login to the client using sap* and password pass

Q. What is difference between role and profile.A. A role act as container that collect transaction and generates the associated profile. The profile

Page 12: (2) SAP Security Interview Questions

generator (PFCG) in SAP System automatically generates the corresponding authorization profile. Developer used to perform this step manually before PFCG was introduced bySAP. Any maintenance of the generated profile should be done using PFCG.

Q. What is user buffer?A. When a user logs on to the SAP R/3 System, a user buffer is built containing all authorizations for that user. Each user has their own individual user buffer. For example, if user Smith logs on to the system, his user buffer contains all authorizations of role USER_SMITH_ROLE. The user buffer can be displayed in transaction SU56.

A user would fail an authorization check if:

The authorization object does not exist in the user buffer The values checked by the application are not assigned to the authorization object in the user

buffer The user buffer contains too many entries and has overflowed. The number of entries in the user

buffer can be controlled using the system profile parameter auth/number_in_userbuffer.

Q. How to find out all roles with T-code SU01?A. You can use SUIM > Roles by complex criteria or RSUSR070 to find out this.            Go to the Selection by Authorization Value.            In Object 1 put S_TCODE and hit enter.            And put SU01 in Transaction code and hit execute (clock with check) button.            I use authorization object, as you can use this to test any object.            You can also get this information directly from table, if you have access to SE16 or SE16N. Execute SE16N

            Table                AGR_1251            Object              S_TCODE            VALUE (low)  SU01           

Q. How to find out all the users who got SU01 ?A. You can use SUIM >User by complex criteria or (RSUSR002) to find this out.            Go to the Selection by Authorization Value.            In Object 1 put S_TCODE and hit enter.            And put SU01 in Transaction code and hit execute (clock with check) button.            I use authorization object, as you can use this to test any object.

Q. How to find out all the roles for one composite role or a selection of composite roles?A.  Execute SE16N             Table                            AGR_AGRS

            Composite roles           You can put multiple composite roles using the more button

Q. How to find out all the derived roles for one or more Master (Parent) roles?A.  Execute SE16N            Table                AGR_DEFINE

Use either agr_name field or Parent_agr field.

Q. How can I check all the Organization value for any role?A. Execute  SE16N            Table                AGR_1252            Role                 Type in the role here and hit execute.

You can always download all the information to spreadsheet also using .

Q. How do I restrict access to files through AL11?A. First create an alias. Go to t-code AL11 > configure > create alias. Let say we are trying to restrict

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alias DIR_TEMP which is /tmp. Open PFCG and assign t-code AL11, and change the authorization for S_DATASET as mentioned below      Activity      33      Physical file name      /tmp/*      Program Name with Search Help      *

Q. How can I add one role to many users?A. SU10. If you have less than 16 users then you can paste the userids.

If you have more than 16 users – Click on Authorization data and  click on  next to users and

upload from  clipboard  .Hit the change button and go to the role tab and add the roles to be assigned and hit save.

Q. What are the Best practices for locking expired users?A. Lock the user. Remove all the roles and profiles assigned to the user. Move them to TERM User group.

Q. How can be the password rules enforced ?A. Password rules can be enforced using profile parameter. Follow the link to learn more about the profile parameter.

Q. How to remove duplicate roles with different start and end date from user master?A. You can use PRGN_COMPRESS_TIMES to do this. Please refer to note 865841 for more info.

Q. How come the users have authorization in PFCG, but user still complains with no authorization?A. Make sure the user master is compared.  May be the there is a user buffer overflow            Also check the profile- Follow the instruction below.            SUIM > User by complex criteria.             Put the userid of user who is having issue.            Execute            Double click on the user id  and expand the tree. Select the profile in question and see if the authorization is correct or not. If not do the role reorg in PFCG and see if that helps.

Q. How can I have a display all roles. A. Copy sap_all and open the role and change the activity to 03 and 08

Q. How can I find out all actvt in sap?A. All possible activities (ACTVT) are stored in table TACT (transaction SM30), and also the valid activities for each authorization object can be found in table TACTZ (transaction SE16).

Q. How to find all the users who got access to change and create users?

You can find all users who have access to create or change users using SUIM

Execute Transaction SUIMGo to - Users by Complex Selection Criteria >>Users by Complex Selection Criteria or you could run report RSUSR002 using SA38 or SE38

Fill in the screen as shown below, and execute the query. There are couple of other authorization ( S_USER_AGR,  S_USER_GRP and  S_USER_PRO) you might want to check as well.

On the other hand you could just give the user SU01D, which is display user master.

Page 14: (2) SAP Security Interview Questions

Q. What is SAP? A. SAP is the name of the company founded in 1972 under the German name (Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) is the leading ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software package.

Q. Explain the concept of “Business Content” in SAP Business Information Warehouse? A. Business Content is a pre-configured set of role and task-relevant information models based on consistent Metadata in the SAP Business Information Warehouse. Business Content provides selected roles within a company with the information they need to carry out their tasks. These information models essentially contain roles, workbooks, queries, InfoSources, InfoCubes, key figures, characteristics, update rules and extractors for SAP R/3, mySAP.com Business Applications and other selected applications.

Q. What is IDES? A. International Demonstration and Education System. A sample application provided for faster learning and implementation.

Q. What is SAP R/3? A. A third generation set of highly integrated software modules that performs common business function based on multinational leading practice. Takes care of any enterprise however diverse in operation, spread over the world. In R/3 system all the three servers like presentation, application server and database server are located at different system.

Q. What are presentation, application and database servers in SAP R/3? A. The application layer of an R/3 System is made up of the application servers and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 System are run on application servers. The application servers communicate with the presentation components, the database, and also with each other, using the message server. All the data are stored in a centralized server. This server is called database server.

Q. What should be the approach for writing a BDC program? A. Convert the legacy system data to a flat file and convert flat file into internal table. Transfer the flat

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file into sap system called “sap data transfer”. Call transaction(Write the program explicitly) or create sessions (sessions are created and processed ,if success data will transfer).

Q. What are the major benefits of reporting with BW over R/3? Q. Would it be sufficient just to Web-enable R/3 Reports? A. Performance — Heavy reporting along with regular OLTP transactions can produce a lot of load both on the R/3 and the database (cpu, memory, disks, etc). Just take a look at the load put on your system during a month end, quarter end, or year-end — now imagine that occurring even more frequently. Data analysis — BW uses a Data Warehouse and OLAP concepts for storing and analyzing data, where R/3 was designed for transaction processing. With a lot of work you can get the same analysis out of R/3 but most likely would be easier from a BW.

Q. What is the difference between OLAP and Data Mining? A. OLAP - On line Analytical processing is a reporting tool configured to understand your database schema, composition facts and dimensions. By simple point-n-clicking, a user can run any number of canned or user-designed reports without having to know anything of SQL or the schema. Because of that prior configuration, the OLAP engine “builds” and executes the appropriate SQL. Mining is to build the application to specifically look at detailed analyses, often algorithmic; even more often misappropriate called “reporting.

Q. What is “Extended Star Schema” and how did it emerge? A. The Star Schema consists of the Dimension Tables and the Fact Table. The Master Data related tables are kept in separate tables, which has reference to the characteristics in the dimension table(s). These separate tables for master data is termed as the Extended Star Schema.

Q. Define Meta data, Master data and Transaction data A. Meta Data: Data that describes the structure of data or MetaObjects is called Metadata. In other words data about data is known as Meta Data. Master Data: Master data is data that remains unchanged over a long period of time. It contains information that is always needed in the same way. Characteristics can bear master data in BW. With master data you are dealing with attributes, texts or hierarchies. Transaction data: Data relating to the day-to-day transactions is the Transaction data.

Q. What is Bex? A. Bex stands for Business Explorer. Bex enables end user to locate reports, view reports, analyze information and can execute queries. The queries in workbook can be saved to there respective roles in the Bex browser. Bex has the following components: Bex Browser, Bex analyzer, Bex Map, Bex Web.

Q. What are variables? A. Variables are parameters of a query that are set in the parameter query definition and are not filled with values until the queries are inserted into workbooks. There are different types of variables which are used in different application: Characteristics variables, Hierarchies and hierarchy node, Texts, Formulas, Processing types, User entry/Default type, Replacement Path.

Q. What is AWB?. What is its purpose? A. AWB stands for Administrator WorkBench. AWB is a tool for controlling, monitoring and maintaining all the processes connected with data staging and processing in the business information warehousing.

Q. What is the significance of ODS in BIW? A. An ODS Object serves to store consolidated and debugged transaction data on a document level (atomic level). It describes a consolidated dataset from one or more InfoSources. This dataset can be analyzed with a BEx Query or InfoSet Query. The data of an ODS Object can be updated with a delta update into InfoCubes and/or other ODS Objects in the same system or across systems. In contrast to multi-dimensional data storage with InfoCubes, the data in ODS Objects is stored in transparent, flat database tables.

Q. What is Extractor? A. Extractors is a data retrieval mechanisms in the SAP source system. Which can fill the extract structure of a data source with the data from the SAP source system datasets. The extractor may be able to supply data to more fields than exist in the extract structure.

Q. How do I change the name of master / parent  role keeping the name of derived/child role same? I would like to keep the name of   derived /child role same and also the profile associated with the child roles.A. First copy the master role using PFCG to a role with new name you wish to have. Then you have to

Page 16: (2) SAP Security Interview Questions

generate the role. Now open each derived role  and delete the menu. Once the menus are removed it will let you put new inheritance. You can put the name of the new master role you created. This will help you keep the same derived role name and also the same profile name. Once the new roles are done you can transport it. The transport automatically includes the Parent roles.

What is the difference between C (Check) and U (Unmaintained)?A. Background:When defining authorizations using Profile Generator, the table USOBX_C defines which authorization checks should occur within a transaction and which authorization checks should be maintained in the PG. You determine the authorization checks that can be maintained in the PG using Check Indicators. It is a Check Table for Table USOBT_C.

In USOBX_C there are 4 Check Indicators.· CM (Check/Maintain)- An authority check is carried out against this object.- The PG creates an authorization for this object and field values are displayed for changing. - Default values for this authorization can be maintained.

· C (Check)- An authority check is carried out against this object.- The PG does not create an authorization for this object, so field values are not displayed. - No default values can be maintained for this authorization.

· N (No check)- The authority check against this object is disabled.- The PG does not create an authorization for this object, so field values are not displayed. - No default values can be maintained for this authorization.

·U (Unmaintained)- No check indicator is set.- An authority check is always carried out against this object.- The PG does not create an authorization for this object, so field values are not displayed. - No default values can be maintained for this authorization..

Q. What does user compare do? A. Comparing the user master: This is basically updating profile information into user master record. So that users are allowed to execute the transactions contained in the menu tree of their roles, their user master record must contain the profile for the corresponding roles.

You can start the user compare process from within the Profile Generator (User tab and User compare pushbutton). As a result of the comparison, the profile generated by the Profile Generator is entered into the user master record. Never enter generated profiles directly into the user master record (using transaction SU01, for example)! During the automatic user compare process (with report pfcg_time_dependency, for example), generated profiles are removed from the user masters if they do not belong to the roles that are assigned to the user.

If you assign roles to users for a limited period of time only, you must perform a comparison at the beginning and at the end of the validity period. You are recommended to schedule the background job pfcg_time_dependency in such cases

Q. Can wildcards be used in authorizations?A. Authorization values may contain wildcards; however, the system ignores everything after the wildcard. Therefore, A*B is the same as A*.

Q. What does the PFCG_TIME_DEPENDENCY clean up?A. The 'PFCG_TIME_DEPENDENCY' background report only cleans up the profiles (that is, it does not clean up the roles in the system). Alternatively, you may use transaction 'PFUD'.

Q. What happens to change documents when they are transported to the production system?A. Change documents cannot be displayed in transaction 'SUIM' after they are transported to the production system because we do not have the 'befor input' method for the transport. This means that if changes are made, the 'USR10' table is filled with the current values and writes the old values to the 'USH10' table beforehand. The difference between both tables is then calculated and the value for the change documents is determined as a result. However, this does not work when change documents are transported to the production system. The 'USR10' table is automatically filled with the current values for

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the transport and there is no option for filling the 'USH10' table in advance (for the history) because we do not have a 'befor input' method to fill the 'USH10' table in advance for the transport.

Q. What is the difference between the table buffer and the user buffer?A. The table buffers are in the shared memory. Buffering the tables increases performance when accessing the data records contained in the table. Table buffers and table entries are ignored during startup. A user buffer is a buffer from which the data of a user master record is loaded when the user logs on. The user buffer has different setting options with regard to the 'auth/new_buffering' parameter.

Q. What does the Profile Generator do?A. The Profile Generator creates roles. It is important that suitable user roles, and not profiles, are entered manually in transaction 'SU01'. The system should enter the profiles for this user automatically.

Q. How many authorizations fit into a profile?A. A maximum of 150 authorization fit into a profile. If the number of authorizations exceed this marker, the Profile Generator will automatically create more profiles for the role. A profile name consists of twelve (12) characters and the first ten (10) may be changed when generated for the first time.

Q. What authorization objects are needed for PFCG?

SAP Transport Authorization

To release Task

S_TRANSPRTACTVT=43, 03, 75TTYPE=TASKOther type:CLCP  Client TransportsCUST  Customizing RequestsDTRA  Workbench RequestsMOVE Relocation transportsPATC  Preliminary Corrections and DeliveriesPIEC    Piece listsTASK  TasksTRAN  Transport of copies

S_DATASET  PROGRAM=SAPLSTRF, SAPLSLOG ACTVT=34FILENAME=* 

To release Customizing Requests

S_TRANSPRT  TTYPE=CUSTACTVT=43, 03, 75S_DATASET  PROGRAM=SAPLSCTS_RELEASE, SAPLSLOG, SAPLSTRFACTVT=33, 34FILENAME=*S_RFC FC_TYPE=FUGRRFC_NAME=STPAACTVT=16; 

 

Authorization object needed for PFCG access

S_USER_AGR ACT_GROUP= * (You can restrict by role, if proper naming convention is used)ACTVT=01, 02, 03, 64 other fields below

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01   Create or Generate02   Change03   Display06   Delete08   Display change documents21  Transport22   Enter, Include, Assign36   Extended maintenance59   Distribute64   Generate68   Model78   Assign79   Assign Role to Composite RoleDL   DownloadUL   Upload

S_USER_GRP CLASS=  ACTVT=22; 03   Other activity01        Create or Generate02        Change03        Display05        Lock06        Delete08        Display change documents22        Enter, Include, Assign24        Archive68        Model78        Assign

S_USER_TCD TCD=   * (Transaction in role)

S_USER_PROPROFILE= *ACTVT=01, 06   Other activity01        Create or Generate02        Change03        Display06        Delete07        Activate, generate08        Display change documents22        Enter, Include, Assign24        Archive

S_TCODETCD=PFCG;

What is client 000 in SAP R/3? Client 000 is defined as the SAP standard and the customer cannot change it. This client serves as a copy template for the creation of further clients.

What are the different type of work process ?The following work process in SAP R/3

Dialog (D): each dispatcher needs at least 2 dialog work processes (not shown above) Spool (S):  at least 1 per R/3 System (more than 1 per dispatcher allowed) Update (V): at least 1 per R/3 System (more than 1 per dispatcher allowed) Background (B): at least 2 per R/3 System (more than 1 per dispatcher allowed) Enqueue (E):  exactly 1 per R/3 System (only 1 E work process is required and allowed)

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How do you start SAP R/3?To start R/3, run the shell script startsap from the home directory of user <sid>adm. startsap starts the saposcol process, which is the statistics collector for operating system resource data, if it is not yet running.

startsap calls the script startdb, which starts the database if it is not already started. startsap then starts the central instance. The R/3 System administrator can start additional instances and application servers. To start the

instances independently of the database, use the script startsap. startsap has the following options: startsap r3:            Checks if the database is running; if it is, only the instance is started startsap db:            Starts only the database startsap all:            Default entry; starts both the database and the R/3 instance

In what sequence are profile parameter read?R/3 processes read the appropriate parameters from a C source in the R/3 kernel

The default profile /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/profile/DEFAULT.PFL is read; profile values already defined in the C source are replaced with the values in the default profile

The instance profile /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/profile/<SID>_<instance>_<hostname>  is read; profile values already defined in the default profile or in the C source are replaced with the values defined in the instance profile

This procedure ensures that system parameter values reflect the instance profile and the values in the default profile and the C source.

What are the step involved before stopping R/3 system?Before stopping any R/3 system following steps are basic steps to be performed.

Before the R/3 System is stopped, the R/3 System administrator should check the: Check if any background jobs from any application server are active or have been triggered

externally. Use transaction SM37 Check if the background work process BTC is running in any application server. Check if any update records are open when the system is stopped, the records are rolled back

and set to status init. At startup, the records are processed again. The administrator must decide whether to interrupt the jobs or wait until they are finished. Give system users advance warning of the system shutdown. To create a system message, you

can use transaction SM02. Before shutting down the system, use transaction SM04 to check whether users are still logged

on, and ask them to log off. The R/3 System administrator and administrators of external systems should also inform one

another about data transfers between their respective systems.

How do you check the work process from UNIX?Use the following commands.To check all the work processes:ps -ef | grep <SID> | grep dwTo check the message server: ps -ef | grep <SID> | grep ms

To check the SAP OS collector:ps -ef | grep sapos

How do you display the server name?To display the server name, use transaction SM51. Information about the process types is also displayed. For further information, select one of the instances and choose Processes. Alternatively, to display the system processes, use transaction SM66.

How do you display all active users in your system?To display the overview of all active users on the instance where you are logged on, use transaction SM04. For a user overview of the whole system, call transaction AL08.

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. What happens to locks when the enqueue server is restarted?A. If they have not been saved to disk in the backup file, they will be lost. The locks that are inherited by the update task when COMMIT WORK is executed after CALL FUNCTION .. IN UPDATE TASK are saved to the disk. The locks are saved to disk when the update request becomes valid, that is, with the COMMIT WORK. Each time the enqueue server is restarted, the lock entries saved on the disk are reloaded to the lock table. A lock is saved to disk at the point at which the backup flag is set.

      Q. The enqueue server is a single-point-of-failure in the SAP System. Can I guarantee high availability for the Enqueue Server?A. To guarantee this you must use the standalone Enqueue Server with the Replication Server. This is described in the documentation Standalone Enqueue Server. 

SAP note 524816 contains the prerequisites that must be fulfilled for using the standalone Enqueue Servers with the Replication Server.

Q. Where is the lock table stored?A. In the main memory (shared memory) of the enqueue server. All work processes on the enqueue server has access to the table. External application servers execute their lock operations in the enqueue process on the enqueue server. Communication in this case takes place via the relevant dispatchers and the message server.   

Q. Can locks exist directly after startup?   A. Yes, the saved locks, which were inherited by the update task, are reloaded to the lock table during startup (see first question).           

Q. How fast are lock operations?A. In work processes on the enqueue server, a few 100 microseconds. In work processes of external application servers you have to include network communications and process changes. Depending on CPU and network load this amounts to a few milliseconds.                                           

Q. What should I do first if a problem arises?A. Use the diagnosis functions:sm12  Extras ® Diagnosis and thensm12 Extras ® Diagnosis in updateIf a problem is reported, back up the trace files dev_w*, dev_disp, dev_eq* and check the Syslog.           

Q. The following message is displayed in the diagnosis details in SM12:Lock management operation mode                                   Internal lock management in same process                       What does this message mean and what are the other options?          A. "Internal lock management in same work process" in the diagnosis function means that you are logged onto the enqueue server and your work process can access the lock table straight away. You do not have to delegate enqueue requests to an enqueue process on a remote enqueue server. If you are logged onto an application server that is not an enqueue server, the diagnosis function will provide you with the name of the enqueue server.      Each SAP System has exactly one application server that functions as an enqueue server. This enqueue server maintains the lock table, which is located in a shared memory segment. All of the work processes on the enqueue server can access the lock table. All work processes on other application servers delegate their enqueue requests to a special enqueue work process on the enqueue server.                                                This procedure is configured automatically. The parameter line "rdisp/enqname =<application server name>" in the default profile DEFAULT.PFL indicates which application server is currently acting as the enqueue server. When an application server detects that its name matches the name of the enqueue server, it creates the lock table and all of its work processes process enqueue requests inline. If an application server detects that its name does not match the name of the enqueue server, it sends all enqueue requests to the enqueue server. Work processes of the type "enqueue" guarantee that incoming requests are processed immediately. One enqueue process is usually sufficient. In very large SAP Systems with many application servers, a second process can be beneficial. However, it is not expedient to define more than two enqueue processes. If the transaction SM50 -> [CPU] shows that only the first enqueue process is being used, the bottleneck is due to something else. 

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Q.Why is an enqueue work process required in a central system? Don't all work processes have the same access to the shared memory and thus to the lock table?A. Although the enqueue process is not used in a central system, it does not do any harm. Since almost all customers install an application server sooner or later, problems will inevitably arise if the enqueue process is missing. For this reason, the enqueue diagnosis function will output an error if an enqueue process has not been configured.                           

Q. Are the locks in the lock table also set at the database level? If not, database functions could be used to process objects locked in the SAP system.A. Locks are not set on the database. The lock table is stored in the main memory of the enqueue server.                               

Q. Is a lock table built if an enqueue work process is not started on the enqueue server in the instance profile?A. Yes, because the work processes on the enqueue server use the lock table directly, and not via the enqueue process. The latter is only responsible for lock requests from external application servers.  

Q.How can I find out who is currently holding the ungranted lock? In other words, how can check the program after an ENQUEUE to determine which use is currently holding the lock so that I can let him or her know?A. When the ENQUEUE_... function module is returned, the name of the lock owner is listed in SY-MSGV1.

Q. Can I use special characters in my lock argument (especially the ‘at’ sign (@))?A. The ‘at’ symbol is used as a wildcard in SAP locks (enqueues). In other words, it can stand for any other character during collision checks. For example, the parameter value 12345@ locks the quantities 123450 to 123459, 12345a to 12345z, and 12345A to 12345Z, and all other values with any special character in the 6th character position.                This is described in detail in the section Lock Collisions.In order to prevent the wildcard mechanism from being activated in SAP locks when it is not required, you need to ensure when enqueue function modules are called that key value parameters do not contain any wildcard characters.                                     If key values that you want to use to lock individual entities do contain wildcard characters, you have to replace the wildcards with different characters before the enqueue is called.          

Q. With a single-process system as an enqueue server, we have reached X  SD Benchmark users. Can this number be increased by using a multiprocessor system (message server on the same machine as the enqueue server)? Can we assume that scaling is linear (number of CPUs * X SD users)? How many processes are advisable if message servers, dispatchers, one dialog, and two enqueue processes are to run on the system?A. A significant increase in the enqueue server throughput can be expected by using several processors. The CPU load on the enqueue server is distributed relatively evenly between message server, dispatchers, and enqueue work processes, which means that up to 3 processors can be occupied simultaneously. Dispatchers and message server represent the bottleneck with the enqueue. Linear scaling can be expected for up to 3 processors, even if lock requests are so frequent that message server, dispatchers, and work processes are occupied simultaneously. Due to asynchronous system processes (for example, syncer), using more processors can further enhance throughput.     

Q. The Syslog often contains messages such as "Enqueue: total wait time during locking: 2500 seconds". How should I analyze this problem? Or is the entry not critical? (There are no records of terminations or timeouts.)A. The message is output for information purposes only but may indicate parallel processing errors with ABAP programs. The specified wait time is the time that has elapsed since startup due to the use of the WAIT parameter when the enqueue function module was called.                                                  The WAIT parameter enables a lock attempt to be repeated a number of times, for example, so that the update task does not have to be cancelled when a lock is set temporarily by other programs. The work process remains busy between the lock attempts.  

Q. User cannot connect to SAP A. Check SAP logon settings, ping the host, check message server, check dispatcher, etc

Q. User cannot print A. See if the user has proper authoriztion. check SAP user setup, check SPAD, check spools, check unix queue or print queue at the os level, etc

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Q. Why do you get "GetProcessList failed: 80004005" error while starting SAP console management  A. You have selected one of the Process List nodes in the tree. Then you closed MMC and clicked "Yes" in the dialog "Save console settings to SAPMMC?". Now when you open again the MMC and those processes are not started, you get this error.

Solution: Start MMC and select SAP Systems in the tree. Then close it and choose "Yes" in the dialog "Save console settings to SAPMMC?". Now you won't get this annoying error on every start.