SAP ABAP IMG Activity /IWFND/SERVICE_GROUP (Manage Web Service Communications)
Hierarchy
☛ SAP_GWFND (Software Component) SAP Gateway Foundation
   ⤷ OPU-FND-CS (Application Component) IWF Common Services
     ⤷ /IWFND/COF (Package) GW Framework - Configuration
IMG Activity
ID /IWFND/SERVICE_GROUP Manage Web Service Communications  
Transaction Code /IWFND/50000006   (empty) 
Created on 20090922    
Customizing Attributes /IWFND/SERVICE_GROUP   Manage Web Service Communications 
Customizing Activity /IWFND/SERVICE_GROUP   Manage Web Service Communications 
Document
Document Class SIMG   Hypertext: Object Class - Class to which a document belongs.
Document Name /IWFND/IMG_SERVICE_GROUP    

Configuring Web Service Communications

Scope

This document outlines the steps required to configure Web service calls from SAP NetWeaver Gateway to the SAP systems. It is a supplementary guide to the SAP NetWeaver documentation available at help.sap.com.

Consult the SAP NetWeaver documentation for details on certain steps of this guide.

This guideline is based on NW 7.02.

What configuration is required?

Applications running on the SAP NetWeaver Gateway use Web services to call the SAP systems. Therefore, the applications have proxies that are shipped with SAP NetWeaver Gateway. These proxies are grouped in "service groups". Each service group can be configured to point to one or many SAP systems. The actual system that will be used is determined at run time via the destination finder. Applications bundle proxies to service groups in a granularity that matches the way the Web services are offered by SAP systems. For example, if an SAP system offers the Web service 'Get Employee, it will also offer the Web service 'Create Employee', as they belong to the same deployment unit. A granularity of the service groups has been chosen that matches the entities offered by SAP NetWeaver Gateway and the deployment units of Web services of SAP systems. This way it is possible to easily configure all Web services that belong to the entity 'Employee' as a unit (mass configuration) instead of configuring each proxy one by one.

The following has to be configured:

  • A profile that contains general configuration on security and transport systems for the entire landscape.
  • Provider systems, to indicate which SAP systems are called. This can be compared with RFC destinations.
  • The service groups, to determine which SAP systems may be called per service group from SAP NetWeaver Gateway (acting as the consumer)
  • User Account Management, for authentication settings when calling a backend

Profiles

A profile is general configuration of security and transport aspects. For Web service communications, the provider and the consumer have to use the same profile so that the calling system uses the exact authentication, encryption, and other settings that are offered by the provider system. A profile is created once, distributed to all relevant servers in a landscape, and then used for the configuration of each Web service on the provider and consumer side.

Creating and distributing a new profile

  1. Log on to any relevant system in the landscape.
  2. Go to transaction SOAMANAGER.
  3. Go to tab Technical Administration.
  4. Choose Profile Management and select New Profile.
  5. Choose a profile name and description.
  6. Specify settings for reliable messaging, transport binding and authentication that fulfill the needs of your company and landscape. The selected authentication method must support single sign-on. This may also require trust to be configured between SAP NetWeaver Gateway and the SAP systems. See the SAP NetWeaver documentation for details.
  7. Activate the profile.
  8. Select the new profile you have created and choose Export to export it to a file.
  9. Log on to all relevant systems in the landscape, go to transaction SOAMANAGER, and import the profile via Import.

Note: If you want to change a profile, you must create a new version of it. By activating a new version, the provider systems (see below) and all other pieces of configuration that use the profile still use an old version. You must go to the configuration of each provider system and configure it to use the new version of the profile. You must also reactivate all dependant objects is required. This has to be done in all systems in the landscape after the distribution of the new profile version.

Provider Systems

A provider system is a backend SAP system. Web services called by SAP NetWeaver Gateway have to be exposed using the profile created in the previous steps. Web services are exposed via "endpoints". To enable mass configuration on the consumer side, the endpoints have to be created using a "Business Scenario". Perform the following steps to expose the service for consumption by SAP NetWeaver Gateway.

Create endpoints using a "Business Scenario"

  1. Log on to the provider SAP system.
  2. Go to transaction SOAMANAGER.
  3. Go to the Service Administration tab (called Application and Scenario Communication in previous releases.
  4. Choose Business Scenario Configuration (called Business Scenario Communication in previous releases).
  5. Choose New to create a new business scenario.
  6. Choose a name for your scenario.
  7. In the first step, the "Provider Side" has to be configured. Choose Add to search for each service that shall be consumed by SAP NetWeaver Gateway. See the documentation of SAP NetWeaver Gateway applications for a list of required services. Assign the previously configured profile to each service.
  8. The "Consumer Side" can be configured in the second step.
  9. Activate the business scenario.
  10. Choose Check Processing State to trigger and monitor the creation and activation of endpoints.
  11. If required, you can log on to other SAP systems and choos Export to export the business scenario.

Check the endpoints you have created

The previous section describes how to create the endpoints for consumption by SAP NetWeaver Gateway. You can check whether the endpoints have been created for each service.

  1. Log on to the provider SAP system.
  2. Go to transaction SOAMANAGER.
  3. Go to the Service Administration tab (called Application and Scenario Communication in previous releases).
  4. Choose Single Service Configuration (called Single Service Administration in previous releases).
  5. Search for a service that has been previously added to the business scenario.
  6. Select the service from the list and choose Apply Selection.
  7. Go to the Configurations tab. All endpoints and services are listed here. Endpoints are displayed here with a GUID as ID, and the Creation Type field is set to Created based on profile.
  8. Choose Display to see its configuration.

To see the WSDL for the endpoint:

  1. Choose Overview.
  2. Select a binding from the drop-down list box.
  3. Choose Open WSDL document for selected binding.

You can also see the URL of the WSDL from this screen.

Configure provider systems in SAP NetWeaver Gateway

For Web service communications, each SAP system called from SAP NetWeaver Gateway has to be configured as a provider system in the SOA Manager and in the configuration of the Destination Finder.

Configurations in the SOA Manager

When calling a provider system, a profile has to be specified. Use the profile created and distributed previously (see section Profile above).

If the profile used in SAP NetWeaver Gateway is not present in a provider system, mass configuration of the Web service proxies in service groups is not possible. In this case, each Web service proxy can be configured one by one. You can create logical ports manually (see section Check the logical ports you have created below).

Create a provider system

  1. Log on to the SAP system where SAP NetWeaver Gateway is installed.
  2. Go to transaction SOAMANAGER.
  3. Go to the Technical Administration tab and click System Connections.
  4. Choose New to create a new provider system.
  5. Enter a name and description for the provider system, and choose the right profile name.
  6. Choose Next.
  7. If your SAP system is listed in the SLD Identifier field, select it. If not, enter a name for your SAP system that uniquely identifies it.
  8. Enter the name of the WSIL of your SAP system. See section Obtain URL to configure WSIL below for details.
  9. Enter all required credentials. Choose Next.
  10. Create a business application named Default. An external key is required that identifies the provider system. Perform the steps described in the section Obtain the external key of a provider system below.
  11. In the next steps, choose a configuration that suits your company's requirements and landscape setup. (See the SAP NetWeaver documentation for details.)

Obtain URL to configure WSIL

  1. Log on to the provider SAP system.
  2. Go to transaction SICF.
  3. Enter SERVICE for the type hierarchy.
  4. Enter WSIL for service name.
  5. Choose Execute.

The WSIL service should now be listed. The default value for the URL is http://<host:port>/sap/bc/srt/wsil?sap-client=<client>.

Note: The WSIL (Web Service Inspection Language) service lists the configuration of all Web services exposed by the system.

Obtain the external key of a provider system

  1. Log on to the provider SAP system.
  2. Go to transaction SOAMANAGER.
  3. Go to the Technical Administration tab.
  4. Choose Global System Setting
Business Attributes
ASAP Roadmap ID 204   Establish Functions and Processes 
Mandatory / Optional 1   Mandatory activity 
Critical / Non-Critical 1   Critical 
Country-Dependency A   Valid for all countries 
Maintenance Objects
Maintenance object type C   Customizing Object 
Assigned objects
Customizing Object Object Type Transaction Code Sub-object Do not Summarize Skip Subset Dialog Box Description for multiple selections
IMGDUMMY D - Dummy object SOAMANAGER  
History
Last changed by/on SAP  20110315 
SAP Release Created in 100