Upgrades and Updates in an SAP System Group
If you have an SAP system group consisting, for example, of a production system, a quality assurance system, and a development system, you have to consider the entire system group regarding the sequence of updates.
In addition, the update procedure influences the development activities, for example, dual maintenance might be temporarily necessary to ensure that your production system is supported with emergency corrections.
Sequence of Updates
Update or upgrade your systems in the same sequence in which you transport your modifications. Update each system with the same software packages.
If your system group consists of three SAP systems and includes a quality assurance system that has been set up between the development and production system, work in the following order:
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Development system
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Quality assurance system
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Production system
If you have modified SAP objects that you want to retain, you have to proceed in the above sequence. The version management functions of the SAP system record all the changes you make only in the system in which you made the modifications (the development system). Only this SAP system offers you optimal support when you adjust modifications.
Changes made in the development system after the update can be transported automatically to your other SAP systems. If you use this procedure, you no longer need to perform time-consuming adjustments in the production system.
Impact on Development
At a certain point in time during the update procedure, the development environment of the system that is updated is locked. Changes to the system are not possible, and the repository objects are set globally to not modifiable. Consider this development freeze in your project plan and inform your developers about it.
To avoid the development system being unavailable during the update, we recommend that you add a temporary copy of your development system to your system landscape. This temporary development system can supply your production system with emergency corrections or support a phased development go-live after you have updated the original development system. You then have to make any corrections in the original development system as well as in the temporary development system. Make sure that your developers are notified about the dual maintenance.
