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What is the best way to refresh QA from PRD?

How to make a system copy:

1. Take offline backup of both the server (source and target servers)

2. Verify the backup is successfully done.

3. Run the following command on source system.
a. Login as adm
b. svrmgrl
c. connect internal
d. alter database backup controlfile to trace;
e. exit;
f. Above command will generate a .trc file in /oracle/P01/saptrance/usertrace directory.
g. Copy the text from CREATE CONTROLFILE until the (;) and paste it in to any new .sql or controlfile.sql file.
h. Copy the controlfile.sql to target system.
i. Edit the file and replace the entire source SID to target SID.
j. Edit the reuse database command with the set database command

4. Copy the aft generated during the backup file from the source system to target system. (/oracle//sapbackup)
a. Change all the source to target .
b. Only don't change the backup volume name it must be target system .
c. Copy the above aft file name line from the source back.log to target.log file.

5. Shutdown the target server instance.

6. From this onwards all the command on the target system only.
a. Login as adm
b. run the SAPDBA
c. select J (Restore/Recovery)
d. select B (Full restore and recovery)
e. select A (Select backup of type)
f. Select the offline backup which you want to restore.
g. It will take some time to restore.
h. Once the database is restored login as adm and run the
i. svrmgrl
j. connect internal;
k. startup nomount (if the database is already mounted shutdown it using the shutdown command)
l. run the following command
m. @controlfile.sql (file name of the control file contains the CREATE CONTROLFILE statement)
n. After the run the above command it should give the "Statement Processed)
o. alter database open resetlogs p. shutdown
q. Start the database and SAP services using startup.

7. After this you have to reconfigure the STMS.

8. All the jobs also you have to reconfigure and reschedule.

9. Reconfigure all the printers.

10. If you want to change the Client number then use the local copy tool and remove the original client after successfully import to new client.

For SAP Best Practices, please go through the following link:-1

https://service.sap.com/bestpractices

The SAP system is a complex system and by implication its administration can be challenging especially in large deployments. In this post, I present a number of best practices and tidbits that are invaluable to SAP system administrators and which goes a long way to simplify SAP system administrative tasks irrespective of the complexity or size of the implementation.

1. Documentation: Proper documentation simplifies administrative tasks. How to achieve a task should be well documented. This should include the various steps to be taken and the correct sequence. There is always a tendency to forget a very important step when performing routine administrative task. Think about overwriting a file without making a backup and you now need to restore back to a point before the overwriting. No matter how minute a task is, it is important to have it documented. By so doing, it can be picked up by any trained personnel when you are unavailable and the task can be done with little or no hassle.

2. Professional/Peer Networking: As an SAP administrator, you need to belong to fora where technical SAP issues are discussed. It broadens your technical horizon and expands your skill sets. Through such fora, you can make friends with whom you can discuss challenges on the job with and probably get solutions without necessarily re-inventing the wheels. This is because such individuals might have experienced such issues before. Attending SAP technical summits and conferences such as SAPTECHED is also helpful. SAP Users Group (*SUG) exist in some localization; it is beneficial to belong to such groups.

3. Safeguard the SAP System: The SAP system, been an enterprise system houses the company wide data in most cases, hence the need to properly safeguard the system. Direct access to the database should be highly prohibited and necessary controls must be in place to guide against this. Network security must be very effective. Remote connection to the SAP system must also be well controlled and access granted only when the need arises. Administration of the SAP system must be centralized. Suffice to say that the SAP administration team must be abreast of any work on the SAP system at any point in time.

4. Checklists: Because the administrative tasks that need to be performed on the SAP system are enormous, it is best to have a checklist of these activities. The checklist guides you at ensuring that all defined activities are performed and any observation can be noted and addressed in due course. By this, you are unlikely to forget any activity by omission. You can develop checklists for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual administrative tasks.

5. Maintenance: The SAP environment is characterized by different application which includes operating system, database system and enterprise system and third party application. These applications are continuously improved and enhanced via upgrades, patches, service packs and hot fixes. It is best for SAP administrator to apply these enhancements when they are released. Furthermore, the SAP system runs on high end infrastructures such as servers and network equipments. These facilities needs to be maintained based on defined schedule. Performing the preventive maintenance of these equipment as at when due is key to ensuring that service is not disrupted as result of equipments break down.

6. Disaster Recovery Plan: The disaster recovery plan is a set of activities that will be carried out to restore service in the event of a disaster of any kind which can mean physical inaccessibility to the server room which is the primary site. A disaster recovery plan must be well documented and all users must be abreast of what to do in case of a disaster. The plan must be tested at defined intervals to ensure that the plan is still relevant to the business case that justifies its existence.

7. Incident Management: When user encounters problems with the system, experience has shown that the system administrators are the first point of call. In an SAP environment, an incident management system should exist to monitor user complaints and problem resolution or status at any point in time. This complaint might be as mild as resetting users password. With an incident management system in place, service calls can be well managed and progress monitored.

8. SAP System Isolation: Despite the fact that SAP system is an enterprise application that is supposed to integrate all business units of an organization, companies still have one reason or the other to run non SAP systems. In some cases, these non SAP systems are integrated with the SAP system. However, it is best to isolate the SAP system from non SAP system. The SAP application should be installed on a separate server different from other applications. This simplifies administration and makes troubleshooting less difficult. Even the network infrastructure should be isolated if possible. The SAP system can exist in a separate VLAN different from other systems.

9. Controlled Modification: The SAP administrator should not just make changes to the SAP system without fully understanding the implication of such action. This also applies to making changes to system parameter settings. There should be proper justification for making changes to the system state.

10. Knowledge Database: It is good practice to keep a database of known issues and solutions. Because the challenges of administering the SAP system are multi facet, it is very possible to forget how a problem was resolved when it occurred. A knowledge database exists to serve as a reference data center when a familiar problem re-occurs. Furthermore, the knowledge database should be centrally managed. It enhances collaboration especially as it relates to issues and corresponding solution documentation.
Source Kehinde Eseyin