🎉 After a long hiatus, the SAP ABAP Platform image is available again on Docker Hub! 🎉 

If you’re not familiar with Docker images or need additional information on how to run this on your computer, this post will provide some guidance. The ABAP Platform is a great way to:

- Experiment with ABAP in an [isolated, risk free environment](/blog/isolated-development-environments)
- Work on solutions that do not require business modules
- Contribute to open source projects

However, you should understand the basic principles of Docker containers before you begin to avoid potentially losing significant amount of work.

## Diving into containers

As ABAP developers, containers are a paradigm shift into how you do work. However, they are very prevalent outside of SAP development as they have many benefits. Running ABAP Platform in a container allows you to have your own personal SAP system. This means you finally have freedom to experiment, code without locking objects for others, and even crash the system without any risk. All of this is possible due to container technology. There are many resources available that explain containers and Docker in more detail. Below is a brief overview to help you get started with the ABAP Platform Docker image.

### Docker image
The image is an immutable, read-only layer. Think of this as the template that contains the application starting point. However, you can’t change it or write to it directly.

### Docker container
In order to interact with the application from the image, you need to run a container. This container layer is writable. This allows you to make changes to the application. However, keep in mind that typically these changes go away if you remove the container (even if this happens inadvertently).

## Running ABAP Platform on your computer

### Hardware and software prerequisites

I ran Docker on a Mac (Intel) laptop with 32GB memory and 1TB SSD. I had to modify the Docker settings and allocate 4 CPUs, 16 GB memory, 4 GB swap, and 150 GB of disk space. Be sure you have enough systems resources to ensure the container runs without performance issues. At times, I have noticed my laptop slowing down when running the ABAP Platform container. I can still use other apps but there is a noticeable performance issue.

The image requires you have a [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/signup) account as you need to be logged in to pull the image. Docker Hub is a library of images that can easily be pulled (think downloaded) for use on your own machine. Part of the beauty of Docker is that regardless of what operating system you are running (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.), the same image can be used on any computer running Docker. There are also alternatives to Docker but that is outside the scope of this post.

Make sure you install Docker if you have not already done so.

### docker login
Open a terminal and run `docker login` which will prompt you for your Docker Hub username and password.

### docker pull
 Run `docker pull sapse/abap-platform-trial:1909` to pull the image from the library. The image name is "sapse/abap-platform-trial" which consists of the user name for SAP SE (sapse) and the repository name "abap-platform-trial". This process may take a long time depending on your internet connection speed.

### docker images
 Once complete, you can validate the image is available on your computer by running `docker images` which will show a list of all your images.
 
 ```abap
 nuve% docker images
 REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE
 sapse/abap-platform-trial 1909 176e23266ae9 3 weeks ago 53.3GB
 ```
 

### docker run
Now, for the good stuff. Time to run the image.
 
```abap
docker run --stop-timeout 3600 -i --name a4h -h vhcala4hci -p 3200:3200 -p 3300:3300 -p 8443:8443 -p 30213:30213 -p 50000:50000 -p 50001:50001 sapse/abap-platform-trial:1909 -skip-limits-check --agree-to-sap-license
```
 
This might seem overwhelming at first, but once you break it down, it’s easy to understand. `docker run` is the command telling docker to create a container from a specific image, in our case `sapse/abap-platform-trial:1909`.

By default, when you stop a container, Docker will forcibly kill any running processes after 10 seconds. In our case, we want HANA to be able to have enough time to write the contents from memory to disk to avoid losing work, so we have to pass the parameter `--stop-timeout 3600` so that it can wait up to one hour (60 minutes * 60 seconds/minute) for HANA to finish the process. Typically, stopping HANA only takes a few minutes then the docker image is able to stop, so this is more of a safety.

`-i` Starts the container in interactive mode, which keeps STDIN open. This lets us interact with SAP running within the container.

`--name a4h` Assigns the name "a4h" to the running container. Naming containers is useful for easy reference later.

SAP relies on a specific hostname in order to run correctly. In this case we have to define the hostname within the container by passing `-h vhcala4hci`.

Because applications within a container are isolated from your computer’s OS, we need to deliberately open ports in order to be able to access SAP. We do this with port mappings. The pattern `-p <hostport>:<containerport>` maps a port on the host machine (your computer) to a port inside the container.

Typically, the last argument is the image name, but the folks at SAP configured this container to perform a limit check and require license. The last two parameters accomplish this. You can bypass the check `-skip-limits-check` and if you agree to the license, bypass the license prompt by passing `--agree-to-sap-license`.

## License, license, license
There are three licenses required to run the ABAP Platform.

The first license is the license agreement for the trial that stipulates how you can use the ABAP Platform trial system. You agree to this license with the `--agree-to-sap-license` argument.

The second license is the HANA license, which you don’t have to worry about too much, for now. This license is preinstalled by SAP and expires on January 2025. You can see more details about this license by going to T-Code `DBACOCKPIT` -> System Information -> License. You’ll see the expiration date and additional details. Once this license expires in 2025, you’ll need to update it. Otherwise, SAP won’t start.

The third license is the SAP license which is accessible via T-Code `SLICENSE`. This requires the user, aka you dear reader, to take some action. The folks at SAP have automated part of the process of installing this license but you can also do it “online” and in my opinion you should in order to understand what is happening. This license expires every 3 months and if you have not updated the license by the time it expires, you will be unable to login with any user other than `SAP*`.

For more details on how to update this license, go to [support](support.nuveplatform.com).

## Connect to SAP through the Docker container
Once the Docker container is up and running, you'll be ready to access SAP. To do this, you'll need three crucial details: the system ID, the instance number, and the application server.

To connect, ensure you have either the SAP GUI or Eclipse installed on your machine. Then, you'll have to input the connection details manually.

Since SAP is operating directly on your computer within the Docker container, set the application server to "localhost" or its IP address equivalent, "127.0.0.1". For those unfamiliar with "localhost", it's simply a term that refers to the current device being used — in this context, your own computer.

### Access GUI
For SAP GUI access you should use the following. 

- System ID: A4H
- Instance Number: 00
- Application Server: 127.0.0.1

For more details on how to configure the connection for both Windows and Mac, go to [support](/resources/support/connect-to-an-sap-system).

### Access Fiori
Similar to the application server, you can use the localhost IP address to connect to Fiori. Since you do not have SSL certificates configured, you will likely need to confirm you want to visit the website when your browser prompts you.
 
```abap
https://127.0.0.1:50001/sap/bc/ui2/flp?sap-system-login-oninputprocessing=onProceed&sap-client=001&sap-language=EN
````
![Fiori](/images/blog/fiori.png)

> ### 💡 Did you know you can host ABAP Platform on Nuve❓
> Let Nuve host your ABAP Platform trial and take care of all the additional setup required 🛠️ so you can focus on development. 💻 
> [Start your journey with Nuve today](/personal-plan), and leave the complexity behind! 🚀 

## Best practice to save and secure your work

As mentioned before, containers are completely isolated. If your container crashes, all of the work you did will disappear. Most containers are meant to be short lived so this is by design. If you want to persist changes, you should figure out an alterative method. In modern development, [using Git](/blog/git-version-control) is the preferred method for saving your work. With abapGit, this best practice can be seamlessly applied within SAP.

### Using abapGit
You may be completely new to all of these new tools and it may seem overwhelming but as developers, we need to continually expand our skills and make sure we understand the industry best practices both for SAP and development in general. abapGit is an open-source project that allows you to leverage Git for code management. It is used in conjuction with a Git platform. There are many platforms available out there but I recommend using GitHub.

The [abapGit documentation](https://docs.abapgit.org/user-guide/getting-started/install.html) is a great resource to learn more about abapGit and how to install it.

At a high level, you should install the standalone version by copying and pasting the code into a new program, `ZABAPGIT_STANDALONE`.

Then you should download and [add the Github certs](https://docs.abapgit.org/user-guide/setup/ssl-setup.html#sap-trust-manager) via T-Code `STRUST`.

Last, execute the standalone version to clone (think download) the developer version via the “New Online” option.

### Benefits of Git
You’re likely using the ABAP Platform on your own but you will begin to love the features of Git. 

 - Git is the defacto best practice for version control. Learning how to use Git is a great skill that will benefit you greatly and applies to all development.
 - You can easily compare any changes to easily catch bugs and ensure you made the change you intended.
 - Using Git will allow you to collaborate and contribute to open source projects.
 - Once you have your code on GitHub, you can easily add [abaplint](/blog/getting-started-with-abaplint) to begin improving your code quality.

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## Managing your ABAP container

### Container status
Once the container is running, you may want to stop it without removing the container. This allows you to start the container at a later point in time.

You can check the status of your container with `docker ps -a`. The "-a" flag will display any stopped containers.

### Stop a container
There are two ways to stop your container:
1. You can click `Ctrl+C` from the terminal window where the SAP container is running, this will run the stop scripts to shutdown SAP and HANA.
2. You can open a new terminal window and use the docker stop command `docker stop -t 3600 a4h`. Similar to the start command, this sets a timeout of 1 hour for the container a4h.

### Start a container
To resume a container that you previously stopped, you need the docker start command, `docker start -ai a4h`. This command will start SAP which takes a few minutes and any changes you made prior to the stop should persist.

### Removing the container
In some cases, you want to remove the container entirely. **Removing a container wipes any changes you made to the SAP system while it was running.** You can still start new containers from the same image but new containers will start from the original image state.

If you want to completely remove the container use the command `docker rm a4h`.

You might think, why might someone want to do this? Maybe you were trying out some experimental changes and the system has become unusable. Or in some cases, you may need to add ports or volumes which can only be done with the initial `docker run` command.

### Ports
In some cases, you want to modify the ports that are open or closed. You can only modify the port mapping when running the initial `docker run` command. And keep in mind that container names and port mappings must be unique, so if you want to keep the same name and ports you have to stop and remove a running container before you can update port mappings. Otherwise you’ll get an error similar to this:
 
```abap
Error response from daemon: driver failed programming external connectivity on endpoint a4h: Bind for 0.0.0.0:50001 failed: port is already allocated.
```

You can add as many port mappings as needed. However, ensure that the host OS isn't already using them.

### Container names
If you try to start a second container with the same name, you will see similar error to this:
 
```abap
docker: Error response from daemon: Conflict. The container name “/a4h” is already in use by container.` You have to remove (or rename) that container to be able to reuse that name. See ‘docker run --help.
```
 

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## Next steps
Isolated systems like the ABAP Platform on Docker provide a fantastic opportunity for developers to experiment, learn, and work with ABAP in a safe and controlled environment. Docker opens doors to a myriad of possibilities. It does require a learning curve, especially if you are new to Docker, but with the resources provided, you should be well on your way to mastering it.

When you're ready for more advanced topics, check out our [Beyond the basics with ABAP platform](/blog/beyond-the-basics-with-abap-platform) post.

Learn the basics of Docker containers for an ideal development environment.

ABAP Platform is back on Docker Hub. This guide covers Docker setup for the ABAP Platform and steps to connect using the containerized system.

Getting started with the ABAP platform trial

Related posts

Beyond the basics with ABAP platform

Fundamentals of ABAP unit testing

Why isolated development environments?