Creating & Publishing Custom Web Assistant content on S/4HANA 2020 FP1 using SEN On Premise Manager(Hana Edition) without Web Dispatcher

This article explains the procedure for Creating & Publishing Custom Web Assistant content on S/4HANA 2020 FP01 using SEN On Premise Manager. With the latest S/4HANA 2020 FP01, the Web Dispatcher is no more needed, this is a huge step forward in adopting Web Assistant content as part of User Enablement in SAP projects.

There are 3 scenarios in consuming & creating Web Assistant;

1. Standard: You just consume SAP published help content via Web Assistant framework

2. Extensibility: You add/modify extra content to the SAP delivered help content

3. Custom : You wish to create & consume your own Web Assistant help content ( for any Fiori apps which are deployed on S/4HANA 2020)

This blog is for scenario no.3 mentioned above.

In this article I am using Embedded Deployment of Fiori UI hence S/4HANA back-end and Gateway/Fiori Fronted systems are same.

Software versions used in this Use Case article:

S/4HANA 2020 FP01

SEN On Premise Manager (Hana Edition)

Procedure

Part A – SEN Manager Settings

Note: I have used following server names for this article as an example;

Manager On Premise Server name: starwargalaxy

Manager Deployment Name: stormtrooper

Manager On Premise Port: 8080

URL Protocol: HTTP

Work Area Name: webassistant

Work Area ID: webasst

Hence my SEN On Premise Manager URL is ;

http://starwargalaxy:8080/stormtrooper

Follow the SAP Note 3025218 – Serve Web Assistant for SAP S/4HANA On Premise from local Landscape to download the .dkp file ( https://webassistant.enable-now.cloud.sap/web_assistant/framework_download/web_assistant_framework.dkp)

Create a dedicated Web Assistant work area in the manager ( in above note, SAP suggests to import .dkp file into System work area, however I suggest to have a dedicated work area and not use System workarea. I created a workarea called “webassistant” ( WA ID webasst)

Add users to the Workarea permissions. It is important that at least 2 users need to be added, one Anonymous user( for content consumption) & another named user who has Master Author role assigned (for creating/publishing custom web assistant content)

Import the Web Assistant DKP file into this new workarea either from Manager Web UI or from Producer. After import of dkp archive, publish the Web Assistant framework resource.

Framework files should be visible under Resources > Adaptable Resources & should be in status Published.

Maintain Server Settings

In the Manager, Administration > Server settings; add below 2 Supported features field

Supported features = anonymous;DISABLE-CSRF-PROTECTION

Enable CORS and add your company domains to the allowed sites list

Verify that Web Assistant framework files are accessible in the browser. Access the below link on the Chrome browser and you should be able to see the content of Component.js file without any login pop up.

http://<manager_server>:<port>/<manager_Deployment>/wa/<WorkArea_ID>/~tag/published/adaptable/web_assistant_framework/utils/adapters/fiori/Component.js

In my case;

http://starwargalaxy:8080/stormtrooper/wa/webasst/~tag/published/adaptable/web_assistant_framework/utils/adapters/fiori/Component.js

Part B : S/4HANA 2020 FP01 GUI Settings

Configure Web Assistant without WebDispatcher Configuration in SAPGUI front-end system

Start transaction /n/ui2/flp_cus_conf

Select folder Launchpad Configuration Set ENABLE_HELP = true

Select Launchpad Plug-Ins

Click on new Entries, and enter WEB_ASSISTANT_HELP_PLUGIN Enter in URL field http://starwargalaxy:8080/stormtrooper/wa/webasst/~tag/published/adaptable/web_assistant_framework/utils/adapters/fiori/

and save your changes.

URL Format : http://<manager_server>:<port>/<manager_deployment>/wa/<WorkArea_ID>/~tag/published/adaptable/web_assistant_framework/utils/adapters/fiori/

Click on Folder Configuration and add following Parameters & values

BUTTON_LOCATION	head
LEARNING_APP_BACKEND_URL	https://launchpad.support.sap.com/
NO_HELP_MODE	carousel
PARAMETERS	resourceUrl=http://starwargalaxy:8080/stormtrooper/wa/webasst/~tag/published/adaptable/web_assistant_framework;dataUrlWPB=http://starwargalaxy:8080/stormtrooper/wa/webasst;showCloseButton=true;
PRODUCT	SAP_S4HANA_ON-PREMISE
SERVICE_LAYER_VERSION	WPB
SHOW_WHATS_NEW	TRUE
USE_GLOBAL_HELP	TRUE
VERSION	2020.latest

Now log into Fiori Launchpad URL

http://<S4HANA_ON_PREMISE_SERVER_NAME>:<PORT>/sap/bc/ui2/flp#Shell-home

Please note, if your SEN On Premise Manager is using HTTP as Port protocol, then you need to log into Fiori Launchpad too via HTTP protocol only. If Manager URL is using HTTPS then, please use HTTPS protocol for fiori launchpad URL as well. Otherwise you will get Mixed Content error and Web Assistant Framework files will not be loaded from backend. It is always suggested to use HTTPS protocol for both SEN Server and S/4 Server URLs. Since I am using a Sandbox environment, I am accessing URLs via HTTP protocol in this article.

After logging into Fiori Launchpad, now you will see the ? Help Icon loaded on the top right corner. Since we have enabled Anonymous access to Web Assistant framework files on the SEN On Premise Manager backend, there is no user/password asked for consuming the Web Assistant contents on Fiori Launchpad.

Part C : Creating Custom Web Assistant content for a Home Grown Fiori Apps

We are using a homegrown Fiori App and would like to create Custom Web Assistant Content. The standard SAP Content or Extensibility options are not applicable for our scenario hence decided to create and publish our own Web Assistant contents.

To create/edit Web Assistant Custom content , go to Edit mode URL on the Fiori Launchpad URL by appending help-editor=true to URL parameters.

URL Format: http://<S4HANA_ON_PREMISE_SERVER_NAME>:<PORT>/sap/bc/ui2/flp?help-editor=true#Shell-home

This time, you would need to enter the Username/Password of the Master Author user of Manager ( If you have SSO enabled on SEN On Premise & on S/4HANA, this user/password pop up will not be shown)