Transports move changes from development through quality assurance to production. They are the backbone of SAP change control.
Requests and tasks
| Level | Role |
|---|---|
| Request | The unit of transport โ a project or change |
| Task | One developer work within a request |
| Kind | Content |
|---|---|
| Workbench | Programs, tables, classes โ development objects |
| Customising | IMG configuration; client dependent |
The flow
| Step | Activity | By |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Make changes, recorded in a request | Developer |
| 2 | Release the task | Developer |
| 3 | Release the request | Lead |
| 4 | Export produces the transport files | System |
| 5 | Import into QAS | Basis |
| 6 | Test | Business |
| 7 | Import into PRD | Basis |
TMS
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Domain controller | The system holding TMS configuration, usually DEV |
| Transport routes | Which system feeds which |
| Transport layer | Links packages to routes |
| Import queue | Requests waiting in each system |
Return codes
| RC | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Success | None |
| 4 | Warnings | Read the log; often harmless but check |
| 8 | Errors | Some objects did not import; investigate |
| 12 | Serious error | The import broke off; find the cause and repeat |
| 16 | Fatal | System-level problem; check TMS configuration |
Common problems
| Symptom | Cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| An object did not move | It was not in the request | Check object assignment in SE03 |
| Broken after import | A dependency was not transported | Find and import the related request |
| Request is locked | Another user is editing | Check locks in SE03 |
| Same object in several requests | Parallel development | Sequence or consolidate the requests |
| Configuration not visible | Wrong target client | Check the client of the import |