Note 611361 - Hostnames of SAP servers

Note Language: English Version: 10 Validity: Valid Since 10.05.2007
Summary
Symptom
The use of hostnames that are too long or contain illegal characters may
result in undetermined errors
Other terms
hostname, host name, nodename, node name, computername, computer name,
network identification, etc/hosts, DNS, domain name, FQDN
Reason and Prerequisites
SAP systems require a specific format of hostnames to be observed
Solution
The naming of hosts running SAP software has to be done according to
general standards (RFCs see http://ietf.org/rfc) and some SAP specific
restrictions.
General rule for hostnames according to RFCs 952, 1101, 1123, 1178:
Alphanumerical string of alpha characters [A-Z] and [a-z] and digits [0-9]
and the hyphen (or minus) character "-". Although the newer RFCs permit
hostnames beginning with digits we recommend hostnames to begin with an
alpha character. The period character "." is only allowed to delimit
components of domain names like (sapc11.sap.com).
SAP specific restrictions:
For hostnames of servers running SAP software the following additional
restrictions must be obeyed:
o Maximum length of the hostname:
up to 13 characters for SAP rel. 4.6 or higher
up to 8 characters for SAP rel. up to 4.5
o Due to a problem in the installation routine, the host name of
computers running Microsoft Windows must not begin with S-[0-9]
(e.g. hostname S-12345 is not allowed). Please see SAP note 998631
for further information.
o When using Oracle on Windows see note 849423 for restrictions.
o Hostnames must be considered "case sensitive". That means hostnames
shall be used in the same case (upper or lower) in all SAP
configurations as well as in the network configuration (DNS or
etc/hosts). You must ensure consistent name resolving of the
hostname from hostname to IP address and back from the IP address
to the the same hostname (case sensitive match). See also note
129997.
o On multihomed hosts the hostname must be assigned to the IP address
of the primary network interface. See also note 21151.
04.05.2012 Page 2 of 2
SAP Note 611361 - Hostnames of SAP servers
Header Data
Release Status: Released for Customer
Released on: 10.05.2007 07:53:57
Master Language: English
Priority: Recommendations/additional info
Category: Consulting
Primary Component: BC-NET Network Infrastructure
Secondary Components:
BC-CST Client/Server Technology
The Note is release-independent
Related Notes
Number Short Text
1624061 Use of virtual TCP/IP host names
1570309 Computers with non-english characters in hostname
1503149 Long hostname support for SAP systems on HP-UX
1318789 hostname 8 character limitation on HP-UX with Oracle
1274207 long hostnames/nodenames on HP-UX
1273678 TREX Indexing: error while activating XI Message indexing
1135491 RSSTAT98 - Inconsistent host name when setting up SAPWLSERV
962955 Use of virtual TCP/IP host names
849423 Length of hostname for ABAP installation on Windows/Oracle
654982 URL requirements due to Internet standards
492208 INST: SAP Web AS 6.20 Installation on UNIX
407107 INST: SAP Web AS 6.10 Installation on UNIX
129997 Hostname and IP address lookup
124562 Hostname resolution problems (DNS timeouts)
21151 Multiple Network adapters in SAP Servers
8307 Changing host name on R/3 host: What do you do?