One major improvement in SAP BusinessObjects, starting with 4.2 SP6 Patch 100, is the addition of the “ONE Installer”. The “ONE Installer” allows you to update your installation in a single step. In the past, when updating from one support pack (SP) to the next, we had to first install the SP update then apply the latest patch update. This was a two step process that was very time consuming for most administrators. The “ONE Installer” avoids this by allowing us to update directly to a combined SP and Patch version in a single step.

So how does this work you might ask? The process is very simply. You must look for a special update package in the SAP software download site. Under the installations and upgrades section of the download site, you will find a dedicated section called SBOP BI PLAT ONE INST 4.2. As of 7/24/2019 you will find One Installer packages for several items up to support pack 6 patch 0 and also support pack 4 patch 6. Its a little confusing as to why this section only contains SP6 P0 and SP4 P6?

However, under the SUPPORT PACKAGES & PATCHES section we can find more ONE installer packages for the most recent Support Package and Patch versions. Look for any package name that ends in ” – ONE” once you drill down into a particular section. In some cases, larger packages are split into multiple RAR archives. In such cases the package name will end in” – ONE 1/2″ or ” – ONE 2/2″

From what I can tell, there are ONE installer packages for the core SBOP server components, client tools, crystal reports, the explorer plugin, Crystal Reports 2016, Information Platform Services (IPS), Crystal Server 2016, Crystal Reports for Enterprise, Integration for SharePoint,  Live Office and even the Edge Edition. I did not find a ONE installer for Lumira Server or Discovery or the Analysis for Office plugin.

But there is more to the “One Installer” than just simplified updates. ONE Installer supports “Full Installs” as well as updates. For a net new system, we can directly install the latest SP and patch in a single step. For existing systems, we can update a Support Package/Patch to any Support Package/Patch level in a single step.

I recently use the latest 4.2 SP7 Patch 400 ONE installer to update a 4.2 SP6 Patch 300 single node instance. The process was very easy and saved me a lot of time. For reference the process took about 3 hours end-to-end (excluding download time). In the past, I would invest almost double that time on a single server node applying first the SP then the patch. Great addition that will save admins lots of time.

The advantages should be obvious but here are a few that SAP lists for reference:

• New customers can update directly to the latest Patch level of the latest available Support Package + Patch in a single step.
• Existing customers can eliminate the step of updating the server landscape to a Support Pack (SP) level before patching.
• Adding New Nodes becomes a simple process as you can directly run the “SP+ Patch” ONE installer in expanded mode. [no need to run SP then Patch].
• Save approximately 50% of the install time since two steps of patching are reduced to one step.
• Reduced production downtime during updates, for end users.
• Perform validation and testing only once after updating to the required Support Package or Patch.
• Better maintenance experience for BI Platform administrators.
• There is no need to request for a combined installer explicitly starting SP06.

I would add that combining this with the phase wise installation option, one where we can “pre-deploy” new update content before down-time begins, will greatly reduce downtime in all SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise Environments.

For more information, see SAP KBA 2671301