Announcing Availability of SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for SAP® applications 16: The next step for the SAP platform

For decades, SUSE and SAP® have partnered to provide the most reliable and performant foundation for business-critical applications. Today, we are excited to continue that long-standing commitment with the launch of SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for SAP® applications 16. (General availability 4th November)

Running mission-critical SAP landscapes is a complex, high-stakes responsibility. We designed this release to address your biggest challenges: operational complexity, the need for greater automation, and the demand for constant uptime.

SUSE® Linuex Enteprise Server for SAP® applications

This launch isn’t just about the OS; SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16 includes all the premium capabilities needed to manage your entire SAP infrastructure. Your subscription now includes Live Patching, Trento, and SUSE Multi-Linux Manager entitlements, delivering integrated management, SAP-tailored automation, and resilience across your SAP landscape.
It also coincides with the upcoming Trento 3.0 launch. Included in the subscription, Trento is a major evolution of our management console that simplifies the validation, management, and, for the first time, brings AI-powered insights to your SAP infrastructure operation.

As Diego Akechi, Vice President of SAP Solutions at SUSE, states:

“With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16 and Trento 3.0, we are addressing the biggest challenges our customers face: operational complexity and the need for greater automation. By embedding intelligence and simplifying day-2 operations, we are empowering our customers to focus on innovation and get the most value from their SAP investments.”

Let’s dive into what’s new.

Trento 3.0: Your SAP Operations, Reimagined

Trento is your single pane of glass for managing SAP on SUSE infrastructure, and version 3.0 transforms it into an intelligent operational hub.

• AI-Powered Day-2 Operations: Trento 3.0 integrates with the new SUSE Linux agentic AI capabilities (built on the open MCP standard) to deliver intelligent insights. This (available as a tech preview) enables faster troubleshooting, AI-assisted root cause analysis
• Enhanced Observability for Complex HA: We’ve added deeper visibility for complex SAP HANA high-availability scenarios, including multi-target and multi-tier setups, and now recognizes offline clusters. More scenario-specific configuration checks help you proactively identify and prevent issues before they impact production.
• Official Ansible Automation: Trento 3.0 now includes official support for Ansible playbooks to automate both systemd and Docker-based deployments, giving you a standardized and powerful way to manage your infrastructure as code.
• Improved Administration: A more flexible email alerting system and a helpful, correlated activity log make it easier than ever to monitor system health and resolve issues quickly.
• Operational support: Trento now allows operations for routine tasks like host tuning, cluster maintenance, and SAP application start/stop.

A Modern, Simplified OS Foundation for SAP

We’ve modernized the entire underlying OS stack to simplify life for SAP Basis teams, allowing you to focus on the application layer.

• Modernized Management: The experience starts with the new Agama installer for a consistent, API-driven deployment of your SAP nodes. Day-to-day administration is now intuitive with the Cockpit web console as the default interface.
• Standardized, Powerful Automation: We now provide and support curated Ansible Roles to automate key SAP deployment and configuration tasks. This release also streamlines complex high-availability setups with automation for SAP HANA cluster deployments, significantly reducing configuration time and the risk of human error.
• Simplified Security: SLES for SAP applications 16 includes full support for SELinux, delivering robust, industry-standard security without the traditional complexity. Common SAP-specific exceptions are handled by default, removing a major barrier to adoption and ensuring a seamless transition for teams with existing SELinux expertise.

Unmatched Lifecycle and Resilience for Long-Term Planning

SAP S/4HANA transformations are long-term investments. Your OS should be, too!

The “First-Ready” Linux Platform SLES for SAP applications 16 is backed by an industry-leading 16-year total lifecycle. This makes it the definitive “first-ready” platform: the only enterprise Linux that guarantees support through the critical Y2038 transition without requiring disruptive, forced upgrades.

A New, Simpler Lifecycle for SAP Planning We’re also introducing a more predictable, flexible support model. We will move to a yearly minor release cadence, and every minor release will include five years of support by default (with the final release supported for up to ten years with additional Long Term Support subscription). With four years of overlap between releases, this gives your organization unprecedented flexibility to schedule maintenance and upgrades for your SAP systems on your own terms.

Resilient-by-Design Foundation This release is engineered to maximize uptime for your SAP services.

• Industry-Leading Live Patching: Apply critical security updates to the kernel and userspace libraries without service downtime or reboots for more than a year. This is now integrated in the core OS and included with your subscription.
• Instant Rollback and Recovery: Instantly undo system changes—including patches, upgrades, and configuration updates—for rapid recovery and complete system integrity.
• Uncompromising Security: From a verifiably secure software supply chain with reproducible builds to Confidential Computing for running SAP workloads in secure hardware enclaves, your most sensitive data is protected.

Built on the SUSE Linux 16 Core

SUSE Linux for SAP applications 16 inherits all the core innovations of the main SLES 16 platform, including a verifiably secure software supply chain with reproducible builds and proactive hardening with post-quantum cryptography. You can read more about the core platform in our full SLES 16 launch announcement.

Availability

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16 is available to all SUSE customers and partners starting 4th November. Trento 3.0 will be available toward the end of the year.

As with all new releases, enterprise support from SAP is dependent on the completion of SAP’s official validation and its publication on SAP Note 2235581 – SAP HANA: Supported Operating Systems.

We are incredibly proud of this release and the new level of simplicity, intelligence, and stability it brings to the SAP ecosystem.

For more information, please visit https://www.suse.com/products/sles-for-sap/