SDAF BOM Selection

Context-primer. Helps a user choose an existing BOM from the samples catalog. Grounded in docs/local/06-00-software-and-installation.md § Inputs and BOM ownership and the samples-repo BOM docs (sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md).

For an ordered 5-step end-to-end walkthrough (identify target → product vs component BOM → compatibility fields → prefer pinned name → pin samples commit), see references/bom-selection.md; this body carries the topic-by-topic facts.

When to invoke

Trigger on: "pick a BOM", "which BOM", "product BOM vs component BOM", "BOM_CATALOG", "SAP samples", "S4 2023 BOM", "HANA BOM", "Oracle BOM", "DB2 BOM", "compatibility guardrails".

Do NOT trigger on: authoring a new BOM, running download_menu.sh, media 404 / checksum troubleshooting, or install-time BOM failures.

Where BOMs live

Docs (sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md § Understand SAP and BOM; docs/local/06-00-software-and-installation.md § Inputs and BOM ownership):

• sap-automation-samples/SAP/<name>/<name>.yaml — product BOM (whole product); pick this when the documented flow accepts a single complete definition.
• sap-automation-samples/BOM/<name>/<name>.yaml — component BOM (app / db / kernel); pick these when the flow supports dynamic assembly driven by the four sap-parameters.yaml keys documented below. Anchor: sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md § Understand SAP and BOM.
• sap-automation-samples/SAP/archives/ — legacy only; do not use without explicit release guidance.

Filename rule (docs; samples): the directory name and the YAML basename must match exactly, case-sensitive. A rename that breaks the pair breaks selection.

BOM_CATALOG must point at the samples root

docs/local/06-00-software-and-installation.md § Inputs and BOM ownership:

• Set BOM_CATALOG to the root of a reviewed samples checkout that contains both SAP/ and BOM/.
• Do not set BOM_CATALOG to an individual BOM directory.
• download_menu.sh passes this value to Ansible as BOM_directory.

The four BOM keys (download flow)

docs/local/06-00-software-and-installation.md § Inputs and BOM ownership is explicit: the SAP-system-generated sap-parameters.yaml contains bom_base_name, but the wrapper overrides it and requires four keys:

application_bom_name: <APPLICATION_BOM>
database_bom_name:    <DATABASE_BOM>
sap_kernel_bom_name:  <KERNEL_BOM>
save_bom_as:          <COMBINED_BOM_NAME>
bom_base_name:        <COMBINED_BOM_NAME>

Without the four downloader keys, the wrapper substitutes an empty value and the download fails. Also require bom_base_name to equal save_bom_as; installation reloads bom_base_name and must find the combined BOM written by the downloader. Surface both constraints whenever the operator picks component BOMs.

Compatibility guardrails

BOM YAML fields to check before picking (documented in sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md § Select and run a BOM / § Review before execution; the same fields are present in every shipped BOM at sap-automation-samples/{SAP,BOM}/<name>/<name>.yaml — open the current candidate rather than a versioned example):

• supportedPlatforms
• supportedDBVersions
• supportedKernels
• product_ids (role-to-SAP-product-ID map)
• materials.dependencies (prerequisite BOMs)

For the current allowed values on any of these keys, read the target BOM YAML itself and the samples-repo doc anchor above — those own the strings. Do not select a BOM whose guardrails do not match the target topology.

Suffix decoding

sap-automation-samples/SAP/readme.md § BOM Name / BOM File and § 02-00-bom-samples.md § Select and run a BOM:

• ms suffix — Microsoft-supplied BOM.
• v#### suffix — serial version number.
• latest in a name — moving target; the docs warn that names containing latest can change later. Prefer a pinned v#### name, and pin the samples-repo checkout commit, so a BOM selected today matches the media downloaded tomorrow (sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md § Select and run a BOM).

Hand-off

• To validate a BOM: check_bom.sh (runs yamllint, ansible-lint, and check_bom.yml). Referenced in sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md § Validate. BOM authoring is outside the shipped 18-skill hub.
• To acquire media once a BOM is selected: route to sdaf-media-acquisition.
• To diagnose archive / checksum / extractor failures after selection: route to sdaf-media-diagnostics.
• To route BOM failures during a run: docs/local/troubleshooting.md § BOM files are not found → confirm BOM_CATALOG root, names, and files.

Hard rules

• Documented behaviour only (D19). If asked about air-gapped / offline media, an undocumented compatibility mapping, or the meaning of XBOM, say docs are silent and stop.
• Do not add credentials or downloaded media to the samples repo (sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md § Before you begin).
• Do not point BOM_CATALOG at a single BOM directory.

See also

• sdaf-sap-system (its generated sap-parameters.yaml is where the four BOM keys are set).
• sdaf-workspace-and-tfvars (where the samples checkout is separate from the SDAF checkout).
• sap-automation-samples/docs/02-00-bom-samples.md, docs/local/06-00-software-and-installation.md.