SAP Logon vs SAP Logon Pad: what's the difference?

If you've noticed both SAP Logon and SAP Logon Pad on your machine and wondered which to use, they're two faces of the same client with one key difference: whether you can edit the system list.

The short answer

• SAP Logon (saplogon.exe) — the full client. You can add, edit, delete and organise systems yourself.
• SAP Logon Pad (saplgpad.exe) — a locked-down view. You can connect to systems, but you cannot change the list. It's meant for centrally managed environments.

Why two versions exist

In larger organisations, the Basis team wants everyone to use the same, approved list of systems — no accidental edits, no rogue entries. SAP Logon Pad reads a centrally distributed configuration and presents it read-only, so users get a consistent list that IT controls. SAP Logon, by contrast, lets each user maintain their own entries.

How the configuration differs

Both read the same kind of landscape file, but the Pad typically points at a global configuration pushed by an administrator (SAPUILandscapeGlobal.xml), while SAP Logon works with your local SAPUILandscape.xml. See where SAPUILandscape.xml lives and what's in it for the details.

If you can't add or edit systems, you're probably running SAP Logon Pad, not SAP Logon. Launch saplogon.exe instead — if it's available to you.

Which should you use?

• Consultant or admin managing your own systems — use SAP Logon, so you can maintain your list and move it between machines.
• End user in a managed environment — you'll likely be given SAP Logon Pad, and the list is maintained for you.

Moving your list between machines

Because SAP Logon lets you own your list, it's the one that benefits from a transfer tool. If you maintain your own systems and switch computers, export and import them with SAP Logon Transfer instead of retyping — folders, routers and logon groups included.