If you want your SAP BTP trial to talk to a system running in your own network — an on-premise SAP system, a local database, or even a service on your laptop — you need the SAP Cloud Connector. This beginner's guide explains what it is, where to download it, and how to set it up.
What is the Cloud Connector?
Think of it as a secure tunnel between your computer (or your company's network) and your BTP subaccount in the cloud. BTP apps cannot reach into your private network directly — the Cloud Connector sits on your machine, connects outward to SAP, and lets your cloud apps safely use your local systems. Nothing in your firewall needs to be opened for incoming traffic.
You need it when a tutorial says "expose an on-premise system" or when you want a BTP app to read data from a system behind your firewall. If all your systems are already in the cloud, you can skip it.
1. Download it
Go to the SAP Development Tools page (https://tools.hana.ondemand.com/#cloud) and find the Cloud Connector section. Pick the installer for your operating system:
Windows: the .msi installer (around 120 MB)
Linux: the .zip installer, or the Portable .tar.gz if you do not have administrator rights
macOS: the Portable .tar.gz
The portable versions are meant for non-productive use — perfect for learning on your laptop. All versions are provided under the SAP Cloud Connector License Agreement, which you accept during download.
2. Install it
Windows: run the .msi and follow the installer. It installs the connector as a Windows service.
Linux / macOS (portable): extract the archive and start it:
tar -xzf sapcc-2.19.1-linux-x64.tar.gz
cd sapcc-2.19.1-linux-x64
./go.sh
The connector starts a small web server on your machine for administration.
3. Open the administration UI
Once it is running, open https://localhost:8443 in your browser. Log in with the initial credentials:
User: Administrator
Password: manage
You will be asked to change the password on first login — do that before anything else.
4. Connect it to your trial subaccount
In the administration UI, add your BTP subaccount:
Choose your region (for a trial, the landscape your subaccount lives in).
Enter your subaccount ID — you find it in the cockpit under your subaccount's Overview page.
Sign in with your SAP account when prompted.
The connector then registers itself with your subaccount. From this point on, it keeps a secure connection open to SAP.
5. Check it in the cockpit
Back in the BTP cockpit, open your subaccount → Connectivity → Cloud Connectors. Before you connect anything, it looks like the screenshot above: "No Cloud Connectors". After step 4, your connector appears here with its location ID — that is how you know the tunnel is up.
(Account identifiers are blurred in these screenshots — yours will show your own values.)
What next?
With the connector linked, you can expose a local system: in the connector's admin UI you add your system (host and port), and in BTP you create a destination pointing at it. Your cloud apps then reach your local system through the tunnel — the standard pattern for hybrid SAP landscapes.