How to Access Live SAP Netweaver Gateway Data in Visual Studio Code via Cline

Cline is an autonomous coding agent right in your IDE, capable of creating/editing files, running commands, using the browser, and more with your permission every step of the way. When paired with the CData MCP Server for SAP Netweaver Gateway, you get live access to CRM data within your IDE, enabling you to build, test, and validate data-driven features using real-time schema and records without ever leaving your development environment.

This article outlines how to run the CData MCP Server for SAP Netweaver Gateway on WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and connect to it from the Cline extension in Visual Studio Code on Windows.

Background

CData MCP Servers are typically designed for clients like Claude Desktop. However, when attempting to use the server via the Cline extension in Windows VS Code, the following error occurred:

MCP error -32000: Connection closed

This issue is suspected to be caused by I/O handling problems in the stdio transport implementation on the Windows version of the Cline extension.

• Related GitHub Issue: https://github.com/cline/cline/issues/3464
• Additionally, environment variables such as PATH may not be inherited correctly when launching processes like Java or Node.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code installed on Windows
• Cline extension installed and configured in VS Code
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) installed with a working Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu)
• Java 21+ JRE installed in WSL
• CData MCP Server for SAP Netweaver Gateway installed on Windows

Step 1: Authenticate with SAP Netweaver Gateway (on Windows)

Before running the MCP Server in WSL, you must complete authentication flow in a Windows environment. This ensures all necessary credentials are generated and stored properly. Find and run the "CData MCP Server for SAP Netweaver Gateway" or execute the MCP Server JAR file to open the configuration wizard.

java -jar "C:\Program Files\CData\CData MCP Server for SAP Netweaver Gateway 2024\lib\cdata.mcp.sapgateway.jar"

Connecting to SAP Netweaver Gateway

SAP Gateway allows both basic and OAuth 2.0 authentication. You can use basic authentication to connect to your own account, or you can use OAuth to enable other users to retrieve data from your service with their accounts. In addition to authenticating, set the following connection properties to access SAP Gateway tables.

• Url: Set this to the URL of your environment, or to the full URL of the service. For example, the full URL might appear as: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com/sap/opu/odata/IWBEP/GWSAMPLE_BASIC/. In this example, the environment URL would just be: https://sapes5.sapdevcenter.com.
• Namespace: Set the appropriate Service Namespace. In the example above, IWBEP is the namespace. It is optional if the full URL to the service is specified.
• Service: Set this to the service you want to retrieve data from. In the example above, the service is GWSAMPLE_BASIC. It is not required if the full URL is specified.

Authenticate via Basic Authentication

In basic authentication, you use your login credentials to connect. Set the following properties:

• User: This is the username you use to log in to SAP Gateway.
• Password: This is the password you use to log in to SAP Gateway.

Authenticate via OAuth Authentication

You can connect to SAP Gateway using the embedded OAuth connectivity (without setting any additional authentication connection properties). When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your browser. Log in and grant permissions to complete the OAuth process. See the OAuth section in the online Help documentation for more information on other OAuth authentication flows.

Configuring the CData MCP Server

Name your MCP Server (e.g. cdatasapgateway), enter the required connection properties, and click "Connect."

Upon successful connection, the following directory and files will be created:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\CData\sapgateway Provider\
 |-- cdatasapgateway.mcp
 |-- (other supporting config files)

Step 2: Copy the MCP Server Configuration into WSL

Next, copy the entire configuration folder from Windows into your WSL environment.

mkdir -p ~/.config/CData/
cp -r /mnt/c/Users/<username>/AppData/Roaming/CData/"sapgateway Provider" ~/.config/CData/

Ensure the destination path matches exactly: ~/.config/CData/sapgateway Provider/.

Step 3: Install the MCP Server on WSL

Install Java and place the MCP Server JAR in the desired location within WSL:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-21-jre-headless
sudo mkdir -p /opt/cdata/mcp_sapgateway/lib
sudo cp /mnt/c/Program\ Files/CData/CData\ MCP\ Server\ for\ SAP Netweaver Gateway\ 2024/lib/cdata.mcp.sapgateway.jar /opt/cdata/mcp_sapgateway/lib/

Step 4: Configure Cline

Now, configure the Cline extension to launch the MCP Server inside WSL using the wsl command.

Create or update cline_mcp_settings.json with the following content:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cdatasapgateway": {
      "autoApprove": ["*"],
      "disabled": false,
      "timeout": 60,
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "wsl",
      "args": [
        "-d",
        "Ubuntu", // Replace with your installed WSL distro name
        "--",
        "/usr/bin/java",
        "-jar",
        "/opt/cdata/mcp_sapgateway/lib/cdata.mcp.sapgateway.jar",
        "cdatasapgateway"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS": "-Xmx2g"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: Replace Ubuntu with your actual WSL distribution name (e.g., Ubuntu-22.04). Run wsl -l in PowerShell or CMD to confirm.

Step 5: Interact with Live Data in Cline

From within Visual Studio Code, you can now run MCP commands through the Cline extension.

cdatasapgateway_get_tables
cdatasapgateway_get_columns SalesOrderLineItems

If configured correctly, these commands will return a list of available SAP Netweaver Gateway objects and metadata, allowing you to interact with your CRM schema in real time.

Try natural language prompts like:

• "Generate a React form to create a new SAP Netweaver Gateway Lead."
• "Write a Python function to pull Opportunities closed this quarter."

Connect your AI to your data today!

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