BStone Tracker

Re: SAS 9.4 configuration failure at stage 11

BStone — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 15:14:10 GMT

Saw this and thought I'd clarify my experience, especially when using a clustered Mid-Tier writing to the same Data Server on Compute.

By default prostgres is configured on compute with 256 max connections, upping this to 512 will resolve the issue when starting the JVMs.

Note, when you get stuck on stage 11 (Starting Web Application Server), make the change in WIP Data server and restart WIP Data Server. stop any JVMs that is running on the server you are configuring and hit retry.

Restarting is fine, but the problem will not be resolved especially when you have scheduled restarts of JVMs.

Re: SAS 9.4 M3 Environment Manager 2.5 Administration Tab is not working

BStone — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:59:35 GMT

It was a fresh install 9.4M3.

Managed to get it resolved, make sure all URL's are matching in SMC, setenv.sh and in Environment Manager configuration properties.

Re: SAS 9.4 M3 Environment Manager 2.5 Administration Tab is not working

BStone — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 14:51:04 GMT

I've tried Chrome and FireFox, but sitll the same issue.

Based on the the Grid Manager plugin, it's states 'Platform Web Services appears to be down' , but JVM 14 where the plugin is deployed is currently up and running.

I also tried opening the app in a seperate URL, but it's the same issue - though, it should work from EVM.

I raised in with Support, but nothing yet.

Re: SAS 9.4 M3 Environment Manager 2.5 Administration Tab is not working

BStone — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 11:40:42 GMT

@shatrughan have you managed to get the issue sorted in Environment Manager - I'm hitting the same thing.

AUDIT_VISUALANALYTICS Table not updating

BStone — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 09:22:01 GMT

Guys,

We have recently implemented audit reports and everything is working well, with the exception of the /EVDMLA/audit_visualanalytics.sas7bdat and /EVDMLA/Append/audit_visualanalytics.sas7bdat tables. All the other audit tables are updated in /EVDMLA data directory, including the VA web Application. The audit_visualanalytics table is not updated in the VA app or on the server.

Any ideas where I can check to track down the issue?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Question for SAS Admins on Linux/Unix Servers regarding root access?

BStone — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 12:14:48 GMT

I would not give sudo access to the "sas-admin" user / "SAS Installer", but only to a normal user or group. Keep the SAS external accounts separate from your super users / sudoers file.

If you going down the root of using sudo access, rather do it for a user or admin group.

In terms of SAS papers, I have never come across any published papers, I guess many admin/installers keep their own material since deployments are hardly the same from site to site. A normal one machine deployment would not require many tasks for the root user, but a multi-tier deployment and business system integration like databases, SSO, etc. may require root access to carry out a multitude of tasks - these generally fall outside of SAS and should be working outside of SAS first, i.e. SSO must be working outside of SAS first.

Maybe we can start a new discussion and list all tasks required by external users???

Re: Question for SAS Admins on Linux/Unix Servers regarding root access?

BStone — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:51:14 GMT

Interesting topic.

I know it's a few months old, but I will try and keep the momento going on this topic

Firstly, I like the methodology you use KurtBremser, but as Jaap mentioned, in a larger organization there are many things to consider. Due to these considerations, things could become more complicated if you implement a multi tier SAS platform with third party software, i.e. Platform Suite for SAS (Grid) which requires root access!

I would like to know what other SAS Administrator / Installers do in this case? As kevind's original post, what method are you likely to use when deploying SAS in a large organization with limited / no root access?

A. Have direct root access. Mostly likely it will NOTbe possible to provide root access due to oganizational policies

B. Have 'sudo -u root' access with unrestricted commands as root. To an extend based on the client and the company size

C. Have 'sudo -u root' access with limited commands as root. Yes, this is generally the best method I've used in my deployments

D. None of the above. :smileyconfused:

E. Some other tools or methods. If so, what? Working together with dedicated resources in the Unix, Security and Active Directory teams, this generally takes longer to deploy the software based on the resource's knowledge of SAS, OS commands, other projects, etc.

Re: How to choose deployment plan when installing SAS

BStone — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 11:07:46 GMT

@jackhost

as Juan suggested, if you are not sure how plan files work or what needs to be installed, just speak to your SAS Account Manager to create a plan file for your order, you do not want to end up installing SAS software based on a standard plan file and "NOT" install your other software components that is included in your software order.

Having a plan file make upgrades and migration easier going forward.

Just contact SAS Support to provide you with your SAS Account Manager details if you are not sure who he/she is.

Review SAS Installation Note 44320 - 44320 - Using deployment plans during a SAS® installation

Re: Connection to Local Server could not be established.

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 22:26:34 GMT

Did you try re-registering the SAS server following that note?

Yes you don't need a profile, but EG needs SAS Foundation to run, if you are able to run the same Libname statement in SAS Foundation, than the issue is with EG not being able to find SAS Foundation.

Point is... Enterprise Guide needs SAS to run, whether it's via your local SAS Foundation or via a SAS Server sitting in South America.

Re: Metadata user activities

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 14:47:00 GMT

Agree with JuanS@OCS's answer.

APM and environment manager is the way to go if you want to do monitoring and auditing. APM is flexible as you write your own programs and reports which are specific to your oganization's needs.

Though it's useful to create your own programs by read logs and doing reporting on it, make sure it's documented and watch out for performance issues.

Re: Connection to Local Server could not be established.

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 13:27:09 GMT

Run through the following SAS Note - http://support.sas.com/kb/45/258.html

After an upgrade of EG, you need to re-register (regserver) the server, that should resolve the issue. Make sure EG 6.1 is pointing to your local SAS Foundation.

The same note should apply to SAS 9.4 / EG 6.1

Re: How to configure a local installation with servers

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 11:45:54 GMT

Did you manage to get this resolved?

As the log suggests, make sure you passed all the checks in the pre-installation checklist, espeically aroudn user accounts and passwords. Since the metata configuration finished with warnings, your installation will fail on multiple steps.

I would suggest you don't select continue with errors, fix the errors as you progress through the configuration. However, if all you checks are in place and all prerequisites are met, chances are your installation will complete successfully.

Hope that helps, either way - please share your resolution, it will be very useful for others.

Re: Steps of SAS multi tier application installation

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 11:35:35 GMT

anuragranjeet,

I am very keen to see how you were/are getting on with your installation?

Since you are installation WebSphere, I would assume you are using SAS 9.2/9.3, correct?

There are many thinks to consider before installing SAS, one very important topic you did not menion, System Requirements. Below is a list of things to consider before installation SAS:

Sizing
Storage
System Requirements | Prerequisites | Compatibilty between hardware, software and integration
Hardware & Operating System spec
Performance tuning
Network structure, permissions, business policies, etc.
Security
Scalability
Back & Restore of SAS platforms / Physical Servers
Metadata Setup (Security, Usage, etc.)
DR requirements
Audit, Maintenance and Monitoring
Availability
Access to business Test | Live data
Architectural design
Licensing
Policies and Procedures

The above are points that I believe should be in place before installation and configuring a multi server SAS deployment. There are many things to consider, but this is dependent on your environment - Therefore, it is always best to consult with your SAS Account Manager first.

Re: Client/server work flow(b/w EG and App server)

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 11:10:06 GMT

To be honest, I would consult your SAS Account Manager to clarify your questions.

The majority of answers are based on different SAS version which are different to one another, espeically when it comes to the process of executing, querying, etc. SAS 9.4 and Grid functionality will also play a big and different role in terms of processing, depending how your environment is set up.

SAS documentation is great for guidance, but I would start by replicating exactly what you are trying to see:

1. Enable additional logging

2. Replicate whatever process you need information on, make sure you take note of the User ID and times your open a SAS Application, execute a job, etc.

3. Go through the server logs based on the User ID and times you noted in point 2.

That's the beauty of SAS, there is not just 1 way of setting servers / processes up.

SASHome Directories in Grid Deployment

BStone — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 10:40:08 GMT

All,

I have a question regarding the /SASHome binaries and config directories in a Grid deployment on UNIX servers with SAS 9.4.

My question/discussion is around the set up of /SASHome directories and how software stack is installed and configured with Grid, consider the following example:

The deployment contains X8 Grid Nodes on the compute tier, X4 nodes are dedicated to SASGroup2 that can run SAS Foundation solutions, EXCLUDING analytical products like SAS/OR, SAS/STAT, etc.
The SAS deployment contains X2 SAS Server Context based on user usage, i.e. SASGroup1 and SASGroup2.
SASGroup1 can run all SAS solutions and analytical products, INCLUDING SAS/OR, SAS/STAT, etc.
SASGroup2 can only run SAS Foundation solutions, EXCLUDING analytical products like SAS/OR, SAS/STAT, etc.

My questions / discussion points are:

How can we ensure that users in SASGroup2 will not be able to run jobs which includes SAS/OR, SAS/STAT, etc?
If a site is licensed to only run analytics products like SAS/OR, SAS/STAT, etc. on the X4 nodes (SASGroup1), will SAS be able to provide a plan for this type of setup?
Lastly, based on the case study above, what would be your deployment plan to achieve the best result? [This about the /SASHome binaries and Config directories befor answering this question]

NOTE: This is not a technical question for SAS Support, I am just interested to see what other SAS folks think about such a setup?

Re: Object Spawner instance in 9.4

BStone — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 16:26:17 GMT

yes that's seems close enough.

Our's are designed slightly different/complexed. Using the same scenario as you have with additonal workspace servers based on additional App Servers that is required for the project. However, it still comes down to X1 Object Spawner per App Server and users will only ever see one Workspace Server, unless they belong to another group that is linked to a different App Server.

Hope my explanantion is not too confusing

Re: Object Spawner instance in 9.4

BStone — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:02:02 GMT

Agree, this is why I'm stating that the Object Spawner sits on the Grid Control Server where the WS Server sits.

Take "Defining Multiple Application Servers" in the Intelligence Platform Admin Guide as an example. It states the following:

"If you are adding logical servers that require an object spawner (one of the workspace servers and the stored process server), then when you deploy your SAS Application Server, the wizard also deploys an object spawner to start the servers. If the machine on which you are adding the SAS Application Server already contains an object spawner, then the wizard updates the pre-existing spawner definition for you to include the new servers that you want your spawner to manage"

Remember we are talking about Grid-Launched WS Servers, in other words an application request a WS session from the Object Spawner, the Object Spawner pass the request to LSF, LSF (IBM) executes the /WorkspaceServer/WorkspaceServer.sh script. This is why the jobs appears as LSF jobs.

Re: Object Spawner instance in 9.4

BStone — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:01:17 GMT

, unfortunately I never got a full confirmation of where it sits, I therefore have to go with my assumption that the Object Spawner only exist on the GCS. Technically, I do not see why it will sit on each node if LSF is chosing the best host and starting a WS on that host.

Re: SAS Visual Analytics deployment on single machine

BStone — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 10:47:49 GMT

Fabrizio,

The minimum requirement is 4GB or RAM, but keep in mind that memory requireiments for any SAS solution are based on the software mix you will deploying at your site and they data usage you expect to be using for VA.

You can deploy VA on a single machine using the standard plan, however it is highly recommend to deploy the Metadata Server on a seperate 64bit machine if possible. Yes the 9.4 Requirements to SAS is 16GB RAM, this is to ensure high performance and again will be based on the product mix you will deploy to your server and the workload your will be processing with SAS.

Sorry, but it's a catch 22 situation, if unsure you can always involve SAS for recommendation.

Re: Object Spawner instance in 9.4

BStone — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 13:57:11 GMT

Dank je Jaap

.. makes sense if the OS and WS only exist on the GCS.