Assistance Needed for Upgrading SAS 9.4 M6 to M8 version.

[HemanthMG]

Hi All.

I am currently looking for guidance on upgrading our SAS 9.4 M6 to M8 in a three-tier topology. I have already reviewed the document provided in the link Upgrade M6 to M7  but it seems to be outdated as it was last modified in November 2020. Could you please assist me in finding the latest document for upgrading to the latest version? Additionally, I am curious if it is possible to upgrade directly from M6 to M8 without going through the M7 version.

Thank you for your help.

Thanks,
Hemanth MG 

[SASJedi]

It should be possible to upgrade SAS9 from M6 to M8 directly. For details and requirements, see this (the latest) version of the SAS® 9.4 Guide to Software Updates and Product Changes 

[MargaretC]

A caveat to the above answer, if your 9.4M6 SAS is running on an operating system supported by M8, then yes you can do an UIP.  However, if your 9.4M6 is running on say RHEL 6.x, then you will need to stand new hardware running RHEL 7.9 or higher, install SAS 9.4M8 on this new hardware and then migrate from M6 to M8.  

[AhmedAl_Attar]

Hi  @HemanthMG 

To  follow up on @MargaretC answer, you better watch this Ask The Expert recording Margaret presented about M8

https://communities.sas.com/t5/Ask-the-Expert/Upgrading-to-the-Latest-Version-of-SAS-9-4-M8-Q-amp-A-...

There are decommissioned/deprecated products in M8 you'll  need to  be aware of

Hope this helps

[SASKiwi]

Are you intending to do an upgrade in-place and no change in operating system version? If so this should be a very straightforward exercise without any content migration.

[thesasuser]

Hello
We are also planning to upgrade from SAS 9.4M6 to (preferably) SAS 9.4M9.
Did watch the presentation by  @MargaretC 
Wood appreciate if somebody can guide to more specific information than in the presentation or that at https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmsascdc/9.4_3.5/whatsdiff/upgradeswhatsnew94.htm
Thanks

[SASKiwi]

@thesasuser - Not sure what you mean by "more specific information". There are a lot of resources under your posted link that you need to work through before you decide what your upgrade strategy will be. You may also want to engage with your SAS Account Manager if you want to take advantage of SAS's free installation sizing service or to engage specialist installation and / or migration help.

Key decisions need to be made regarding whether you want to keep your existing server infrastructure, architecture and OS or if you wish to change it. Any significant change here will likely require a brand-new install plus migration effort rather than an upgrade in place. I highly recommend you use SAS's Content Assessment tool for evaluating your current SAS infrastructure - you will see the documentation for that in your posted link.