Upgrade Maintenance release from SAS9.4M3 to SAS9.4M4

[sewa_bal_gmail_com]

 Could you please guide me to upgrade the SAS maintenance release from SAS9.4M3 to SAS94M4. I'm from core SAS development background so having tough time to understand and work on this maintenance upgrade.
Could you please help to upgrade M4 release. It is kind of VERY URGENT.
 
Also want to upgrade SAS LASR server from 2.7 to 2.8
 
Environment: Linus 64x
Current version SAS 9.4 M3

[LinusH]

First step in all upgrade processes is to investigate install center at support.sas.com.
Also, upgrade complexity is dependent on what SAS products (part from Base and LASR/VA) you have installed.
If you have a dev/test/prod server setup you can test the upgrade in one environment before upgrading prod.

[SASKiwi]

In addition to @LinusH's valuable help, please be aware that the documentation will NOT cover ALL aspects of your upgrade, nor will it necessarily cover all existing customisations in your current installation.

You need to be familiar with SAS's 9.4 architecture and also should have some prior SAS server install experience. If you don't then I would strongly recommend engaging an external SAS install specialist to help with advice at least. If this isn't possible then I'd suggest warning your management of the risks involved in doing installs without specialist help.

At the very least you should do complete SAS server backups prior to starting, so you can restore your original install if necessary.

[sewa_bal_gmail_com]

Thanks for the comments.

Could you please share any documentation so that I can starting on Maintaince rleased 4 on dev env.

[homer_J_simpson]

I also have the same type of question.  But  it seems there should be as simple as one of these two paths:

• You just run the installer and it installs over top of the other maintenance release
• You uninstall the first release and then install the updated release using same site number.

Perhaps the OP was looking for more general direction?

[SASKiwi]

You second option is not an upgrade but a complete removal of an existing release and the installation from scratch of a new release. If you are moving between maintenance releases in SAS 9.4 this would not be recommended as you will have to apply all of your configuration setup again.

This is the relevant guide for software updates:

http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/whatsdiff/66129/HTML/default/viewer.htm#titlepage.htm

[JuanS_OCS · Accepted solution]

Hello @sewa_bal_gmail_com and @homer_J_simpson,

please give a look to the manual provided by @SASKiwi, although extensive, it explains quite well the process.

Generally speaking:

The process for several SAS installations is acceptably easy:

1. Backup of the current environment
2. If manually set up SSL, or Single Sign On or Reverse proxy, you need to undo those.
3. with the new license and the new SAS depot, you run the setup, which will proceed to update your binaries
4. When finished, it will update your configuration as well. If not, please run the SAS deployment manager yourself to Update the Existing configuration, where you will need to select each of your Levels.
5. Validate the environment: some customizations (config files mostly) might be lost and you will need to restore them.
6. If you undid SSL, Single Sign on or Reverse Proxy, re-do them.

Now, beware, this does not apply to every SAS installation: you might find some specifics for each SAS solution or component. Please read the migration or administration guide for each of your SAS solutions and or contact your SAS Technical Support. Always good to check if anything changes in the middle and you need to pay special attention to some details.

Also, if you don't feel comfortable with any of this, please contact your SAS account manager or a SAS partner to support you during the upgrade with an specialist.