Watch this Ask the Expert session to learn how the command-line interfaces (CLIs) support automation and allow administrators to perform numerous administrative tasks in batch as an alternative to using the SAS Environment Manager interface.
Watch the webinar
You will learn:
- How to install the Viya CLI.
- The benefits of using the Viya CLI.
- How Viya CLI helps to automate post-deployment tasks that configure and load data and content to a new system. SAS Viya on Kubernetes and in the cloud makes it easy to spin up new, fresh environments.
The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.
Q&A
I think I remember seeing a HOUSEKEEPING plugin in SAS-ADMIN. Is there a similar plugin in SAS Viya and if so what does it do?
I don't recall that being in sas-admin. The plugins are slightly different between sas-admin and sas-viya so there are some you may have seen before that are not in sas-viya.
Are CLIs by default available in Viya 3.5 or 3.4 or is there an extra process involved to install this?
You have to download the CLI separately, from e.g. https://support.sas.com/downloads/package.htm?pid=2133. The easiest way to find it is to search the web for 'download sas-admin CLI' or 'download sas-viya CLI'.
Do CLI Plugins come with SAS Viya software?
It is not part of your SAS Viya software order, but anyone can download it at no extra cost from the SAS website.
Hi, does this CLI application require admin authorization to start up the app because I tried and a window popped up and closed?
No, any user can run the CLI. Your capabilities will be limited to those permitted for the account with which you authenticate.
Can we execute regular UNIX command from sas-viya CLI?
No, you can only execute commands belonging to the specific sas-viya CLI plugins.
How often are the CLI and its plugins updated?
They're updated fairly frequently. Viya has a new release every month and the CLI, maybe once a month, every two months, and the plugins about the same. So, I would check back monthly. If you go to support.sas.com on the downloads page there's a tab with what's being released that month. If you go to that tab you would see if there was a new executable or any new plugins. It's also in the SAS Viya Administration guide’s “What’s New” section. If any plugins change, you can see if something changed in there.
How can I see what plugins are available?
It’s “SAS Viya plugins” and you pass it the repository and you see “list repo plugins” and that will list all the plugins that are available from the repository. If you want to see the plugins that are available locally, it's “SAS Viya plugins list” and that will show you what plugins you have installed in your local environment. So, you can look at what's available and you can look at what you've got.
Does the CLI work with Viya 3.x and Viya 4?
Yes, there's a Viya 3.x one called SAS Admin(sas-admin). Everything I showed you today relating to SAS Viya(sas-viya) would work with SAS Admin, it's just a different executable name. So, the SAS Admin one, you use for Viya 3 and the SAS Viya one, you use for Viya 4. We just renamed it.
Instead of user name and password can you use a common secret keyID and secret key for a common login for many users?
It’s designed to be used with individual users authenticating so that when you install it, the plugins actually go into the user's home directory. So, it's not really designed for that particular use case. You can create a shared version of the CLI and I guess you could share secrets, but that's not the way it's designed to be used.
Recommended Resources
SAS Viya Command-Line Interface for Administration
Keeping the SAS Administration Command-Line interfaces up-to-date
Automating post-deployment SAS Viya tasks with REST and the administration CLI
YouTube: SAS Viya Administration | Command Line Interfaces
Viya Command-Line Interface Documentation
You CAN take it with you! Saving SAS Viya Content
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