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SAS 9.4m7 is here!

Started ‎08-24-2020 by
Modified ‎08-27-2020 by
Views 26,265

On August 18, 2020, our latest version of Base SAS, 9.4m7, was released.  This article covers an overview of the key capabilities associated with this platform release and the associated product releases on this platform.

 

SAS 9.4 has been around for quite some time.  The first release was issued in July 2013.  Many of our customers are not using our current release of 9.4m6 while others are operating on a much older release.  We are also still supporting OS/platforms no longer supported by their vendors, such as RHEL 6.  Due to the number of updates incorporated into the current 9.4m7 release, we hope for a more accelerated migration to 9.4m7 than we’ve seen in previous maintenance releases of 9.4.

 

Some of the key elements and enhancements in 9.4m7 are in the following areas:

  • Security Enhancements
  • Operating System Support
  • Upgrade in Place
  • Flash Removal
  • Hot Fix, Bug Fix, and product/solution enhancements

Security Integrity of SAS 9.4 is essential.  In 9.4m7 SAS delivers updates to address vulnerabilities in our software and the third party and open source software we package.  Security training is part of our culture and security testing is part of our process.  Our customers IT and Audit teams are charged with keeping their software environments secure and “up-to-date” in order to minimize potential security vulnerabilities.  To address and maintain these secure environments, SAS has implemented several measures including support for Windows Defender Credential Guard and Constrained Delegation, version updates to the SAS Web Server, SAS Web App Server, Postgres, etc., and version updates to the Java 8 SAS Private JRE and many third part Java components.  SAS security updates and hot fixes are available from the Security Bulletins section of the SAS Support Downloads site.  SAS delivers periodic updates to address third-party security vulnerabilities within the SAS product suite.  This includes updates for common vulnerabilities and exposures reported against 3rd party components.

 

The longevity of the SAS 9.4 Platform release requires that we release support for new Operating Systems, Operating System features like SELinux and Browsers like Microsoft Edge on Chromium in maintenance releases.  In 9.4m7 SAS is not dropping support for operating environments no longer supported by their vendors.

 

SAS 9.4m7 delivers the culmination of a SAS-wide initiative to identify, analyze, and correct the root causes of reported issues with the SAS Upgrade in Place process.  SAS 9.4m7 is the first SAS release without Adobe Flash dependencies and the assumption is that 9.4m7 will be the target release for many customers previously using SAS products dependent on Flash.  Additionally, there are new tools and documentation, deployment process enhancements, and Web App Server enhancements to improve the upgrade in place process.

 

SAS 9.4m7 brings with it the completion of a multi-year effort to remove Adobe Flash dependencies from over 70 SAS products and solutions.  SAS products and solutions with Flash dependencies have been replaced with SAS Viya offerings, replaced with CI360 offerings, or updated with HTML 5 User Interfaces.  A few SAS products are no longer available, and their functionality has been replaced with other products and solutions.

 

Since the November 2018 release of SAS 9.4m6, there have been approximately 125 hot fixes released and incorporated.  Additionally, approximately 200 reported platform bugs and enhancement requests have been addressed.  On the product enhancement front, hot fixes and bug fixes have been applied to approximately 70 offerings.  This includes products in the following areas:  Analytics, Data Management and SAS/ACCESS offerings, Visualization, Decision Management, and Risk.

 

There’s no better time than now to upgrade to 9.4m7!

Comments

Is there a "What's New" web page or PDF file?

Thank you @briankinnebrew ! Already upgraded some systems to M7

Very timely for us!

At my workplace we installed SAS 9.4M6, may you please advise what steps we should follow to move M7.

Hi  @sammol you may want to look at the System Evaluation Tool and tips shared in the post https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Communities-Library/Adobe-Flash-End-Of-Life-Mitigation-and-Workar...

 

Also if you require assistance, it might be best to create a new thread with your question.

 

Kind Regards,

Michelle

Actually @sammol you may want to register to watch live (or watch later on demand) @briankinnebrew' Ask The Expert presentation on November 19th, 11am ET on What Are Best Practices for Upgrading to the Latest Version of SAS 9?

Thank you @MichelleHomes!  @sammol, you can also review the following document SAS 9.4® Upgrade in Place: System-Level Backup and Recovery Best Practice for assistance in upgrading to 9.4m7.

We have M7 installed.

And now we have some small problems with DI Studio. 

You have a job with many transformations.  Run it. If you mark output-dataset from each transformation, the information to the down left is wrong.  You allways get the number of observations from the last created dataset.  

So if you use the information down left, don't install M7

@Torpe  - If you think you have found a bug please post it separately as a new issue.

@SASKiwi  I did, and Cary could reproduce the bug !! 

@Torpe  - Great, now it is likely to get fixed.

@Torpe When the hotfix comes out, print out the page, have it framed with "Torpe's Bug" as a name, and hang it on your office wall. You earned it.

Hi! Do we know, how long SAS 9.4 M6 will be still supported...?

Thank you @JuanS_OCS.

What's new in SAS 9.4M8 now . 

@Debi_SAS It's currently scheduled for release in Jan 2023, and we'll have more details then. Most of the changes are to update underlying components to newer/more modern versions.

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Last update:
‎08-27-2020 02:38 PM
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