Juletip #3 – Create a gitHub authenthication in Viya4 using GitHub PAT and HTTPS to avoid SSH setup

[TorOveKilnesSAS]

Hi and happy Juletip!

Introduction

In Viya4, SAS Studio can interact with GitHub using authentication over SSH or HTTPS. From cadence 2025.11, SAS Studio require a file with “known hosts” in the users HOME folder, in addition to the private and public key. This is a bit cumbersome to create when users cannot SSH/login to the compute host in Viya4. An alternative is to use HTTPS and GitHub PAT (Personal Authentication Token) as logon method for integrating GitHub and SAS Studio, see links:

• GitHub setup of PAT etc.:

  https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/managing-your-persona...

  https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18935539/authenticate-with-github-using-a-token

• SAS Git:

https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/sasstudiocdc/v_068/webeditorcdc/webeditorug/p0urbfmbb9lkpdn1...

Steps to setup at GitHub for PAT:

1. Go to github.com and log in using your GitHub ID. Then: Settings -> Developer Settings  (in top right corner and at the bottom of the new menu list)
2. Select "Person Access Token" -> Fine-grained tokens and Generate Key
3. Give the Token a name, description and an expiration date.
4. Set Repository Access to all of your owned repositories (or select one or more specific repos).
5. Permissions. This is the uncertain area. At first, with default settings, it seems on READ for Metadata. And that may not be enough.

When it worked, I used:

               - READ to everything

               - READ and WRITE to: Access to code, codespaces secrets, merge queues, pull requests, and workflows

Unclear what the minimum permissions need to be.

Steps to setup in SAS Studio:

1. Create a folder in the "SAS Server" for holding the files that will be under Git control. You can choose any folder you like.

     Here the example path is: /srv/nortok/Git_Repos

2. Right mouse-button on the folder and "initialize" it for Git usage. Then the icon for the folder changes to the Git icon.
3. Go to Options -> Manage Git Connections and make a profile.
4. a) Create a HTTPS profile with values adapted to your name:

                              Profile name: TorOve_gitHub_HTTPS

                              Commit author Name: <Your Name>

                              Comit author email: <Your Email>

                              Domain ID: GitAuth

The domain ID can be anything, but it is good to have a domain name representing the content in the domain. This domain will hold you GitHub logon ID and the PAT token.

        

4. b) Create a repository with the following settings:

                            Remote Repository: https://github.com/<your-selected-repository>.git

                           (You can find this link in GitHub: go to the repository → Code → Clone → HTTPS)

                           SAS Server Location: /srv/nortok/Git_Repos
                           (Note: This path cannot be changed later and must remain as specified above)

                           Profile: TorOve_gitHub_HTTPS
                          (This is the HTTPS access profile created in the previous step)

    4. c) In Manage Environment -> My Credentials set up:

                            Domain: GitAuth

                            User ID: <Your GitHub user ID>   (The userid used to login to GitHub)

                            Password: <PAT>  The generated GitHub Personal Access Token.

Testing:

Test this using the Git GUI in SAS Viya from the left handside menu (Git Repositories). Try to Pull/Push and add a file (new file stored in the Git folder) and the stage and comit it. The files should then be visible in SAS Viya and in the GitHub repository.

NOTES:

• SAS Git seems to only accept the branch names "main". So, a branch named "master" may create problems.
• Set the "main" branch as Default branch in Settings for the actual Repository.
• Files can be downloaded/Uploaded via GitHub upload/download to move/copy files between branches, like Master and Main.