SAS virtual machine

[ammarhm]

Here is a question, not sure if it fits here, if not admins can remove it...

Has anyone managed to build and run their own virtual machine with SAS installed on it?

The idea is to have a virtual machine that you can access anywhere using a browser and run SAS (and other programs) on it...

SAS studio, the web-based version of SAS is what I am ultimatly trying to mimic, but there are some privacy issues that makes it difficult to use SAS studio, and hence I prefer to have my "own" version.

So, I am trying to do the same thing, but building my own virtual machine.

I have seen this done previously, and the login to the virtual machine is a secure one requiring two step authentication, which is great. I think they used Virtual Machine.

https://www.vmware.com/products/horizon.html

I am happy to host the hardware and install the software needed. I have been googling around but couldn’t find an easy solution.

If anyone managed to do this, I would appreciate if they could share their experience.

I know many organizations have similar solutions, just wondering how I as an individual can do it...

Thanks 

[SASKiwi]

Here is the official SAS view on support for virtualisation:

http://support.sas.com/kb/31/815.html

The bottom line is the virtual environment must match the SAS system requirements for the operating system you are trying to mimic.

Personally I think there are lots of easier ways to access SAS remotely rather than creating your own VM. For example you could install SAS on a physical PC and then use Microsoft's Remote Connect tool to log in from anywhere via the internet. 

[Reeza]

Yes and no. I think to access via Web Studio anywhere you need the server component and that's not supported - not 100% sure on this. 

That being said you could host/install on AWS/Azure/GCloud and run it there. For learning purposes you can use SAS UE which can also be hosted on AWS - roughly $20/month to have it running all the time or SAS Academics On Demand which is hosted via SAS. 

I do run SAS through a VM everyday but it's becuase I'm on a Mac.  

PS. I only know the AWS costs because I unintentionally left it running 😞

[AlanC]

SAS runs fine on Azure and AWS. Just pay the cost for the SAS license and install it into a VM. This is a very common scenario. SAs runs fine and is easily accessed through whatever the VM uses. For Azure, as an example, you use RDP. 

[Reeza]

As an individual the cost of the SAS license is quite prohibitive, unless they've drastically changed their licensing model. I think that's going to be your biggest issue.

[AlanC · Accepted solution]

One other item. If you do get SAS installed on say a VM, you can also use TeamViewer to log onto it. If you don't use TV already, I would highly suggest getting it insatlled. It is free for personal use.