SAS VA - Extra Autoload Drop Zones

[ScottJP]

Hello - We've got SAS VA 7.4 running on Windows 2012 Server. 

I want some of our users to be able to use the Autoload folder, in the same way I do. But, they obviously don't have access to the server. My Autoload folder is currently in its default location (...\Lev1\AppData\SASVisualAnalytics\VisualAnalyticsAdministrator\AutoLoad) 

I've read pages 22 to 30-odd in the Admin guide but it's pretty much unfathomable. I wanna create another drop zone somewhere OFF of the server, which the server can access, to pick up the files as per the current Autoload process, so users can load their own files without bugging me to do it.

I could write my own windows batch file or something, but does anyone know how I can achieve this easily please without giving my users access to the server? 

Thanks in advance!

SJP

[JuanS_OCS]

Hello @ScottJP,

what you can do is to create a new Autoload folder. Before M3 (VA 7.3) is quite a manual action, but starting SAS 9.4 M3, the SAS Deployment Manager includes functionality to create AutoLoad folders as needed.

For the manual action, those pages explain what to do, although I understand they can be hard to follow. First time I did it it took me a full day to understand it and make it work.

Of course, for something out of your server, you would need to create a proper mapped drive to the shared folder. UNC paths (as \\\server\folder) won't expect it to work OK. And that folder would require the Autoload folder structure and the permissions are required and documented.

Perhaps an easier idea for you would be to create an ETL process from a SAS batch server or schedule a Robotask copy?

[ScottJP]

Ok thanks Juan. You're right, it's probably easier to use a tool or write a batch file to copy the files around. Think I'll do that instead! Thanks. 

Scott