in the SAS Folders tree.
SAS Management Console Connection Profiles
Let’s start with logging on to SAS Management Console. You might be thinking, “why would she cover something so easy? a piece of cake”. Well, in my experience, many SAS administrators do, in fact, struggle when it comes to the login profile. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
When SAS Management Console is started, your first interaction point is a profile that is used to log on: as shown in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1: Connection Profile
The connection profile is named SASAdmin. The SASAdmin connection profile is automatically created for you when SAS is installed and configured. You can create new connection profiles, or, share one connection profile amongst several admins. If all the admins in your team share the same administrative responsibilities, then it might make sense to use this one profile. If you do have different profiles, there are ways to deny and grant access to certain functionalities. If this is a singular situation (you are the only admin), in addition to using that profile, send a note to your manager that you need more admins.
If you want to create new profiles, choose the top radio button Create a new connection profile. (See Figure 3.1.) Here, I am simply editing the default SASAdmin profile to show you what it includes. On the same profile, click Edit. The next screenshot shows the actual connection information that you must enter.
Figure 3.2: Connection Information
The connection profile includes just that: connection information to the metadata server.
Connection information:
As you manage and administer metadata with SAS Management Console, and, as you know, metadata objects are stored in the metadata’s repository, connection information to the metadata server is needed.
Machine: The machine name of the metadata server machine.
Port: The default metadata server port is 8561. If you chose another one during the installation of SAS, use that one.
User ID: The default user ID SAS assigned to the default SASAdmin profile is the SAS internal administrator user sasadm@saspw. This is an unrestricted user who can do everything in metadata, despite any permissions that are set up. It’s the user who stands above all. As a best practice, do not share the sasadm@saspw user and password with users/admins who are not supposed to be unrestricted. Consider it a special account with lots of admin power. Limitless access – that is why it’s called unrestricted. Whether it makes sense to create different profiles is up to you and really depends on your needs.
Authentication Domain: The authentication domain shows as InternalAuth as sasadm@saspw is an internal user ID. We will cover authentication domains in Chapter 4, when we’ll talk about users and groups.
Save user ID and password: You can choose to save the password and user ID. If you don’t check this box, you will be prompted for a user ID and password every time you log on to SAS Management Console.
You can choose to use single sign-on. Integrated Windows Authentication does not work for SAS internal accounts.
What if you are running in a development, test, production, environment? How does that work? In cases where you have more than one metadata server instance, you will have profiles for each metadata server. Depending on whether the metadata servers run on the same machine or on different machines, the port changes and would have to be 8562 for a Lev2, 8563 for a Lev3, and so on.
Going off track a little here: Using different ports and configuration names (Levn) is necessary so that SAS understands that there are more than one metadata server.
Troubleshooting Connection Profiles: Common Problems and Troubleshooting Tips
What could go wrong with the profile? Why would the logon fail? There are cases where the attempt to log on to SAS Management Console might fail, throwing out one of these annoying error messages … probably first thing in the morning, before you have the chance to sip on your first cup of coffee. But, don’t worry, there are easy fixes! The list below gives the error message (“E”) followed by its troubleshooting tips (“T”).
E: The application could not log on to the server “machine name:8561”. The User ID “userid” or the password is incorrect.
T: As the error states, something’s up with your user ID or your password. If it is saved in the profile, edit the profile and make sure it is the correct one.
E: The user “userid” is not authorized to read metadata on server “machine”
T: A reason could be that the user who is trying to log on, is not properly registered in metadata. That would be a case for the User Manager plug-in. You can verify by going to the User Manager, making sure that the user actually has a metadata identity, and if yes, the account associated with this metadata user is correct.
E: The application could not log on to the server <Server name>. The user ID “sasadm@saspw” or the password is incorrect.
T: This error can occur when you tried to log on to SAS Management Console for the third time, using the wrong password for the SAS internal admin account sasadm@sapw. Follow the instructions as described below from the SAS Security Administration Guide, available at: http://go.documentation.sas.com/?docsetId=mcsecug&docsetTarget=p1hxt5txo0hoapn13wllie213sbm.htm&docsetVersion=9.4&locale=en
By policy, three consecutive failed attempts to log on with an internal account locks that account for one hour. To immediately unlock a locked internal account:
● In User Manager, select the user whose internal account is locked. Right-click and select Properties.
● Select the Accounts tab. In the confirmation message box, click Yes.
E: The application could not log on to the server “machine name:8561”. No server is available