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Communications Access Methods for SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE Software

Tasks That Are Common to SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE

System Administrator or User
To use the TCP/IP access method with an OS/2 host for SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE, perform these tasks:
  1. Verify that you have met all your site and software requirements.

  2. Verify that the resources for the TCP/IP access method have been defined.

  3. Verify that you know how to set options in SAS software.

  4. Set the SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE options that you want.


System and Software Requirements for SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE

Ensure that the following conditions have been met:

Specify the host name during the IBM TCP/IP configuration process. If you omit the host name when you sign on with SAS/CONNECT or with SAS/SHARE, you will receive the following error message:

ERROR:  Access method initialization failed.


Setting SAS Options and Variables

You may need to set specific options to establish the connections that you want with SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE when using the TCP/IP communications access method.

Consult with your network administrator to determine what options must be set and what values to assign to them.

You may specify an option in several forms, as follows:

Values for these options may contain up to eight characters, consisting of alphanumeric characters, the percent sign (%), the dollar sign ($), the pound sign (#), and the at sign (@).

If you set multiple forms of the same option, here is the order of precedence that is followed:
SAS macro variable
OPTIONS statement
AUTOEXEC file
SAS invocation
SAS configuration file
DOS environment variable.

Note:   If you set the same option using different forms, typically the last option setting will take precedence and override an earlier option setting.  [cautionend]

Displaying SAS System Option Settings

To display the settings of the SAS system options in the SAS log, use the OPTIONS procedure. The following statement produces a list of options with a brief explanation of what each option does:

proc options;
run;


Setting Security for SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE

For SAS/CONNECT, you must supply identifying information to sign on without a script to a remote host running a spawner program. A SAS/SHARE server, running secured, requires identification from each connecting client. The next two sections outline the version-specific methods for specifying client identification for SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE. The third section describes how to configure your SAS/SHARE server to either require or not require connecting clients to supply user identification.

Providing Client Identification in a Version 8 Session

In Version 8, you provide client identification to a SAS/CONNECT remote host or a SAS/SHARE server using the USER= and PASSWORD= options. These options are valid in the following statements:

SIGNON
RSUBMIT
LIBNAME
PROC SQL
Connect to Remote
PROC OPERATE
(in the PROC statement)
set server
stop server
quiesce server
start server
display server

Specifying client identification in the TCPSEC variable is still accepted but is not recommended in Version 8. The USER= and PASSWORD= options take precedence over the client TCPSEC option when both are specified. For example, a SAS/SHARE client's execution of a LIBNAME statement with values assigned to the USER= and PASSWORD= options would override a TCPSEC option setting in the same client SAS session.

CAUTION:
In order to make a SAS/SHARE server secured, the TCPSEC option must be set at a SAS/SHARE server that can run on any host.  [cautionend]

Here is the syntax and definitions for these options:

USER | USERNAME | USERID | UID=username | _PROMPT_

PASSWORD | PASSWD | PASS | PWD | PW=password | _PROMPT_

Specifying these options allows a user on the local host whose username and password have been verified to access the remote host.

username
is a valid userid for the remote host and is thus host-dependent in form. If the value contains blanks or special characters, it must be enclosed in quotes.

password
is the password, if any, required for authentication of the supplied username. This value will not be echoed in the SAS log. If the value contains blanks or special characters, it must be enclosed in quotes.

_PROMPT_
specifies that the SAS System prompts the client for username and password.

Note:   The values provided when prompted must NOT be quoted.  [cautionend]

Specifying USER=_PROMPT_ and omitting the PASSWORD= specification will cause SAS to prompt you for both userid and password.

This is especially useful for allowing the SAS statements containing the USER= and PASSWORD= options to be copied and otherwise effectively reused by others.

For SAS/SHARE, the values supplied for the USER= and PASSWORD= options are valid for the duration of the remote host connection. Additional accesses of the remote host while the connection to that host is still in effect do not require re-supplying of the USER= and PASSWORD= options. For example, while the first connecting library assign to a SAS/SHARE server may require specification of the options, subsequent assigns to the same server will not need specification of these options as long as the original connection is in effect. A subsequent re-connect to the same server or connect to a different server would require re-supplying of the USER= and PASSWORD= options.

Here is a Version 8 example for SAS/SHARE:

libname test 'prog2 a' user=joeblue password="2muchfun" server=share1;

For SAS/CONNECT, these values are valid until SIGNOFF.

Here is a Version 8 example for SAS/CONNECT:

signon rmthost user=joeblack password=born2run;

As a security precaution, PASSWORD= field entries echoed in the log are replaced with Xs. If _PROMPT_ was specified for entering the password, the entry would not be displayed on the screen as it is typed.

Providing Client Identification in a pre-Version 8 Session

In Version 6 and Version 7, you provide client identification to a SAS/CONNECT remote host or a SAS/SHARE server using the TCPSEC option. TCPSEC must be defined on the local host before you connect to the remote host (using the SIGNON statement) or access a SAS/SHARE server (using the LIBNAME statement).

Here is the syntax and description of this option.

TCPSEC=userid.password | _PROMPT_

userid.password
specifies the remote host userid and password and is thus host-dependent in form. If either the userid or password contains blanks or special characters, it must be enclosed in quotes. A period (.) is used as a delimiter between the userid and password and, therefore, is not a valid character.

_PROMPT_
specifies that the SAS system prompt the client for the userid and password.

Note:   The values provided when prompted must NOT be quoted.  [cautionend]
This technique is especially useful when the configuration file specifying this option is shared among many users.

Examples:

options set=tcpsec bass.time2go;
options set=tcpsec _prompt_;

Providing Userid-Based Security for a SAS/SHARE Server

The TCPSEC option also specifies whether the TCP/IP access method performs user authentication before connecting to a SAS/SHARE server. The TCPSEC option must be set on the server before you start the SAS/SHARE server.

Here is the syntax and description of this option.

TCPSEC=_SECURE_ | _NONE_

_SECURE_
The _SECURE_ value for the TCPSEC option causes the TCP/IP access method to attempt to authenticate connecting SAS/SHARE clients. Each client connecting using TCP/IP is required to supply a userid and password valid for the host on which the server is running.

_NONE_
The _NONE_ value for the TCPSEC option causes the TCP/IP access method to NOT attempt to authenticate connecting SAS/SHARE clients. This is the default action when TCPSEC has not been set.

Examples:

options set=tcpsec _secure_; 
options set=tcpsec _none_;


SAS/CONNECT Only Options

TCPPORTFIRST
TCPPORTLAST

The TCPPORTFIRST and TCPPORTLAST SAS options restrict the range of TCP/IP ports through which local hosts can remotely connect to remote hosts.

These options must be set at the SAS/CONNECT remote host.

Define the range of TCP/IP ports by assigning a beginning range value to TCPPORTFIRST and an ending range value to TCPPORTLAST, within the range of 0 through 32767.

Consult with your network administrator for advice about these settings.

Use the following syntax for the configuration file:

-TCPPORTFIRST n
-TCPPORTLAST n
Use the following syntax for the AUTOEXEC file:
OPTIONS TCPPORTFIRST=n;
OPTIONS TCPPORTLAST=n;

In the following example, the local host is restricted to TCP/IP ports 4020 through 4050 when making a remote host connection:

options tcpportfirst=4020;
options tcpportlast=4050;

To restrict the range of ports to only one port, you may set the TCPPORTFIRST and TCPPORTLAST options to the same number.

Note:   At the remote host, you may set TCPPORTFIRST and TCPPORTLAST at a SAS invocation or in the configuration file.  [cautionend]

TCPTN3270

TCPTN3270 is an environment variable that is set on the local host to support a connection to an OS/390 or CMS host that uses full-screen 3270 TELNET protocol. The following script files are provided:
CMS TCPCMS32.SCR
OS/390 TCPTSO32.SCR

See Identifying a Script File for Signing On and Signing Off for more information.

Set TCPTN3270 to the value of 1 at the OS/2 local host in the SAS configuration file or in an OPTIONS statement.

To set the TCPTN3270 variable, enter the following command on the OS/2 local host:

Example:

-set tcptn3270 1


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Copyright 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.