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

SHARE

System Administrator or User

To use the DECnet access method with a Windows host for SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE, perform these tasks:

Verify that you have met all your site and software requirements.
Verify that you know how to set options in SAS software.
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:

The DECnet software has been installed at your site.
SAS has been installed on both the local and remote hosts.
For Version 3.51 of Windows NT, Digital Equipment Corporation Pathworks for Windows NT Version 5.1 or a subsequent version has been installed at your site.
For Version 4.0 of Windows NT, Digital Equipment Corporation Pathworks 32 has been installed at your site.
For Windows 95 and Windows 98, the Microsoft Winsock Version 2.0 and Digital Equipment Corporation Pathworks 32 have been installed at your site.
For Windows 32s, Digital Equipment Corporation Pathworks for DOS and Windows Version 5.1 or subsequent version have been installed at your site.

Setting SAS Options and Variables

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

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

in an OPTIONS statement in a SAS session or in an AUTOEXEC file:
OPTIONS SET=variable-name value
Example:
```
options set=sassecur _secure_;
```
in a SAS configuration file or at a SAS invocation:
-SET variable-name value
Example:
```
-set sassecur _secure_
```
as a SAS macro variable:
%LET variable=value;
Example:
```
%let sassecur=_secure_;
```
as a DOS operating system environment variable:
SET variable-name=value
Example:
```
set sassecur=_secure_
```

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

If you set multiple forms of the same option, the order of precedence follows:

SAS macro variable

OPTIONS statement

AUTOEXEC file

SAS invocation

SAS configuration file

DOS environment variable.

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.

Providing Client Identification in a Version 8 Session

Note: In the Windows environment, SAS/SHARE server security is supported on the Windows NT platform only. [cautionend]

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 SASSECUR= option is still accepted but is not recommended in Version 8. The USER= and PASSWORD= options take precedence over the client SASSECUR= 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 SASSECUR= option setting in the same client SAS session.

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

Here is the syntax and definitions for these options:

USER | USERNAME | USERID | UID=username | _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. On Windows NT only, the username can also include the domain name, which locates the specified username in a domain.

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

CAUTION:: Windows NT only SAS/SHARE server security is supported on the Windows NT platform only.

You must set the SASSECUR option in order to pass a remote host user name and password to a SAS/SHARE server for verification. After the user name and password have been verified, the connection to the SAS/SHARE server can proceed. Values for SASSECUR are

SASSECUR _NONE_ | _PROMPT_ | username.password | _SECURE_

_NONE_

must be set at the SAS/SHARE client. This is the default.

Setting _NONE_ does not establish secure sessions for connecting SAS/SHARE clients.

_PROMPT_

must be set at the SAS/SHARE client.

_PROMPT_ specifies that SAS prompt the user for user name and password information. When prompted for a password, the input field is not displayed. Choosing to prompt for user name and password provides more security than assigning the user name and the password to the system option.

userid.password

must be set at the SAS/SHARE client.

This value specifies both the user name and the password. Assigning the user name and password directly to the SASSECUR option at the SAS/SHARE client may inadvertently publicize this information and compromise the security of the SAS/SHARE server. Assigning the value to the option in a file allows anyone to read it.

_SECURE_

must be set at the SAS/SHARE server on a Windows NT host only.

The _SECURE_ value for the SASSECUR option requires a SAS/SHARE client to supply a valid user name and password to the remote host or the remote host on which the server is running in order to allow client access to the server.

Specify the SASSECUR option before you create a server.

Examples:

%let SASSECUR=_NONE_;
%let SASSECUR=_PROMPT_;
%let SASSECUR=bass.time2go;
%let SASSECUR="apex\bass.time2go"; 
%let SASSECUR=_SECURE_;

See Setting SAS Options and Variables for examples of the forms that you can use to specify the SASSECUR option.

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	SAS macro variable
	OPTIONS statement
	AUTOEXEC file
	SAS invocation
	SAS configuration file
	DOS environment variable.