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

SHARE

System Administrator or User

To use the TCP/IP access method with a UNIX 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 variables in SAS software.
Set the desired SAS/CONNECT and SAS/SHARE variables.

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

Ensure that the following conditions have been met:

SAS software has been installed on both the local and remote hosts.
Any TCP/IP package that comes with the operating system has been installed.

The kernel layer in all types of UNIX systems provides the necessary software to communicate across a network.

Setting SAS Options and Variables

You may need to set specific options or variables in SAS 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 variables must be set and what values to assign to them.

You may specify a variable in any of several forms, as follows:

OPTIONS statement in a SAS AUTOEXEC file or in a SAS session:
OPTIONS variable=value;
Example:
```
OPTIONS TCPPORTFIRST=4020;
```
in a SAS configuration file or at a SAS invocation:
-SET variable-name value
Example:
```
-set tcpsec _secure_
```
as a SAS macro variable:
%LET variable-name=value;
Example:
```
%let tcpsec=_secure_;
```
as a UNIX environment variable in a shell or a profile file:
Korn shell: export VARIABLE-NAME=value
C shell: setenv VARIABLE-NAME value
Examples:
```
export TCPSEC=_SECURE_
setenv TCPSEC _SECURE_
```
Note: Variable names must be in uppercase.

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

If you set multiple forms of the same variable, here is the order of precedence that is followed:

SAS macro variable

AUTOEXEC file

SAS invocation

SAS configuration file

UNIX 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 variable 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 variable setting in the same client SAS session.

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.

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 variable. 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 variable.

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.

Note: The value of TCPSEC will be set and displayed like any other macro variable. Thus if the %LET statement that is used to set the value of TCPSEC appears in the SAS log, the password will also appear in plain text. Similarly, a %PUT statement will also print the password in plain text. [cautionend]

_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 variable is shared among many users.

Examples:

%let tcpsec=bass.time2go;
%let tcpsec=_prompt_;

Providing Userid-Based Security for a SAS/SHARE Server

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

Here is the syntax and description of this variable.

TCPSEC=_SECURE_ | _NONE_

_SECURE_: The _SECURE_ value for the TCPSEC variable 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 variable 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:

%let tcpsec=_secure_;
%let tcpsec=_none_;

SAS/CONNECT Only Options and Variables

TCPPORTFIRST

TCPPORTLAST

The TCPPORTFIRST and TCPPORTLAST 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 in an OPTIONS statement, at a SAS invocation, in the configuration file, or in the AUTOEXEC file. [cautionend]

TCPTN3270

TCPTN3270 is an environment variable that is set on the local host to support connections to CMS and OS/390 remote hosts that use the 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 information about these script files.

At the UNIX local host, set the TCPTN3270 variable in the SAS configuration file as follows:

-set TCPTN3270 1

If you do not set this variable, the TCP/IP access method uses TELNET line mode protocol by default.

SAS/SHARE Only Option

By default, a secure server accepts userids and passwords from clients in either encrypted or plain text form. The ability to accept either form ensures compatibility with client sessions that run older releases of SAS/SHARE software.

To require only encrypted userids and passwords, you must set the AUTHENCR option as an environment variable or as a SAS macro variable. Requiring encryption ensures that all clients have been upgraded to Release 6.11 or the 6.09 Enhanced Release of SAS software.

Setting this option in a server session enables encryption for clients that are connecting to a secured server. The forms of this option follow:

AUTHENCR=OPTIONAL | REQUIRED

OPTIONAL: means that a client can optionally encrypt the username and password that it sends to the server. This is the default. When using the default, the server allows connections from clients that are incapable of using encryption because they are running earlier releases of SAS/SHARE that do not support encryption (releases prior to the 6.09 Enhanced Release as well as Release 6.11) and from clients that are capable of encryption.
REQUIRED: means that each client must encrypt the username and password that it sends to the server. See Setting SAS Options and Variables for examples of the forms that you can use to specify the AUTHENCR option.

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	SAS macro variable
	AUTOEXEC file
	SAS invocation
	SAS configuration file
	UNIX environment variable.