SAS 9.4M8 is not backward compatible with Viya 3.5 or earlier. If your organization runs a hybrid environment with Viya 3.x, you must plan a migration of CAS servers to Viya 4 before upgrading SAS 9.4 to M8. However, M8 works seamlessly with Viya 4.

If you encounter CAS session timeouts in M8, increase timeout:

cas mySession;
session mySession timeout=3600; /* 1 hour */

Date: [Current Date] Topic: SAS Administration, Modernization, and Infrastructure

If you are a SAS Administrator or an Architect, you have likely been waiting for this. SAS 9.4 Maintenance 8 (M8) is the latest cumulative update for the SAS 9.4 platform, and while it might not flashy new GUIs, it is arguably one of the most important releases for modernizing your infrastructure.

M8 is all about compatibility, security, and containerization.

Here is everything you need to know about the SAS 9.4 M8 release.

SAS provides a free utility (sasreadiness script) that scans your current M7 deployment and flags:

Cybersecurity is a primary driver for upgrading to M8. With earlier releases (M5 and before), supporting modern transport layer security was challenging. SAS 9.4M8:

For financial services or healthcare organizations under GDPR, HIPAA, or SOX, M8 is mandatory to pass modern security audits.

M8 typically bundles the Jetty web server for the SAS Web Application Server, moving away from the heavier WebLogic or JBoss used in SAS 9.2/9.3/early 9.4.

Security is the main driver for many M8 upgrades.

The user interface in SAS 9.4 M8 has undergone significant refinements, focusing on simplicity, intuitiveness, and visualization. Some notable updates include: