“Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” You might recognise this cry from old time movies when newspaper hawkers broadcast breaking news along busy streets.
I was recently reminded of the phrase when a couple of squawking cockatoos loudly broadcast news of an intruder (a lace monitor goanna) in their vicinity.
I was fascinated by the fact that – although they could easily have flown away – the birds chose to stay and share the news with their local wildlife community, who then joined in the raucous pursuit.
Fortunately, we don’t have any intruders to announce, but – like those cockatoos – we do love to share news with our community, especially about opportunities to get involved.
So, what’s the latest news in the SAS community?
The release of SAS 9.4M8, of course!
Obviously, technology, security, and operating systems have changed significantly since the last maintenance release so, not surprisingly, Paul Homes was keen to install SAS 9.4M8 and try it out. If you have also upgraded to it we encourage you to download the latest Metacoda Security Plug-ins release.
Talking about releases… you can find details below about the new Metacoda Activity Reviewer Plug-in we’ll be releasing in a future version.
Now to add the “extra” news for the SAS community… did you know that SAS Explore will be an in-person event in Las Vegas in September 11-14 2023? Are you planning to attend? Michelle is a member of the SAS Explore Advisory Group so feel free to let her know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback.
Here’s hoping that after three years of “virtualness”, we’ll get to catch up in-person. 🤞
Cheers,
Michelle
SAS 9.4 M8… Some Surprises
In his SAS 9.4 Maintenance 8 is available blog post, Chris Hemedinger pointed out that security is the primary focus of the Maintenance 8 update. Paul has shared his surprise that there are “some products and solutions that will not be available immediately, or that will not deliver support for SAS 9.4 Maintenance 8.” However, he was also happily surprised to see that SAS/IntrNet got a 9.4 M8 refresh… so he can keep wearing his trusty hat. 😉
We’ve seen some discussions in SAS Communities regarding Information Delivery Portal (IDP) being retired and its impact. You might like to look at the following posts and share your experiences/advice too.
Metacoda Plug-ins Activity Reviewer
Metacoda Plug-ins 1.0 was released for SAS 9.1.3 many years ago. Today, we continue to support SAS 9.2, SAS 9.3 and SAS 9.4 and maintenance releases.
With the SAS 9.4 M8 release, we suggest customers download the latest release Metacoda Plug-ins 6.1R8 and also take note of the SAS 9.4M8 Java 11 and CORBA issue.
We’re also excited to let you know we are working on Metacoda Plug-ins 6.2 which includes a new Activity Reviewer Plug-in with functionality to review and query SAS platform activity within the SAS Management Console!
Over the years, we’ve had numerous requests around audit capabilities, for instance, whether Metacoda Plug-ins can answer queries such as:
- Activity related to a specific metadata object (creation, modification, deletion etc)
- Activity related to a specific user (logins, application usage, metadata changes, access control changes etc)
The data to answer these questions are generally in log files, rather than SAS metadata, and they can be answered using SAS Environment Manager APM, which is why we haven’t addressed them in the past. However, due to customer demand and with technology advances, we have developed the functionality to parse log files information via the new Metacoda Activity Reviewer Plug-in, so you can now access this information within SAS Management Console (your favourite SAS app).
The Metacoda Activity Reviewer Plug-in will be available to Metacoda customers who license the Enterprise Package. If you are interested in being a beta tester, please let us know.
SAS Viya Admin Checklist
In case you missed it, David Stern has released a new SAS Viya Administration Checklist available on GitHub.
Like the previously published checklists for SAS Viya 3 Administration Tasks and SAS 9 Administration Tasks, the checklist helps you follow best practice and understand the initial and regular tasks so that your SAS Viya deployment is optimised over the long term.
As the SAS Viya Administration Checklist is a living project in GitHub, it will grow over time, and you will be able to raise issues and make suggestions.
SAS Explore – Sept 11-14, 2023
Fans of SAS Global Forum will be happy to hear that “SAS Explore is like SAS Global Forum events of the past in the most important ways“ (see Chris Hemedinger’s blog post for details).
If like me, you’re yearning to connect in person with the global SAS community, then SAS Explore is the conference to attend. It’s a 4-day technologist event in Las Vegas for data scientists, developers, data engineers, IT, and business analysts. The call for content is now open, so be sure to submit your innovative use of SAS technology before the May 31 deadline.
Let Michelle know if you have any questions or feedback and she’ll raise them at the next SAS Explore Advisory Group meeting.
Note: If you register before June 30 you can take advantage of the First Mover ticket price and save $500USD!
Koala kisses to a Human Management Plan
Over the years we’ve shared our love of the koala and the need to protect habitats to ensure their future survival.
We’re currently following the Australian Koala Foundation’s (AKF) Koala Kiss Project, which is working with communities to embrace a new way to secure koala habitats into the future.
AKF’s vision is to protect landscapes and link fragmented koala habitats with the ultimate vision of creating the “Koala Kamino” (after the famous Camino trail) – approximately 2,543 kms of prime koala habitat from Cairns to Melbourne. Learn about the new vision for the koala and how you can help!
While the sounds of the newspaper hawkers shouting “Extra! Extra!” or the paperboys pulling their trolley down the street may be long gone, it’s clear that the announcement of news will always have the power to bring a community together to learn and share.