SAS Download Manager in Console Mode

SAS® 9.4 M3 is now available (as discussed by Andy Ratcliffe in his recent NOTE: blog post), so I’m downloading a new SAS depot using the SAS Download Manager. I’m downloading it onto a Linux server that happens to have X11 available, but I’m choosing to use console (text) mode, rather than the default X11 windowed mode.

Using SAS Download Manager in console mode is my preferred method because I find it more flexible. Why Console mode? I know from experience that a SAS depot download is going to take a few hours and, if I run SAS Download Manager in windowed mode, I risk losing the remote X connection if there are any network disruptions between me and the server. By running SAS Download Manager in console mode, in combination with screen over an SSH session, I can easily disconnect/reconnect as required. I can disconnect (Control-A D) when I leave the office to go home, and reconnect (screen -r) when I get home to check on progress. I can also get screen to capture a log of the session in a text file (screen -L).

Of course, I could have used a Windows or Mac version of the SAS Download Manager to download onto a laptop and then upload onto the server, but that ties the laptop to a single location for the duration of the download. Plus if I’m not near the server at the time, I’d have to download and then upload nearly 50GB of SAS depot. If I’m traveling with my 4G mobile broadband connection, the server also has a much faster and much cheaper internet connection than I do! These are some of the reasons I prefer console mode.

To run SAS Download Manager in console mode just add -- -console on to the end of the command (that’s 2 dashes, a space, and a dash-console).

Here’s a suitably edited version of the session log so you can see how it works:

user@client:~$ ssh user@server
user@server:~$ screen -L
user@server:~$ /sasdepots/downloadmanager1.64/esdclient__94330__lax__xx__web__1 -- -console
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing SAS Download Manager.............

Select a language in which to view the SAS Download Manager.

( ) 1 - German
(*) 2 - English
( ) 3 - Spanish (Castilian)
( ) 4 - French
( ) 5 - Italian
( ) 6 - Japanese
( ) 7 - Korean
( ) 8 - Chinese Traditional
( ) 9 - Chinese Simplified

The * character indicates the current selection.
You can change the selection by specifying a number below.
Enter  to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to accept the current selection and continue.
Selection: [ENTER]

Starting the SAS Download Manager..

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Order Information
Specify your order information.

Enter <h> for help or <q> to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to accept the default or supply alternate text and press Enter.
Default: 9ZZZZY
Order Number: 9ZZZZZ          [NOTE: these are not real order numbers]

Enter <h> for help or <q> to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to accept the default or supply alternate text and press Enter.
Default: 999Z-Z9ZZ-ZZ98
SAS Installation Key (xxxx-xxxx-xxxx): 999Z-Z9ZZ-ZZ99          [NOTE: these are not real keys]
Downloading and Processing Order Information...

..

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Specify Order Details
Edit the description and add notes for this order to aid with future tracking.

Enter <b> to go back to the previous prompt, <h> for help, or <q> to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to accept the default or supply alternate text and press Enter.
Default: EXAMPLE - V9.4
Description: SAS 9.4 M3 Linux Server x64

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Specify Order Options
Specify the contents of the order

(*) 1 - Include complete order contents
        Include all the products that come with this order. This is the
        suggested option.

( ) 2 - Subset order contents
        Include only selected products based on any combination of selected
        platforms/operating systems, products, and languages.

The * character indicates the current selection.
You can change the selection by specifying a number below.
Enter <b> to go back to the previous prompt, <h> for help, or <q> to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to accept the current selection and continue.
Selection: [ENTER]

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Specify SAS Software Depot Options
The software you are downloading will be added to an existing SAS Software Depot
or used to create a new one. Use this page to specify details about how you want
the SAS Download Manager to handle your depot.

Enter <b> to go back to the previous prompt, <h> for help, or <q> to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to accept the default or supply alternate text and press Enter.
Default: /sasdepots/sas94ts1m2-rev940-15w20
SAS Software Depot Directory: /sasdepots/sas94ts1m3-rev940-15w29

The directory contains existing files.  If you create a SAS Software Depot in this
location, existing files may be replaced during the process.

Would you like to proceed anyway?
Default: y
Yes(y) or No(n): [ENTER]

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Final Review
Confirm the following information.

You are creating a new SAS Software Depot.

SAS Software Depot location:           /sasdepots/sas94ts1m3-rev940-15w29
Order number:                          9ZZZZZ
Order description:                     SAS 9.4 M3 Linux Server x64
Disk space available (GBs):            592.8
Disk space required (GBs):             41.3
Number of files to be downloaded:      1025
Number of hot fixes to be downloaded:  3

Enter <b> to go back to the previous prompt, <h> for help, or <q> to quit.
Note that these commands include the letter and the angle brackets.
Press Enter to continue: [ENTER]

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Download in Progress
Software download in progress.
Press the Enter key to bring up a menu of options during download.
Downloaded: 0.0 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 0.2 KB/sec
Extracted: 0.0 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Downloaded: 0.0 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 0.8 KB/sec
Extracted: 0.0 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Downloaded: 0.0 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 1.5 KB/sec
Extracted: 0.0 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Downloaded: 0.0 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 1.8 KB/sec
Extracted: 0.0 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Progress: <0%-------------------------------------------------->

........

Progress: <----------------------------56%---------------------->
Estimated time remaining: 3 hours, 19 minutes, 12 seconds
Downloaded: 23,262.6 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 1.9 MB/sec
Extracted: 23,737.8 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Downloaded: 23,270.4 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 1.8 MB/sec
Extracted: 23,737.8 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Downloaded: 23,279.3 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 1.8 MB/sec
Extracted: 23,737.8 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec
Downloaded: 23,287.2 of 41,241.9 MB, Rate: 1.8 MB/sec
Extracted: 23,737.8 of 42,309.4 MB, Rate: 0.0 KB/sec

........

Software download is complete.
Press Enter to continue: [ENTER]


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Download Complete
Software download is complete.

You have successfully added order 9ZZZZZ (SAS 9.4 M3 Linux Server x64) to your
SAS Software Depot, from which you should run the SAS Deployment Wizard to
deploy your software.

The following index page provides summary and QuickStart information for all the SAS
Software Orders in the SAS Software Depot:
/sasdepots/sas94ts1m3-rev940-15w29/depotsummary.html

To launch the SAS Deployment Wizard from your SAS Software Depot, go to the location
listed below and use one of the following commands based on the operating system
you are currently running.

SAS Software Depot Location: /sasdepots/sas94ts1m3-rev940-15w29

 Windows:setup.exe    UNIX:setup.sh    z/OS:setup.rexx
The process of downloading your software from SAS should not be used as a mechanism
for distributing your software across your organization. Instead, users should
install from the SAS Software Depot in accordance with your licensed number of
users or copies.

Press Enter to finish: [ENTER]

You can find out more about running SAS Download Manager in console mode from the SAS Download Manager documentation, available for download from the same location you download SAS Download Manager itself.