Statistical Software

Using Linux SAS From a PC

Contents:

Full Screen Mode (Using X-Win32 Software or Cygwin/X XClient Software):

Linux SAS can be displayed in full screen mode by using an X Windows client such as commercial X-Win32 or freeware Cygwin/X .   X-Win32 has been funded by participating academic departments that use X client software.

Note: To use X-Win32 off-campus, you must be connected with the VPN software which is available from IT's Scout software

How to Set Up the Linux SAS session in X-Win32:

Click on Start->Programs->X-win32->X-Config ,choose Add and select "Starnet SSH", then fill out and save the form as follows (be sure to enter your own NetID in the Login box):


NOTE: You will also need to correct the backspace key in X-Win32 when using X-Win32 with the SAS Linux server. In summary, Open XConfig, Click on Input->Edit, then click on the BS key and you should see the Xkey identifiers as below with the Unshifted=BackSpace and the 3 others (Shifted, Mode switch and Shift Mode) as NoSymbol. If any of those others are NOT "NoSymbol", you need to click on the text in the box and click on NoSymbol. For example, suppose that the box next to "Shifted"was "BackSpace". You would need to click on "BackSpace" and a menu will appear with "NoSymbol" at the top, then click on NoSymbol and it will appear in the box next to "Shifted".

The backspace setup in the keyboard should look like this:

How to Run Linux SAS in Full Screen Mode Using X-Win32:

First connect to the SAS server by starting X-Win32, left clicking on the blue X in the lower right task bar, and selecting the SAS on Linux session. This will bring up a window asking you for your ISU net-id and password. Enter them and select OK. You will now be logged into the Linux SAS machine, mounting your AFS home directory. This will then bring up an xterm window on your screen.

At the % prompt, type: sas &

This will bring up the SAS windows. You can enter your program code in the Program Editor window and submit the code. Your errors/comments will appear in the Log Window and Results in the Output Window.

To print results from the output window, click on File->Print and select your printer of choice. The Durham and Snedecor printers are UBILL printers. If you select to print to your "Default Vincent Printer" it will print to the printer defined in one of your startup files. To find out your default printer, type "env | grep PRINTER". To change your default printer, execute the following in the xterm command window: setenv PRINTER "new printer".

How to Transfer Data Files from Your Computer to the Linux SAS Server:

Linux SAS (File->Import or PROC IMPORT) is able to import Excel files that are saved as .CSV, comma delimited files.  Each ISU NetID is granted disk space saved in on an ISU IT AFS file server.  One can use SSH to transfer the locally saved .CSV files to one's personal AFS file space that is used by Linux SAS.  The 2 software packages available from the IT Scout software that allow this file transfer are:

  • Open AFS
  • SSH Secure File Transfer Client
Open AFS, along with Mount AFS, allows one to copy/paste from Windows Explorer/My Computer to the AFS file server.   SSH Secure File Transfer Client also transfers the files, without the need to install Open AFS.  To connect with SSH, use Quick Connect with the host name being: sas.iastate.edu.

Batch Mode SAS

If one has slow internet access, a preferred method to run SAS would be in batch mode. To access the SAS Linux server in batch mode, one needs to use an SSH client to ensure a secure connection. Scout provides an SSH client that you may download or you can download putty.exe and copy it to your desktop.

How to Set Up the Putty Session to access Linux SAS:

Double-click on the putty.exe icon on your desktop and create a session and save it as illustrated below.

How to Run Linux SAS in Batch Mode Using Putty:

  • Double-click on the putty.exe desktop icon, highlight isu-linux-sas and click on Load->Open:
  • Use an editor such as joe, emacs, vi or nano (similar to pico) to create your SAS program i.e. joe myprogram.sas.
    (note that joe has online help accessible by holding down the Ctrl-K-H keys)
  • Enter the following commands to run the program in batch mode from sas myprogram.sas
  • This will create the following programs that can be viewed with your editor: myprogram.log contains comments/errors and myprogram.lst contains the output
  • If there are errors, use your editor to fix myprogram.sas and re-run the program
To print, you can just mail myprogram.lst to yourself (mail "my-email@iastate.edu" < myprogram.lst), open it with Notepad, MS Word, etc. and then print to your local PC printer.
 
Department of Statistics & Statistical Laboratory
Snedecor Hall Ames IA 50011-1210
Phone: 515-294-3440, Fax: 515-294-4040
statistics@iastate.edu

Questions or comments? Email stat-web@iastate.edu.