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 What is a hot fix?
The answer can vary. To some it is a quick fix to an immediate problem or an essential fix to a commonly recurring problem. To others, it is system maintenance. Technical Support's hot fix focus is on the need to solve critical and frequently recurring problems. These alert priority defects will be evaluated for hot fix consideration. If the fix can be created with a reasonable impact to the source code and testing coverage can confirm accurate results, the hot fix will be pursued. Fixes that require a significant code update, impose a great potential for regressions in the software, are considered enhancements to the existing software, or are considered to have a minor impact on customers will be deferred to a subsequent SAS release. This will help us to ensure the reliability of hot fixes. Hot fixes have been tested and are fully supported. Most hot fixes are incorporated into the next scheduled release. Developing a viable work around to a problem is still the preferred approach over providing a hot fix, and hot fixing every problem that customers encounter is not practical. However, we do want to provide fixes that allow customers to “maintain” their installed production SAS System until they are reasonably able to upgrade to the latest SAS release. |
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What is a container hot fix?
A "CONTAINER" hot fix delivers one or more "MEMBER" hot fixes in one downloadable unit. A CONTAINER hot fix is only an outer shell. It is the MEMBER hot fixes inside it that update the SAS software components. General rules about CONTAINER hot fixes: 1) The hot fix installation instructions will indicate if a hot fix is a CONTAINER. The installation instructions will also list the SAS software components that will be updated by the MEMBER hot fixes. Special attention should be given for any pre/post installation steps outlined in the instructions. 2) A CONTAINER hot fix must be applied separately to each machine. The installation process will apply only those MEMBER hot fixes which are applicable based on the SAS Deployment Registry for each specific machine.
3) The following table lists where you will see CONTAINER and MEMBER hot fix id's:
* The SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment Tool (SASHFADD) will correctly identify CONTAINER hot fixes which have MEMBERS that can be applied to your SAS deployment. 4) SAS 9.4 and SAS 9.3 CONTAINER hot fixes may contain MEMBER hot fixes for multiple operating systems. The SAS Deployment Manager will apply only those MEMBER hot fixes which are applicable for the operating system on each specific machine. 5) SAS 9.2 CONTAINER hot fixes will contain individual MEMBER hot fixes specific to an operating system. If the SAS components are installed across multiple operating systems, the relevant SAS 9.2 hot fix CONTAINER for each operating system should be downloaded and applied to the applicable machine(s). More information on installing hot fixes is available.
SAS 9.4: SAS Deployment Wizard and SAS Deployment Manager 9.4: User’s Guide |
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Which hot fixes should I apply?
There are two philosophies which can be followed when determining which hot fixes should be applied. Philosophy 1: ”Install only what is needed” Some sites are interested in fixing only those problems that they encounter. They do not see the necessity of installing fixes for problems that do not affect them. They want to install just the fixes that are needed to keep their existing jobs running successfully. This minimizes the number of changes and regression testing to their SAS installations and the time spent installing hot fixes. These sites should download hot fixes only on an as-needed basis. Philosophy 2: “Install every fix that is available” Other sites want to be proactive by keeping their SAS installation updated with all of the latest fixes. These are typically larger sites that use many different components of the software. There are also users who are more comfortable with always running the "latest and greatest". For these sites, downloading the available product hot fixes at set intervals of time is the best and most efficient approach. Neither philosophy is better or more correct than the other; they are just two different ways of thinking. It is up to each site to determine which philosophy best meets its business needs. |
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How can I tell which release of SAS a hot fix can be applied to? Unless otherwise noted on the hot fix download page, individual hot fixes are designed for specific releases of SAS. A hot fix should NOT be applied to a SAS release or to an Additional SAS Product or Solution other than the one for which it was intended. An easy way to know if a hot fix is designed for a specific release of SAS is to look at the characters of the hot fix ID and reference the following table:
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Why are some issues addressed in hot fixes labeled "ALERT"? ALERT issues are problems that you need to be aware of before you install or use the software. These may include, but are not limited to, security, data integrity and incorrect output. These issues are identified with the word ALERT appearing in the "Issue(s) Addressed" list for the hot fix. Hot Fix announcements made to the TSNEWS-L listserv also include special notification when a hot fix is released for an ALERT issue. |
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How can I receive automatic notification when a new hot fix becomes available?
When new hot fixes become available, announcements are posted to the SAS Communities Hot Fix Site. Please review How to stay current about SAS hot fixes to learn more about the site, including how to receive timely Hot Fix announcements via e-mail and RSS feed. |
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Where can I find information regarding hot fixes for CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) issues?
See our Security Bulletins from SAS page for CVE information: |
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How can I request a hot fix?
When will my hot fix be ready?
SAS Technical Support cannot guarantee a release date for a hot fix. It can take anywhere from less than a week to several weeks for a hot fix to be made available. The major factors that affect the hot fix delivery timeframe are the complexity and quantity of the fixes that the hot fix contains, the volume and criticality of other hot fixes that are being processed simultaneously, and the types of issues that arise during the testing cycles of the hot fix package.
If you would like to request a hot fix for a specific issue, you should open a track with SAS Technical Support.
Though not required, providing the following information would be very helpful:
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Should hot fixes be installed in a specific order? Will installing one hot fix over-write another fix?
No, hot fixes do not have to be installed in any specific order ...
for three reasons:
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How do I know if my hot fix installation was successful? For SAS 9.2, Phase 2 (TS2M0), SAS 9.3, and SAS 9.4 the final dialog box of the installation (the Installation Complete dialog box), provides information about the files that were successfully updated during an installation. Installation log files for each hot fix installation are stored in the following locations: SAS 9.3 and SAS 9.4: !SASHOME\InstallMisc\InstallLogs\*_hot-fix-name_*.logThe *preexec.log file provides detailed information about the installation process before the install has executed; the *postexec.log file provides detailed information after it has executed. The IT*.log, with a datetime that corresponds to the datetime on the *_hot-fix-name_*.log file, provides detailed information regarding the steps executed during the install process. |
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How do I cancel a hot fix installation? For SAS 9.2, Phase 2 (TS2M0), SAS 9.3, and SAS 9.4 use the Cancel button to cancel an installation. If the installation is cancelled through an acceptable means (for example, by clicking the Cancel button) rather than by terminating the process, you might receive the following message: Installation could not be completed. No changes have been made to your system.The installer then restores the original content before any changes are made. |
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Is a "silent" installer or "batch mode" installer available for hot fixes?
For SAS 9.4, see the 'Using the Hot Fix Launcher Script' section in
SAS Deployment Wizard and SAS Deployment Manager 9.4: User's Guide.
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Is it possible to apply a hot fix multiple times on the same SAS image? For SAS 9.3 and SAS 9.4, after the SAS Deployment Manager installs a hot fix on a machine, the deployment registry is updated to indicate the inclusion of that hot fix. On subsequent uses of the SAS Deployment Manager, hot fixes are checked against the deployment registry so that previously installed hot fixes are not reinstalled. If you want the SAS Deployment Manager to ignore that hot fixes have already been installed on a machine and include them in another installation pass, use the -reinstallhotfix command line option. Example: sasdm.exe -reinstallhotfix For SAS 9.2, Phase 2 (TS2M0), see SAS Note SN-35780, "Attempts to re-apply SAS 9.2 hot fixes will fail." |
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How can I determine which hot fixes have been applied to my SAS installation?
For SAS 9.2, Phase 2 (TS2M0) , SAS 9.3, and SAS 9.4 the installation of hot fixes is logged in the SAS
Deployment Registry. A reporting utility named ViewRegistry (available in sas.tools.viewregistry.jar)
processes the deployment registry and generates a report file named DeploymentRegistry.html.
This report identifies all SAS software that is installed in the current SASHOME location,
including hot fixes. |
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How do I know which hot fixes should be installed to bring my system up to date? The SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment Tool (SASHFADD) will analyze a SAS 9.2, SAS 9.3 or SAS 9.4 deployment, create a customized report listing hot fixes available for the installed SAS products and generate scripts that will automate the download of the hot fixes. For more details, see the HFADD Usage Guide and the HFADD download page. |
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How do I remove a hot fix from my system? There is no automated process available for removing a SAS 9.* hot fix. The steps to remove a hot fix must be done manually and the complexity of the removal process will vary based on the specifics of the hot fix. If you believe a SAS 9.* hot fix must be removed, you should restore your system from the last backup made prior to the hot fix installation. If a backup is not available, you may open a track with SAS Technical Support so a consultant can review the feasibility of removing the hot fix safely from your system. |
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