Configuring Multicast Options

Applications That Use Multicast Communication

Multicast options should be changed in a synchronous manner among the following applications:
  • SAS Remote Services
  • any Web application server that is used for a SAS Web application
  • SAS BI Report Services Report Output Generation tool (if applicable)

Multicast Options Configuration Files for SAS Remote Services

You can make changes to the multicast options for the JVM that is used by SAS Remote Services. Edit the appropriate files as needed.
On Windows, in directory SAS-config-dir\Lev1\Web\Applications\RemoteServices, change the following files:
  • RemoteServices.bat.
  • wrapper.conf.
  • environment.properties
On UNIX and z/OS, edit the RemoteServices.sh and environment.properties files.

Multicast Options Configuration Files for Web Application Servers

You can make changes to multicast options for any Web application server that is used for a SAS Web application. Edit the appropriate files as needed:
JBoss on Windows:
  • Edit the JBOSS_HOME\bin\SASServer1.bat file.
  • Edit the JBOSS_HOME \server\SASServer1\wrapper.conf file.
For JBoss on UNIX and z/OS, edit the SASServer1.sh file.
For deployments that use Oracle WebLogic Server, the multicast options are set as server start arguments with the administration console, and they must also be added to the SAS-config-dir\Lev1\Web\SASDomain\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd file. For deployments that use IBM WebSphere Application Server, the multicast options are set in the application server process definition. For more information about setting JVM options, see your product documentation.

Multicast Options Configuration Files for SAS BI Report Services

If the SAS BI Report Services Report Output Generation tool is used, then set multicast options for the Report Output Generation tool as well. The multicast options are set in the SAS-install-dir\SASBIReportServices\4.31\outputgen.ini file.

Key Multicast Properties

The following table shows some key multicast properties.
Multicast Properties
Property
Default Value
Unit
Description
multicast.address
239.X.Y.Z
Not applicable
This value is provided by the SAS Deployment Wizard prompting mechanism and defaults to 239.X.Y.Z. Values for X, Y, and Z are the last three octets of the metadata server's IP address.
In an IPv6 environment, the value defaults to ff14::/16.
multicast.port
8561
Not applicable
This value is provided by the SAS Deployment Wizard prompting mechanism and represents the port on which UDP communication occurs.
multicast_udp_ip_ttl
1
Decimal. Specifies how far a multicast packet should be forwarded from a sending host.
0 is restricted to the same host.
1 is restricted to the same subnet.
32 is restricted to the same site.
64 is restricted to the same region.
128 is restricted to the same continent.
255 is unrestricted.
The IP multicast routing protocol uses the Time to Live (TTL) field of IP datagrams to decide how far a multicast packet should be forwarded from a sending host. The default TTL for multicast datagrams is 1, which results in multicast packets going only to other hosts in the local network.
If all SAS applications participating in the multicast (this includes Remote Services, any Java applications in the middle tier, and BI Report Services) are on the same machine, the value should be 0.
If your site has a SAS middle-tier application that resides on a different subnet but uses the same metadata server within the same SAS deployment, increase the value for this property.
multicast.security
Not applicable
Not applicable
By default (with no value), both encryption and authentication are enabled. Valid values are:
  • ENCRYPT: encrypt but do not require authentication
  • NONE: do not encrypt and do not require authentication
multicast.config.file
Not applicable
URL string (file://, http://, and so on)
By default, a JGroups configuration is provided. However, you can provide your own configuration by specifying the URL path to that configuration. This option enables you to specify a port range or change from IP multicast to the gossip router capabilities of JGroups.