Windows Spawner

Starting the Windows Spawner

Here is the syntax for the command to start the Windows spawner:

SPAWNER <options>

options can be any of the following:

-AUTHSERVER domain-or-server

specifies the location of the user authentication database. You can specify the name of either a Windows domain or a Windows server where the database resides.

Instead of specifying a single domain in the -AUTHSERVER option, you can bypass this option and specify the domain name in the form domain\user-ID when you provide your user ID to the Windows environment. For example:

signon user="apex\bass" password=time2go;

The domain name APEX identifies the location of the user authentication database. The user ID BASS and the password TIME2GO are verified against the user ID-and-password database of the specified domain.

-DELETE

calls the Service Control Manager to remove the SAS Job Spawner Windows service, which was previously installed and started by using the -INSTALL option. If multiple instances of the spawner service are running, you can specify which instance to delete by using the -INSTANCE option. You do not need to specify the -INSTANCE option to reference the first instance of the spawner.

If you used the -NAME option with the -INSTALL option to install a spawner, you can use the -NAME option with the -DELETE option to identify the spawner to be deleted.

spawner -delete -name "Glenn's spawner"

-HELP

prints a list of valid parameters.

-INSTALL

causes an instance of a spawner to be installed as a Windows service. Each spawner instance is assigned a name, by default, in the following form:

SAS Job Spawner #xx

xx can range from 2 to 99. For example, if three instances of the spawner are installed, they are named, by default:

SAS Job Spawner
SAS Job Spawner #2
SAS Job Spawner #3

After the spawner is installed, unless the -NOSECURITY option is specified, the spawner will run secured.

You can install each instance of the spawner by using the following command:

C:\SAS> SPAWNER -install

Instead of accepting a default name for a spawner service, you can assign a specific name to a spawner service by using the -NAME option.

You can start the spawner service by using either the NET START command or the services applet, or by rebooting the machine that the spawner runs on.

-INSTALLDEPENDENCIES "service- name"

specifies the Windows service that must be started before the spawner service starts.

-INSTANCE xx

identifies the instance of the spawner service to be deleted by using the -DELETE option, where xx represents values from 2 to 99. If only the first instance of a spawner service (named SAS Job Spawner) is running and you want to delete it, you do not need to specify the instance. If you want to delete any instance other than the first one that was installed, you can either specify the instance or use -NAME to specify the spawner.

For example, if three instances of the spawner are running and you want to delete only the second instance, use the following command:

spawner -delete  -instance 2

To delete a specific spawner that was installed by using the -NAME option, use the following command:

spawner -delete -name "Glenn's spawner"

-LOGCONFIGLOC file-specification

specifies the location of the XML configuration file that is used to initialize the SAS logging facility. The configuration file contains the pattern layout for the messages that are generated and automatically directed to an output device, such as a console or a log. Relevant log data for the Windows spawner might include the date and time, the log level, the thread ID, and the logger.

The file-specification that defines the location of the XML configuration file must be a valid filename or a path and filename for your operating environment. If the path contains spaces, enclose the file-specification in quotation marks.

Here is an example of the command to invoke the SAS logging facility:

spawner -logconfigloc  winspawnerlog.xml

For details about the SAS logging facility, see SAS Logging: Configuration and Programming Reference.

-NAME spawner-service-name

specifies the name that you assign to the spawner that is installed and started as a service. A specified name overrides the default name that is automatically assigned when the -INSTALL option is used.

A specified spawner name cannot exceed 80 alphanumeric characters. A name string that includes one or more spaces must be enclosed in quotation marks.

The following example shows how to install an explicitly named spawner as a service:

spawner -install -name "Glenn's spawner"

The following example shows how to start an explicitly named Windows spawner by using the NET START command:

net start "Glenn's spawner"

-NOCLEARTEXT

prevents sign-ons from clients that do not support user ID and password encryption. This option prevents clients that are running older releases (before SAS 6.09E and SAS 6.11 TS040, which do not support user ID and password encryption) from signing on to the spawner program. However, the default permits both encrypted and plaintext user IDs and passwords.

-NOINHERITANCE

disables socket inheritance. Socket inheritance allows SAS/CONNECT servers to use the socket connection that is established between the SAS/CONNECT client and the spawner. Socket inheritance saves resources and is easier to configure when clients connect to a server that is within a firewall. Socket inheritance is enabled by default.

-NOSSPI

prevents the automatic authentication of clients that are members of trusted domains.

If the client and the server run under Windows and if the client does not supply a user ID and password to the server, SSPI (Security Support Provider Interface) is automatically used to perform client authentication.

However, if you specify the -NOSSPI option, SSPI is not used, and the client must specify a unique user ID and password to access the server. When -NOSSPI is specified, it is recommended that you use the -SECURITY option. For complete details about SSPI, see Data Security for SAS/CONNECT or SAS/SHARE Servers.

-NOSCRIPT

prevents sign-on from clients that use scripts, and allows sign-on only from clients that do not use scripts.

-NOSCRIPT can be useful if you want to limit SAS start-up commands to the use of the -SASCMD option. Specifying -NOSCRIPT restricts clients from specifying additional options in SAS start-up commands or script files. When -NOSCRIPT is specified, -SASCMD must also be specified.

-XMLCONFIGFILE "fully-qualified-path"

specifies a fully qualified path to the configuration file in XML format that contains the information necessary to connect to a SAS Metadata Server. A path that includes one or more spaces must be enclosed in quotation marks. For details about creating the configuration file, see the Base SAS Help for the Metadata Server Connections window.

If -XMLCONFIGFILE is used, -SASSPAWNERCN must also be used.

Alias:

-OMRCONFIGFILE

-SASCMD

specifies the SAS command or a command file that invokes SAS when a client attempts to connect to a server.

Use the -SASCMD option in order to do the following:

invoke SAS from a directory that is not the default location
specify different SAS start-up command options
execute other statements before invoking SAS

The following options are supplied by default when you invoke SAS:

-DMR -COMAMID access-method -NOSPLASH -ICON -NOTERMINAL

An alternate file that can be invoked is a batch file, which is signified by the .BAT extension. Here is an example of a batch file:

cd \sas  
sas.exe %*

The first line changes to the directory where the SAS executable is stored. The second line starts SAS. Add options as needed at this SAS start-up command.

-SASDAEMONSERVICE port-number | service-name

specifies the port or the service that the SAS/CONNECT server uses to notify the spawner that it is ready to receive requests from SAS clients. When socket inheritance is enabled, the SAS client and the SAS/CONNECT server communicate via this port. If you use a service, its name must be configured in the SERVICES file on the computer that the SAS/CONNECT server session runs on.

-SASSPAWNERCN "CONNECT-spawner-object-name"

specifies the name of the CONNECT spawner object to use in the SAS Metadata Repository. A name that includes one or more spaces must be enclosed in quotation marks. For details about generating a CONNECT spawner definition for the SAS Metadata Server, see the help for the SAS/CONNECT Spawner server type in the Server Manager of SAS Management Console.

If -SASSPAWNERCN is used, -XMLCONFIGFILE must also be used.

-SECURITY | -NOSECURITY

CAUTION:: For SAS 9.2, the -SECURITY option is not supported in a spawner invocation from a DOS prompt.
The spawner runs in secured mode, by default, only if the spawner is installed as a service. See the -SERVICE option. The -INSTALL option causes the spawner to be installed as a Windows service. For details, see the -INSTALL option.

When the spawner runs as a service and in secured mode, the clients supply their own unique user IDs and passwords in order to connect to a spawner. If the spawner is not running as a service, an unsecured mode is assumed regardless of whether -NOSECURITY is specified. Running without security means that all server sessions will be started by using a common user ID and password.

The person who installs the spawner must have the following user rights in the Windows domain:

	"Act as part of the operating environment"
	"Bypass traverse checking" (the default is everyone)
	"Increase quotas"
	"Replace a process level token"
	"Log on locally" (the default is everyone).

All users who connect to the spawner must have the Windows domain user right "log on as a batch job".

-SERVICE port-number | service-name

specifies an alternate port that the spawner uses to listen for incoming requests for connection. The default is the Telnet port.

SERVUSER=user-ID SERVPASS=password

are used if the spawner is installed as a service (-INSTALL is specified). However, if the spawner is installed as a service and the SSL encryption service is used (-NETENCRYPTALGORITHM=SSL is specified), SERVUSER= and SERVERPASS= must be specified. For details about SSL, see Encryption in SAS.

In order to obtain a digital certificate from a certificate store, you must specify SERVUSER= and SERVPASS=, which define the user ID and password to be used to start the spawner service.

Specify both the SERVUSER= and the SERVPASS= options.

-SHELL

enables the SAS session that is invoked by the spawner program to create a DOS shell, which is required in order for the server to run X commands.

Without specifying the -SHELL option to the spawner, X command processing is disabled, by default. For details about running X commands from your SAS session, see SAS Companion for Windows.

USERID=user-ID PASSWORD=password

You must specify USERID= and PASSWORD= if the spawner is installed as a service (-INSTALL is specified) and the spawner explicitly runs unsecured (-NOSECURITY is specified).

Because the spawner is running unsecured, clients do not have their own identities authenticated. Instead, all clients that connect to a spawner will use a common user ID and password.

Specify both the USERID= and PASSWORD= options.

For an example of starting the Windows spawner as a service, see Scriptless Sign-on to a Windows Spawner That Runs as a Service in Encryption in SAS.

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