System Options for Metadata

METAENCRYPTALG System Option

Specifies the type of encryption to use when communicating with the metadata server.

Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation
Alias:	METAENCRYPTALGORITHM
Category:	Communications: Metadata
PROC OPTIONS GROUP=	META
Default:	SASPROPRIETARY

Syntax
Syntax Description
Details
See Also

Syntax

METAENCRYPTALG NONE | RC2 | RC4 | DES | TRIPLEDES | SASPROPRIETARY | SAS

Syntax Description

NONE

specifies that no encryption is used.

RC2

specifies to use the RC2 encryption algorithm that was developed by RSA Security. The RC2 algorithm uses a block cipher to encrypt 64-bit blocks. The RC2 key size is variable and can range from 8 to 256 bits. A single message can be expanded to 8 bytes. RC2 encryption is an alternative to Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption.

RC4

specifies to use the RC4 encryption algorithm that was developed by RSA Security. The RC4 algorithm uses a stream cipher to encrypt 1 byte at a time. The RC4 key size is variable and can range from 8 to 2,048 bits.

DES

specifies to use the Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption algorithm that was developed by IBM. The DES algorithm uses a block cipher to encrypt 64-bit blocks. DES uses a 56-bit key.

TRIPLEDES

specifies to use the TRIPLEDES encryption algorithm, which processes the DES encryption algorithm sequentially three times on the data. TRIPLEDES uses a different 56-bit key for each iteration of the encryption. A single message can be expanded to 8 bytes.

SASPROPRIETARY

specifies to use basic encryption services in all operating environments. The SASPROPRIETARY algorithm uses a 32-bit key and can expand a single message by one-third. No additional product license is required. This is the default.

Alias:

SAS

Note: In a configuration file or at SAS invocation, the syntax for SAS system options is specific to your operating environment. For more information, see the SAS documentation for your operating environment. [cautionend]

Details

The SAS IOM supports encrypted communication with the metadata server. Use the METAENCRYPTALG and METAENCRYPTLEVEL system options to define the type and level of encryption that SAS clients use when they communicate with the metadata server.

If you specify an encryption algorithm other than SASPROPRIETARY (alias SAS), you must have a product license for SAS/SECURE software. For more information, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security Administration Guide.