If you receive the following error at invocation, ensure that the directory being used as the WORK location exists, and that you have both read and write permissions for that directory:

   ERROR: Library WORK does not exist.
   FATAL: Unable to initialize the options subsystem.
   (SASXKINI): PHASE 3 KERNEL INITIALIZATION FAILED.
   UNABLE TO INITIALIZE THE SAS KERNEL

The default location for the WORK directory can be found in the !SASROOT/sasv9.cfg file. If you do not have permissions that allow you to modify this file, you can specify the -WORK option at invocation:

   sas -work /alternative_directory_path

or

   sas myprogram.sas -work /alternative_directory_path

Note: The location you specify with the -WORK option at invocation is used only for that SAS process.

The -WORK option cannot be specified via an OPTIONS statement.

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