Beginning with SAS 9.2, SAS for Microsoft Windows operating systems provides the option to license SAS^® software based on a limited number of cores and a specific machine name or computer name. This is called subcapacity licensing. To use SAS with subcapacity licensing, you must install the SAS software on a physical machine or virtual machine with the designated computer name and the designated number of cores or fewer cores.

To determine the computer name and reported number of cores on the machine, see the "Computer Name," "Number of Cores," and "Hyperthreading Considerations for SAS 9.2 Only" sections below.

Note: An error similar to the one below can occur with SAS on UNIX operating systems. If you have SAS for UNIX, see SAS Note 41510, "Installation fails if hostname does not match SID file or if hostname is longer than 11 characters on UNIX platforms."

Note: Subcapacity licensing for cloud environments, such as the Amazon Cloud, is different from the typical subcapacity licensing documented in this SAS Note. SAS installation data files (SID files) for Amazon Cloud machines contain a MODEL and/or MODNUM value that starts with AM. Contact SAS Technical Support for assistance.

If you run the Renew SAS Software utility or install SAS with the subcapacity license file on a machine with more than the number of licensed cores, when you start SAS, you might see the following message in the SAS log window or in a SAS message box:

You also might see this message:

Starting in SAS^® 9.3, the following message is displayed if the computer name is different:

The numbers and computer names included in the preceding error messages vary depending on the number of cores on the machine, the number of cores licensed, and the computer names involved. The designated-machine-name is in the SAS installation data file (SID file). Your-actual-machine-name is the name of the machine where SAS is currently installed.

Determining Whether a Subcapacity License Is Currently Applied to the SAS Installation 

To determine if a subcapacity license is currently applied to the machine, submit the SAS code proc setinit; run; and check the SAS log for the results. If the PROC SETINIT results include a line after the site number that starts with CPU and includes MODEL NAME, or MODEL NUMBER, or SERIAL, then the machine name is in the MODEL NAME and MODEL NUMBER fields, and the designated number of cores is in the SERIAL field. These fields are explained below.

Correcting This Error

One option is to install SAS on a physical machine or virtual machine with the licensed number or fewer cores and with a computer name that is the same as the requested node name or designated-machine-name listed in the error message. Or, modify the number of cores on the virtual machine.

Or, if necessary, your company's designated SAS Installation Representative can contact the SAS Sales Department or SAS Contracts Department to change the computer name or the number of licensed cores. Then, a new SID file is created with the new computer name and/or new number of cores and emailed to the SAS Installation Representative. In this case, you do not need to re-install. Instead, you would run the Renew SAS Software utility to apply the new SID file. However, if the SAS 9.3 installation failed at the "Install Post Processing" step, then once the machine name and number of cores are changed, you can complete the post-processing steps using the instructions in SAS Note 49712, "The 32-bit SAS^® 9.3 installation fails at the 'Install Post Processing' step for the 64-bit Windows operating environment."

A third option is to contact the SAS Sales Department and inquire about changing the licensing so that it is independent of the number of cores and/or the computer name.  In this case the resulting SAS license file contains no machine name and/or no core check, which is designated by SERIAL=''. Then, run the Renew SAS Software utility to apply the new SID file that is generated.

If a SID file is set up for subcapacity licensing, then the MODNUM, possibly the MODEL, and SERIAL values in the SID file are not blank. Instead, they include the subcapacity information. For example, the following line in a SID file indicates a license for only four cores:

The following example indicates a license for twelve cores and a computer name longer than 11 characters:

Warning: You cannot manually modify the SID file. If the SID file is modified, then the SAS installation will fail and the Renew SAS Software license renewal process will fail.

Note: Currently, if you have a SAS subcapacity license, it places a limit on the number of cores you can have on your machine. You cannot have more cores on the machine and then use the SAS CPUCOUNT system option in a SAS session in order to limit the number of cores that SAS uses. The number of cores licensed, which this document addresses, is independent of the CPUCOUNT system option set for the SAS installation. Also, note that if you set up a virtual machine with the designated number of cores, then performance in a virtual environment is not expected to match the performance in a nonvirtual environment, as documented in SAS Product Support for Virtualization Environments.

Computer Name

To determine the computer name on Windows operating systems, navigate to Control Panel ► System, or Control Panel ► System and Maintenance (or System and Security) ► System and locate the following:

For example, it might display the following:

Note: Only the computer name, win76-xxxx, and not the domain, is included in the SID file, and the computer name in the SID file is always preceded by two asterisks and followed by one asterisk, as in the example shown above.

Previously in SAS 9.2, the computer name in the SID file was limited to 11 characters or less. However, this limitation was removed, and the computer name can now be up to 15 characters and can include hyphens. In this case, in the SID file, the computer name begins in the MODEL field and continues in the MODNUM field.

Number of Cores

Subcapacity licensing is based on the total number of cores, not the number of processors. For example, a single processor can be dual core or quad core. To determine the number of cores reported on a Windows operating system, do the following:

1. Select Start ► Run or click Start ► and enter CMD.EXE in the search box.
2. Then, in the COMMAND PROMPT window that opens, enter the following:
      wmic cpu get numberofcores
3. Press Enter. The number of cores is displayed on the following line.

To determine the number of cores reported on virtual machines, do the following:

1. Open the Virtual Machine Properties window.
2. Click the Hardware tab.
3. Locate the number of CPUs. This is the number of cores on the machine.
4. If needed, change the number of CPUs to the licensed number of cores or less.

Note: The number for CORE in the SID file can be the reported number or less.

Hyperthreading Considerations for SAS 9.2 Installations Only

Furthermore, for SAS 9.2 installations only, if hyperthreading is enabled, then the number of cores available is actually double the number of physical cores.

To determine whether hyperthreading is enabled on a Windows operating system, do the following:

1. Select Start ► Run or click Start ► and enter CMD.EXE in the search box.
2. Then, in the COMMAND PROMPT window that opens, enter the following:
      wmic cpu get numberoflogicalprocessors
3. Press Enter. The number of logical processors is displayed on the following line.

Note: If this number is double the number of cores from the "Number of Cores" section above, then hyperthreading is enabled on the machine.

With SAS 9.2, if hyperthreading is enabled, then disable hyperthreading. SAS 9.2 determines the number of logical processors and compares it to the number of cores in the SAS 9.2 SID file.

IMPORTANT: With SAS 9.3 and SAS 9.4, hyperthreading is not a factor and can remain enabled. SAS 9.3 and SAS 9.4 determine the number of cores on the machine and compare it to the number of cores in the SID file.

Operating System and Release Information