When an existing SAS data set with a defined access control list (ACL) is overwritten in a UNIX operating environment, the ACL is removed. However, the correct ACL is applied to new data sets that are created in a directory defined with ACL inheritance.

The difference in behavior is due to the way that SAS replaces an existing data set. As part of the process, a temporary file is opened and written to. Then, its permissions are changed to match those of the existing file before the temporary file is renamed to replace the existing file. The ACL is lost because of the changing of the permissions on the file.

A new LIBNAME statement option, NOSETPERM, is available beginning with SAS 9.3. NOSETPERM disables the file permission inheritance, allowing the new data set file to correctly inherit the ACL from the directory in which it is created.

Note that if the permissions are not controlled by an ACL, the new data set might have file permissions that are different from those of the file that it is replacing.

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Operating System and Release Information

A fix for this issue for Base SAS 9.21_M3 is available at: