SAS Metadata Server might abnormally terminate with an "unhandled Exception" that is reported in the SAS Metadata Server's SASMeta_MetadataServer_console_hostname.log file. The error is similar to the following traceback and results in the SAS Metadata Server process terminating completely.

SASMeta_MetadataServer_console_myhost.log file excerpt:

A temporary circumvention is to start the SAS Metadata Server again.

The error might occur when the following two conditions are present:

1. A value is set for the KEEPALIVE parameter for the SAS Metadata Server. This parameter is usually configured in the sasv9_usermods.cfg file located in the SAS-configuration-directory/SASMeta/MetadataServer directory. By default, the parameter is not set, which indicates to the SAS Metadata Server that no keepalive is to be used.

Note: For more information about the KEEPALIVE parameter, see the "OBJECTSERVERPARMS System Option" section of the SAS^® 9.4 Intelligence Platform: Application Server Administration Guide.

2. The time it takes to negotiate the AES-encrypted connection between a SAS client and the SAS Metadata Server is greater than the value of the KEEPALIVE parameter. For example, if the KEEPALIVE parameter is set to 60 seconds and the AES handshaking from a middle tier client takes more than 60 seconds, there is the potential for the SAS Metadata Server to crash with the traceback documented above.

Workaround

To prevent the error from occurring, apply either of the following workarounds:

• Remove the KEEPALIVE parameter completely.
• Increase the value of the KEEPALIVE parameter so that it is greater than the highest handshaking delay coming from a SAS client application. It might be hard to determine this value without enabling trace-level logging for the SAS Metadata Server. If this is the case, you will need to determine the appropriate value by iterative trial and error.

Click the Hot Fix tab in this note to access the hot fix for this issue.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for this issue for Base SAS 9.4_M3 is available at:

A fix for this issue for Base SAS 9.4_M2 is available at: