61222 - Differences between the FILENAME Access Methods: FTP, FTP/TLS, and SFTP

Usage Note 61222: Differences between the FILENAME Access Methods: FTP, FTP/TLS, and SFTP

If your site is moving toward using a more secure method of file transfer, you might want to know the differences between the three types of FILENAME Access Method: FTP, FTP/TLS, and SFTP. Here are three tables listing the important differences between the FILENAME Access Methods.

See the table below for details about the FILENAME FTP Access Method:

Description	Unsecured form of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Uses the FILENAME FTP engine
Supported Host	Can be used on any type of SAS^® client host (UNIX, Windows, and z/OS) to any remote FTP server
Requirements	The FTP server must be running on a remote host Assumes that the remote FTP server is listening on Port 21. If it is not, refer to the PORT= parameter in FILENAME FTP The default mode is ACTIVE. Support for PASSIVE mode is available in SAS^® 9.3 TS1M0
Authentication	HOST METADATA
How to Debug connection	You must be able to use FTP outside of SAS Add DEBUG to the FILENAME FTP statement to see the communication between SAS and the remote FTP server

See the table below for details about the FILENAME FTP/TLS Access Method:

Description	Secured form of FTP using SSL/TLS protocol and SSL/TLS certificates Uses the FILENAME FTP engine Sometimes referenced as FTPS
Supported Host	Can be used on any type of SAS client host (UNIX, Windows, and z/OS) to any remote FTP server supporting AUTHTLS
Requirements	Supported in SAS^® 9.4 TS1M2 with the hot fix installed (SAS Note 56154) and in SAS^® 9.4 TS1M3 and later The FTP server must be running on a remote host supporting AUTHTLS Set up SSL/TLS certificates (See Certificates Explained for more information.) Beginning in SAS 9.4 TS1M3, Mozilla CA bundles shipping with SAS and SAS option SSLCALISTLOC= set to their location on UNIX host and z/OS Set the AUTHTLS environment variable or FILENAME FTP parameters (AUTHTLS, PROT, PBSZ) Using the environment variable enables you to not change any existing FILENAME FTP code Assumes that the remote FTP server is running on Port 21. If it is not, refer to the PORT= parameter in the FILENAME FTP documentation The default mode is ACTIVE. To use PASSIVE mode, add the PASSIVE parameter to FILENAME FTP statement
Authentication	SSL/TLS certificates
How to Debug connection	You must be able to use FTP/TLS outside of SAS Add DEBUG to the FILENAME FTP statement to see the communication between SAS and the remote FTP server Note: If set up correctly, you should see the AUTHTLS command in the debug output.

See the table below for details about the FILENAME SFTP Access Method:

Description	Secured file transfer using SSH protocol and SSH key pairs Uses the FILENAME SFTP engine Note: If you take existing FILENAME FTP syntax and just alter the engine to SFTP, many parameters will be flagged as invalid. (For example, PASS= will result in "ERROR 23-2: Invalid option name PASS".)
Supported Host	Can be used on UNIX and Windows SAS client hosts to connect to any remote OpenSSH server executing on a UNIX host or z/OS
Requirements	Set up SSH key pairs for public-key authentication Remote OpenSSH server is running on UNIX host or z/OS that supports protocol level SSH-2 FILENAME SFTP is dependent on the default OpenSSH server messages Although not supported, FILENAME SFTP might work with remote Windows OpenSSH server or other remote SSH servers The default port is Port 22. If the OpenSSH server is running on a different port, see “Example 2” The UNIX client must use OpenSSH SFTP The Windows client must use PUTTY SAS Note 61368: "You can use the FILENAME PIPE access method as an alternative way of executing SFTP" TS800: "Configuring SSH Client Software in UNIX and Windows Environments for Use with SFTP"
Authentication	SSH key pairs for public-key authentication By default, does not support PASSWORD authentication or metadata authentication For an example workaround for password authentication, refer to “Example 6” in FILENAME SFTP
How to Debug connection	You must be able to use SFTP outside of SAS Add OPTIONS= -v to the FILENAME SFTP statement to see the communication between SAS and the remote OpenSSH server Note: You can alternatively specify the -vv or -vvv options to get additional debugging details. Add DEBUG to the FILENAME SFTP for additional informational messages

Operating System and Release Information

Product Family	Product	System	SAS Release
Product Family	Product	System	Reported	Fixed*
SAS System	Base SAS	z/OS
		z/OS 64-bit
		OpenVMS VAX
		Macintosh
		Microsoft® Windows® for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter 64-bit Edition
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 64-bit Edition
		Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition
		Microsoft® Windows® for x64
		OS/2
		Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise 32-bit
		Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise x64
		Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 32-bit
		Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64
		Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise 32-bit
		Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
		Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit
		Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro x64
		Microsoft Windows 10
		Microsoft Windows 95/98
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
		Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
		Microsoft Windows NT Workstation
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
		Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for x64
		Microsoft Windows Server 2008
		Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
		Microsoft Windows Server 2008 for x64
		Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
		Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter
		Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Std
		Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Std
		Microsoft Windows Server 2016
		Microsoft Windows XP Professional
		Windows 7 Enterprise 32 bit
		Windows 7 Enterprise x64
		Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
		Windows 7 Home Premium x64
		Windows 7 Professional 32 bit
		Windows 7 Professional x64
		Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit
		Windows 7 Ultimate x64
		Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
		Windows Vista
		Windows Vista for x64
		64-bit Enabled AIX
		64-bit Enabled HP-UX
		64-bit Enabled Solaris
		ABI+ for Intel Architecture
		AIX
		HP-UX
		HP-UX IPF
		IRIX
		Linux
		Linux for x64
		Linux on Itanium
		OpenVMS Alpha
		OpenVMS on HP Integrity
		Solaris
		Solaris for x64
Tru64 UNIX

* For software releases that are not yet generally available, the Fixed Release is the software release in which the problem is planned to be fixed.

Date Modified:	2018-01-12 15:36:38
Date Created:	2017-10-10 12:47:07

Type:	Usage Note
Priority:

Support

Usage Note 61222: Differences between the FILENAME Access Methods: FTP, FTP/TLS, and SFTP

Operating System and Release Information