SAS encourages SPD Server
users to consolidate the storage and management of user information
through industry standard authenticators. Examples of SAS authenticators
include the legacy LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), Active
Directory, and as of 2015, SAS SAS Metadata Repository.
Starting with SPD Server
5.2, support for user authentication through SAS Metadata Server is
provided. SAS Metadata Server authentication provides improved integration
with other SAS products, and can be configured to use the authentication
provider of choice (such as LDAP).
The legacy LDAP authentication
support is retained in SPD Server, but customers are encouraged to
migrate to the newer, more flexible SAS Metadata Server implementation.
The newer SAS Metadata Server version provides higher levels of encryption,
better integration, support, and documentation.
By default, SPD Server
uses a native method of user authentication that accesses user ID
and password information stored in the password database.
Psmgr is
an internal stand-alone SPD Server command-line utility that you can
use to create and modify the password database. The SAS Management
Console and the SpdsMgr plug-in provide alternative ways of modifying
the password database. (The SpdsMgr plug-in is a GUI interface that
provides the same functionality as the command-line interface of the
SPD Server psmgr.)