Troubleshooting: SAS Visual Analytics

Access Issues

Server Operation Issues

Load, Reload, and Import Issues

Access Issues

Issue: Inability to sign in.

Resolution:

If the error message is Public access denied, make sure that the user has a well-formed definition in metadata. In a user’s metadata definition, this problem can be caused by a user ID that is not in a qualified format. This problem is not caused by passwords or authentication domain assignments on a user’s Accounts tab. See Adding Users.
Make sure that the metadata server and the middle tier are running. See Operate Other Servers.

Issue: Missing or inaccessible applications or features.

Resolution:

Make sure that each user’s memberships provide the appropriate capabilities. See Roles and Capabilities.
Make sure that users are not inadvertently connecting as guests. See Supporting Guest Access.
Make sure that the appropriate applications are licensed and installed.

Issue: Users cannot access any LASR tables in the explorer or the designer.

Resolution:

Make sure that the SAS LASR Analytic Server is running and that tables are loaded.
In metadata, make sure that the LASR authorization service is enabled. On the Options tab in the Properties window for the SAS LASR Analytic Server’s connection object, verify that the Use LASR authorization service check box is selected.
Make sure that uniqueness requirements are met. See In-Memory LASR Names.

Issue: Users cannot access a particular LASR table.

Resolution:

Make sure that users have the ReadMetadata and Read permissions for the LASR table. Also, make sure that the SAS Trusted User’s ReadMetadata access is not blocked. See Permissions.
Make sure the table does not have any invalid permission conditions. On the table’s Authorization page, look for any conditional grants . To restore access, remove any permission conditions that are no longer valid. If appropriate, set new conditions.

Note: A table that has a conditional grant becomes inaccessible if its metadata is updated with information that renders the permission condition invalid. For example, a permission condition might reference a column that is no longer part of the table.
Make sure that each LASR table for the target LASR library has a unique name. For example, a copy-and-paste action in the data builder can result in multiple tables that have the same name within a particular library. To restore access, delete one of the tables. See Unload, Reload, or Delete a Table.
Make sure that concurrent user logins are allowed. See Policy for Concurrent User Logins.
If the table was autoloaded, try again. (Data availability might be interrupted during autoload processing.)

Issue: Inability to take a capability away from a user.

Resolution:

Make sure that the user is not assigned to any role that provides that capability. Consider indirect and implicit memberships, as well as direct memberships. Remember that all registered users are automatically members of the PUBLIC and SASUSERS groups.
Make sure that the user is not assigned to the Metadata Server: Unrestricted role.

Issue: Inability to access a third-party DBMS table.

Resolution:

From the main menu, select FileClear Credentials Cache. Then, attempt access again. If you are prompted for a user ID and password, enter DBMS credentials.
If the third-party DBMS uses proprietary authentication and is pre-assigned, you must store a DBMS user ID and password. See How to Store Passwords for a Third-Party Server in the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security Administration Guide.

Issue: Inability to register tables.

Resolution:

Make sure that you have the necessary metadata-layer permissions. See Permissions by Task.
Make sure that you have Read access to the physical source tables (host-layer permissions).
On Windows, make sure that the account that you are using has the Log on as a batch job Windows privilege. See Host Account Privileges.
If you are prompted for a user ID and password, enter host credentials for the workspace server.

Issue: Problem running exported code (inability to connect to the metadata server).

Resolution:

Metadata server connection information is not included in exported code. Either supply connection information or use a SAS session that already includes connection information (for example, the SAS DATA Step Batch Server). For information about metadata server connection options, see SAS Language Interfaces to Metadata.

Server Operation Issues

Issue: Inability to start a SAS LASR Analytic Server.

Resolution:

Make sure that any host-layer requirements are met. See Host Account Privileges.

Note: If adjustments to host-layer privileges do not have an immediate effect, try signing out, closing your browser, and then accessing SAS Visual Analytics again.
Make sure that the server’s metadata definition is complete. In particular, valid values for the install path, signature files location, and number of machines to use are required. See Add a SAS LASR Analytic Server.

Note: The associated error message specifies: Failed to create a LASR Analytic Server signature file.
Make sure that each server on a particular host uses a unique port number.
If your deployment has multiple SAS Application Servers, make sure an appropriate server is being used. See Using Multiple SAS Application Servers.
If the error indicates that the LASR procedure is not found, make sure that the workspace server that is being used has a valid license for SAS Visual Analytics software.
If the error indicates that a path is not in the list of accessible paths, see Locked-Down Servers.
Make sure that the host name is specified correctly in the connection object for the SAS LASR Analytic Server.

Note: The associated error message specifies: You cannot combine the STARTSERVER or SERVEROPTS= syntax with the specification of a host other than the local machine.

Issue: Inability to stop a SAS LASR Analytic Server.

Resolution:

Make sure that you have the Administer permission for the server.
Make sure that any host-layer requirements are met. See Host Account Privileges.
If the error is Procedure LASR not found, make sure that the workspace server that is being used has a valid license for SAS Visual Analytics software.
Make sure that concurrent user logins are allowed. See Policy for Concurrent User Logins.
If the SAS middle tier was recently restarted, the server can become unresponsive. See Non-distributed Server Dependencies.

Issue: No last action log is available for a server.

Resolution:

If no action on a server has been initiated from the LASR Servers tab, no last action log exists for that server.
Not all actions generate a last action log. In most cases, success and failure results generate last action logs; not processed results do not.
If the last action log file for a server has been deleted from its file system location, no last action log is available for that server. Last action logs are written to the directory that is specified by a suite-level configuration property. See va.lastActionLogPath.

Issue: The SAS LASR Analytic Server Monitor graphs are blank.

Resolution:

Make sure that the SAS LASR Analytic Server is running.
Make sure that the SAS LASR Analytic Server is distributed. The Monitor tabs are not supported for non-distributed servers.
Make sure that the TKGrid location in the service.properties file is correct. The file is located in the SAS configuration directory under /Applications/SASVisualAnalytics/HighPerformanceConfiguration.

Note: Any changes that you make to the High-Performance Analytics environment install location field in a server definition must also be manually made in the monitoring server’s properties file.
Restart the monitoring server. See Managing the Monitoring Server.

Issue: On the Process Monitor tab, table details are not provided.

Resolution:

Make sure that the middle-tier machine has the necessary network name resolution. See Network Name Resolution.

Issue: On the LASR Servers tab, per-instance memory gauges are not available.

Resolution:

If the Virtual Memory column is not displayed, you have a non-distributed server. Per-instance memory gauges are not supported for a non-distributed server.
If the Virtual Memory column is empty:
- Make sure that the middle-tier machine has the necessary network name resolution. See Network Name Resolution.
- Make sure that the monitoring process is running. See Supporting the Monitoring Features.

Load, Reload, and Import Issues

Issue: Inability to load, reload, or import tables.

Resolution:

Make sure that you can access the SAS LASR Analytic Server using an account that has the necessary privileges. See Host Account Privileges.
Make sure that you have the necessary metadata-layer permissions for the output folder, LASR library, and LASR table (if applicable). See Permissions.
For actions against an encrypted SASHDAT library, make sure that you have metadata-layer Read access to the library. See On-Disk Encryption of SASHDAT Files.
For actions against a library that supports reload-on-start, make sure that you have host access to the associated data provider library. See Reload-on-Start.

Note: If the library is encrypted, make sure that you have the necessary metadata-layer permissions on the corresponding secured folder, secured library, and secured table objects. See On-Disk Encryption of Reload-on-Start Files.
For loads to the public area, make sure that the library, server, and folder that are referenced by the va.publicLASRLibrary, va.publicLASRServer, and va.defaultPublicFolder configuration properties exist. See Configuration Properties.
If the OK button in an Import window remains disabled after a user populates the required fields, and the Advanced panel is not displayed, make sure that the user has ReadMetadata access to the library that is specified in the va.publicLASRLibrary property.
If a message indicates that a table is not reloadable, use a different technique to make the table available again. See Reload Methods.
Determine whether a memory limit is preventing the actions:
- In the Status column on the LASR Servers tab, make sure the target server is not over capacity. See Limit Space for Tables.
- For a distributed server, make sure that total memory usage (by all processes) does not meet or exceed the configured limit. See Memory Limits.
Make sure that concurrent user logins are allowed. See Policy for Concurrent User Logins.
For co-located HDFS or NFS-mounted MapR:
- Make sure that the source library is paired with a LASR library through a match between the source path and the server tag. For example, tables in the directory /users/sasdemo must be loaded to a LASR library that has users.sasdemo as its server tag. See Add a LASR Library.
- Make sure that the Hadoop server and the SAS LASR Analytic Server have identical, fully qualified host names in the Associated Machine field in their metadata definitions.
  
  For the Hadoop server, select the Options tab.
  
  For the SAS LASR Analytic Server, select the Options tab, click the Advanced Options button, and select the Additional Options tab.
  
  Note: The message for this issue describes the target library as unidirectional.
If the tables were promoted, review the considerations for exporting and importing data. See Reference Information for Promotion Tools in the SAS Intelligence Platform: System Administration Guide.

Issue: No last action log is available for a table.

Resolution:

If no action on a table has been initiated from the LASR Tables tab, no last action log exists for that table.
Not all actions generate a last action log. In most cases, success and failure results generate last action logs; not processed results do not.
If the last action log file for a table has been deleted from its file system location, no last action log is available for that table. Last action logs are written to the directory that is specified by a suite-level configuration property. See va.lastActionLogPath.

Issue: On the LASR Tables tab, tables are not listed.

Resolution:

Make sure that the middle-tier machine has the necessary network name resolution. See Network Name Resolution.
Make sure that the filter (in the tab’s toolbar) is not hiding tables that you expect to see.

Issue: In the Load a Table window, the OK button is disabled.

Resolution:

In the LASR Table section, enter a name. Click in one of the other fields in the window, and then click OK.

Issue: Inability to change the name of the output table when loading data from co-located HDFS or NFS-mounted MapR.

Resolution:

Add the table to the data provider again. In that transaction, assign a different name to the output table. When you load data from co-located HDFS or NFS-mounted MapR, you cannot choose a different name for the output table. See Administrator Load.

Issue: Autoload issues.

Resolution:

Review the additional considerations for autoload.

Examine the autoload logs. Here are example locations:

Windows	`C:\sas\Config\Lev1\Applications\SASVisualAnalytics\VisualAnalyticsAdministrator\Logs`
UNIX	`/opt/sas/config/Lev1/Applications/SASVisualAnalytics/VisualAnalyticsAdministrator/Logs`

In the associated AutoLoad.sas file, make sure the AL_META_LASRLIB= value references the metadata name of the appropriate LASR library. (The AL_META_LASRLIB= value should not reference an operating system directory.)

Note: The associated error messages specify: LASR Auto Load directory validation failed and Ensure that connection to metadata server is configured properly and that the proper autoload folder structure exists.
On Windows, make sure that you are using backward slashes (\) rather than forward slashes (/) when you specify Windows host directory locations.

Note: In the Windows task scheduler, the associated Last Run Result specifies: The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive.

Last updated: December 18, 2018