Hot Fix FAQs

The answer can vary. To some, it is a quick fix for an immediate problem or an essential fix for a commonly recurring problem. To others, it is system maintenance.

Technical Support's hot fix focus is on solving critical and frequently recurring problems. Defects that are assigned an "alert" or "high" priority are considered for hot fixes. If the fix can be created with a reasonably low impact on the source code and testing coverage can confirm accurate results, the hot fix is pursued. Fixes that require a significant code update, impose a large potential for regressions in the software, are regarded as enhancements to the existing software, or are considered to have a minor impact are deferred to a subsequent SAS^® release. Following this process helps us to ensure the reliability of hot fixes.

Hot fixes are tested and fully supported. Most hot fixes are incorporated into the next scheduled release.

Developing a viable workaround for a problem is the preferred approach. It is not practical to provide a hot fix for every problem that is encountered. However, we want to provide fixes that allow you to maintain your installed production SAS System until you are reasonably able to upgrade to the latest SAS release.

A container hot fix delivers one or more member hot fixes in one downloadable unit. A container hot fix is only an outer shell. The member hot fixes inside the container update the SAS software components.

Here is general information about container hot fixes:

• The hot fix installation instructions indicate whether a hot fix is a container. The installation instructions also list the SAS software components that are updated by the member hot fixes. Pay special attention to any pre-installation or post-installation steps outlined in the instructions.
  
  
• You must apply the container hot fix separately to each machine. The installation process installs only the member hot fixes that are applicable based on the SAS Deployment Registry for each machine.
  
  
• The following table lists where you can see container and member hot fix IDs:
  

  	Container Hot Fix ID	Member Hot Fix ID
  SAS hot fix download site	Yes	No
  Hot fix installation instructions	Yes	Yes
  SAS® Deployment Manager screens	No	Yes
  SAS Deployment Registry	No	Yes
  SAS DeploymentRegistry.txt/.html	No	Yes
  SASHFADD* analysis report	Yes	No
  SASHFADD* DEPLOY_ directory	Yes	No

  * The SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment Tool (SASHFADD) correctly identifies container hot fixes that have members that can be applied to your SAS deployment.

• SAS^® 9.4 and SAS^® 9.3 container hot fixes might contain member hot fixes for multiple operating systems. SAS Deployment Manager installs only those member hot fixes that are applicable for the operating system on each specific machine.
  
  
• SAS^® 9.2 container hot fixes contain individual member hot fixes specific to an operating system. If the SAS components are installed across multiple operating systems, the relevant SAS 9.2 hot fix container for each operating system should be downloaded and applied to any applicable machines.
  
  

  More information about installing hot fixes is available via the following links:

  SAS 9.4: SAS^® Deployment Wizard and SAS^® Deployment Manager 9.4: User’s Guide
  SAS 9.3: SAS^® Deployment Wizard and SAS^® Deployment Manager 9.3: User’s Guide
  SAS 9.2: Using the Maintenance Installation Tool to Install SAS^® Hot Fixes: Usage and Troubleshooting Guide

You can choose one of the following strategies when determining which hot fixes you should install:

Strategy 1: Install Only What Is Needed

You might want to fix only the problems that you encounter. You can install just the fixes that are needed to keep your existing jobs running successfully. This strategy minimizes the number of changes and regression testing for your SAS installations and the time spent installing hot fixes. If you choose this strategy, you should install hot fixes only on an as-needed basis.

Strategy 2: Install Every Fix that Is Available

You might want to be proactive by keeping your SAS installation updated with all of the latest fixes. Your site might be large and use many different components of the software. If you choose this strategy, downloading the available product hot fixes at set intervals is the best approach.

Neither strategy is better or more correct; they are just different. You should determine which strategy best meets the business needs of your site.     

ALERT issues are problems that you need to be aware of before you install or use the software. These issues might include, but are not limited to, security, data integrity, and incorrect output.

For these issues, the word ALERT appears in the Issue(s) Addressed column for the hot fix.

When new hot fixes become available, announcements are posted to the SAS Communities Hot Fix Site.

See the How to learn about hot fixes to SAS software web page to learn more about the Communities site, including how to receive timely hot fix announcements via email and RSS feed. 

See the SAS Security Bulletins page for CVE information.

To request a hot fix for a specific issue, open a case with SAS Technical Support.

Though not required, the following information is very helpful:

• How is the software problem affecting your site?
• What risks are involved while the issue persists?
• Is a production system impacted?
• How many users are affected?
• What workarounds have you found, and why are they unacceptable?
• Do you require a fix by a certain date, and what is the significance of that date? 

SAS Technical Support cannot guarantee a release date for a hot fix. A hot fix might be available in less than a week or it might take several weeks for a hot fix to be available. The major factors that affect the hot fix delivery timeframe are the complexity and quantity of the fixes that the hot fix contains, the volume and criticality of other hot fixes that are being processed simultaneously, and the types of issues that arise during the testing cycles of the hot fix package.

Hot fixes do not have to be installed in any specific order.

Also, installing one hot fix does not overwrite a previously installed fix.

Hot fix installation is flexible because of these reasons:

• All of the updated files (modules, catalogs, message files, and so on) that are necessary for a fix are included in one hot fix.
  
• Two different production hot fixes never contain the same updated files.
• Hot fixes are cumulative. When an existing hot fix is replaced by a newer version that contains additional fixes, all previous fixes are also included. For this reason, do not install a previous version (a replaced version) of a hot fix after you install the current version.

For SAS^® 9.2 TS2M0, SAS^® 9.3, and SAS^® 9.4, the Installation Complete dialog box provides information about the files that successfully updated during the installation.

Installation log files for each hot fix installation are also stored in the following locations:

SAS 9.3 and SAS 9.4: !SASHOME\InstallMisc\InstallLogs\*_hot-fix-name_*.log

SAS 9.2 TS2M0: !SASHOME\InstallMisc\InstallLogs\Maintenance\*_hot-fix-name_*.log

The *preexec.log file provides detailed information about the installation process before the install was executed; the *postexec.log file provides detailed information after it executed.

The IT*.log, with a timestamp that corresponds to the date and time on the *_hot-fix-name_*.log file, provides detailed information regarding the steps of the installation process.

For SAS^® 9.2 TS2M0, SAS^® 9.3, and SAS^® 9.4, click Cancel to cancel an installation. If you cancel the installation using an acceptable method (for example, by clicking Cancel) rather than by terminating the process, you might receive the following message:

Installation could not be completed. No changes have been made to your system.

The installation software then restores the original content before any changes are made. 

• For SAS^® 9.4, see the "Command Line Options for Hot Fixes" section in Chapter 4 of the SAS^® Deployment Wizard and SAS^® Deployment Manager 9.4: User's Guide.
• For SAS^® 9.3, see the "Using the Hot Fix Launcher Script" section in SAS^® Deployment Wizard and SAS^® Deployment Manager 9.3: User's Guide.
• For SAS^® 9.2 TS2M0, see the "Silent Installation" section in Using the Maintenance Installation Tool to Install SAS^® Hot Fixes: Usage and Troubleshooting Guide. 

For SAS^® 9.3 and SAS^® 9.4, after the SAS^® Deployment Manager installs a hot fix on a machine, the deployment registry is updated to indicate the inclusion of that hot fix. When you use SAS Deployment Manager again, hot fixes are checked against the deployment registry so that previously installed hot fixes are not reinstalled. If you want the SAS Deployment Manager to include previously installed hot fixes during another installation pass, use the -reinstallhotfix command-line option.

Here is an example: sasdm.exe -reinstallhotfix

For SAS^® 9.2 TS2M0, see SAS Note 35780, "Attempts to re-apply SAS 9.2 hot fixes will fail." 

For SAS^® 9.2 TS2M0, SAS^® 9.3, and SAS^® 9.4, installed hot fixes are logged in the SAS Deployment Registry. A reporting utility that is named ViewRegistry (available in the sas.tools.viewregistry.jar file) processes the deployment registry and generates a report that is named DeploymentRegistry.html. This report identifies all SAS software that is installed within the current SASHOME location, including hot fixes.

For more information about the ViewRegistry utility, see SAS KB0036131, "Using the ViewRegistry Report and other methods to determine the SAS^® 9.2 and later software releases and hot fixes that are installed." This KB article contains details about how to access and execute the utility.

The SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment Tool (SASHFADD) analyzes a SAS^® 9.2, SAS^® 9.3, or SAS^® 9.4 deployment. The tool creates a customized report that lists available hot fixes for the installed SAS products, and also generates scripts that automate hot fix downloads.

For more details, see the SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment Tool (SASHFADD Version 2.2): Usage Guide and the SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment tool SASHFADD 2.2 download page. 

No automated process exists to remove a SAS^® 9.x hot fix. You must manually remove a hot fix. The removal process varies in complexity depending on the installed hot fix.

If you think that a SAS 9.x hot fix must be removed, restore your system using the last backup that was made before you installed the hot fix. If a backup is not available, open a case with SAS Technical Support so that a consultant can evaluate whether the hot fix can be removed safely from your system.