SLC use case: Execute Batch SAS Language Programs with cron’s scheduler

mvallely

Step 0: Create a SAS program for testing purposes:

%put Program:	         /home/trb/sas/run_batch.sas;

%put Execution Mode:     Batch via cron;

%put Job Start Time:     &sysdate9 &systime;

%put SLC Version:	 SLC &sysver;

%put User ID:	         &sysuserid;

%put Process ID:	 &sysjobid;

%put System Day:	 &sysday;

%put Operating Sys:      &sysscp;

%put Site Name:	         &syssite;

%put - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ;
/* Your processing code here */
/* Final status reporting */

%put - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ;

%put Job End Time:	 &sysdate9 &systime;

%put Final SYSCC:	 &syscc;

%put Final SYSERR:	 &syserr;


%if &syserr > 0 %then %do;

   %put ERROR:  Job completed with errors. SYSERR=&syserr;

   %let syscc = 8;

%end;

%else %do;

   %put NOTE: Job completed successfully;

%end;
%put Job Return Code: &syscc;


/* Exit with appropriate return code */

%if &syscc > 0 %then %do;

   %abort return &syscc;

%end;

Step 1: Test Your Batch Command

Before scheduling, make sure your command works correctly from the command line. As a best practice, include complete path names since the execution environment will have minimal context. We tested with:

/opt/altair/slc/2026/bin/wps ~trb/sas_source/run_batch.sas
-log ~trb/sas_logs/run_batch.log 
-print ~trb/sas_lst/run_batch.lst 
-config /opt/altair/slc/2026/altairslc.cfg

We ran this command from the user’s home directory, executing a program called run_batch.sas containing the statements in Step 0 above. The log output goes to the path:

/home/trb/sas_logs/run_batch.log

And we included the path to the SLC configuration file. In our case:

/opt/altair/slc/2026/altairslc.cfg

Any number of command-line options can be ‘stacked’ on the SLC command-line command.

In addition, if the altairslcenv.sh file is found in the SLC home directory, it will automatically be executed as part of the SLC command-line command processing. It commonly contains environment variables needed for database connection when the SLC process is initiated. See our example altairslcenv.sh in Appendix A.

Common SLC Command-Line Command Options:

Syntax	Purpose
-logfilename	Logfileoutputlocation
-lstfilename	Listingoutputfilelocation
-configfilename	Configurationfilelocation
-sysinfilename(alternativetopositional parameterwhichisalwaysfirst)	SASlanguageprogramtobeexecuted
-workdirectory	WORKlibrarylocation
-setmacro=value	Setmacrovariables
-nosyntaxcheck	Skipsyntaxcheck
-nodate	Suppressdateinlisting
-linesizen	Setlinesize
-pagesizen	Setpagesize

Step 2: Create a Shell Script (Recommended)

It's best practice to wrap your command in a shell script for cron jobs:
Create the script file

nano /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh

Add this content to the run_sas_job.sh script:

#!/bin/bash 
cd /home/trb
#Create directories if they don't exist 
mkdir -p /home/trb/sas_logs
mkdir -p /home/trb/sas_lst
echo "Job started at $(date)" >> /home/trb/cron_job.log
#Run SAS job with full paths (single line to avoid continuation issues)
/opt/altair/slc/2026/bin/wps /home/trb/sas_source/run_batch.sas

-log /home/trb/sas_logs/run_batch.log -print

/home/trb/sas_lst/run_batch.lst -config

/opt/altair/slc/2026/altairslc.cfg


RETURN_CODE=$?

echo "Job completed at $(date) with return code: $RETURN_CODE"
/home/trb/cron_job.log 
exit $RETURN_CODE

Make this file executable:

chmod +x /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh

Step 3: Open Crontab for Editing

crontab -e

Step 4: Add Your Cron Job Entry

The cron format is: minute hour day_of_month month day_of_week command Here are some examples:

Run daily at 2:30 AM:

30 2 * * * /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh

Run every Monday at 9:00 AM:

0 9 * * 1 /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh

Run on the 1st of every month at 6:00 AM:

0 6 1 * * /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh

Run Monday through Friday at 8:30 AM:

30 8 * * 1-5 /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh

Step 5: Add Logging and Error Handling

For better monitoring, modify your cron entry to capture output:

30 2 * * * /home/trb/run_sas_job.sh >> /home/trb/cron_output.log 2>&1

Or enhance your shell script with more robust logging:

#!/bin/bash

cd /home/trb

echo "Job started at $(date)" >> /home/trb/cron_job.log

/opt/altair/slc/2026/bin/wps input_program.sas -log

/home/trb/log >> /home/trb/cron_job.log 2>&1

echo "Job completed at $(date)" >> /home/trb/cron_job.log echo "---" >> /home/trb/cron_job.log

Step 6: Save and Exit

After adding your cron entry, save and exit the editor. The cron daemon will automatically pick up the changes.

Step 7: Verify Your Cron Job

Check that your cron job was added:

crontab -l

Important Tips:

• Use full paths in cron jobs since the environment is minimal
• Set environment variables if needed at the top of your crontab:

 PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

• Test your script manually before scheduling
• Check system logs for cron execution: grep CRON /var/log/syslog
• Crontab time entries must be ‘synchronized’ with the server’s time zone value. This can be checked with:

timedatectl status

for our test environment we have:

Local time: Wed 2025-08-13 15:52:01 PDT
Universal time: Wed 2025-08-13 22:52:01 UTC
RTC time: Wed 2025-08-13 22:52:01
Time zone: America/Los_Angeles (PDT, -0700) System clock synchronized: yes
NTP service: active RTC in local TZ: no

In our case, all crontab entries should be set based on the PDT time zone.
Cron Time Format Quick Reference:

*****command
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─ Day of week (0-7, Sunday = 0 or 7)
│ │ │ └─── Month (1-12)
│ │ └───── Day of month (1-31)
│ └─────── Hour (0-23)
└───────── Minute (0-59)

Appendix A: altairslcenv.sh

#!/bin/bash
#Updated SLC BigQuery Environment Setup (based on Altair support config)
#Clean up existing LD_LIBRARY_PATH to prevent duplicates

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=""
#Core SLC paths (lib and lib64 don't exist, libraries are in bin)

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/altair/slc/2026/bin"
#Add system library paths

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:/usr/lib64:/usr/local/lib"
#Add Simba BigQuery driver path

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/simba/googlebigqueryodbc/lib"
#Add Microsoft SQL Server ODBC driver path

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/microsoft/msodbcsql17/lib 64"
#ODBC Configuration - Use SLC's etc directory

export ODBCINI=/opt/altair/slc/2026/etc/odbc.ini

export ODBCSYSINI=/opt/altair/slc/2026/etc

export ODBCINSTINI=/opt/altair/slc/2026/etc/odbcinst.ini
#Simba-specific configuration (use proper variable name)

export SIMBAGOOGLEBIGQUERYODBCINI=/opt/altair/slc/2026/etc/simba.googlebigqueryodbc.ini
#Google Cloud credentials

export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/home/trb/.gcp/bigquery- service-account.json
#SSL certificates

export SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt

export  SSL_CERT_DIR=/etc/ssl/certs

export CURL_CA_BUNDLE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt

export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
#PATH

export PATH="/opt/altair/slc/2026/bin:$PATH"

echo "SLC BigQuery Environment Variables:" echo " PATH: $PATH"

echo " ODBCINI: $ODBCINI"

echo " ODBCSYSINI: $ODBCSYSINI" echo " ODBCINSTINI: $ODBCINSTINI"

echo " SIMBAGOOGLEBIGQUERYODBCINI: $SIMBAGOOGLEBIGQUERYODBCINI"

echo " LD_LIBRARY_PATH: $LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

echo " GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS:

$GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS"

echo ""