If you're a SAS 9.4 customer, take note of some important events that take effect in 2025. This article provides just a high-level overview. Read the full details about affected products (including release numbers and versions) in this article from Kimberly May, Senior Vice President of SAS Technical Support.
The next SAS 9.4 maintenance release
First, we are excited to announce that SAS 9.4M9 is scheduled for release in the first half of 2025. More information will be available closer to general availability, but SAS 9.4M9 supports newer operating systems:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.10 and 9.1 and later
- Oracle Linux 8.10 and 9.1 and later
- IBM AIX 7.2
- Microsoft Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022 families
In accordance with our support policies, SAS 9.4M9 will be under Standard Support for five years.
Note: Supported operating systems for all generally available software can be found at Supported Operating Systems.
Support updates for older SAS 9.4 releases and product versions
As a reminder, the most recent generally available maintenance release for the SAS 9.4 platform is SAS 9.4M8, released in January 2023. It is under Standard Support until February 2028. SAS 9.4M8 is available at no additional fee to existing 9.4 customers.
In accordance with the SAS Support Policy, several older SAS 9.4 maintenance releases and product versions will move from Standard Support to Limited Support in 2025. Limited Support means:
- The software no longer receives security patches or bug fixes.
- The software is no longer available for download.
- The severity level handling for software issues, defined at Support Request Response Time, is severity level 3 or lower.
Extended Support available for older SAS releases and product versions
To maximize their SAS investment and keep systems secure, SAS encourages customers to run the latest SAS software and apply hot fixes regularly. However, we recognize that some deployments, such as certified or verified systems, are not easy to change in coordination with the SAS release schedule. To address this gap, we are offering Extended Technical Support as an additional service for software that has moved to Limited Support. Contact your Account Executive for more information and to see whether your system qualifies.
SAS Support Updates | Get the details on product updates