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Migration Guide
 

Overview of Performing Pre-migration Tasks

Perform any pre-migration tasks that you identified in your migration design phase and some new tasks that are a part of all SAS migrations. Performing pre-migration tasks is the second of five steps required to install SAS 9.4 and your current SAS 9.4 content.
You might have identified some of your current SAS 9.4 products that require maintenance before you can migrate them. Some of your hardware might need to be upgraded, operating systems might need to be patched, and third-party software might need to be updated. Some products might have retired and need to be unconfigured.
During the pre-migration task phase, you create a migration package that contains your current SAS data and configuration using the SAS Migration Utility. The other major SAS migration tool, the , uses your migration package as input to move your current SAS content successfully to SAS 9.4.
In addition to the SAS migration package, the wizard relies on the , which contains SAS 9.4 installation files. You create a SAS Software Depot when you download your SAS 9.4 order.
Migration Package and SAS Software Depot Topography
Migration Package and SAS Software Depot Topography
When you complete the pre-migration tasks, you have accomplished the following:
  1. You backed up your current SAS deployment.
    This is a best practice to ensure that your current SAS deployment is protected.
    For more information, see Back Up Your Current SAS System.
  2. You applied required maintenance to any current SAS products.
    During your migration design, you identified any current SAS products that require maintenance before you can migrate them.
    For more information, see Apply Any Required SAS Maintenance.
  3. You unconfigured retired SAS products.
    You have run the SAS Content Assessment system evaluation application and identified issues.
    For more information, see Unconfigure Retired SAS Products.
  4. You completed the pre-migration checklists.
    The SAS Deployment Wizard prompts you for the required operating system accounts that you used with SAS and for ports to designate for the new SAS 9.4 servers.
    For more information, see Completing the Pre-migration Checklists.
  5. You installed third-party software required for SAS 9.4.
    SAS provides a third-party software site that tells you what to install, how to get it, and how to install it.
    For more information, see Installing Third-Party Software.
  6. You created a SAS 9.4 Software Depot.
    The SAS Software Depot contains the SAS installation files used by the SAS Deployment Wizard to install and configure SAS 9.4.
    For more information, see Creating SAS Software Depots.
  7. You created a migration package.
    Using the SAS Migration Utility, you create a package containing your current SAS data and configuration that the SAS Deployment Wizard uses.
    For more information, see Create the Migration Package.
Last updated: March 16, 2026