Month: November 2016

Blackboard, Maintenance, Security, Wireless

Datacenter Network Firewall Migration

Posted on by admin

Maintenance Window: 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM Thursday, December 1st
Services Impacted: Many Campus Network and Datacenter Services

During this maintenance window, a campus datacenter firewall will be migrated to new high-capacity, next-generation security system, affecting multiple server and secure workgroup networks. This migration will require multiple brief (few minutes) interruptions to a large number of campus services as systems are transitioned and tested. Interruptions are expected to occur early in this maintenance window, followed by extensive low-impact testing. Longer interruptions in service may be required if unexpected circumstances arise and additional troubleshooting is necessary.

As a precautionary measure during this work, some campus applications will be shut down until the migration is complete, and as such, will experience more prolonged service interruptions. Most notably, the BlackBoard Learn system will be shut down at 4:00 AM, and remain offline until migration activities are complete and uninterrupted service can be assured. All systems and services will be back to normal operation before 8:00 AM.

Maintenance, Security, Wireless

OnGuard Client Software Update

Posted on by admin

Maintenance Window: 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM Tuesday, November 29th
Services Impacted: OnGuard (NAC) client software

During this maintenance window, a new OnGuard (NAC) client software will be released, fixing numerous bugs, improve antivirus support, and improving support for MacOS 10.12. This should trigger an automatic update to the client software the next time an affected machine connects to the network.

Maintenance, Workstations

November Desktop Security Updates Approved for Campus Computers

Posted on by admin

The majority of campus Windows desktops will have updates sent to them in the next day or so. For security reasons, campus computers are given an installation deadline for monthly patches. The installation deadline this month is Thursday, December 1st at 5:00pm. On Thursday at 5:00pm, if you have not installed this month’s patches, they will automatically begin installing, and when done, may reboot your computer. If your computer is off at the time of the deadline, updates will begin installing the next time you log in, and when done, may reboot your computer.

 We highly recommend that you install the patches as soon as you are prompted to do so, before the installation deadline. This way, you can be present when the computer needs to restart and you have more control over the restart timing, allowing you to save any open work. If you ignore the update messages you run the risk of updates being applied while you are not present and potentially having your computer restart and possibly even losing unsaved work.

In addition to Microsoft updates, there may be updates for Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Oracle Java, and other 3rd party applications. These updates will require you to close all your browser windows. Please save any work in your browsers before doing so.