Resolved: A delay in sending and receiving email to and from external domains occurred today between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. All delayed emails should now be delivered to the intended recipient(s).
Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca, ext. 44357.
What is happening? Information Systems & Technology’s Web Development team is excited to announce the launch of the new Waterloo Content Management System (WCMS) 3 platform.
What does this mean? Standard (FDSU), non-custom WCMS 3 websites, hosted in the new Pantheon environment, are now available for request.
Site owners can request a new website in WCMS 3.
Site owners can schedule the migration of a WCMS 2 website to WCMS 3.
In lieu of migration, site owners can also request a WCMS 3 site and begin to rebuild an existing WCMS 2 website.
What is different in WCMS 3?
Which sites/themes are impacted by this launch?
This launch only impacts sites that want to use the current standard (FDSU) theme.
This does not include the conference, publication, or single-page themes.
This does not include authenticated sites or sites that require custom modules.
The launch of WCMS 3 does not impact Waterloo Scholar websites.
Additional resources
Learn more about the Building the Next WCMS project.
Questions or concerns? Please submit to wcms@uwaterloo.ca.
Update (June 7, 2:30 p.m): Please share with members of your team/area/group.
What is happening? The change to the data retention policies for Teams is being postponed. The new implementation date will be communicated once confirmed.
Summary of the changes:
Update (June 28, 9:45 a.m.):
What is happening? Basic Authentication, a less secure authentication method, will be disabled for Microsoft 365 mailboxes.
Why is this happening?
Basic Authentication is being removed by Microsoft.
The change from Basic Authentication to Modern Authentication will require Microsoft 365 mailboxes to use two-factor authentication (2FA), which will help improve the security of the mailboxes and prevent unauthorized access.
When is this happening? Thursday, July 15.
What is the impact? This process may take up to 24 hours to take effect. Mailboxes will continue to be available.
What do I need to do?
If you are using an up-to-date mail client that supports modern authentication, there should be no impact.
Most issues can be resolved by removing and re-adding your mail account to the mail client.
If you are using an older mail client or one that does not support modern authentication, you may:
Update or switch to a mail client that supports modern authentication.
Linux users should consider using Thunderbird or the web client, https://portal.office.com.
If Mac OS users are using an out-of-date OS, they may receive a “Can’t connect to the account “Exchange”.” error message indicating the username or password was incorrect. If this occurs, you may upgrade your Mac OS or ensure you are using a supported web browser and access your mailbox via the web client, https://portal.office.com.
If unable to upgrade your mail client, ensure you are using a supported web browser and access your mailbox via the web client, https://portal.office.com.
Questions or concerns? Please submit to the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.
Update (May 25, 8:50 a.m.): This work is being rescheduled for a later date; more details will be provided once available.
Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca, ext. 44357.
What is happening? Basic Authentication will be disabled for Office 365 mailboxes.
Why is this happening? Basic Authentication is being deprecated by Microsoft. Disabling basic authentication will stop O365 mailboxes from bypassing multi-factor authentication, which will prevent unauthorized logins to mailboxes.
When is this happening? Basic Authentication for Office 365 mailboxes will be disabled on Tuesday, May 25. Please note the disabling process will take approximately one hour to run and the change can take up to 24 hours to take effect.
What is the impact? Some users may experience issues with accessing mailbox features after the change is made on the above date. Most issues can be resolved by removing and re-adding your mail account to the mail client. If you experience persisting issues, please submit a ticket to rt@uwaterloo.ca.
Questions or concerns? Please submit to the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.
What is happening? As we continue to move development of our new WCMS 3 website environment forward, we would like to invite you to participate in the next part of our testing strategy, the beta 2 testing phase.
What is beta testing? Beta testing provides a structured approach to testing the features and functionality of WCMS 3, helping to identify bugs/issues/unexpected behaviours that cannot be caught through automated testing processes.
How long is the beta 2 testing phase? The beta 2 testing phase will take place between May 19 and June 8, 2021.
Who can participate in beta 2 testing? This testing phase is open to members of the University Community who have completed the WCMS for Content Maintainers (WCMS 2) training course.
What can I expect during this testing phase?
How do I participate in beta 2 testing?
You may submit a request to https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/2/create/753.
Notice a bug or issue with your site? Please submit any bugs and/or issues using the reporting form, https://uwaterloo.ca/building-the-next-wcms/wcms-3-bug-report-form
Questions or concerns? Please submit to the team via wcms@uwaterloo.ca.
What is happening? The University’s student information system Quest will move from its current on-premises environment to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The Oracle Cloud offering is pre-configured and tightly integrated with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, the foundation on which Quest is built, and comes with Oracle’s database software Cloud Manager, a tool that enables optimization of resources, streamlines processes, and improves performance.
Why is this change being made? Oracle's next-generation cloud infrastructure will provide a modern, high-performance environment for our Quest system. Leveraging real-time data analytics, the student information system team will be able to quickly scale development and production environments to meet demand. This leading-edge technology will ensure the Quest support team is in the best position to respond to feature and functionality requests, better supporting and enhancing your overall experience. Visit the project web page to view a full list of benefits.
How will this change impact me?
How secure is Oracle Cloud? The continued privacy and integrity of Quest student information is and will continue to be the project's top priority. A security review and two privacy information risk assessments have been completed and no issues or risks were identified.
This project will take a security by design approach, where Security Information Services will participate throughout the duration of the project, helping to design and review system configurations, conduct regular security assessments, and review and measure risks against the NIST-800-171 security standard. Summaries of this work will be made available on the project site.
Learn more
You are encouraged to visit the Quest moving to Oracle Cloud project page to learn more about this work, view the privacy and security assessment documents, see the project timeline, and project FAQs.
What is happening? Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), a Microsoft Azure-based system for virtualizing operating systems and applications, is now available for students to use for lab computers and software.
What is Windows Virtual Desktop used for? Windows Virtual Desktop is a Microsoft cloud-based solution that gives users remote access to desktops and applications. WVD can be used as an alternative to, or augmentation of, physical computer labs.
How do users access Windows Virtual Desktop? Students that have been given access to a department’s virtual lab can access Windows Virtual Desktop by logging in to www.wvd.uwaterloo.ca.
How do I set up a Windows Virtual Desktop environment? IT support staff can enable Windows Virtual Desktop for their department or faculty by submitting a request to rt@uwaterloo.ca. Visit the Windows Virtual Desktop service page for more information.
Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.
What is happening? The University’s inbound mail record will be updated to route email sent to uwaterloo.ca addresses through the Cisco Cloud servers.
When will this change take place? Saturday, May 15 between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.
What is the impact? No end-user impact is expected.
Note: If desired, individuals may test unique mail delivery configurations following the above maintenance window.
Questions or concerns? Please submit to the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.
What is happening?
When will this change take place? Wednesday, April 28, 2021.
What is the impact? After this date, the only acceptable login for University systems supporting single sign-on will be the individual’s username (up to 8 characters) followed by @uwaterloo.ca. Data associated with old @edu.uwaterloo.ca accounts will not be deleted. Accounts will be locked but can be temporarily unlocked to retrieve data, if necessary.
Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.
What is happening? Exchange servers are being removed from service for maintenance/updates. Individual servers will be taken out of service between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. each night throughout the maintenance period.
When is this happening? Sunday, April 25 to Thursday, April 29 between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. each night.
Why is this happening? To patch a known vulnerability in Exchange 2016.
Who will it impact? Users that are actively connected to a server when it is removed for maintenance may be prompted to enter their username and password. Outlook may also alert users about being redirected to autodiscover.uwaterloo.ca. This is normal behaviour, and the user should click 'Allow' when this happens. No other impact is anticipated as the remaining servers will continue to carry out email and calendar functions. This maintenance will not impact mailboxes that are in Office 365.
Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.