News

Update (October 6, 11:25 a.m.):

What is happening? The Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client will be updated to version 4.10.

When is this happening? Wednesday, October 13. The client software will automatically be updated for users connecting to the VPN after 7:00 a.m.

What is the impact? Some end-of-life operating systems will no longer be officially supported.

What do users need to do? Ensure you are using a supported OS version:

• Windows: version 8.1 or newer
• Mac: version 10.15 or newer

Why is this happening? The updated client contains critical security fixes and enhancements.

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? The University’sVPN tool AnyConnect will be upgraded to version 4.10.

When is this happening?

• The upgrade for IST-managed machines will take place on Thursday, September 23 at 11:00 p.m.
• The upgrade for unmanaged machines will take place on Wednesday, October 6 at 7:00 a.m.

What is the impact? Users of unsupported operating systems will no longer be able to run AnyConnect. Information Systems & Technology (IST) has identified that the operating system (OS) on the computer/device you used to connect to the University’s VPN recently may be out of date. 

What do I need to do? You must update the operating system on your computer/device in order to use the VPN tool.

• On a Mac, ensure you are running version MacOS 10.15 (Catalina) or newer: Click Apple icon > About this Mac
• On a PC, ensure you are running version 8.1 or newer: follow these instructions to see which version of Windows operation system you are running, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-version-of-windows-operating-system-am-i-running-628bec99-476a-2c13-5296-9dd081cdd808

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.

What is happening? Updated versions of the WatSAFE Desktop Notification tool, for both Windows and Mac, are now available. 

What do users need to do? 

• If your machine is managed by IST, the new Windows client is available through SCCM.
• If your machine is not managed, please see the appropriate IST knowledge base article for steps on downloading and installing the new client
  • Windows client
  • Mac client

Managed machines outside of IST:  If you are responsible for managing a group of Windows or Mac machines, you may request a package-based deployment version via the Jira Service Management help portal, https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/2/group/3/create/187. 

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.

Resolved (Sept 21, 10:10 a.m.): The issue has been mitigated; users should be able to authenticate and connect to the wireless network again.

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? Users may be experiencing authentication timeouts when attempting to connect to the wireless network. IST is investigating. 

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? Duo Mobile will be releasing a redesigned version of the Duo Mobile two-factor authentication app for iOS and Android (version 4.0.0). 

When is this happening? There will be a rolling release of Duo Mobile version 4.0.0:

• For iOS: between October 11 and October 18
• For Android: between October 11 and October 15

What is the impact? Users will see a redesigned Duo Mobile app once the app is updated in the above timeframes. No user action is required; there will be no significant functional change in the Duo Mobile app.

Additional resources

• Introduction to the Redesigned Duo Mobile Version 4 Application (video)
• Duo Mobile's guide to the new Duo Mobile version 4.0.0 for Duo administrators

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? Teams webinars, Microsoft's tool for hosting secure and interactive webinars, has been enabled for all University members with an active Microsoft Teams license. 

How are Teams webinars different from Teams meetings? 

Resolved (September 15, 8:12 a.m.): Users should be able to authenticate when connecting to eduroam again. IST has implemented a targeted mitigation while the vendor provides a software patch to fix a bug in the authentication service.

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? Users may be experiencing authentication issues when connecting to eduroam. IST is investigating. 

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? Teams meeting recordings will now be stored in your OneDrive for Business account or the SharePoint site connected to your Microsoft Team instead of being stored in Microsoft Stream by default. 

What does this mean for you?

• Starting and stopping recordings: Starting and stopping a recording in Teams will remain the same.
• Accessing old recordings (recorded before September 1, 2021): Recordings from before September 1 will not be affected and will remain available in Stream.
• Accessing new recordings (recorded on or after September 1, 2021):
  • Channel meeting recordings will be stored in the Teams channel’s Files tab in the ‘Recordings’ folder. All members of the Team will have access to channel recordings.
  • Non-channel meetings will be stored in the OneDrive for Business account of the user who started the recording in the ‘Recordings’ folder. The recording will automatically be shared with all UW participants of the meeting. For external meeting participants, a link to the recording must be manually shared with them. 

For more information see Teams cloud meeting recording - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.

Resolved (Aug 27): Microsoft has successfully deployed a fix to restore OneDrive for Business storage limits. OneDrive for Business storage limits should be restored to 5TB by 6:00 p.m. today. 

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? Users may be seeing OneDrive for Business storage limits that are lower than expected. Microsoft is aware of the issue and is working on deploying a fix. More information will be provided once available. 

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.

What is happening? In preparation for the upcoming service changes announced by Atlassian on October 16, 2020, users and spaces on the on-premises Confluence instance (wiki.uwaterloo.ca) are being migrated to Confluence Cloud (uwaterloo.atlassian.net). 

When is this happening? On-premises Confluence users and spaces will be migrated to Confluence Cloud between September 29 and November 1. IST Client Services staff will reach out to owners of on-premises Confluence spaces to schedule a migration date and time. 

Why is this happening?

• Atlassian removed the ability to purchase new on-premises licenses on February 2, 2021. Additional users cannot be added to the on-premises Confluence instance once the existing license limit has been reached. 
• In order to downgrade the number of on-premises licenses, users need to be migrated before February 2, 2022.
• Atlassian has announced that support for all Atlassian server products will end on February 2, 2024.

What is the impact? 

• Once migrated, Confluence URLs will begin with uwaterloo.atlassian.net instead of wiki.uwaterloo.ca. 
• Migrated Confluence pages will continue to use the legacy editor by default. Confluence content editors also have the option to convert Confluence pages to the new editor. 

• • There is no impact if you choose to continue using the legacy editor. 
  • Some legacy editor features will no longer work if you convert the page to use the new editor. For a full list of legacy editor features and conversion impacts, please see: https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/convert-pages-to-the-new-editor/

What do users need to do? 

• During your scheduled migration time, please log out of Confluence and do not add or edit content.
• Once migrated, WCMS content editors will need to update all links to on-premises Confluence spaces (wiki.uwaterloo.ca) with the new Confluence Cloud links (uwaterloo.atlassian.net).

Additional Resources

• Atlassian Server end of life FAQs
• Atlassian's Journey to cloud overview

Questions or concerns? Please contact Andrew McAlorum (amcalorum@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 it happening? Sunday, August 15 to Friday, August 20 - between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. each night.

Why is it happening? To upgrade Exchange software with the latest updates.

Who will it impact? Users that are actively connected to an Exchange server when it is removed for maintenance may be prompted to enter their username and password. Outlook may also alert about being redirected to autodiscover.uwaterloo.ca. This is normal behavior 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 Microsoft 365.

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or ext. 44357.