News

Resolved: A common and routine networking change had an unexpected broken outcome that resulted in a number of IST managed servers going offline. The change has been reverted. IST is following up with the vendor.

What was the impact? Users may have been unable to access a number of services including Skype for Business, Git, and Jira.

When did this happen? Wednesday, October 13 between 11:30 a.m. and 12:25 p.m.

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

What is happening? Webex users may have received an email entitled ''Convert to Enterprise Account' from webex_comm@webex.com. This is a legitimate email from Webex. No user action is required for UW Webex users; there is no impact and no service disruption.

Why is this happening? The Webex system is trying to clear up inconsistencies between users logging in withfriendly email addresses (e.g. firstname.lastname@uwaterloo.ca) instead of username@uwaterloo.ca.

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

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

What is happening? Quest will be unavailable on Wednesday, October 13 between 6:30-9:00 a.m. EDT due to scheduled maintenance.

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

What is happening? As part of the Microsoft 365 email investigation recommendation, alumni Mailservices email accounts and some Exchange (Connect) accounts will be moved to Microsoft 365. During this time, Information Systems & Technology (IST) will also move email from Mailservices to Connect for a small group of users that have not yet migrated to Microsoft 365; their email accounts will not be moved to M365 at this time.

When is this happening? Between Friday, October 15 after 4:30 p.m. and Friday, November 12, 2021.

What do I need to do? No action is required.

• Alumni will receive email communication about this work on Friday, October 8, 2021.
• Communications will outline the post-migration steps and link to necessary support resources.
• Alumni will be instructed to contact the IST Service Desk for support; however, Faculty and Academic Support Unit computing desks may receive support calls.

Support resources:

• Duo two-factor authentication (2FA) for alumni
• Post-migration steps and support article
• How to move Mailservices email to Microsoft 365
• Migrating email to Microsoft 365 project page

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

What is happening? Emergency maintenance will be performed on the wireless network.

What is the impact? Users may experience interruptions when using the Wi-Fi service. Users in residence may experience interruptions to Wi-Fi, and to wired connections where devices are connected directly to access points.

When is this happening? 

• Wednesday, September 29 6:00 a.m. to Wednesday, September 29 8:00 a.m.
• Thursday, September 30 6:00 a.m. to Thursday, September 30 8:00 a.m.
• Monday, October 4 6:00 a.m. to Monday, October 4 8:00 a.m.

Why is this happening? The purpose of this maintenance is to apply software patches.

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

Resolved (October 12, 1:20 p.m.): The 'UniversityOfWaterloo' Captive Portal for guest Wi-Fi is now working as expected.

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

What is happening? Some users may be experiencing issues when trying to access the 'UniversityOfWaterloo' Captive Portal for guest Wi-Fi. IST is investigating. 

When did the issue start? Monday, September 20 around 7:00 a.m.

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

What is happening? There has been a recent increase in the number of malicious emails being sent to members of the University community from attackers impersonating leaders at all levels of the organization. Please be vigilant and read emails carefully before responding.

What should I do if I have received this email? Suspected phishing and malicious emails should be reported to the Security Operations Centre at soc@uwaterloo.ca. Reports of successful fraud should be directed to UW Special Constable Services at uwscs@uwaterloo.ca.

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.