News

What’s happening? As of November 4, 2021, Bookings Calendars should be created using the new Bookings request form. Previously, Bookings Calendars were created directly through Microsoft 365, but this functionality will be disabled.

What is the impact? There is no immediate impact to existing Bookings Calendars, but IST will contact the owners of these calendars to discuss required future updates.

Support resource: See the Microsoft Bookings Overview support article in the IST Knowledge Base.

Questions or concerns? Please contact the IST Service Desk, helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567 ext. 44357. 

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? The decommissioning of LEADS (http://leads.uwaterloo.ca) will take place in January 2022.  

• LEADS is currently used by some areas across campus to advertise, recruit for, and hire for student staff jobs and volunteer opportunities but these areas will need to use alternate methods moving forward.

What is the impact?  

• Any recruitment and hiring processes currently taking place in LEADS need to be concluded by December 23, 2021.
• Any historical data from previous recruitment cycles in LEADS that will be needed moving forward should be retrieved by December 23, 2021. If you need support retrieving data, please submit a ticket by December 1, 2021.

What do users need to do? 

• If you have a recruitment process taking place in LEADS now, ensure it has concluded by December 23, 2021.
• Make a plan to use alternative systems for future recruitment processes. Some possible options include: 

• • Posting/advertising: WaterlooWorks Other Job Board, or your department website
  • Application and information collection: Qualtrics, Microsoft Forms, WCMS Webforms
  • Interview scheduling: MS Bookings
  • Reach out to Mel (below) for more information about how these systems are being used across campus
• Retrieve any historical data needed from LEADS before the systems end-of-life on December 23, 2021.
• Review any recruitment materials or web pages and remove references to LEADS.

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.