Tuesday, December 17, 2013

System Status tweets will now come from @PLUSystemStatus

Greetings,


When we launched the PLU System Status page back in March, we did so with the intent of creating a concise and informative webpage for members of the PLU Community to get current information on the various Systems at PLU. In conjunction with the status page and system notification blog, we also created a Twitter account in order to provide instant updates for those who subscribed to our notices.

Our goal with the Twitter account was to be a “just the facts” style source of information, providing the PLU Community with quick updates as they arose. Twitter provided the means for us to reach the PLU Community even if our email and/or network was not functioning correctly. We have purposefully avoided non-status related tweets and blog posts in an effort to keep the primary source of information on the status of our various systems free of clutter.

In an effort to better reach the PLU Community while maintaining this standard of information, we are renaming the Twitter account for status updates to @PLUSystemStatus. The goals here are two-fold:
  1. More accurately reflect the purpose of the tweets and make it clear that these tweets will only be system status notifications.
  2. Free up the @PLUHelpDesk handle for more general use — the newly minted @PLUHelpDesk account will be maintained by members of I&TS to provide a wider variety of communication to the PLU Community from general best technology practices to bits of interest that crop up in I&TS.
Here is how the transition will work:

We will rename the @PLUHelpDesk account to @PLUSystemStatus. By changing the name (instead of making a new account), users who are already following @PLUHelpDesk will receive system status notifications without having to do anything. So, if you are already following the system status page on Twitter, or if you have subscribed as a fast follower by texting to 40404, you will continue to receive the system status notifications you signed up for and nothing else.

You will not be automatically subscribed to the new @PLUHelpDesk account, and will not receive tweets from it. Of course, if you’d like to hear more from I&TS, feel free to follow @PLUHelpDesk.

If you have any questions about the change, please feel free to call us at 253-535-7525 or email us at helpdesk@plu.edu. Or feel free to tweet us @PLUHelpDesk.

Thank you!


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.



Wednesday, December 11, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Internet Connectivity Issues 12/11/13

WHAT: At approximately 2:50 pm on 12/11/2013, the Help Desk began receiving reports of Internet Connectivity issues across campus.

WHEN: 12/11/2013

WHERE: Campus Wide

Current Status: Open

Description:

RESOLVED 4:23 pm:  The issue has been resolved, and Internet Connectivity has been restored.  If you are still having difficulties connecting to the Internet, please reboot your device.  If the issue persists, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525, or stop in at the Help Desk, located on the first floor of the Library.



Original Post:  The Help Desk has received reports of issues with Network Connections across campus -- while machines are able to connect to the PLU network, they are unable to access Internet content.

We are currently investigating the issue with one of our Internet Service Providers, and will post again as soon as we have more information.

Service(s) Impacted: Campus Network

Workarounds: No workarounds exist at this time.

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 5 pm

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: A device reboot on campus was complicated by an unusual configuration by our Internet Service Provider.  This unusual configuration resulted in a lack of Internet Connectivity for the campus.  We have worked with our ISP to resolve the unusual configuration, hopefully preventing such an incident in the future.  We will continue to monitor connectivity for any further complications. 



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Sakai Turnitin Service - Scheduled Maintenance Jan. 4, 7am-11am

*** UPDATE *** The Turnitin maintenance period has now shifted to Saturday, January 4. The December 21st, 2013 Maintenance that was previously announced has been cancelled, and Turnitin services will be available all day on Saturday, December 21st.

WHAT:  Sakai Turnitin Service - Scheduled Maintenance January 4, 7am-11am PDT

WHEN:  01/04/14  Duration:  7am - 11am (intermittent)

Current Status:  Open

Description:  The Turnitin service may be intermittently unavailable during a scheduled maintenance period on Saturday, January 4th, 2013, from 7 to 11 AM Pacific Time. You can view the Turnitin System Status page for updates.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai Turnitin Service

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Monday, November 25, 2013

***COMPLETE*** Planned Campus-wide Network Service Interruption - Friday, November 29, 2013 - 7:30am - 2:00pm --> Extended due to delays

WHAT: ***COMPLETE*** Campus-wide Network Service Interruption

WHEN: Friday, 11/29/2013 Duration: 7:30am - 2:00pm -->  Extended due to delays

WHERE: Campus-wide

Current Status: Complete

Description:
Update 6:00pm
Nearly all services were restored by 3:00pm and now that we have completed our testing and cleanup it appears everything continues to be stable.  No further issues are anticipated at this time and this work period is complete.

Update 2:15pm
Due to a handful of issues throughout our maintenance work, most services have been restored, however a few scattered systems are still being turned back on and tested.  We apologize for the extended outage and anticipate full service will be restored shortly.

Original Post:
This Friday (11/29) Information & Technology Services will be performing electrical work in preparation for installation of a replacement Uninterruptible Power Supply as well as routine maintenance on core network & server equipment.  During this time there will be a series of interruptions affecting most of the services we offer, such as Sakai, Banner, Cascade and many others.

Throughout most of the work period general access from the campus network to the Internet should continue to operate, but services run from PLU servers will be interrupted.

The work will begin as early as 7:30AM on Friday morning with the primary disruption occurring earlier in this maintenance period.  Most services will be restored Friday by mid-morning and all work is scheduled to be complete no later than 2:00PM on Friday afternoon.

Service(s) Impacted: All campus-based network services including: Sakai, Banner, Cascade, Campus Calendar, Web Help Desk, Campus Network, ePass, Library and many others.

Next Update: None Due

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: Electrical work & routine equipment maintenance

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Monday, November 18, 2013

***Resolved*** 11/18/13 Gatekeeper, ePass currently not working correctly

WHAT: Issues with the Gatekeeper registration system and the ePass tools were reported at approximately 6:40 am this morning.  Users are unable to access the network on personal devices or change passwords.

WHEN: 11/18/13

WHERE: Campus Wide

Current Status: Open

Description:
Resolved: 8:47 am -  We have re-established the ability for users to log into gatekeeper.  Unfortunately, this bug has resulted in the need for users to re-register their devices.  If you are prompted to register your device on Gatekeeper, please do so.  If you are unable to register your device, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525, or stop in with your device and we can assist with registering it.  We apologize for the inconvenience, and will work hard to restore access to devices as quickly as we can.

ePass tools should be functional for all users at this point.

Original Message:  At approximately 6:40 am this morning, the Help Desk received reports of issues with Gatekeeper -- users are unable to access any network, including the Internet, via personal devices without being routed to register on Gatekeeper.  Upon logging in, users receive the error that their Username is not found in the DHCP Database. (See below for full error message)

Additionally, the ePass tools are currently not loading correctly -- users attempting to access them for password changes receive an error 500.

We are working to diagnose the issues and will post an update as soon as we have more information.  As of this post there is no evidence that the two issues are linked.

Gatekeeper Error Message:

Your username is not in the DHCP registration database.
Did you recently create your PLU ePass account?
It can take as long as 2 hours after account creation
for ePasses to work on Gatekeeper.
If this problem continues, please call the helpdesk at x7525.
Error Number: 9

Service(s) Impacted: Campus Network, ePass

Workarounds: There are no work arounds at this time

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 9 am

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement:  A hardware failure in one of our servers resulted in improper data being pushed to Gatekeeper, which impacted the registration list, causing many users to lose their registration. 

We have rolled out new code which will prevent Gatekeeper from accepting erroneous (null) data, which should stop the registration list from being impacted.  We appreciate the cooperation of the PLU community in reporting this issue to us in a timely manner and for the patience shown as we worked to diagnose and resolve the issue.  


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Nov. 15, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** November 15, 6:10AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** November 15, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  11/15/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, November 15, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, November 15, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Network Connectivity Issues - All Campus - 10/24/2013

WHAT: Reports of Network Connectivity Issues for All Campus

WHEN: 10/24/2013

WHERE: All Campus

Current Status: Resolved

Description:
Update:  7:30 pm

We discovered the root of the issue at approximately 6:30 pm.  Network was slowly returned to normalcy after resolving the issue, and follow up maintenance continues to proceed throughout the evening.  We expect that most users should no longer be experiencing network issues.  If you continue to have network issues, please first attempt a reboot on your device.  Should the issues persist, please contact the I&TS Help Desk at 253-535-7525 for assistance.

At approximately 4 pm today, I&TS received reports of widespread network connectivity issues from all areas on campus, over both Wired and Wireless connections.  We are aware of the issues and currently are investigating the source.  We will continue to provide updates over the PLUHelpDesk Twitter account @PLUHelpDesk and on the status blog as we garner more information.

Service(s) Impacted:Campus Network

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 6 pm


Root Cause / Continuous Improvement:  The root cause of this incident was an improperly connected device in a residence hall.  Our technicians tracked the source of the device and took actions to prevent the misconfigured device from persisting in disruption.

We are continuing to investigate as to how the device became set up in this manner.  We apologize for the disruption of service and appreciate your patience as we worked to restore normalcy to the campus network.  We greatly appreciate the number of calls we received reporting the issue and the cooperation of each caller as our Technicians troubleshot the issue over the phone.  Your consideration and patience as we diagnosed the situation were immensely useful.  Please continue to contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 with any technology related issue.


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Oct. 25, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** October 25, 6:12AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** October 25, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  10/25/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:   On Friday, October 25, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, October 25, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Sakai Turnitin Service - Scheduled Maintenance Nov. 2, 7am-11am

WHAT:  Sakai Turnitin Service - Scheduled Maintenance November 2, 7am-11am PDT

WHEN:  11/02/13  Duration:  7am - 11am (intermittent)

Current Status:  Open

Description:  The Turnitin service may be intermittently unavailable during a scheduled maintenance period on Saturday, November 2nd, 2013, from 7 to 11 AM Pacific Time. Instructors are encouraged to modify assignment due dates either before or at least several hours after the scheduled maintenance window. You can view the Turnitin System Status page for updates.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai Turnitin Service

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Internet Native Banner and Java Issues

WHAT: Users are experiencing problems with accessing Internet Native Banner due to a Java Update.

WHEN: 10/17/2013

Current Status: Closed

Description:  When attempting to access Internet Native Banner, users are prompted to update to the newest version of Java.  This will result in one of two scenarios:

1.  User receives a prompt which requests that they update Java -- the user is given three options: Update, Ignore, or Later (indicating ask later)
2.  User is automatically taken to the java.com update page whenever they access Internet Native Banner

Service(s) Impacted: Banner

Workarounds:  In the first scenario, please select "Later" and then close out of all subsequent error message which occur when accessing Banner.  This should be the only time you have to do this until we can resolve the issue with Banner and Java.

In the second scenario, users will need to contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 for assistance and we will send someone over to resolve the issue.  

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: To be determined.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Oct. 18, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** October 18, 6:11AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** October 18, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  10/18/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, October 18, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, October 18, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Monday, September 30, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Library Journal Database Alexander Street Press Experiencing Technical Difficulties

WHAT: At approximately 11:40 am, we received reports of the Alexander Street Press service having connection issues. 

WHEN: 9/30/2013

WHERE:

Current Status: Open

Description:
Resolved 10/1/13 8:15 am:  After checking this morning, we see that the Alexander Street services are now restored.

Update 4:00 pm:  As of this posting, the services from Alexander Street Press are still inaccessible.  We are awaiting a response from the provider  for specific time frames for the restoration of service. 

At approximately 11:40 am, we received reports of the Alexander Street Press service having connection issues. This will affect the following Services (Includes these, but is not limited to):

Academic Video Online (VAST)
Classical Music Library
Counseling & Therapy Videos
Ethnographic Video Online
Music Online

Service(s) Impacted: Library

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  7 pm 9/30/13

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: To be determined.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Sept. 27, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** September 27, 6:06AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** Setpember 27, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  09/27/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, September 27, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, September 27, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

***Resolved*** PLU Primary Internet Connection Down - 9/19/13 12:15am

WHAT: PLU Internet Connection Down

WHEN: 9/19/13 12:15am  Duration: approximately 1 hour

Current Status: Closed

Description: Shortly after 1am our connection was restored by our ISP. The root cause is under investigation, but currently underdetermined so a reoccurrence is still possible though not expected.

Original Post:  Around midnight PLU began experiencing connectivity issues through our primary Internet provider.  We are in the process of contacting our ISP now to notify them and, hopefully, determine when service will be restored.  The root cause of the problem is currently undetermined so estimated time to repair will not be available until the cause is identified.

Service(s) Impacted: Internet connectivity

Next Update:  As needed

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement:  A device issue experienced by our ISP resulted in a configuration problem.  The end result was connectivity issues for PLU, which have since been resolved.  We do not anticipate a recurrence of this issue at this time.

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Scheduled Maintenance for Three Library Resources

WHAT: ProQuest, The Wiley Online Library, and the Cochrane Library will be unavailable on Saturday, September 28th, from 6 am to 10 am for a scheduled maintenance window

WHEN: 09/28/2013 Duration: 4 hours, 6 am - 10 am.

Current Status: Open

Description: Two of the online resources for the PLU Library, the Wiley Online Library and the Cochrane Library, will be unavailable during a scheduled maintenance window on Saturday, September 28th.  The maintenance should be completed within the listed time time frame.

Service(s) Impacted: Library

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 9/28/2013 at noon

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: Scheduled maitenance



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Emergency Banner Web/Self-Service Maintenance Window Today

WHAT: Emergency Banner Web/Self-Service Maintenance Window Today

WHEN: 9/5/13, 4:00 pm  Duration: Approximately 30 minutes

WHERE: Campus Wide

Current Status: Open


Description: Banner Web/Self-Service will be unavailable for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 4:00 pm today.  This short outage is to resolve a system issue identified earlier today.  This outage will NOT impact Internet Native Banner.

UPDATE:  The maintenance is complete and Banner Web is now available.

Service(s) Impacted: Banner Web/Self-Service

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 9/5/13, 4:30pm


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.



Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Sept. 6, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** September 6, 6:12AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** Setpember 6, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  09/06/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, September 6, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, September 6, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

***Resolved*** ePass log in issues 8/28/13

WHAT: Users reported issues with logging in after a change in the ePass log in page

WHEN: 8/28/13

Current Status: Closed

Description:
RESOLVED:  We have resolved the log in issues with the ePass visual update.  Users may need to clear their browser cache before they are able to successfully log in.

Windows:

On most browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer), press CTRL+Shift+Delete.  Clear the cache and cookies, then please log out of your computer and log back in.  At this point, you should be able to log in successfully.

Mac:

Safari:  Close the browser and log out of your computer, then log back in.
Firefox:  Press Command+Shift+Del
Chrome:  Go to the Chrome menu and select Clear Recent History

We apologize sincerely for the disruption of service and will continue to monitor the log in for stability and for other issues which may occur.  Please

If there are any issues with logging in, please call the Help Desk at 253-535-7525.

Update 8:55 am:  We are investigating the source of the error "This account cannot be accessed because your credentials were not verified."  We will post an update as soon as we have more information.


Original Message: After the implementation of the new ePass log in page, an problem arose which prevented users from successfully logging in and accessing their email and other PLU services.  We have identified the issue and are in the process of deploying a fix.

Should the issue persist after our fix, we will be rolling the ePass log in page back to the previous iteration.  This will take place at 9 am if the issue is not resolved.

We thank you for your patience and understanding as we troubleshoot this issue.

Over the course of the next 30 minutes (as of 8:30 am), we will roll out the fix and check the functionality of the new log in page.  If we find that it is inoperable, by 9 am we will revert to the old log in page.

We will be tracking this issue via Twitter @PLUHelpDesk and via this status page.

Service(s) Impacted: Gmail, ePass

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 9 am


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

ePass Log In Page Visual Update

WHAT: The ePass log in page will undergo a visual update.

WHEN: Starting August 27th

Current Status: Open

Description:  From August 27th through August 30th, Information and Technology Services will be updating the ePass log in page to a new authentication system and a new look.

The new log in page has been completely redesigned to incorporate the style of the PLU website. Aside from the aesthetic change, the log in page will function exactly as it has in the past and should have no noticeable changes to you. The new page will also allow for us to provide updates relating to the status of the ePass system, keeping you up to date on any changes that arise.

The new page should be overall more responsive, allow us to provide you with more information about the PLU System Statuses, and will continue to provide the same convenient single-sign in for all PLU services.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the new log in page, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525, or email us at helpdesk@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted: ePass

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

A screenshot of the new ePass log in page. (click to enlarge)


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Sakai: New Look and New Rich-Text Editor on Aug. 23, 2013

*** UPDATE *** August 23, 6:20AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** August 23, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai: New Look and New Rich-Text Editor on Aug. 23, 2013

WHEN:  08/23/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, August 23, 2013, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for planned maintenance. During this time a stylistic makeover will be applied to Sakai, one that adopts the color scheme used in the current PLU website. Furthermore, an upgrade will be made to Sakai's rich-text editor, which is embedded within many Sakai tools including Mailtool, Assignments, Announcements, Tests & Quizzes, etc. More details about Sakai's new look are available here, and more details about the new rich-text editor are available here. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, August 23, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Sakai Turnitin Service - Scheduled Maintenance August 10 7am-11am PDT

WHAT: Sakai Turnitin Service - Scheduled Maintenance August 10, 7am-11am PDT

WHEN: 08/10/13  Duration: 7am - 11am (intermittent)

Current Status: Closed

Description: The Turnitin originality checking service may be intermittently unavailable during a scheduled maintenance period on Saturday, August 10th, from 7am to 11am PDT.  You can view the Turnitin System Status page for updates. 

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai Turnitin Service

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

VPN Maintenance 8/19/2013

WHAT: The VPN service may experience temporary connectivity issues during a maintenance window.

WHEN: 08/19/2013

Current Status: Complete

Description: PLU's VPN service will be undergoing standard maintenance work;  This maintenance is aimed at improving the overall service; the maintenance may result in some users having VPN connectivity issues.

If you experience issues with your VPN connection, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 or helpdesk@plu.edu and report any error messages you receive. 

Service(s) Impacted: Campus VPN

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 8/20/2013


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.



Friday, August 9, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Log in issues for Sakai, DSpace, EZproxy, and more 8/9/13

WHAT: At approximately 10 am today, the Help Desk identified log on issues across multiple services.

WHEN: 08/09/2013 Duration: Unknown

Current Status: Closed

Description:  Update 10:39 am:  The issue was identified as a problem with one of our servers which handled authentication for these services.  Our Systems team identified the problematic server and were able to bring it back to working order.  All services should be restored to normal working order; some users may need to close and reopen their browsers before they are able to log in again.

Original post:  At 10 am this morning, the Help Desk became aware of an issue with logging into multiple services on campus.  Potentially impacted services include (but are not limited to):

Web Help Desk
DSpace
Cascade
EZproxy
Chili hosted forms

We are currently investigating the cause of the disruption and will post an update as soon as one is available.  If you experience issues with logging into another service not listed, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 and notify our technicians of the issue.

We thank you for your patience as we proceed with diagnosing.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai, Cascade, Library EZ Proxy (off campus journal access), Web Help Desk

Workarounds:  Issue resolved -- if you are still unable to log in, please close all browser windows and restart your browser.  If the issue persists, please contact the Help Desk for assistance at 253-535-7525.

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: We believe the root cause was related to a temperature induced network issue which occurred earlier in the morning.  We will continue to monitor the server in question, but the problem should be resolved.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.



Monday, August 5, 2013

EBL e-book platform unavailable for maintenance on Sunday, August 11 at 6pm

WHAT: EBL e-book platform maintenance

WHEN: 08/11/13 at 6:00pm Duration: 2 hours


Current Status: Closed

Description: EBL, the service which hosts some of the library's e-books, will be unavailable for approximately 2 hours the evening of Sunday, August 11th. Books will be inaccessible on the EBL platform during this time. Books that are checked out and saved to computers or e-readers will not be affected.

Service(s) Impacted: Library


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Sakai: New Rich-Text Editor on Aug. 23, 2013

*** UPDATE *** Aug. 22, 2012, 1:09PM - This issue is now being tracked here.

*** UPDATE *** Aug. 2, 2012, 11:10AM - Corrected the link below for details about the new rich-text editor which should now point to here.

WHAT:  Sakai: New Rich-Text Editor on Aug. 23, 2013

WHEN:  08/23/13 Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, August 23, 2013, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM in order to upgrade Sakai's rich-text editor, which is embedded within many Sakai tools including Mailtool, Assignments, Announcements, Tests & Quizzes, etc. More details about the new rich-text editor are available here. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, August 23, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Aug. 2, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** August 2, 6:12AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** August 2, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  08/02/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, August 2, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, August 2, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

***RESOLVED*** 25Live undergoing routine maintenance, unavailable 7/24 to 7/25

WHAT: 25Live will be inaccessible for approximately 48 hours for scheduled maintenance

WHEN: 7/24 to 7/25 Duration:  ~48 hours

Current Status: Resolved

***RESOLVED*** The new version of 25Live is now up and running.  You may need to clear your browser history to see all of the new features.

Description: The 25Live system, used for scheduling events on campus and reserving rooms, will be down for maintenance from 7/24 to 7/25.

Service(s) Impacted:Campus Calendar (25Live)

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 7/25 at 8 am


Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: Routine maintenance



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Monday, July 22, 2013

** RESOLVED ** Banner Production System Maintenance 7/23/13

WHAT:  The Banner Production System will be undergoing a scheduled downtime on Tuesday the 23rd for maintenance.

WHEN: 07/23/13 Duration: 4 am to 6 am

Current Status: Closed

Description:  The Banner production system will offline temporarily for follow-up maintenance work.  The  following services will be inaccessible from 4 am to 6 am:

Internet Native Banner
Banner Self-Service

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and hope to have service restore as soon as possible.  

Service(s) Impacted: Banner

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 7/23/13 at 6 am


Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: This scheduled downtime is a follow-up to a previous maintenance session. 


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.



Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Web Help Desk unavailable on Friday, July 19, at 3pm

***UPDATE*** 4:40pm: The issue that occurred during the Web Help Desk software maintenance has been resolved, and Web Help Desk is now available for use. Thank you for your patience.

***UPDATE*** 4:10pm: There was an unexpected issue during the software maintenance process, and unfortunately Web Help Desk is still not available for use. At the moment, it is not clear how much longer the software will continue to be unavailable, but another update will be provided no later than 5:00pm. Thank you for your patience as we work to respond to this problem.

WHAT: Web Help Desk software maintenance this Friday at 3pm

WHEN: 07/19/2013 at 3:00pm  Duration: 60 minutes

Current Status: Open

Description: Web Help Desk will be unavailable while software maintenance is performed on Friday, July 19, at 3:00pm.

Service(s) Impacted: Web Help Desk

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 07/19/2013 5:00pm


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., July 12, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** July 12, 6:11AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** July 12, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  07/12/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, July 12, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for maintenance. Please plan accordingly. Note that this maintenance will enable Sakai to more reliably connect to ePass account servers, resolving the Sakai login problems reported here last Wednesday morning. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Friday, July 12, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

***RESOLVED*** Brief Power Outage in Library

WHAT: The Library experienced a brief (5-10 minute) power outage.  We are currently investigating the source of the outage and the extent of the disruption.  As of right now power has been restored, but I&TS is checking on the status of various network items for stability.

WHERE: Library

Current Status: RESOLVED - As of 12:39 pm, power is stable and we have observed no system issues.  For the time being, we are closing this incident.  We will continue to monitor our systems for issues and stability.

If you notice any issues, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525.

Service(s) Impacted: Library

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 2:00 pm

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: To be determined.




** COMPLETED ** Scheduled Banner Maintenance

WHAT: Scheduled Maintenance for all Banner systems.

WHEN: 07/20/13  Duration: until noon

WHERE: Campus Wide

Current Status: Closed, maintenance work completed at 10am

Description: Scheduled Maintenance for the Banner systems, including Internet Native Banner (INB) and Banner Web Services (SSB), resulting in Banner being unavailable during the maintenance window.

Service(s) Impacted: Banner

Workarounds: N/A

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: Saturday morning, July 20th, by noon

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: N/A



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Reports of Sakai Login Not Available from Off-Campus

*** UPDATE *** July 3, 2013, 8:24AM - The login process for Sakai has been restored, so that persons from off-campus should now be able to login to Sakai.

WHAT: Off campus access to Sakai

WHEN: 07/03/13 6:56am

WHERE: Off campus access to Sakai

Current Status: Resolved

Description: We are receiving reports of some off-campus users not being able to login to Sakai. On-campus access seems to be functional. The issue is being investigated.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Next Update:  8:00am

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: The directory server that Sakai connects to receive ePass account data had malfunctioned at approximately 4:13am this morning (July 3, 2013). I&TS is investigating further to locate root cause and to explore possible options for more resilient connectivity.


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Web Help Desk Upgrade on Friday, June 28, 3pm

***UPDATE*** The Web Help Desk upgrade process is complete. The software is now available for use again.

WHAT: Web Help Desk software upgrade this Friday at 3pm

WHEN: 06/28/2013 at 3:00pm  Duration: 60 minutes

Current Status: Resolved

Description: Web Help Desk will be unavailable while it is upgraded on Friday, June 28, at 3:00pm.

Service(s) Impacted: Web Help Desk



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

***RESOLVED***ILLiad Upgrade


***UPDATE*** 
The upgrade has completed and all Library Services should be fully operational.  We will continue to monitor the Illiad system to ensure there were no issues with the upgrade.

WHAT: ILLiad, the tool for processing Interlibrary Loan requests, will be undergoing a planned upgrade and will be temporarily unavailable.

WHEN: 06/27/13 Duration: 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Current Status: Resolved

Description: During this upgrade, you will not be able to submit Interlibrary Loan requests or access requests or scans, and requests cannot be processed.

Service(s) Impacted: Library



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, June 14, 2013

*** RESOLVED *** Sakai Upgrade to Support TurningPoint 5.2, Fri., June 21, 6am

*** UPDATE *** June 21, 6:10AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** June 21, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Upgrade to Support TurningPoint 5.2, Fri., June 21, 6am

WHEN:  06/21/13 Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday morning, June 21, Sakai will be upgraded to support version 5.2 of the TurningPoint clicker software from Turning Technologies. Please note that after this upgrade, the previous version of this clicker software, TurningPoint 2008 (version 4.x), will no longer work with Sakai.

For details about how to transition to using TurningPoint 5.2, please refer to the previous announcement on May 15:  New Turning Point Clicker Software.

If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Fri., June 21, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

***RESOLVED*** ProQuest Maintenance Window

WHAT: The ProQuest database platform will be undergoing routine maintenance and improvements.

WHEN: 06/15/13 Duration: 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.


Current Status: Closed


Service(s) Impacted: ProQuest research databases, including Research Library, newspaper databases, historical newspapers, and Nursing & Allied Health Source.


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, June 7, 2013

***RESOLVED*** ePass Tools Not Loading Correctly

WHAT: The ePass toolset is currently not loading correctly, resulting in either blank pages or extremely slow loading pages.

WHEN: 06/7/2013

Current Status: Resolved

Description:  UPDATE 6/12/2013:  The ePass toolkit is up and running again.  Issues of slowness will continue to be researched/addressed, but users should be able to change passwords and create ePass accounts as expected.


UPDATE 6/10/2013:  We have identified an issue with the password change system which is preventing password changes from applying correctly.  We are working on a solution, though we do not have an estimated time to completion as of yet.  We will continue to update this System Notice as we progress with repairs.

UPDATE 6/7/2013 11:47 am:  We have performed some behind the scenes maintenance in an attempt to improve the speed of the tools.  While the performance has improved, we will be monitoring the toolset throughout the day to ensure that the toolset remains stable.  If there are any issues with the toolset, please report them to the Help Desk immediately at 253-535-7525 or via email at helpdesk@plu.edu.

Original Message: At approximately 11 am this morning, the Help Desk received reports of the ePass tools running very slowly and/or not loading for some users.  Our Systems team is currently investigating the root cause of the slowness and is working to bring the tools back up to working order.  At this time, we do not have a work around for the tools.

All facets of ePass are impacted; these services include:
  • Password Resets
  • Account Creation
  • Password Changes
  • Nickname Updates/Creation
We will be diagnosing the issue as the day progresses.  We will update with information as more becomes available.

Service(s) Impacted: ePass




Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.


Thursday, June 6, 2013

***Resolved*** DSpace Out of Service Friday June 7 for Maintenance

*** UPDATE *** June 7, 12:15PM - DSpace maintenance has been completed and the fix for thumbnail generation has been applied. 

*** UPDATE *** June 7, 8:30AM - DSpace is currently offline for planned maintenance. 

WHAT: DSpace System

WHEN: 06/07/13  Duration: Up to 8 hours

Current Status: In progress

Description: DSpace, the PLU digital repository, will be out of service for maintenance on Friday June 7 beginning at 8am to fix issues related to thumbnail image generation. Please plan accordingly.

Service(s) Impacted: DSpace

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, May 31, 2013

***RESOLVED*** Brief Internet Outage Planned for Morning of 6/4/2013

WHAT: One of our Internet Service Providers (ISP) will be performing brief maintenance on 6/4/2013 at approximately 5 am.  The maintenance is expected to last an hour; disruption in services is expected to last for only a short portion of this time (~5-15 minutes).

WHEN: 06/04/2013 Duration: 1 Hour

WHERE: All campus Internet will be impacted

Current Status: Open

Description: We received notice from one of our Internet Service Providers that there will be planned maintenance for the network in our area on 6/4 from 5 am to 6 am.  All Internet access will be impacted for a brief period during the maintenance; we expect that the outage should be brief, ~5-15 minutes, but it may be more or less.

Service(s) Impacted: Campus Network

Resolution:  The work was completed within the expected maintenance window.  Total downtime was ~ one minute for each affected network.  If you notice any irregularities or problems with network or Internet connections, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525.


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Thur., May 30, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** May 30, 6:11AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** May 30, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance 

WHEN:  05/30/13 Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Thursday, May 30, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for weekly maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Thur., May 30, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, May 17, 2013

***Resolved*** Intermittent Network Issues Reported

WHAT: At approximately 3pm the Help Desk began to receive reports of issues with network connectivity in various buildings across campus.  

WHEN: 05/17/13

WHERE:  All personal devices (laptops, phones using wireless, game stations) will be affected as well as most Academic spaces (library, labs, classrooms)

Current Status: Resolved

Description: 

Resolution: 8:50 PM: The internet service provider has isolated an issue that was causing service interruptions throughout the region.

Update: 4:30 pm: The network connectivity issues have improved, but there is still an issue being dealt with by one of our Internet Service Providers (ISP).  Users may experience momentary interruptions throughout the evening as the ISP works to resolve the issue in full.

If conditions worsen, please contact the Help Desk immediately at 253-535-7525.

Update 3:39 pm:  We have narrowed down the connection issue to a problem with one of our campus Internet connections.  Networking is currently working with the Service Provider to identify the issue and is working towards a solution as quickly as possible.  We will provide continual updates on this issue as more information arrives.


Original Message: At approximate 3 pm today, the Help Desk began receiving reports of network interruptions from various buildings on campus.  Networking was alerted and is currently investigating these issues.

Users who are experiencing network issues are advised to contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525.  Please report:
  • Current location
  • Whether you are connecting wirelessly or wired
We will continue to investigate the issue and post an update at this time.

Service(s) Impacted:Campus Network

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 4:30 pm


Root Cause / Continuous Improvement:

The issue experienced on Friday was the result of a problem with one of our Internet Service Providers.  At approximately 3 pm on Friday, the Help Desk along with Networking began to investigate issues with Internet connectivity as we received reports from around campus.  After determining that the issue was likely not with any PLU equipment, we proceeded to contact the ISP which handled the connections being affected.  During out communication with the ISP, a stop-gap was put in place to resolve the majority of issues with connectivity, and we declared the issue resolved at that time.

For any possible future events, we will do our best to improve our response speed to network connectivity issues.  The Help Desk was grateful for all callers who assisted by providing us with the requested information.  For future network issues, we will continue to use the PLUHelpDesk Twitter account as a primary means of communication.  (As normal network communication may not be possible).  We strongly advise that users subscribe to our Twitter feed.  Subscribing is simple and does not require a Twitter account.  This account is for informational posts only and will not post any non-status related updates.

Additional Info:  Our ISP informed us that the issue was the result of a configuration issue which resulted in what is known as a broadcast storm (wikipedia).  This resulted in a 55 minute outage.  The ISP is working to update and improve the broadcast storm detection tools and to investigate why the error was not reported quicker.  


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., May 17, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** May 17, 6:11AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** May 17, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  05/17/13 Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, May 17, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for weekly maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Fri., May 17, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

***Resolved*** Banweb (Banner) Inaccessible, Error 503

WHAT: Users trying to access Banner via http://banweb.plu.edu are receiving an error 503 when attempting to access the page.

WHEN: 05/11/13

Current Status: Resolved

Description: ***RESOLVED***  Banweb is now accessible once more.  We will continue to monitor the service to ensure its stability over the weekend.

At approximately 3:00 pm today, the Help Desk received reports of Banner being inaccessible.  Users going to the Banner website receive an error 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable.

We are diagnosing the issue currently.

Service(s) Impacted: Banner


Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  6:00 pm

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: The root cause of the service downtime is still being investigated.  We will post an update once we close the issue completely.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Friday, May 10, 2013

***Resolved*** Google Drive Currently Inoperative

WHAT: Google Drive is currently malfunctioning.  This appears to affect all users.  We are beginning an investigation to determine the root cause of this issue.

WHEN: 05/10/13 

Current Status: Open

Description:  ***RESOLVED*** At approximately 12:20 pm, Drive became accessible once more.  We will keep an eye on the updates from Google to ensure there are no subsequent outages as a result of this issue, but for now we consider the problem resolved.  If you have any issues with accessing Google Drive, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525.

Update 12:07 pm 5/10:  The Google Apps Status Dashboard has been updated by Google noting that there is an issue with the Drive service.  This would indicate that this is an issue at Google's level.  We will continue to post updates as they arrive.

Original Message:  At approximately 11:50 am today, the Help Desk received reports of Google Drive not working properly for PLU Gmail users.  The symptoms are as follows:
  • Page loads, but user files are not shown on page
We are currently investigating to determine the root cause of the issue, and are awaiting an update from Google to see if it is a service issue.

Service(s) Impacted: Google Apps

Workarounds: No Workarounds available at this time

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 2 pm

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: The issue appears to be a problem with Google's servers.  Google is investigating and will post updates as the issue evolves.

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Authentication to some online services unavailable on May 10, 6-8am

WHAT: Planned maintenance will result in intermittent disruptions to authentication for some online services.

WHEN: 05/10/2013  Duration: 6:00-8:00 AM

Current Status: Resolved

**UPDATE** The maintenance was performed, and all services should be restored.

Description: On May 10, 2013, there will be intermittent disruptions in authentication to several online services while planned maintenance is performed. During these disruptions, it will not be possible to log in to the online services listed below, but in most cases users will be able to continue using the services if they have already logged in.

If you find that you are unable to log into one of the online services listed below during this maintenance window, please wait 15 minutes and try again.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai, Web Help Desk, ePass Tools, Personal Web sites (community.plu.edu), DSpace, Online Search & Directory, some protected resources on www.plu.edu


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., May 3, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** May 3, 6:16AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** May 3, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  05/03/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, May 3, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for weekly maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Fri., May 3, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

***Resolved*** Account Creation and Password Reset Tools Unavailable

WHAT: Part of the ePass tools is not functioning correctly, preventing access to the Account Creation and Password Reset Tools

WHEN: 04/23/2013

Current Status: Resolved

Description: Resolved 9:45 pm:  At approximately 9:00 am, we rebooted a key server which was having issues and the CAPTCHA tool is now functional.  Several accounts were successfully created subsequent to the reboot and the password reset tool appears to be working correctly as well.  We will continue to monitor the tool for stability.

The ePass tools are experiencing an issue with the CAPTCHA page; the CAPTCHA, used to verify that the user is not an automated system, is not loading correctly, preventing access to the following tools:

Account Creation
Password Resets

Service(s) Impacted: ePass

Workarounds: None at this time -- please contact the Help Desk if you are trying to utilize these tools and they can assist.

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 9:30 am

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: This is likely related to the issues we were experiencing earlier last week with the ePass tools -- an investigation continues to determine the source of these issues as well as a fix.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

ePass Tools Inaccessible

WHAT: The ePass tools page is currently inaccessible to users.  

WHEN: 04/18/2013

Current Status: Closed


Description: Update 4/22 8:10 am:  The ePass tools should be functional for users to perform password changes, nickname creation/changes, and also to toggle visibility in the directory.

We are still troubleshooting the root cause of the issue, but the tools should be stable enough for users to perform normal account updates.  We will continue to monitor the tools for stability and will create a new update should the status change. 


12:00 pm 4/19:  We are continuing to diagnose the issue and are developing a solution for the issue.  We hope to have an update by the end of the day which will get users back into the account tools.  

An additional update is that account creation also seems to be functional at this point; if you are attempting to create an ePass account and cannot, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 and report what happens when you try to create an account.

Update 8:00 am 4/19:  I&TS attempted a fix on several of the servers which are involved with ePass last evening, and while the issue temporarily subsided, it appears to have returned.  As of right now, the tools are still inaccessible.  We are currently researching other solutions.

Original Message: The ePass Tools Page (http://epass.plu.edu) is currently not loading correctly for users.  When attempting to access the tools, the page simply loads a blank page.  The following functions are affected:

Password Changes
Nickname Creation/Changes
Directory Visibility Toggle

We are in the process of diagnosing the issue at this time. 

Service(s) Impacted: ePass Tools

Workarounds: Users needing to change their password can use the Password Reset Tool to reset their password.  This will only work if you have set up security questions for password resets. 

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 4:30 pm 4/19

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: To be determined.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Planned Upgrade of Sakai Support Webforms, Apr. 26


*** UPDATE *** Apr. 26, 6:44AM - The Sakai Support webforms are upgraded and back online.

*** UPDATE *** Apr. 26, 6:00AM - The Sakai Support webforms are currently offline for the planned upgrade. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 7:00AM (if not before).

WHAT: Planned Upgrade of Sakai Support Webforms


WHEN: 04/26/13   Duration: 6:00AM - 7:00AM


Description: On Friday morning, April 26, all webforms associated with the Sakai Support site (e.g., Request Course, Request Project Site, Request Guest Users, etc.) will be unavailable for a software upgrade. Most importantly, the Request Course webform will be upgraded for instructors to be able to create Sakai courses that incorporate student enrollments from more than one course reference number (CRN). Such Sakai courses are useful when an instructor teaches more than one section of a particular course during an academic term. A document describing how instructors can use one Sakai course to effectively manage more than one CRN is available here.


As a further result of this upgrade, the webforms associated with the Sakai Support site will assume the same look-and-feel as the rest of the PLU website.


Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Workarounds:  During this downtime requests for help and support pertaining to Sakai can still be emailed to sakai@plu.edu.  

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: Fri., Apr. 26, 7:00AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

***Resolved*** Gmail Services Login Issues

*** RESOLVED *** April 17, 7:52am - The Google Apps status page notes "The problem with Google Mail should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support."

*** UPDATE *** April 17, 6:51am - The Google Apps status page notes "Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future."

WHAT: The Gmail Apps Status Dashboard posted a notice this morning at 5:58 AM reporting issues with accessing multiple Gmail services.

WHEN: 04/17/2013  Duration:

Current Status: Resolved

Description: At 5:58 AM this morning, the Gmail Apps Status Dashboard noted issues with log in to multiple Gmail services; the afflicted services include:

Gmail
All Google Docs
Gmail Administrative Tools

The issue is being investigated by Google at this time.  Log ins appear to be intermittent at this point; users will receive error message stating one of the following:

Service Unavailable
Gmail has Encountered an Error


Service(s) Impacted: Gmail, Google Apps

Workarounds:  There are no workarounds at this time.  IMAP Clients such as Thunderbird and mobile phone clients do not appear to be affected.

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: Resolved

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: The issue is a bug on Google's servers -- they will be working to resolve the issue.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

***Resolved*** No Access to Banner INB and Banner Web

WHAT: Banner Offline

WHEN: 04/13/2013

Current Status: Resolved

Description: Update at 9:20am:  Access to Banner has been restored.

Original Message: We received word that Banner (INB & BanWeb) is offline this morning following the normal downtime for backups on Friday night/Saturday morning.  We are actively working to restore service and hope to have Banner online soon.  No official estimated time to repair is available yet.

Service(s) Impacted: Banner

Next Update: 10:30am or sooner if resolved

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement:  Investigation into the root cause will be conducted shortly.

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Apr. 12, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** Apr. 12, 6:09AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** Apr. 12, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  04/12/13 Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, April 12, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00AM to 6:30AM for weekly maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Fri., Apr. 12, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

***Resolved***Possible Intermittent ePass Tools Outages from 9am-12pm 4/4/13


WHEN: 04/04/2013 Duration: Approximately 3 hours (9 am - 12 pm)

Current Status: Resolved

Description:  Update 4/4/13 at 11:21 am:  The maintenance has completed and ePass tools should be back to full functionality.  We will continue to monitor the tools for stability, but the issue which was causing the downtime has been resolved.  We thank you for your patience as we work to improve our service. 


Original Message:  I&TS will be performing extended maintenance on the server which handles the ePass tools throughout this morning.  While they do not anticipate extended downtime, there is a possibility that during this maintenance the ePass tools will be inaccessible for short periods (~5-15 minutes).  During this time, password resets, password changes, account requests, and ePass account maintenance may become inaccessible.

We expect that this maintenance will be completed by 12 pm today. 

Service(s) Impacted: ePass

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 12 pm 4/4/2013

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: This is maintenance relating to the outage from 4/3/2013.  The maintenance is addressing the cause of the outage and also helping to resolve a few other bugs with the ePass tools.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

***Resolved*** ePass Tools Inaccessible

WHAT: The ePass tools page currently is unavailable.  Users are unable to access any content from this page.

WHEN: 04/03/13

Current Status: Open

Description: Update 7:45 pm:  The tools are now functional again, and the service should be fully operational.  We will continue to monitor the system to ensure stability.

Original Message:  At approximately 3:00 pm on 4/3, the ePass Tools became inaccessible due to unexpected behavior from maintenance.  Currently, the following services are unavailable:

- Account Request
- Password Resets and Changes
- Nickname Updates

ePass logins are still functional; only the above-listed items are not working.

We are in the process of applying a fix and currently await results.  We will keep this posting updated as the situation progresses.

Service(s) Impacted: ePass

Workarounds: There are no work arounds at this time

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 7:00 pm 4/3/2013

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: Unexpected behavior from normal maintenance resulted in the system malfunctioning.  



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Mar. 22, 6AM

*** UPDATE *** Mar. 22, 6:10AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** Mar. 22, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance

WHEN:  03/22/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, March 22, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00am to 6:30am for weekly maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Fri, Mar. 22, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.


Thursday, March 14, 2013

***Resolved*** Planned Maintenance for Library Online Resources

WHAT: The Library Online Resources and Services will be temporarily unavailable during a Maintenance Window.

WHEN: 03/15/2013 from 7:00 am to 7:30 am Duration: Estimated 30 minutes

Current Status: Open

Description: Resolved:  The maintenance has completed without incident.  The Library Resources are available and functioning. 


Original Message:  On Friday, March 15th, the Library Online Resources/Services will be temporarily unavailable from 7 am to 7:30 am while they undergo routine maintenance.

 Library Resources which will be impacted include, but are not limited to:
  • Journal Databases
  • Article Databases
The maintenance should take approximately 30 minutes.

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 3/15/2013 at 8:00 am


Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

***Resolved*** Account Creation and Gmail Sending Issues

WHAT: Users are experiencing problems when trying to create an ePass account and also are seeing unusual activity when searching for people's names in Gmail.  Additionally, sending e-mails to large groups (e.g., all-students, all-faculty) is resulting in unexpected behavior.

WHEN: 03/14/2013

Current Status: Open

Description: Resolved 3/25/2013:  The underlying issue has been resolved.  At this point account creation, mail lists, and the display names should all be working correctly.  If you continue to experience issues, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 or e-mail us at helpdesk@plu.edu.  You can also stop in at the Help Desk, located on the first floor of the Library.

Update 3/20/2013: The mass e-mail groups and name issues should be resolved at this point.  (Original issues 2 and 3).  If there are any problems relating to this issue, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525.

We believe that most of the account creation issues have been resolved, but are still working to ensure that the process is functioning fully.  Users unable to create ePass accounts should contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 for assistance. 


Update 3/15/2013 3:15 pm:  Systems has identified the root cause of the below issues, and is currently working on correcting the issue.  Due to the volume of data involved with the fix, results take time to correctly display once fixes are applied.

We do not yet have an accurate time frame for resolution at this time.  Now that the cause has been identified, we are working diligently to restore these services to normal operation as promptly as we are able to.

Please continue to contact the Help Desk if you experience issues with any of the below listed problems.  We are collecting user information and will contact you once the issues are resolved.  The Help Desk can be reached by calling 253-535-7525, or by emailing helpdesk@plu.edu.


Original Message 3/14/2013:At approximately 10:00 am today, we received reports of issues with the following symptoms:

1.  Users unable to create ePass accounts.  The Help Desk has received multiple reports of users being unable to create ePass accounts.  Users reported that the process failed at multiple points, but most commonly the ePass tools either would claim that there is no account available for their ID number or the ePass tools would not accept the user's birthdate.

2.  Users display names in the Gmail Autocomplete are not displaying correctly for some users.  Gmail has the capability to auto-complete email addresses based on a person's full name.  Recently, users who have alternate or "preferred" names listed in Banner are showing up only by these alternate names when you use the auto-complete function in Gmail.  (For example, if Johnathan Smith has the preferred name of "Johny", searching "Johnathan Smith" in Gmail does not work, but "Johnny Smith" does.)

3.  Certain mass email groups (e.g., all-students, all-faculty) are not sending to all members of the group.  When sending to these groups, only a handful of email addresses are actually inserted as opposed to the entire group.

Systems is aware of all of these issues and is working to resolve the problem.  They are in the processes of developing and rolling out a fix to these issues.  

Service(s) Impacted: ePass, Gmail

Workarounds: As we continue to apply fixes to the affected services, users should see the services return to normal operation.  Please check the status blog for updates concerning these issues.

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: The root cause of the issue was related to a communications problem between several pieces of software.  A bug in the way the pieces of software communicated with one another resulted in conflicting information being passed along, ultimately resulting in non-existent or incomplete ePass accounts.

We are continuing to monitor the software to ensure that it is working correctly, and will keep a close eye on it as we progress towards the new school year. 



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Sakai Unavailable for Maintenance on Fri., Mar. 8, 6AM


*** UPDATE *** Mar. 8, 6:18AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** Mar. 8, 6:00AM - Sakai is currently offline for planned maintenance. The Sakai Support team is working to restore this service by 6:30AM (if not before).

WHAT:  Sakai Unavailable for Weekly Maintenance

WHEN:  03/08/13  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, March 8, Sakai will be out of service from 6:00am to 6:30am for weekly maintenance. Please plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns please email sakai@plu.edu.

Service(s) Impacted:  Sakai

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  Fri, Mar. 8, 6:30AM

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

***Resolved*** ePass Tools Not Functioning; Error 500 Call Failed on Server

WHAT:
Update:  We have discovered the root cause of the issue and resolved it.  The ePass tools are currently functional again.

Original message:
The ePass tools are currently not working correctly; users are unable to change their passwords due to an "Error 500: The Call failed on the server"

WHEN: 03/05/13

Current Status: Open

Description: Update 1:00 pm:  The tools are now functional again.  Password changes/resets are working as intended.


Original Description: At approximately 12:00 pm today, the Help Desk discovered that users were receiving error messages when attempting to update their passwords.  The error is as follows:

Change Password
Error: Change Password
Failed to update user password! 500 The call failed on the server; see server log for details

This appears to affect all password change attempts, including those provided by the Help Desk.  We are currently diagnosing the issue.


Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: Our System technicians discovered a bug in the code which handled the password changes.  We have rolled out a hotfix to resolve the issue.



Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

Monday, March 4, 2013

***Resolved*** Banner Web Certificate Expiration

WHAT: Banner Web Certificate Expiration

WHEN: 03/04/13  Duration: Less Than 24 Hours

Description: Web browsers are reporting that banweb.plu.edu has an expired certificate.  Most browsers allow you to continue past this error.  Doing this and continuing to login will still provide an encrypted session.  We expect to have this resolved shortly.

Service Impacted: Banner

Workarounds: Choose the option in your browser to continue past the error.

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 03/05/13

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.

LDAP Maintenance (ePass)

WHAT: LDAP Maintenance

UPDATE: 3/5/13 7:47am - Maintenance done 

Description: Maintenance on the primary LDAP system. This is necessary for the ePass tools.

Users will be unable to use any of the tools found on the ePass page during this time.  Specifically, the following functions will be unavailable:

- Password Changes
- Password Resets
- Account Requests
- Nickname Creation/Alteration

The maintenance is expected to last approximately 30 minutes.  


Service(s) Impacted: ePass Tools

If this service is having issues please let us know at the PLU Help Desk ext#7525

Check http://www.plu.edu/status/ for periodic updates.