Monday, April 28, 2014

*** RESOLVED *** Banner Unavailable for Scheduled Maintenance, May 4th, 3:00 am-Noon PDT

WHAT: Internet Native Banner & Banner Web - Scheduled Maintenance, Sunday, May 4th, 3:00 am-Noon PDT

WHEN: 5/4/14 Duration: 3:00 am-Noon PDT

WHERE: On & Off Campus

Current Status: Open

Description: **UPDATE**  As of 8:00am on 5/4/14, the maintenance work is complete and Banner services are once again available.***
All Banner services - Internet Native and Banner Web - will be unavailable during a scheduled maintenance window on Sunday, May 4th, 2014, from 3:00 am to noon (pdt).  This post will be updated when the maintenance is complete and Banner services are once again available.

Workarounds:  There are no workarounds available during this time.

Service(s) Impacted: Banner

Estimated Time to Next Update/Resolution:  12 pm on 5/4/14

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


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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

*** UPDATE *** April 25, 6:09AM - Sakai is back online. The planned maintenance is complete.

*** UPDATE *** April 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:  04/25/14  Duration:  6:00AM - 6:30AM

Description:  On Friday, April 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, April 25, 6:30AM

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

Monday, April 21, 2014

***RESOLVED*** Banner Web Issues this evening, maintenance scheduled Tuesday morning - 4/21-22/2014

WHAT: Banner Web Issues Reported

WHEN: 4/21/2014  Service Outage Duration: Approximately 5:00pm-10:00pm
Maintenance Scheduled: 4/22/2014 3:00am-6:00am

Current Status: Resolved

Description: This evening the I&TS Helpdesk received several reports of issues with class registration through Banner Web.  I&TS is investigating the issue and has identified a likely cause.  While the problem was being resolved we temporarily suspended registration access to avoid any further issues.  Several steps have been taken to resolve the issue.  However, we will be conducting a "refresh" of the affected system between 3-6am that should clear up the issue's root cause.  During the 3-6am timeframe access to Banner Web will be restricted in order to avoid further complications.

Service(s) Impacted: Banner

Estimated Time to Resolution and Next Update:  Registration is available now.  We anticipate permanent resolution tomorrow morning and will post an update following the refresh around 6am.

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

Thursday, April 17, 2014

The Heartbleed Bug – What You Need to Know

As many of you may have heard, a flaw has been discovered in a common Internet security method. Although no specific security breaches have been identified, the flaw could allow malicious users to steal personal information. The flaw is associated with specific versions of OpenSSL, which is software that is widely used to secure web server traffic.  The flaw is known as the "Heartbleed" vulnerability.  A fix for this flaw, which was announced last week, is available, and Internet service providers and website managers around the world are working to implement the patch.
The most important thing for members of the PLU community to know is that Information & Technology Services has been working diligently to assess our risk and secure any vulnerable systems.  More information about likely recommendations for changing your PLU ePass password will be forthcoming once our work is completed.
However, many common websites using OpenSSL have also been identified as vulnerable, including Yahoo!, Flickr, NASA and Facebook, among others.

What You Need To Know

For non-PLU web services that contain sensitive data refrain from logging in for a few days while those servers are patched or until you are certain they are not at risk. For best security, you should not use the same password for your PLU ePass and for non-PLU logins. However, if you have done so, please change your ePass password.
  • Confirm that non-PLU websites you use have checked their systems and fixed them if needed. Once a website has patched the Heartbleed vulnerability, you should change your password for that site as swiftly as possible.
    • The password security firm LastPass has set up a Heartbleed Checker, which allows you to enter the URL of any website to check its vulnerability to the bug and whether the site has issued a patch.
  •  If the site or service hasn't patched the flaw yet, contact the company and ask when it expects to push out a fix to deal with Heartbleed.
  • If they have not patched the flaw, avoid logging in to their service until they do. Once they confirm they have fixed the problem, then change your password.
To get detailed information on this bug, you can visit the http://heartbleed.com/ website.

The safety and security of the PLU community is paramount -- please use the above resources to ensure that your personal information is protected.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

*** RESOLVED *** Delayed Email Sending via Sakai

*** UPDATE *** April 8, 3:10PM - The backlog of emails in the queue have been processed, and delivery times for emails sent from Sakai have returned to normal.

*** UPDATE *** April 8, 10:38AM - Email sent from Sakai is currently being delayed by an average of 2 hours due to a backlog of emails in the queue. We anticipate that email sent will arrive, though we will continue to monitor the situation.

WHAT: We are investigating an issue where emails sent from Sakai are taking considerably longer to be delivered than usual.

WHEN: 04/08/14

Current Status: Open

Description: At approximately 10:15 am, we observed problems with email being sent via Sakai.  Specifically, emails sent in this manner are either taking a significantly longer time to be sent/delivered, and in some instances, are not sending.

We are currently investigating this issue and will post more information as it becomes available.

Service(s) Impacted: Sakai

Workarounds: No workaround for sending via Sakai at this point.

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update: 3:30 pm

Root Cause / Continuous Improvement: To be determined.



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



Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Brief Internet Service Outage 3:15-3:25pm

WHAT: Brief Internet provider outage this afternoon 3:15-3:25pm

WHEN: 4/2/2014 Duration: 10 minutes,  3:15-3:25pm

WHERE: Campuswide

Current Status: Resolved

Description: One of PLU's Internet Service Providers experienced a connection problem that caused approximately 60 customer sites, including PLU, to experience a loss of service.  The problem was quickly identified and resolved with no further issue anticipated.

Service(s) Impacted: Campus Network

Estimated Time to Resolution or Next Update:  No further updates are expected.

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