The Curative Analysis team in IT is tasked with finding the causes of significant IT issues that affect campus. In this news update, we draw your attention to some of the problems being investigated or issues handled recently.
Blackboard Login Issues: A security feature from the updated firmware on the external firewall caused the firewall to incorrectly block Blackboard authentication traffic. This firmware was updated during the fall Data Center outage, and a basic security feature that has been enabled since we have had this firewall in place now appears to not be working correctly. It has now started blocking authentication traffic for Blackboard. We have disabled this feature and opened a case with the firewall manufacturer. IT staff continue to monitor and work with the manufacturer to ensure a resolution.
Windows Computers: An issue was discovered after a recent Windows Feature Update causing several computers running the Windows operating system to attempt to log in to the Azure AD domain instead of the WCU domain. Clients can still log in to their computers by using wcu\ before the username (i.e. wcu\username) at which point a technician can unbind the computer from the Azure AD domain and rebind it to the correct WCU domain. IT staff are working with Microsoft to determine the cause of the issue.
PAW Print: A recent firewall update caused the inability to install a new printer from PAW Print servers. The update was applied to allow printer management from virtual desktops; however, it stepped on an existing firewall rule and caused mapping to new printers to fail. Existing printers were unaffected. The firewall rule was quickly corrected to fix the issue.
Banner Report Portal: Three separate issues occurred when trying to access various reports in the Banner Report Portal. Investigation showed that the SQL server was running on an ‘iSCSI network’ instead of the Data Center network. A fix was applied to update the SQL server to use the Data Center network.
Student Vault Storage: An issue was discovered for students attempting to edit some files saved in Vault storage. The files could be saved locally (to the VM or physical computer), then edited and copied back to Vault. IT worked with the Vault storage vendor, 45Drives to resolve the issue.
ShareLink: An update to the firmware for ShareLink in conference rooms is causing an issue with Extron audio transmissions. IT staff are working with the vendor to obtain an update. As a workaround, we are rolling back to firmware version 2.0.2.5 and adjusting the digital audio gain or attaching an audio cable.
October 2018
Global Problems: (Total 18)
Blackboard Login Issues: 4
VCAT Thin Client Desktops: 1
Omega Storage Server: 1
Office 365: 2
Banner Report Portal: 2
Wired Network Connectivity: 3
Wireless Network Connectivity: 2
IT Self-Service (help.wcu.edu): 1
Mac Self-Service Software Installation: 1
Dell XPS laptop Imaging: 1
The Division of IT is committed to adopting a proactive, process-oriented approach to prevent problems before they arise. We will continue to keep you informed on our progress.