Students Staff

Blogs

IT Services

[Service Alert]

August 9, 2018

[Scheduled] Listen Again maintenance

Filed under: Listen Again, [Scheduled], [Service Alert] — Benjamin Steeples @ 3:34 pm

What’s happening?

Listen Again will be unavailable for several periods in August whilst we upgrade to the latest version and perform routine maintenance (see dates, below). The following services are affected by this maintenance and will be unavailable:

  • Listen Again (https://listenagain.essex.ac.uk/)
  • Panopto (https://panopto.essex.ac.uk/)

The maintenance windows will occur at the following times:

  • Friday 10 August, between 12noon until 5pm 
  • Wednesday 22 August, between 9am and 5pm

Additionally, the services will be considered at risk between 9am Thursday 23 August and 9am Monday 27 August. We will make best efforts to carry out scheduled recordings during this period.

What can I expect?

This is a relatively minor upgrade but includes improved compatibility for modern web browsers, improved analytics, and general bug fixes. We will also be laying the groundwork for Single Sign-On, to reduce the number of times people are asked to log in.

Updates

  • 10 August 2018
    • 4:30pm – Today’s maintenance is now complete, both Listen Again and Panopto have been returned to service.
The University of Essex will moderate comments and there will be a delay before any posts appear.

July 26, 2018

[Scheduled] Improvements to authentication servers

Filed under: [Scheduled] — Tags: , , — admin @ 5:15 pm

At 7:00am on Tuesday 31 July we will be making changes to some of our authentication servers (ADFS and Shibboleth). This is a continuation of our efforts to improve security and reduce the number of times users are prompted to log in.

Important note: Please be aware that this change will remove the existing ‘beige box’ login page for Shibboleth-based services (list at the bottom of this post). Instead, users will be directed to our ADFS-based login page shown below, with an address starting https://feds.essex.ac.uk/.

ADFS log in page

Users should not experience any disruption during this change. If, after the change, you are experiencing problems logging in to the services below, you should restart your computer in the first instance and then contact the IT Help Desk if problems persist.

ADFS-based services:

  • Email (https://email.essex.ac.uk/ and Microsoft Outlook)
  • FASER (https://faser.essex.ac.uk/)
  • Box (https://essexuniversity.account.box.com/ and Box Sync)

Shibboleth-based services (not an exhaustive list):

  • Moodle (https://moodle.essex.ac.uk/)
  • MoodleX (https://moodlex.essex.ac.uk/)
  • Some library services
  • Talis (https://readlinglists.essex.ac.uk/)
  • Lynda.com (https://lynda.com/)
  • Box of Broadcasts (https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/)
  • TuirningPoint
The University of Essex will moderate comments and there will be a delay before any posts appear.

July 25, 2018

[Resolved] www.Essex.ac.uk – Unavailable

Filed under: University website, [Resolved], [Service Alert] — Kyle Cooke @ 8:37 am

Update

The earlier problem affecting the main Essex website has now been resolved. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We are currently experiencing a problem that is preventing access to the University’s main site, www.essex.ac.uk.
Engineers are working to resolve the issue, we apologise for any inconvenience caused and will update this service alert once the issue has been resolved.

The University of Essex will moderate comments and there will be a delay before any posts appear.

July 23, 2018

[Service Alert] [Resolved] Moodle unavailable

Filed under: Moodle, [Resolved], [Service Alert] — Benjamin Steeples @ 9:56 am

Between 17:30 and 19:45 on Sunday 22 July, the following Moodle services were unavailable:

  • https://moodle.essex.ac.uk/
  • https://moodlex.essex.ac.uk/

Initial investigations indicate that this was related to a series of power losses over the weekend, and servers not rebooting as expected (configuration).

The University of Essex will moderate comments and there will be a delay before any posts appear.

July 17, 2018

[Service Alert] Scheduled downtime of database services

Filed under: Corporate systems, FASER, Listen Again, Management Information Systems, Pocket Essex app, SharePoint, University website, [Resolved], [Service Alert] — Richard Martin @ 5:37 pm

The scheduled work that was planned for Saturday 21 July has been postponed.

IT Services will be performing an essential upgrade to one of our student database servers (SERNT72) between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 21 July 2018.

During this time, many student and applicant facing services will be unavailable. This includes but is not limited to:

  • ESIS and attendant student and applicant information systems
  • AppPortal and Web Clearing
  • MyEssex
  • ESF, EAF and ECF on SharePoint
  • The Accommodation booking systems
  • The PocketEssex App
  • FASER, and Listen Again

This upgrade is necessary to prepare our systems for clearing and the next academic year.

Work has been undertaken to mitigate the impact of this upgrade, but if you have any concerns please contact Richard Martin.

The University of Essex will moderate comments and there will be a delay before any posts appear.

 

Older Posts »

General enquiries

Useful links

Connect with us

© 2018 University of Essex. All rights reserved. Webmaster enquiries