08-Apr-2024

New VPN Deployment

Starting Tuesday, 02-Apr-2024, we began introducing a new always-on VPN service called ZeroTier, which will replace Pritunl on CLASSE-managed laptops. (Pritunl will remain installed as a fallback option.) Unlike with Pritunl, there is no need to manually connect and disconnect from ZeroTier — it is connected all the time, so Samba and CLASSE printers can be accessed without any additional steps. For personal laptops, CLASSE VPN connections will still require Pritunl, which will continue to be available.

Possible Service Glitches

In preparation for the upgrade of central CLASSE server clusters from SL7 to AlmaLinux 9, there may be periodic service glitches or pauses during this down. Any expected or extended disruptions will be announced on the CLASSE-IT-NEWS-L Mailing List.

Possible AppsAnywhere Glitches: Tuesday, 09-Apr-2024 and Wednesday, 10-Apr-2024

On Tuesday, 09-Apr-2024 and Wednesday, 10-Apr-2024, a scheduled upgrade of the AppsAnywhere servers will take place. Since the servers will be upgraded in a staggered fashion, we do not expect any significant outages of the AppsAnywhere service, although brief glitches might occur. If you have any questions or concerns, please submit a ServiceRequest.

AlmaLinux 9

On 30-Jun-2024, Scientific Linux 7 (SL7) will reach its end-of-life and will no longer receive updates after that date. CLASSE-IT recommends and is supporting AlmaLinux 9, a rebuild of RedHat Enterprise Linux 9 (EL9), as a successor to Scientific Linux 7. In the coming months, we will contact users of SL7 desktops and workstations to schedule an upgrade to AlmaLinux 9. If you wish to expedite your Linux upgrade, please submit a ServiceRequest. This upgrade is not yet avilable for specialized Linux systems, such as control system or station computers. Please also consider switching from lnx201.classe.cornell.edu (SL7) to lnx209.classe.cornell.edu (AlmaLinux 9) as a general-purpose landing pad.

New Teams

Microsoft is deploying a new version of Teams. You may see a notification banner to switch to the new Teams in Classic Teams. Although you can ignore the banner and there is nothing you need to do now, this is a real notice.

Sometime in the indefinite future Microsoft will disable Classic Teams. When this happens, you will need to use Vivaldi to access teams on CLASSE Managed Windows and CLASSE Managed Linux computers. To access teams in Vivaldi, just go to the teams.microsoft.com URL.

CLASSE IT will provide more information in future newsletters as it becomes available.

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General network and server maintenance will occur every Tuesday from 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM. The CLASSE-IT group will always announce any expected disruptions in our NewsLetter and via CLASSE-IT-NEWS-L, but with the size and complexity of our network there is always the potential for something to go wrong. We will do our best to contain all network maintenance and planned outages to Tuesdays from 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM.

Unless other arrangements have been made, CLASSE-managed Windows systems may be updated and rebooted on Tuesday morning at 2:00 AM, so please avoid critical or lengthy operations at that time. For more details, please see SystemExpectations.

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Questions or problems? Submit a service request.

Other resources:

• CLASSE IT Home Page
• Previous newsletters

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