26-Oct-2020

LNS Protected Reorganization: Ongoing

As previously announced, on Tuesday, 27-Oct-2020, at 10:00 AM, there will be a brief network glitch on the LNS Protected network as we introduce two access groups:

1. Non-CLASSE-managed devices (phones, personal laptops, etc):
   • New LNS Protected firewall rules will be applied, allowing at least the same access as computers on the CLASSE VPN, but with direct access to routed internal networks removed. Local access to non-routed private subnets will not be affected.
2. CLASSE-managed computers: no new access restrictions on LNS Protected at this time.

During the first week of November, we will complete the LNS Protected security upgrade by moving devices into the appropriate access group. Your assigned IP address and DNS name might change, possibly requiring a reboot. Please submit a ServiceRequest if you will be adversely affected by these planned changes.

Adobe Flash Deprecation

As announced in a previous CLASSE-IT newsletter, Adobe is ending support for Flash Player on 31-Dec-2020. Therefore, we will be uninstalling Flash from CLASSE-managed computers during the month of December 2020. Users should take note of the following:

• CLASSE-IT instructional videos will no longer play embedded in a web browser. Instead, please save the video files to your local hard drive and open them with VLC Player.
• If you are using a non-standard remote access tool (i.e., not on this list) or any other program that uses Flash, please contact us by submitting a ServiceRequest.

CLASSE VPN on Macs

The next major release of macOS (version 11, known as "Big Sur"), scheduled for late 2020, is known to include new security and privacy features that prevent Tunnelblick from connecting to the CLASSE VPN. Our testing with beta versions of Big Sur has confirmed this failure. We are currently developing a VPN solution that addresses this problem, and we hope to make it available before the end of the year. In the meantime, we recommend that personal Macs not be upgraded to Big Sur. CLASSE-managed Macs will be upgraded only after we have thoroughly tested the official Big Sur release. For more details about this VPN issue, please see https://tunnelblick.net/cTunTapConnections.html.

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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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