Cabell Library has experienced a power outage that affects library services as well as the Media Support Services, VCUCard, and the Help Desk operations. To contact the Help Desk send an email or visit the online support webpage to submit a ticket.

Posted by at 12:01 PM | Permalink

Scheduled maintenance will be performed on the E-mail system Saturday, September 1, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. During this maintenance window, access to e-mail may be unavailable on your primary server. Access to your e-mail via your alternate server should be available automatically when accessing through VCU Mail Anywhere, or via your alternate server using an IMAP connection or the Notes client. Access to Sametime Instant Messaging may be unavailable past this maintenance window while this server is upgraded to a new software version.

Posted by at 7:00 AM | Permalink

Various members of the VCU community have received emails from what looks like a trusted internal source with the subject line of "Where did you take that?". The email includes a link that looks like it will take you to YouTube.com. In fact this link will take you to a nefarious website that will download malware software to your PC. DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK. Please delete any email with this link immediately. If you have clicked on this link please contact the Technology Services Help Desk at 828-2227 to determine what should be done to ensure that your PC is not affected.

Posted by at 12:08 AM | Permalink

UPDATE 4 (9/5/2007): Some floors in the residence halls are still experiencing problems connecting to the wireless network. Network Services believes they have tracked the problem down and have opened a support ticket with Cisco who is the equipment vendor. They will continue to work on this problem. If you are experiencing problems with your wired network connection please contact ResNet for assistance with wired network ports.

UPDATE 3: Network Services is still working on the wireless issue. It is suggested that if your work requires network access users are encouraged to obtain a network cable and use the wired network port in the residence hall rooms. Network cables can be obtained from Online@VCU located in the Student Commons or any office supplies store such as OfficeMax and Staples.

UPDATE2: Wired issues resolved. Wireless in Johnson and Brandt still is down. Network Services is still diagnosing the problem.

UPDATE: Most issues with wired connections to the network have been resolved. There is still an issue with the wireless connectivity and Network Services continues to work on this issue.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: There are reports from Johnson & Brandt Halls that network connectivity is down on the wired and wireless connections. Network Services has been contacted and is working on the problem. We will update when more information is available. Please call the Technology Services Help Desk with any questions at 828-2227.

Posted by at 12:34 PM | Permalink

ImageNow maintenance has been completed at 7:30 p.m. on 8/24/07 and the server is available for use.

Posted by at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UPDATE: The Help Desk online support portal is still down due to maintenance. Please contact the Help Desk via email, phone at 828-2227, or by visiting the Help Desk in the basement of Cabell Library.

The online support portal for the Technology Services Help Desk will be unavailable from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. today for maintenance. Please contact the Help Desk at 828-2227 should you have any questions.

Posted by at 11:27 AM | Permalink

The release of Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 has brought with it a few challenges for faculty and students at VCU. Students are arriving on campus with new computers running the Vista operating system and Office 2007. Technology Services has compiled some tips and tricks to address possible problems using Vista and Office 2007 at VCU. To learn how to view an Office 2007 document in Office 2003, find solutions to Vista and Office 2007 problems, and view Microsoft Word and Excel online tutorials, go to http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/ts.userservices.training/vista_office2007.htm

Posted by at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The network connection for Theater Row is down today, August 22. The service failed at some point during the early morning hours. It is unknown if this outage is related to storms or equipment failure at this time. Three network engineers are working to resolve the problem. There is no estimated time of repair. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk at 828-2227 with any questions.

Posted by at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The VCU Text Messaging service will be unavailable at 9 p.m. tonight, August 21, as the vendor performs an upgrade to handle increased demand. This period of unavailability should only last about 5 minutes. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk with any questions at (804) 828-2227.

Posted by at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UPDATE 2 (8/27/2007): Network Services has installed and linked the new laser devices. They are not passing data at this time. Network Services hopes to have resolved later today.

UPDATE (8/21/2007): Network Services is still working to resolve this problem. New laser devices have been ordered and are being shipped. These must be tested before being installed on the building. No definite estimated time to completion is available at this time.

(8/17/2007): Due to last night's storm, the VCU Dance Center does not have network connectivity. The Dance Center is fed by a point-to-point laser from the School of Business. It may be an alignment issue due to the wind, however it could be that one or both of the lasers have a problem, which will be far more serious. We are in the process of bringing in a contractor to troubleshoot. There is not an estimated time of completion for this problem as of yet. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk with any questions at 828-2227.

Posted by at 1:29 PM | Permalink

ImageNow will be down for maintenance from 2:00 p.m. until Midnight on Friday, August 24, 2007 and during this time the ImageNow system will be unavailable.

Posted by at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UPDATE: Network Services believes that the source of the problem is a bad cable and are working to repair. It will be after normal operating hours before the repair is complete. If no other problems are found this should resolve the problem.

Network connectivity to Theater Row has been interrupted due to a problem with the laser devices that feed the area. Network Services is working to resolve the problem. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk at 828-2227 should you have any questions.

Posted by at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Sunday, 8/19/07, from 7:00 a.m. until approximately 8:00 a.m., the University Computer Center will be performing maintenance which will affect ImageNow services. During this time, the ImageNow server will be unavailable.

Posted by at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scheduled maintenance will be performed on the E-mail system Saturday, August 18, between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. During this maintenance window, access to e-mail may be unavailable on your primary server. Access to your e-mail via your alternate server should be available automatically when accessing through VCU Mail Anywhere, or via your alternate server using an IMAP connection or the Notes client.

Posted by at 7:00 AM | Permalink

A failed hard drive on the ePhones modular messaging server has cut off online access to ePhones voicemail. It is expected to be up by tomorrow, August 14. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk at 828-2227 should you have any questions.

Posted by at 3:00 PM | Permalink

ImageNow August 10 maintenance completed August 10 at 9:45 p.m.

Posted by at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ImageNow will be down for maintenance today from 2:00 p.m. until Midnight and during this time the ImageNow system will be unavailable. If you are an ImageNow user, please make sure you save your work and log off prior to 2:00 p.m.

Posted by at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A test of the Avaya VoIP telephone system Disaster Recovery Plan will occur with a planned network outage Saturday, August 11, 2007 between 6:00 AM and 2:00 PM. The following buildings ONLY will be without telephone, VCU network and internet access during the maintenance period:

•School of Engineering
•Gladdings Residence Center
•Academic Parking Deck
•Temple Building
•Cary Street Gym
•Trani Center for Life Sciences
•Oliver Hall - all wings
•School of Business
•6 N. Harrison Street
•Cary Street Parking Deck
•VCU Dance Center
•1315 Floyd Ave
•1128 Floyd Ave.

All other Monroe Park VoIP-based telephones should experience about 10 minutes of downtime while they register to the back up system. Another 10 minute downtime period should occur at the end of the maintenance as phones transition back to normal operation. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk should you have any questions at 828-2227.

Posted by at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Update 4: Update as of 9:00 am

State Department of General Services staff and contractors completed repairs on the chillers at the State Pocahontas Building last night at 9:30 pm. Temperatures at the VCU Computer Center returned to normal and the mainframe and its applications were restarted last evening. The development and test servers and systems that were taken down yesterday to help reduce the heat load are being restarted today.

If you have any questions, please contact the Technology Services Help Desk at 828-2227.

Update 3: All air conditioning units for VCU Computer Center were brought back online at 9:30 p.m. All systems returned to normal operating status by 10:30 p.m. Please contact the VCU Technology Services Help Desk with any questions at 828-2227.

Update 2: State Department of General Services staff and contractors are completing repairs on one of the chillers at the Pocahontas Building and expect the system to be tested and operational by 5:30 pm. Temperatures at the VCU Computer Center have remained within acceptable limits during the day today and all production systems, with the exception of the mainframe, have remained on-line.

We expect that conditions at the Computer Center and all systems will return to normal operations by Thursday morning, August 9.

UPDATE: The temperatures at the VCU Computer Center have stabilized and all production systems with the exception of the mainframe (the old Student Information System) are operating normally. State Department of General Services staff and contractors are continuing repairs. They now estimate the coolant leak to be fixed mid- to late afternoon. Check back at this site for further updates. Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk should you have any questions at 827-2227.

A leak in the coolant system at the State Pocahontas Building, which houses the VCU Computer Center, is affecting the cooling capacities in our computer room. VCU Technology Services staff have begun to take down non-essential systems and servers to help reduce the heat load. The State Department of General Services has repairmen on site and they are working on the problem. DGS estimates an initial fix by 1 p.m. Additional steps are being taken to keep the computer room within temperature operating limits. However, if temperatures begin to rise, staff will need to shut down systems to avoid damage. Systems will be disabled in reverse order of criticality according to Technology Services' emergency operations plans. Communications (email, web servers, etc.) will be the final systems shut down.

Posted by at 8:48 AM | Permalink

Mimosa/Sycamore are now available for login. E-mail Services staff has corrected the Domino crash issue. August 6, 2007 8:32 a.m.

Posted by at 8:08 AM | Permalink

Faculty/Staff Lotus Notes Databases will be upgraded to the Lotus Notes 7.0.2 template over the next few weeks. This upgrade will take place after business hours. Users will be upgraded in small batches in order to not affect server performance. Mail will still be available while the upgrade is taking place.

Users who login to VCU Mail Anywhere after their database has been upgraded, will see the new 7.0.2 format (blue screen design) and will be prompted to accept the Domino Web Access ActiveX control. Please see the link below for further information http://beech.vcu.edu/lspace/notes/schedule.nsf/d862e82eafb758368525663c004f385c/c869890b9b654532852572a4004cd40e?OpenDocument

For further assistance, please contact Doctor Notes at dnotes@vcu.edu.

Posted by at 10:08 AM | Permalink

Scheduled maintenance will be performed on the E-mail system Saturday, August 4, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. During this maintenance window, access to e-mail may be unavailable on your primary server. Access to your e-mail via your alternate server should be available automatically when accessing through VCU Mail Anywhere, or via your alternate server using an IMAP connection or the Notes client. This maintenance cycle also includes some networking changes, so both primary and secondary servers may be unavailable for short periods of time.

Posted by at 7:00 AM | Permalink