Before we switched to OpenVPN some years back, MCECS had an old VPN (dating back to 2003). This old VPN service has been on life support for the past few years and will be finally decommissioned on June 22. The underlying technology it uses (PPTP) has been proven to be insecure and many new operating systems no longer support it.

If you are a current MCECS OpenVPN user, you have nothing to worry about.

On the other hand, if you have some computers that are still configured to use the old VPN but only connect occasionally, please set them up to use OpenVPN. We have sent targeted warnings to recent users of the old VPN but we may not have seen you if you haven’t connected in the last two months.  

Instructions on how to setup OpenVPN for MCECS can be found here:

http://cat.pdx.edu/network/vpn-services-in-mcecs-2.html

MCECS students now have a bulk scanning station in the FAB 55-17 MCECS General Lab. The device (an HP Digital Sender Flow Station) has an automatic sheet feeder. Students who need to scan multiple sheets of well behaved paper (for homework assignments or projects) can do so to e-mail or a USB thumbdrive. Less well behaved paper can be scanned on the flatbed of the scanner.

The scanner is directly on the network so no host computer access is needed. Controls are through a touch screen and keyboard located on the machine.

An MCECS computer account (for logging into the scanner) and access to MCECS General Computer Labs (to get into the room) are needed to use the scanner.

Learn how to use it here:

https://cat.pdx.edu/faculty-staff/scanner-sender-2.html

Selected MCECS faculty and staff members are starting to receive new computers that come with CAT supplied Tier 1/2 Windows 10 loads. Transitioning from Windows 7 can pose a culture shock for some users.

We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions about our Windows 10 environment in this document:

https://goo.gl/2jNFk4

We have had a few isolated reports from users running into problems while viewing equations in Microsoft Word documents. The problems seem to have emerged after the most recent batch of security updates from Microsoft.

We have not seen any new updates from Microsoft regarding this problem. If you feel you are experiencing this issue, please contact the CAT with details about what you are running into.

Since going down to a single VPN solution in MCECS (OpenVPN), we have had a few instances where some users:

1. Have trouble getting OpenVPN to work on their specific system

2. Have issues using OpenVPN from some locations where OpenVPN may be blocked (such as PCC’s Willow Creek campus)

Having diverse VPN options is a good thing. While we are working on setting up a second VPN system in MCECS, we have also been working with OIT to configure their Cisco AnyConnect VPN service to access protected MCECS resources as well. You can now use this VPN to access the following MCECS resources:

• Remote Desktop to Windows computers that you have access to

• Access file shares/folders (on khensu, UNIX/Linux home directories, stashes)

• Print using the msprint print server

• SSH into computers that are on private addresses (such as ECE’s eve/walle/mo, the CS Particle lab)