This probably comes as no surprise to most ArcGIS users in MCECS. The old ArcGIS Desktop (often run as ArcMAP) that has run on various systems in MCECS has long been announced as end-of-life soon. We’ve noticed that the old license server (run by OIT in conjunction with the Geography dept) has been down intermittently [...]
[This only affects people using VNC or xRDP to access our Ubuntu Linux systems.] We have switched back to the MATE desktop as the default when you remotely access our Ubuntu Linux systems via VNC or xRDP. The desktop is the graphical user interface you interact with when you initiate a graphical session on a [...]
The CAT has been busy throughout the Summer, making some substantial changes to our computer infrastructure. These changes may affect both onsite and remote users. Here are some highlights: All Windows systems in computer labs have been migrated to Windows 11. All Ubuntu Linux end-user systems have been upgraded to the 24.04 (“noble”) release. The [...]
It’s only mid-September, classes haven’t even started yet but we’re starting to see phishing scam emails starting to land in email boxes. Fall term is when scammers try to get you to give up your login credentials. They assume you may be new to the College or have let your guard down after a nice [...]
Our old Windows Terminal Service has now been shut down. With the advent of our Windows Remote Lab, MCECS users now have access to remote desktops that provide all the software delivered to our primary on-campus Windows Labs. Use of the old terminal server has plummeted and we seldom see more than a few concurrent [...]
If you have a CAT supported Windows system, and you haven’t self-upgraded to Windows 11 yet, we will be pushing Windows 11 out to your system starting this week. This includes office desktops, computers in grad student cubes, and computers in research labs. The upgrades will occur when there is no one logged into the [...]
At about the same time last year, we announced that we were locking off our LInux lab "proxy" addresses behind the firewall. Due to a number of factors, this task was postponed and we are finally going to make the change on Wednesday, Sep 11. Read the included message for details. Note, existing CS login servers (ada/babbage/quizors) are [...]
Over the past few years, Google has been trying to reign in runaway storage consumption for its Google Apps for Education tier. For faculty and research groups who found PSU’s google storage to be a convenient and limitless resource, that era is now over. OIT now has to ensure that the university stays below a [...]
Starting Spring 2023, access to services running on "high ports" (ie: network ports numbered 1024 and higher) on remotely accessible MCECS Linux systems will be blocked to external users. You will still be able to ssh into those systems. However, if you are running any services (programs) on these systems that listen at high ports, [...]
It looks like the Fall term phishing campaigns against PSU users (particularly faculty and staff) have really picked up in recent weeks. The scammers have been seen trying waves of the following: Payroll problems based message that leads you to a fake PSU credentials site that tries to capture Duo authentication Google drive or One [...]