Service Status

We’ve fixed the login issue with PebblePocket app for Android devices. You should now be able to log in as usual.

A security certificate had been updated; the app was having problems recognising the new certificate, so we’ve made a change that’s enabled the app to start working again.

We’re also recommending improvements to reduce the chance of this issue happening again.

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Apple released the latest edition of macOS (Big Sur) on 12th November 2020.

We have tested the following on Big Sur and found them to work correctly:

• VPN/Remote Access Client
• McAfee Endpoint Protection (Version 10.7.5 or higher)
• Microsoft Office 365 & Microsoft Teams
• SPSS (Version 27 is available from mySoftware)

The following have been found not to work:

• YSoft SafeQ (Managed Print) – We are currently testing an update from our suppliers. As a workaround, you can print to a PDF and then upload the PDF document to the web printing site – see https://kb.bham.ac.uk/KB13273

The following have yet to be tested, or their websites do not yet have a compatible version for download:

• nVivo (Not tested)
• Endnote (anecdotal evidence suggest 9.3.3 will function correctly, which can be downloaded via in-app update)

For information on other applications, please see the vendors support pages for macOS 11 compatibility before you upgrade your machine.

Regards,

IT Services

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We are currently aware of an issue where users are unable to sign into Zoom/join Zoom meetings from University Machines, receiving Error Code: 5003.

In most cases, this is because an outdated version of Zoom is being used and the solution for this is to update to the latest version, available from Software Center.

Please note that you will need to be either on campus or connected to the Remote Access Client to be able to use the Software Center successfully.

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There have been recent reports of problems accessing https://zoom.us and https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us from China.

If you find that access to these sites are blocked, please do the following to access meetings, teaching events and the Zoom client:

To join a meeting:

• If an invite utilizes a “zoom.us” URL for joining, you will need to manually input the meeting id at https://zoom.com/join

To login to Zoom:

• To sign in to an account, please navigate to https://zoom.com to login

To download the Zoom client software:

• Please visit https://zoom.com/download to download the latest Zoom application to connect to Zoom Meetings and Webinars in China.

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We will be carrying out routine maintenance on our digital certificates service on Wednesday, 25 November between 7.00pm and 5.00am GMT. This will affect the performance of our Secure Documents Website (Verify) meaning it may take you slightly longer than normal to access to access certificates and transcripts.

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The Remote Apps/Citrix service will be undergoing some maintenance on Wednesday 25th November, between 11am and midday.

There may be some small disruption to access during this period. If you find yourself disconnected from a remote app, you will just need to relaunch it via the remote access website.

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As part of the major maintenance window on the 15th of December, we are using this time to upgrade all of our BEAR Services.  We will be doing the following works

• Updates to the Research Data Store
• Upgrade to, and hardware replacement in the BEAR network
• Upgrading the BlueBEAR systems to CentOS 8

• BlueBEAR ( HPC )
• Research Data Store ( including CaStLeS data stores )
• BEARCloud VMs
• CaStLeS VMs
• GitLab
• BEAR DataShare
• BEAR Globus services ( large data transfer )

• Log a ticket via the IT Service Desk ( preferable )
• Email bearinfo@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Best regards,

ARC Team

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We have recently upgraded our web single sign-on service (Shibboleth) to integrate with Microsoft 365, so there is a change to how you login to services that use it such as Canvas, Findit@Bham, New Core, and others.

You will see a new login screen, and instead of using your username you will need to use your full University of Birmingham e-mail address. Additionally, if you are an external user who has a canvas-only account these have be logged in as shown below.

Here are examples of the login format:

Staff: J.Bloggs@bham.ac.uk

Students: ABC123@student.bham.ac.uk

Alumni: ABC123@alumni.bham.ac.uk

Canvas-Only (iVLE): ivle-12345@bham.ac.uk

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