Service Status

We are currently in the process of upgrading staff and PGR email accounts to secure Cloud storage in Microsoft Exchange Online.

You will receive an email informing you when your account is scheduled to be migrated.

We have designed the migration process to be as seamless as possible for you, however, there are a few things you will need to do before and after the migration and we strongly recommend that you read all of the information in the email you receive as it outlines the features and benefits of Exchange Online as well as changes to how you access your email.

Following the migration, if you are a Mac user, and have previously used Apple Mail to access your emails, please be aware that we are currently investigating whether it meets the University’s security requirements, and until we can confirm this, you will be unable to use Apple Mail. Please use Outlook for Mac desktop client.  You can find an easy walk-through guide on how to set this up in our Knowledge Base guide KB12804.  

The most significant change to your mail account following the migration, will be how you access email when using a web browser or mobile device.  

• To access your email online through your web browser you’ll need to go to https://outlook.office.com and login with your University email address and password. You’ll no longer be able to use the Microsoft OWA Webmail app.

• If you use MobileIron, or any other mobile mail client to access your emails on your mobile device then this will no longer work after you upgrade to Exchange Online and you will need to remove the app and all of the management features from your devices.   Full instructions on how to do this can be found in our Knowledge Base guide KB13420.

• To access email on your mobile device you’ll need to download and install the latest version of the Microsoft Outlook mobile app. You can find help about how to set this up in our Knowledge Base guide KB15650.  For anyone already using the Outlook for Mobile app, you will need to remove your account prior to creating the new account.  

Your mailbox should work as normal following the migration, however, if you have any issues, please visit our FAQs where you can find information to help you resolve any common issues yourself. If you are unable to find a solution then please log a call at the IT Service Desk.  

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SharePoint and OneDrive deploying hard block for IE11 in January 2023

Microsoft 365 apps and services ended providing support for Internet Explorer 11 in August, 2021.

Beginning mid-January, 2023, access to SharePoint Online and OneDrive from Internet Explorer 11 will be hard blocked for all users. Users should access these services through a modern browser like Microsoft Edge.

When this will happen:

Mid-January 2023

How this will affect your organization:

Once the hard block is deployed, the connection requests will fail and users will no longer be able to access these services through IE11. These users would need to use a modern browser, such as Microsoft Edge, to continue accessing SharePoint Online and OneDrive.

Current soft block experience:

Future hard block experience:

If you have any issues upgrading your browser or have no access to any others, please contact the IT Service Desk

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MyUoB will undergo scheduled maintenance from Friday 25th November 8am GMT until Monday 28th November 10am GMT.

You might find that MyUoB runs slightly slower than usual for brief periods. If this happens, a simple refresh of the page/app should resolve the issue.

You may experience a brief interruption to your email tile in MyUoB during the maintenance window, and you may need to re-grant MyUoB access to your M365 account. If you experience a prolonged issue with your email tile, please report a fault on the IT Service Portal and select the MyUoB option.

Access to your UoB email outside of MyUoB should not be affected. Read more about accessing your email here. 

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Dear BEAR users,

Between Monday 12^th (5pm) and Wednesday 14^th December, during the University IT Major Maintenance Window, Advanced Research Computing will be undertaking upgrade works on BEAR services. During this time, access to BEAR services will be unavailable but we will aim to return live services as soon as we can on the 14^th.

In summary:

• All services will be shutdown from 5pm on Monday 12^th December in preparation for the following day’s work.
• All services will be unavailable on Tuesday 13^th December.
• All services will be unavailable on Wednesday 14^th December, with live service returning by 5pm at the latest – we will prioritise restoring access to the Research Data Store.

This will mean that the following services will be unavailable during the maintenance window:

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

Planned Works

Tuesday 13^th December

• We will be upgrading firewalls and making network configuration changes, to facilitate decommissioning of legacy network and move existing services to the new network.
• Servers will be removed or relocated to free-up space in anticipation of upgrading the Research Data Store next year.

Wednesday 14^th December

• Routine patching and upgrades to BlueBEAR.
• Upgrades to other supporting infrastructure and services.
• We will return live services as soon as we are able to – the Research Data Store will be prioritised, so that it is back as soon as possible on the 14^th.

We will send out reminders nearer the time and you will be able to follow updates on the IT Services Status page here: https://status.bham.ac.uk/ If you would like further information, then please either:

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

Regards,

Aslam Ghumra
ARC

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Due to an ongoing cyber security risk, we’ve had to make an immediate change to tighten security on the University’s email service. This means that some people may experience difficulty logging into their emails and calendar when they’re off campus unless they are using a more secure method to login.

If you’re affected by this, then you can access your email by first logging into the University’s VPN (Remote Access Service) before you sign into mail.bham.ac.uk. Instructions on how to do this can be found at KB13508.

If you have tried this and are still experiencing difficulties, please contact the IT Service Desk.

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We’re increasing cyber security at the University by making some important changes to how you sign into your student account and access University services online. From 1 August, 2022, all student accounts at the University will be protected by multi-factor authentication (MFA).

MFA is a way of checking that you really are the person you claim to be when you sign into a University service by providing an additional layer of security on top of your username and password. This will prevent anyone but you from logging in, even if they know your password.

When logging in to your account, you’ll be asked to provide an extra piece of information. This will be something that only you can access, such as a code sent to your mobile phone via text message (SMS) or voicemail, or created by an authenticator app on your smartphone.

All student accounts will need to have registered for MFA before 1 August, 2022. After this date, you will not be able to sign into a University service online until you have set up MFA on your account. 

To find out what you need to do visit https://bham.sharepoint.com/sites/IT/SitePages/Multi-factor-authentication.aspx 

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As of Monday 11th July 2022 you no longer need to use any of our remote access services (VPN or Remote Desktop) to login to Core Systems.

This change is possible because Core is now protected by our MFA service. If you’re not already registered for MFA you will be prompted to set it up the first time you login.

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