Security Alert Pop-up

You may have already seen this announcement UTD eLearning Admins posted in WebCT.  Just like to note that if you don’t plan to use Chat tool in the course for any login session, you may click “Cancel” instead of “Ok” so that the alert message will not pop up again for the rest of your session. We hope this issue will be getting resolved shortly. 

Securrity Alert Pop-up
July 6, 2009 11:18 PM

Due to system maintenance performed on 5 July 2009, WebCT is currently displaying a pop-up Security Alert window upon login, and occasionally the message repeats during a session. This security alert warns of a security certificate name mismatch. This alert does not pose a security threat. The alert must be acknowledged with an OK response in order to access the WebCT Chat tool; the alert has no other effect. We are currently working to relieve the condition that has generated this security alert. Thank you for your patience while we resolve this issue.

Updated Java Certificate

Good morning folks. We just received the following msg from our WebCT admins:

WebCT had a java signing certificate set to expire this month; it’s now been replaced with a new certificate set to expire in August 2010. Users will receive a pop-up asking that they confirm the new signing certificate the first time they log in to WebCT from a computer (and subsequently if they do not choose to permanently accept). This is expected, and users are encouraged to accept the certificate.

Electrical Outage – Aug 30-31

An upgrade to the electrical power infrastructure for the UTD campus will be performed on Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31. The power upgrade will require the disruption of regular and emergency electrical power to most computer systems. As a result, many computer systems (including WebCT, Email, Galaxy, and SIS) will not be operational during the outage. We apologize for the disruption in service to the University’s user community. The patience and tolerance of the user community is greatly appreciated as this necessary work is accomplished.

Computer systems availability will generally be disrupted beginning at 6:00 PM on Saturday, August 30, when systems will be taken down on a phased basis. Electrical work will begin at 10:00 PM and it should conclude around 7:00 AM on Sunday morning, August 31. Power will be restored at approximately that time. All systems should be back on-line no later than 12:00 noon on Sunday, August 31.

The patience and tolerance of the University’s user community is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Update: WebCT availability this weekend

Based on recent changes to campus power outage schedules:

Sunday, June 22nd: WebCT availability should not be affected by the limited power outage.

Sunday, June 29th: WebCT should be up and running with generator power during the campus wide power outage. However, network availability of WebCT, especially for users on campus or in Waterview Park/University Village, may be interrupted. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

WebCT – Upcoming Power Outage

Just received this note from the WebCT folks on campus:

WebCT is on generator backup and expected to remain operational during the upcoming campus power outage this Sunday, June 22, 10am-2pm. However, due to potential network connectivity issues that are outside of our control, we cannot guarantee that WebCT will be accessible for the entirety of the power outage. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Accessing Summer ‘08 Courses

Hi folks. Just a reminder — Summer ‘08 will become available in your WebCT course list by 12am tomorrow (May 23rd), the first day of classes.

Important WebCT Login Information

Currently Internet Explorer users are not able to login directly to WebCT through Galaxy. For direct WebCT login try one of the following solutions:

1. Change your browser to FireFox

2. Go directly to WebCT via http://webct6.utdallas.edu/

 

WebCT Scheduled Downtime

UTD Information Resources has announced hardware upgrades on Sunday, March 2 and Sunday, March 9 that will result in WebCT downtime from 7:00 am to 10:00 am CT.

We urge you to schedule your studies around the outages, as WebCT will not be available during these times.

WebCT Access Hours *Not* Restricted

Good afternoon everyone.

Earlier today, it was brought to our attention that some of you are experiencing the following error when trying to log into WebCT at very late or very early hours of the day:

* WebCT

The Student Information System is now closed. Hours of operation:
Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Monday 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Tuesday 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Wednesday 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 11:59 p.m.

Understandably, this is a big problem for many, if not, most of you, since usage is very high at the very hours this says WebCT is not available. So, we immediately checked with our WebCT Administrators and found out the following:

The direct link to WebCT (http://webct6.utdallas.edu) will always work, even if the link to WebCT is not showing in Galaxy and if it is outside normal SIS operating hours.

The information presented in Galaxy should be updated soon; however, until that time, we recommend that you access WebCT by using the direct WebCT url above.

WebCT Issues

We are hearing from faculty and students (and we ourselves have found) that WebCT is experiencing issues this morning. People are trying to load their course lists, but it does not pull up. (We have heard of some other issues that might be related as well — problems uploading files if you are able to get into WebCT, and getting “access has been denied” errors when trying to access a specific course.) We’ve contacted the WebCT admins in Info Resources, and they’re looking into the issue. We’ll post updates here as we get them.

Update (1/7, 3:10pm): IR has opened a ticket with Blackboard/WebCT. They’re working to solve this problem ASAP.

Update (1/7, 6:50pm): The WebCT server was rebooted at around 5:50pm, and things seem to be better. Most of us are now able to log in and access our course lists. If you’re still experiencing problems, however, please be sure and email us.

Update (1/7, 7:08pm): Unfortunately, it seems that we spoke to soon. Server issues still exist. IR is still working with Blackboard/WebCT on this. We’ll post any updates we receive. (FYI — IR also has a page where they post updates on outages.)

Update (1/8, 3:10pm): The IR Outage Updates page is reporting that they have a potential fix. They’re in the process of rebooting the WebCT server in order to implement this fix.

Update (1/8, 6:10pm): Unfortunately, the earlier attempt to fix the WebCT issues we’re seeing did not help. We’ve been assured by IR that they will be working through the night to get this resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience.

Update (1/9, 9:10am): Please visit the IR Outage Updates page for further updates to this situation. Thanks.