Information Technology Services Advisory Page Status

Incident: VIU Phone System - Intermittent call loss, unable to call locals, and incorrect prompts

Update - We are continuing to monitor the phone system.

Next update will be by 9:30pm, Tuesday, January 31.
Jan 30, 2023 - 15:50 PST

Monitoring - A fix is now in place. We will be closely monitoring the phone system to confirm the challenges are resolved.

Next update will be by 2pm, Monday, January 30.
Jan 30, 2023 - 11:39 PST

Update - The phone system challenges persist. Our technicians have reach out to our vendor for support.

Estimated resolution time is unknown.

Next update will be by 2pm, Monday, January 30.
Jan 30, 2023 - 09:20 PST

Update - Technicians will continue to monitor the phone system over the weekend. Our Vendor is ready to assist us beginning Monday morning, if the issue persists.

Resolution time is currently unknown.
Next update will be by 10am, Monday, January 30.
Jan 27, 2023 - 15:57 PST

Investigating - Nanaimo campus Mitel and Nortel phones are experiencing intermittent challenges including:

Unable to use 4 digit dialing to call locals between campuses
Loss of, or disconnects from, outgoing calls.
Prompts for Long Distance Code when calling a local number.

After an indeterminate period of time, the phone goes back to working as normal.

Our technicians are currently investigating.

Resolution time is currently unknown.
Next update will be by 4:15pm today.
Jan 27, 2023 - 15:35 PST

ERP - Sales Order Creation: Software Bug

Identified - Employees creating Sales Orders in Unit4 have encountered a bug at the GL analysis step.
The Vendor has been notified, and they are working on a solution.
A workaround has been emailed to all employees to use in the interim.

Next update: 11pm, Friday December 16.
Dec 15, 2022 - 12:55 PST

About This Site

Our technology advisory page provides up-to-date information about the operations of Vancouver Island University's Information Technology systems and services. Scroll down for scheduled maintenance and incident history.

Please follow us on twitter @VIU_IT to receive updates regarding service outages and scheduled maintenance.

Computer Accounts and Files Operational

Email Operational

Network: Internet, Wireless, and Wired Operational

Printing Operational

Telephone System Operational

Websites and Learning Tools Operational

VIULearn (D2L) Operational

Library Services Operational

University Website (viu.ca) Operational

InVIU Operational

Student Self-service: My Student Record Operational

Administrative Systems Operational

Student Records (SRS) Operational

Financial Records System (FRS) Operational

HR/Payroll/Employee & Applicant Portal (Stargarden) Operational

Admin Systems Portal (VIUWeb) Operational

Operational

Degraded Performance

Partial Outage

Major Outage

Maintenance

Scheduled Maintenance

Maintenance: VIU Websites; No Service Interruption Feb 1, 2023 10:00-15:00 PST

What is impacted: VIU Websites. Our Web team performs updates to our Drupal Web Content Management System.
Level of impact: No Interruption. While no outage is expected, saving content during this timeframe within the Drupal platform may be slower.
Timing: 10am to 3pm, every Wednesday
Preparation: None
Posted on Jan 17, 2023 - 22:16 PST

Past Incidents

Jan 30, 2023

Unresolved incident: Incident: VIU Phone System - Intermittent call loss, unable to call locals, and incorrect prompts.

Jan 29, 2023

No incidents reported.

Jan 28, 2023

Maintenance: Network and Internet Services; Potential Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 28, 09:07 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 28, 08:30 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted:VIU Wireless Networks: VIU Guest and VIU Secure; We are updating our wireless network with a new security certificate.
Level of impact: Potential service interruption. After the change your devices may prompt you to accept or trust our new certificate which will display "clearpass.int.viu.ca" on it and have a new expiry date of February 1st, 2023.
Timing: 8:30pm to 9pm, Saturday, January 28.
Preparation: None required before the change. If you are unable to connect to VIU Wireless Networks after the change please forget the network on your device and follow our KB article on how to re-connect.
Jan 27, 15:46 PST

Maintenance: IT Client and Ticket Portals; Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 28, 00:01 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 27, 21:00 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted: IT Client and Ticket Portals; Every Friday our vendor performs maintenance on the servers hosting the IT Ticket System (https://ithelp.viu.ca) and the IT Client Portal (https://technology.viu.ca).
Level of impact: Service Interruption. Employees will be unable to access the above sites/services during the maintenance window.
Timing: 9pm to 12:00 am, every Friday.
Preparation: None required. If you need to submit an IT Request during the maintenance window please e-mail ithelp@viu.ca. Once the maintenance is complete, an IT request will automatically be created based on your e-mail and you will be e-mailed a ticket number.
Jan 17, 22:17 PST

Jan 27, 2023

Jan 26, 2023

Telecom Incident impacting phone numbers at the Nanaimo campus

Resolved - We have resolved this telecom challenge. Calls to the main VIU switchboard and Nanaimo locals are now being received. Outbound calls are also working normally.
Jan 26, 11:45 PST

Investigating - Currently call to the main VIU switchboard and Nanaimo locals are not getting through. Some locals are unable to call out, possibly experiencing a "release and try again".

We are currently investigating.

Resolution time is currently unknown.

Next update will be by 1pm today.
Jan 26, 10:49 PST

GlobalProtect VPN - Employees are unable to connect

Resolved - Our technicians have resolved the challenge with GlobalProtect VPN.

You may once again use it to remotely connect to the VIU network.
Jan 26, 11:08 PST

Update - Technicians are continuing to investigate, and have reach out to the vendor for support.

Employees cannot connect to GlobalProtect, and the vpn.viu.ca website is also off line.

Resolution time is currently unknown.

Next update: 11:30am today.
Jan 26, 09:40 PST

Investigating - Employees are unable to remotely connect to the VIU network using GlobalProtect VPN.
Technicians are currently investigating.

Resolution time is currently unknown.

Next update: 10:30 am today.
Jan 26, 08:57 PST

Maintenance: Network and Internet Services; Possible Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 26, 07:00 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 26, 06:00 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted: Internet Connection; Internet connectivity on all VIU campuses and sites.
Level of impact: Possible Service Interruption. VIU’s internet connection may be unavailable, or inconsistent for up to 5 minutes during the maintenance window.
Timing: 6am to 7am, Thursday, January 26.
Preparation: Please save any cloud based, or network files you may be working on prior to the maintenance window.
Jan 25, 14:27 PST

Jan 25, 2023

Maintenance: VIU Websites; No Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 25, 15:01 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 25, 10:00 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted: VIU Websites. Our Web team performs updates to our Drupal Web Content Management System.
Level of impact: No Interruption. While no outage is expected, saving content during this timeframe within the Drupal platform may be slower.
Timing: 10am to 3pm, every Wednesday
Preparation: None
Jan 17, 22:15 PST

Microsoft Defender update impacting Windows10 devices

Resolved - This incident is now resolved.
Reminder: If you have a VIU computer that lost the shortcuts to your Office programs, please email the IT Support desk, let us know what short cuts are missing and your Computer name.
Jan 25, 14:28 PST

Monitoring - We are investigating solutions to restore missing shortcuts. If you have a VIU computer that lost the shortcuts to your Office programs, please email the IT Support desk, let us know what short cuts are missing and your Computer name.

Next update 12pm, Monday, January 23
Jan 18, 07:02 PST

Update - Microsoft has reverted the update that impacted systems. However, the shortcuts that were deleted remain so.
We are investigating solutions to restore missing shortcuts.

Next update 11am, Monday, January 15.
Jan 13, 16:36 PST

Update - Microsoft is continuing to work on a long term solution. VIU IT is pushing out a workaround in the interim, so if a device updates, it should not be impacted. We are investigating solutions to restore missing Microsoft shortcuts.

Next update 4:30pm, today
Jan 13, 13:30 PST

Identified - Employees and students on Windows 10 devices may begin to see Windows Defender popups and notifications referencing "RuntimeBroker.exe". A side effect may be that your desktop and taskbar program short cuts may disappear.
An update released last night for Windows Defender appears to be the source of this behavior.

We are investigating possible workarounds, while Microsoft works on a permanent solution.

The update in question was made available by Microsoft for download last night. We recommend not manually updating your device, until after a work around, or Microsoft solution is found.

Resolution time is currently unknown.

Next update will be by 1:30pm today.
Jan 13, 10:50 PST

Maintenance: VIU WordPress Blog Website; Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 25, 07:00 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 25, 06:00 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted: wordpress.viu.ca; Our team will be installing updates to the system that hosts wordpress.viu.ca.
Level of impact: Service Interruption. During the maintenance window the above website will be unavailable for 15 minutes.
Timing: 6am to 7am, Wednesday, January 25.
Preparation: Please save any changes and log out your VIU WordPress blog prior to the maintenance window.
Jan 17, 22:41 PST

Jan 24, 2023

No incidents reported.

Jan 23, 2023

No incidents reported.

Jan 22, 2023

Maintenance: VIU Employee Portal; Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 22, 03:00 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 21, 21:00 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted: VIU Employee Portal and related tools; Our vendor is installing updates and performing maintenance on the systems that host our VIU Employee portal. This impacts tools accessed by the portal including HRIS, FIS and Procurement tools, among others.
Level of impact: Service Interruption. During the maintenance period the Employee Portal and related tools will be unavailable.
Timing: Beginning 9pm, Saturday, January 21. Ending to 4am, Sunday, January 22.
Preparation: If needed, please plan to use the Employee Portal outside of the Maintenance Period.
Jan 17, 22:30 PST

Jan 21, 2023

Maintenance: IT Client and Ticket Portals; Service Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 21, 00:00 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 20, 21:00 PST

Jan 20, 2023

Jan 19, 2023

No incidents reported.

Jan 18, 2023

Jan 17, 2023

No incidents reported.

Jan 16, 2023

Maintenance: Outlook Shared Mailboxes; No Interruption

Completed - The scheduled maintenance has been completed.
Jan 16, 20:00 PST

In progress - Scheduled maintenance is currently in progress. We will provide updates as necessary.
Jan 16, 16:02 PST

Scheduled - What is impacted: Outlook Shared Mailboxes; Generic email mailboxes shared between many employees (eg. ithelp@viu.ca). We are making a server change, that should not impact access to these mailboxes.
Level of impact: No interruption expected. If you do lose access to a shared mailbox, please wait 15 minutes and then close and re-open Outlook. If you still have no access after 15 minutes, please email the IT Service Desk.
Timing: 4pm - 6pm, Monday, January 16.
Preparation: None required.
Jan 11, 14:32 PST