Faculty and Staff PC Updates

In the coming weeks IIT will be updating faculty and staff PCs running Windows. These updates are necessary to keep pace with the rapid development and spread of viruses and worms. The update process will be done in two phases. The first phase will cover academic PCs and begin the week of May 31. The second phase will cover administrative PCs and begin the week of July 5.

To minimize disruption, most of the updates will occur after hours. Faculty and staff will be asked to leave their computers on when they leave for the day to facilitate the update process.

During the update the following will occur: 1) Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 will be installed (if needed); 2) the network client software will be updated to the most current version; and 3) PCs will be configured to automatically download updates to the Windows operating system. The PCs will require a few reboots during the update process.

These updates will be the first in what will be semi-annual updates to PCs. Twice a year, IIT will push out software updates to Windows PCs. These updates will roughly coincide with the delivery of new computers following the Spring and Fall computing requests.

Following these udpates, Windows PCs will be configured to check for and download Windows updates from an internal server. As new software updates are released, IIT will test them internally and then make them available on the internal server. Windows PCs will check for updates daily and download them. Users will then be prompted to install them. IIT will configure lab PCs to automatically download and install the updates.

IIT will continue testing and refining this update process over the next few weeks. After the testing, we will send e-mail messages to faculty and staff with more details about the updates.

Printing Changes
Newer, simpler method for finding and installing printers on its way.

If you've ever had to install a networked printer in Windows, you know that it is quite a challenge: it requires finding the right printer and then finding the proper drivers, and in some instances, configuring printer driver options. This summer, IIT will simplify this process by upgrading our printing system to iPrint. iPrint allows you to install networked printers by clicking on hyperlinks on a web page; iPrint handles locating the printer and installing and configuring the correct printer driver.

These changes affect only Windows-based computers. Macs and PCs running Linux are unaffected by these changes.

Over the summer, faculty and staff will need to reinstall the networked printers on their Windows computers. Users will need to delete any networked printers from the Printers control panel on their computer and then, using Internet Explorer (version 5.5SP2 or later), go to http://www.stolaf.edu/printing for instructions on installing the new printers.

As part of the migration, some networked printers will be renamed. St. Olaf has two types of networked printers: departmental printers, which are supported out of departmental budgets, and public printers, which are supported out of IIT's budget. To be consistent, all departmental printers will have the prefix 'dept-' in their name. The printers to be renamed are primarily in department labs. A list of these printers is available at http://www.stolaf.edu/printing.

Attention Seniors

Graduating seniors' St. Olaf usernames/accounts are automatically continued until September 20, 2004. You do not need to apply for this extension. On September 20, 2004, the accounts and their contents will be permanently removed from the college's systems. If you have materials you want to keep, you will need to make arrangements to transfer them to your new system before that date.

Ninth-semester seniors who are already registered for courses will automatically receive an account extension. Seniors who will be returning in the fall but have not yet enrolled in additional classes (e.g., student teaching) and who wish to keep their accounts open should notify the HelpDesk (ext. 3830 or e-mail helpdesk) before September 20, 2004.

If you will not be returning to St. Olaf in the Fall, but wish to continue exchanging e-mail with friends and family, consider opening an account with one of the free web-based e-mail services, such as Hotmail (http://www.hotmail.com/) or Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/).

If your summer plans will take you to a location where you will have access to the Internet, or if you are setting up Internet access through an ISP (Internet Service Provider), you can have your electronic mail forwarded to that site until September 20. Refer to the Forward Your E-mail article above.

Summer Server Changes
Better, more reliable services

This summer IIT will upgrade the college's Novell servers. As part of the upgrade, we will install Novell's cluster services.

Cluster services will allow us to define virutal services (for example, faculty and staff home directories) which are independent of the cluster nodes (the actual server hardware) on which they are running. If there is a problem with one of the cluster nodes, the services hosted by that node can fail over to another node and continue to provide uninterrupted service to users.

For Windows users, these changes will be transparent.

For Macintosh users, some changes are requried. Aliases that point to existing servers (Sven, Brit, Thor) in many cases will stop working and should be deleted. Instead of connecting to specific (e.g. Brit and Thor) servers, Macs will need to connect to the virtual services:

BRIT.Shared --> shared.stolaf.edu
BRIT.Prime --> prime.stolaf.edu
BRIT.Classes --> classes.stolaf.edu
THOR.Users --> fshome.stolaf.edu
SVEN.Users --> stuhome.stolaf.edu

For more information about connecting to the Novell servers from a Mac, please see the appropriate page in the IIT documentation library.

If your summer plans will take you to a location where you will have access to the Internet, or if you are setting up Internet access through an ISP (Internet Service Provider), you can have your electronic mail forwarded to that site. To set this up, launch a web browser and open a URL to http://www.stolaf.edu/cgi-bin/stostuff.pl. Choose Setup E-Mail Forwarding and Vacation from the Service menu, and log in.

The Vacation Program

If you will be away from your e-mail and will not have a forwarding address, you might find the vacation program helpful. When others send you e-mail messages, they will receive a notification that you are away and will not be reading your e-mail until you return. You can customize the message they receive. To set up the vacation program for your account, launch a web browser and open a URL to http://www.stolaf.edu/cgi-bin/stostuff.pl. Choose Setup E-Mail Forwarding and Vacation from the Service menu, and log in.

New Account Services System

This summer, IIT will roll out the new version of its Account Services suite. This includes the site where individuals go to change passwords, maintain mailing lists, and so on. The new suite aims to be more intuitive for the user, and a redesign of the underlying system makes more options and information available as well.

Some of the features to look forward to are:

• Support for off-campus password changes.
• All account information (e.g., quota information, account expiration date, and password expiration date) can be viewed on a single page.
• Improved forwarding/vacation options. For example, a user can set a vacation message that automatically activates and expires on certain dates.
• Removing multiple addresses from a mailing list will no longer require reloading pages. Simply toggle a checkbox for each address to be removed, and submit the changes.
• Support for multiple mailing list owners.
• Owners of mailing lists will be able to assign moderators to their own lists.
• Owners of mailing lists will be able to set certain options that previously would have required a request to the Systems Team (a.k.a. "root"). These include making a list "on-campus-only" (so that only those with St. Olaf accounts can send to it) and making a mailing list available for subscription or unsubscription.

Thanks, IIT Students
We couldn't have done it without you. Best of luck to our graduating seniors.

IIT could never provide the services on which the college relies without the capable assistance of its student staff. We want to thank them all for all their hard work this year.

In particular, we want to acknowledge those graduating seniors who have worked for IIT and wish them our very best in their future endeavors. Our sincere thanks goes to Sarah Aslesen, Adam Buenz, Sarah Burridge, Michelle Crottier, Michael Erickson, Eric Fiala, Darrion Grant, Maggie Griesgraber, Benjamin Haensel, Katie Marshall, Johannes Mauritzen, Eranthie Mendis, Christina Mills, Kathleen Ohara, Mike Rischmiller, Jon Sack, Ross Vanderwert, and Dan Wordal.

Unsubscribe from Mailing Lists

Please unsubscribe from mailing lists if you will not be reading them during the summer. Due to limits on server space, if you do not unsubscribe from your mailing lists and allow messages to accumulate in your mailbox over the summer, we will be required to forcibly remove you from mailing lists and prune your mailbox without advance notice.

Summer Classroom Updates

Holland Hall 501 will undergo several technology updates which should enhance the room's abilities while making it simpler to use. The room will not look any different, however many of the electronics will change. There will be new sound gear which should make it easier to use with fewer problems. A brighter, and better, projector will be incorporated as well as a new touch-panel system. This should soon become a favorite room for faculty and students.

Also this summer, watch for more technology in Boe Chapel and Old Main, improved and expanded dubbing capabilities at the HelpDesk. More details will be announced in the September IIT Newsletter.

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