After successful testing with the various test groups we have released Adobe Shockwave Player 12.0.0.112 to MD7 workstations in order to resolve critical flaws with previous versions and to provide new functionality.

The update is being distributed in a phased roll out so it will take a few days to be applied to all MD7 workstations and will only install when the workstation is at the ctrl+alt+del screen.

To see the critical issues resolved by the Shockwave release:
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-06.html
and
http://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-center/threat-analyses/vulnerabilities/VET-000453.aspx

In order to test the version of Shockwave that is installed on your workstation, within IE visit:
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome

After successful testing with the various test groups we have released Adobe Flash Player 11.6.602.168 to MD7 workstations in order to resolve critical flaws with previous versions and to provide new functionality.

The update is being distributed in a phased roll out so it will take a few days to be applied to all MD7 workstations and will only install when the workstation is at the ctrl+alt+del screen.

To see the critical issues resolved by the Flash release:
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-05.html
and
http://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-center/threat-analyses/vulnerabilities/VET-000452.aspx

In order to test the version of Flash that is installed on your workstation, within IE visit:
http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about

In order to try and ensure that all passwords are sync’d correctly within all of the directories we have just disabled the ability for users to change their password from the ctrl+alt+del screen when a user is logged in.

Using this option from the ctrl+alt+del screen updated the AD, but not necessarily all of the other directories immediately which can then cause issues accessing services.

This has been done in conjunction with the rollout of the Client Login Extension for accessing https://esp.shu.ac.uk/pwm via the ‘Reset My Password’ option.

The ‘Reset My Password’ option is also available whilst logged in on an Office workstation so it is not necessary to be logged out to change your password.

Obviously you can visit the web page from within a browser, or alternatively from the logged in ctrl+alt+del screen, select ‘Lock this computer’ then when unlocking the machine there is the ‘Reset My Password’ link available from that screen.

PWM is also available from the ‘MD Help’ application and if a user’s password is about to expire they are presented with a notification box on login with a button that also opens the PWM page so users should be aware that they should be using the PWM page for changing their password.

The ‘Lock this computer’ option is only available on Office workstations and users have never had the option to change their password from the ctrl+alt+del screen on Lab workstations as this wouldn’t update the student password for the student Homespace service.

IS&T have updated the MD7 64-bit and 32-bit images with the latest patches, software and updated the drivers for a number of new machines we have purchased since the last image was released.

The updates include all the actions included in workstation Patches 05 and 06.

For Patch-05 see https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/infrastructure/2012/11/05/md7-patch-05-being-distributed-to-md2012-workstations/

Patch 06 hasn’t been released yet, but when it is it will include a lot of updates that have already been released via SCCM, including:·

• Copy Student Loan Laptop Power settings file to C:\SHU\Powersettings and import

• Installed Hotfixes – KB2524478, KB25106356, KB2523887, KB2561708, KB2582112
• ·         Apply reg settings in WebClient.reg to resolve issue in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943280 for shu.ac.uk to allow files to open correctly
• Installed Novell Client Login Extension for Password reset (if not already installed)
•  Updated MIME Types within HKey_Classes_Root

The image also includes User Patch 04 and Chrome 23.

https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/infrastructure/2012/11/16/md7-userpatch-04-being-distributed-to-users-using-md2012-workstations/

The drivers for new machines include drivers for HP EliteBook 2570p, HP ProBook 6570b, RM Desktop 320 and the Asus EeeBox PC 1033.

IS&T have also updated the drivers for the standard network cards and NVidia video cards to the latest released versions.

After successful testing initially within Networks and Infrastructure and then on the designated test workstations within the SLS Service Groups and with no issues reported we have started rolling out Patch-03 to all MD7 2011 workstations.

This update will be applied to the workstation whether or not there is a user logged in.

Patch-03 is the second patch of three that will update MD2011 workstations to MD2012, and includes the following:

• Enable hibernation mode for Office laptops, if there is enough free disk space for the required hiberfil.sys file
• Add registry entry required to address problems opening CHM Help files from Network
• Install CDBurner XP for Windows 7 if not already installed
• Associate .tab with Excel so exports from SI open automatically
• Install Microsoft update http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2617858
• Reg settings to stop Windows Explorer locking files when using the Preview Pane

IS&T are currently rolling out an update that will allow staff and students to change their SHU password from the login screen of any Windows 7 Managed Desktop workstation.

From the login screen there will be a new link which says ‘Reset My Password’. This will launch a browser window that will allow users to access the ‘Sheffield Hallam University Password self-service’ portal where staff can change their password or use their secret questions to reset their password without the need to phone IT Help.

On machines where this hasn’t been launched before it can take a few seconds for the browser window to appear as the system needs to configure itself to launch the window.

Removal of the ability to change the password from the ctrl+alt+del screen

Using the password change portal is the recommended method for changing and resetting passwords as this method alters the password almost instantaneously in all of the directories.

In order to ensure the password is not just updated within the Active Directory initially and so might not synchronise with the other directories immediately the ability to change the password from the ctrl+alt+del screen will be removed from Windows 7 Managed Desktop workstations.

Message during logon about user code or password expiry date approaching

In order to better inform users when their password or user code is about to expire staff will receive a message informing them of this during the login process.

At present staff are not warned if their user code is about to expire, whilst the the password expiry notification is performed by a notification balloon in the System Tray that can be easy to miss.

After successful testing initially within Networks and Infrastructure and then on the designated test workstations within the SLS Service Groups and with no issues reported we have started rolling out some Microsoft Hotfixes that will hopefully improve startup and login times.

This update should be installed to the workstation whilst a user is logged in, but will not be applied until the workstation has rebooted.  Users who are local administrators will be informed that there are new updates to install.

The hotfixes currently being distributed to all MD7 machines are:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2524478
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2510636
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2582112

In addition to this, we are distributing a couple of hotfixes to MD7 laptops to try and ensure a couple of potential issues with offline files and file synchronisation do not occur.

These are:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2561708
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2523887

We have applied a couple of emergency updates today to resolve issues that have been occurring for the past few weeks and that have affected teaching and staff within the University.

The first issue is that for a few weeks now, ever since reconfiguring workstations to no longer use the SHU proxy cache a number of external web sites have been exhibiting slow performance which has affected teaching.

The Sophos Web Intelligence service is implicated in this behaviour. The advice from Sophos for disabling this feature is to change our workstations Sophos policies to change “Download Scanning:” from “As on Access” to “Off”, which we have done for all workstations.
A restart is required for this to be implemented and although the change does improve the behaviour of many of the problem sites it does not improve the behaviour of all problem sites, so if other sites are reported please let us know so that we can keep track of them.
In the longer term we intend to update Sophos to the latest client that also resolves this issue.

The second change is to add a setting to allow documents to open from the Staff Intranet and other locations automatically without asking for the user to re-authenticate.
This update also requires a workstation reboot, and quite possibly two in order to be fully implemented due to how the local Webclient service operates.

After successful testing initially within Networks and Infrastructure and then on the designated test workstations within the SLS Service Groups we have started rolling out MD7-Patch-02 to all MD7 2011 workstations.
This is first patch is a series of three that will update MD2011 workstations to MD2012, so most of the workstations that install this update will be MD2011 Office workstations.

Internet Explorer 9
The main update delivered by this update is Internet Explorer 9.

IE9 will not install if it is already installed on the workstation, if the workstation is a Finance workstation or if Raisers Edge is installed due to compatibility issues.

Updates installed by Patch 02

• Install IE9 x86 and IE9 x64 (for 64-bit workstations)
• Install QuickTime Player 7.7.2
• Install latest version of SilverLight 5, 32-bit and 64-bit versions, if required
• Install Microsoft Mathematics Add-In for Word and OneNote

Delivered by SCCM
The update will be distributed to all workstations in a phased rollout. The update will be delivered only when a user is not logged in.

If no user has logged in between the patch starting and completing then the workstation will automatically restart, installing IE9 as part of the shutdown and restart process.
If after the patch has completed installing a user has logged in then the workstation can be used as normal and IE9 will be installed during the next shutdown process.