ICC Meeting:

IFAS COMPUTER COORDINATORS (ICC)

APRIL 14th 2017 REGULAR MEETING

A meeting of the ICC was held on Friday, April 14th, 2017 in the IFAS Administration building, 89, Room 109. The meeting was chaired and called to order by Jimmy Anuszewski at about 10:02 am.

PRESENT: Twenty-seven members participated.

Remote participants: Wei Cao, Andrew Cary, Jonathon Chirino, Daniel Christophy, Angelo Daniels, David Depatie, Haracio Elman, Javier Herrera, DeWayne Hyatt, Kevin Hill, Brian Hurt, Al Ibanez (and group), John Macias, Donna McCraw, Marvin Newman, Scott Owens, Joel Parlin, Angel Perez, Javier Real, Lawrence Treadaway, Philip Lazenby.

On-site participants: Dan Cromer, Wendy Williams, Karen Porter, Jimmy Anuszewski.

STREAMING AUDIO: The audio will available here.

Recorded Video: Video will be available here.

NOTES:

Winnie Lante, Karen Porter and Dennis Brown should be commended for their food/drink accomodations.

Report from the chairman

Member news: The ICC would like to welcome Joe Gasper back to IFAS. Joe is our new web server administrator. Lee Thrasher is on board down at WFREC, joining as IT Support.

Recap since last meeting:

As per his usual procedure, Jimmy pointed folks to the notes of the last meeting, without going into any details.

Details about this meeting:

I've deleted a lot of the old anchors that were in the minutes due to lack of updates. I suggest searching the ICC site for information that you may be looking for.

Security: (previous discussion)

UPDATE: No updates.

Update as needed.

Patching updates... (previous discussion)

Microsoft

January's Microsoft patches are still listed in the link, with February, I'm sure, to follow shortly. Current risk assessments can be found here.

There were several Microsoft Office updates to the Apple version, as recently as 4/9/17. Please run AutoUpdater to install those updates.

Adobe

Flash, Acrobat, Reader, Connect, along with several other Adobe products, have updates here. Last updates were on March 11, 2017. In regards to Flash, DeWayne reminded everyone that W10 has Java built in so there should be no issues with installing it.

Java

Java updates were in January for Java 8U121/112. Release notes can be found here. This includes a critical patch. Java 8U121 for Mac was released in January, 2017 and is available here. Make sure you double check your Macs for this update as I've seen some not automagically apply it. April 18th is the next planned critical update.

Apple

There have been several Apple updates, including a new system update, security updates and printer driver updates. There is still an issue with SMB server connectivity. I am finding that if you use the IP address, you have a more consistent connection then using the named server.

SAS

SAS University Edition recently had an update. Please visit this link.

JMP

JMP 13 is now available through the UF Software Licensing Division.

Other

Email phishing attempts are gettig more common (as if that was possible). Please continue to monitor and report this situation and keep your users aware of this continuing annoyance.

We are happy to report that Cherwell has been working since the latest version was installed and since the move from McCarty D to the IFAS Admin building. Thanks to Angel Perez for working on this problem.

Videoconferencing and WAN discussion

Videoconferencing topics (previous discussion)

Acano latest release is still update R1.8.36. It should be noted that the update site now redirects to the Cisco site and requires a Cisco username and password to login. I spoke with Abraham Turell about the update and he said that the new software and system is currently undergoing reconstruction and that we will be notified when the new software is ready to be used.

Skype Business for Mac has updates that should install using your Microsoft Autoupdater. The latest update (3/28/17) included desktop sharing, usb video device addons and acknowledging some persistent problems and how to work around them. It's still buggy and lacking in comparison to its Windows counterpart.

A problem that I have encountered with Skype for Business (Windows or Mac) is related to the UF Video Bridge and screen sharing and mediasite. Screen sharing does not work in a bridge involved conference. Also, dialing a mediasite folder (TMS) produces an error and doesn't record when being used with SfB. Patrick Pettus said they expect updates to be rolled out in March and hopefully this will correct the problem. As of right now, Acano is a good workaround for this problem.

Update on the Webinar committee: Dan Cromer explained the following in regards to Zoom and Adobe Connect:

"The initial Zoom licenses are paid centrally through IFAS IT, as part of a consortium including Colleges of Business, Education, and Law. At our contract level, they are $36/year per account, but need to be added in increments of 50, so an additional set of 50 licenses would be $1,800. Additional licenses will need to be paid for by department. My initial licensing purchase will be for about 300 licenses for IFAS. There were 87 paid centrally last year. I plan for one each for of the 67 County Extension Offices. I need to work out with IFAS Distance Education and Extension for initial assignment, though I know some higher administration SVP office and Deans/Associate Deans will also be at the top of the list. I can set up one for ICC if desired, but IT people don’t usually have a conference of more than 50 people or for longer than 40 minutes, so we can use the free version. Remember, too, that participants don’t need to have an account, only people who need to create a meeting or Webinar."

Updates as available...

End-user Scheduling (previous discussion)

Updates as available...

WAN (previous discussion)

Updates as available...

Wireless printers (previous discussion)

Any updates to this?

Policy

Content Management System (CMS) (previous discussion)

T4 recently demonstrated form and calendar useage, we are awaiting test results on our platforms. UF IT's website is now a T4 site. As a sidenote, http://security.it.ufl.edu is still a Wordpress site.

Chris would like to discuss with web managers what the optimum time would be to have WP updates performed. This is also something that should be discussed on the IFAS web manager's list. Jimmy did mention that Santos used to send an email to the IFAS Web list when an update was coming to prepare everyone for plugin updates, themes, etc.

Updates as available.

Cloud Services (previous discussion)

Updates as available.

Backups/Server Drives (I'm leaving this here!)

I was asked to add this to the agenda. Some Department and REC IT people are wondering if there's official policy in regards to backups and what some IT people are doing for it. From my understanding, that's why we have server drives, but I'll let the discussion start amongst everyone. During the discussion, it was addressed that the server drives should be used because they are backed up multiple times during the day and can be access through VDI at any time. It was also stated that external hard drives should not be relied on nor should they be purchased using department funds.

Admin rights became a separate topic during this discussion and there was a split amongst the participants about how Admin rights should be dispersed. One side stated that Admin rights should only be granted based upon the situation of the user. An exmample Jimmy gave was field computers that needed to have software installed or updated while away from the IT person or users that are in lab that need to install specific software at a moment's notice. All of this would be LOCAL Admin rights. Others stated that it was too much to try and update every computer at the same time (such as Java updates) or to install the same software on multiple computers. Consensus is do what works for each individual situation but rememeber that ultimately, it comes down to the IT person's responsibility if something should go wrong with that computer.

Updates as available.

UF Exchange updates (previous discussion)

Updates as available.

Notes from last month's SIAC meeting

Notes from past meetings are available here. Last update was from October, 2015.

Last month's IT Directors Meeting Notes

You can now view the notes from each meeting at this link.

PrintSmart initiative (previous discussion)

There have been more people dropping out of the PrintSmart option. Seems that the charges for not printing enough per month is starting to make it a not-too-smart choice. It would be interesting to hear how everyone's experience is going with their PrintSmart printers since it's been online for a couple of years.

New 'Trouble-Ticket' Entry Page for CNS (previous discussion)

Update as needed...

Mac's: To Domain or Not to Domain(previous discussion)

For those that need instructions on Mac domain"ing" and server connections: https://wiki.it.ufl.edu/index.php?title=Apple_OS_X

An update on the UF Mac committee that is being chaired by our own Wendy Williams. Currently in discussion is the End Point Management Committee and their choice for Mac management. JAMF Pro is the leading software for Mac End Point Management and it looks like the committee is leaning that way. I encourage everyone to check out the software. It seems to be the best for Macs to integrate with AD and SCCM.

ITSA Policy and UF IT Policy

I've found it difficult to find the ITSA Computing Policy and the UF IT Policies, so I will provide the links here and keep them here.

ITSA - http://imm.ifas.ufl.edu

UF IT - http://www.it.ufl.edu/policies/

There was a discussion brought up this past week in regards to computer naming schemes. This topic has been discussed in regards to printers and was also discussed about workstations (around 2013) but no actual policy has ever been put into place. ITSA recommends using the computer's service tag because that allows a consistent naming process (a process that imaging already uses) in the event that IFAS Help needs to remote in. If a department has a naming scheme already implemented, that is fine, too, this is not a mandated request.

There is a motion to make a naming scheme of IF-OU-XXXX, where special situations would allow something different. (such as SFRC). The motion is seconded and then the discussion ensued. There was concern that some situations required more description and Winnie stated that her people want their names or projects on their computers. She also stated that labeling them with building or room number wouldn't work due to computers being relocated often. Dennis stated he uses gatorlink names.

Chris stated that to be official, the naming should be IF-OU-XXXX. He reminded everyone that there is a descriptor field that allows the computer location, description, etc etc to be seen. DeWayne stated that you're limiting yourself by trying to fit everything into the name. He said that we should take advantage of the fields that are provided in the computer naming wizard. He also explained what happened in Dennis's situation, describing the assistance required by one of his tech's when they called the IFAS Help Desk. He also pointed out that the inventory report is available through SCCM (see link below).

Jonathon stated that people need to be aware that when you ask the help desk for assistance, that they are not aware of all of the different schemes. Please let them know beforehand what scheme your department is using.

John Macias would like to know if there is a list available with all naming schemes.

Kevin Hill said this was agreed upon about 12 years ago.

Winnie noted that her OU takes up 4 spaces instead of 3, Jimmy noted that as long as it is consistent, it's fine to short it to 3. Dennis stated he deals with the same thing.

Dan Christophy asked why don't we standardize the description. He noted that there's no reason why we shouldn't take advantage of the fields that the naming wizard provides.

Jimmy noted that the motion was passed with no objections. (in post meeting discussions, it was discussed that we have no official policy guide for routine matinenance for things such as naming schemes, printer schemes, etc. Jimmy will work on a document that will be posted on the ICC website).

Wayne noted that every first Monday of the month, a OU status report is emailed to you. Please pay attention to these reports.

Andrew asked if things like the model info, service tag, etc. can be pulled during the deployment and placed into the description. Dennis stated he was worried about something in the description getting wiped out but Andrew stated that if it was part of the imaging process, then none of the old stuff would get wiped out and eventually, it would get wittled down to the current scheme. There were no objections to this idea.

Jimmy stated that there will always be a unique situation and those would be handled on case by case basis. There was more discussion by Andrew, Winnie, Dennis and DeWayne that can be heard at the 40 minute mark of the video.

Make, Model, Service Tag, Location, etc can be added to the description field and reports are available through SCCM Reports. (The SCCM Report link is here) (use IE for the report)(it does work in Firefox for Macs)

DeWayne offered to have the computer name shown above the taskbar

Dennis would also like to discuss Digital Signage and TV use. Jimmy is going to check with the Colleges of Journalism and Law about a repository for graphics, pics, etc. Digital Signage offers a good service that several IFAS Departments are using.

Here's an older list of what some of the colleges are using on campus. This is from 2 years ago, obviously somethings may have changed:

TouchSource, by Directory Solutions, Inc            McKnight Brain Institute

Four Winds Interactive, LLC                          Pharmacy (Lake Nona), Housing, Law

Nexus OnDemand                                       Dept. Material Science and Engineering

Rise Display (using RiseVision Web Platform)         Warrington College of Business Administration

Visix                                                Warrington College of Business Administration (UF AT hosted server?)

Digitalsignage.com                                   HSC Library, Biomedical Bldg., Orthopaedics, Evironmental & Engineering Sciences, IFAS

Exhibio                                              Emerging Pathogens Institute Harris Corporation (donated hardware and code) Electrical and Computer Engineering

Scala                                                Smathers Library

Projects

Services Documentation: Is a Wiki the way? (previous discussion)

Would be really nice if more people could contribute to this. Could be changes coming soon! Keep an eye out on the mail list for that announcement!! New content has been added!

A wiki has been created at https://uflorida.sharepoint.com/sites/ifas/wiki/icc/Pages/Home.aspx. Everyone in the ICC distribution group should be able to add/edit.

Operations

IFAS IT Updates (previous discussion)

There is a new governance committee for UF on end point management. Andrew and DeWayne are unofficially on it. Maybe they could give us an update? Andrew stated that JAMF is still in the works with Risk Assessment and almost approved. For Trend, a central office scan server is setup and they are beginning the process of moving Big Fix users to Trend. JAMF is going through Risk Assessment. Trend Micro is about to be migrated to those units that were using Big Fix.

DeWayne has updates for the ICC, as does Chris. DeWayne recommended an IFAS IT retreat! Everyone was happy to agree it would be great! He also asked if Dell Auto Updates would be good to have as a tool. Everyone agreed it would be useful. SCCM is going to be enhanced with an external management point (Internet Based Client Management(off campus, off network)).

Wayne noted that Isilon storage is about to be upgraded.

DeWayne spoke about creating packages with Adobe CC and making those available in software groups.

New DHCP reservation site created (previous discussion)

Update as needed.

Creating guest GatorLink accounts: singly or in bulk (previous discussion)

Steve had left this on the agenda in case further discussion was deemed warranted. So Jimmy will leave it here.

Wayne's Power Tools (previous discussion)

Updates as available...

Public folder file deletion policies and procedures status (previous discussion)

Updates as available...

ICC Meeting:

IFAS COMPUTER COORDINATORS (ICC)

APRIL 14th 2017 REGULAR MEETING

Report from the chairman

Videoconferencing and WAN discussion

Policy

Projects

Operations

Other Topics