Computer Diagnostic Center: Miscellaneous Software/Info

If a user is reporting that multiple CSU sites are marked as unsafe by their browser, this is likely caused by an expired certificate on their computer. This issue is more common with older devices. We saw an increase in this problem after the expiration of an IdenTrust certificate in September 2021, which heavily affected devices running iOS (10 or older) or macOS (El Capitan or older). There are a lot of reasons why this issue can occur, so it's worth trying as many solutions as possible.

1. Start with the basics - check for updates, restart the computer, clear cache and cookies, etc.
2. Have the client turn off their antivirus programs or add CSU sites to the list of exceptions/trusted sites.
3. Make sure the clock is correct. Switching it to manually set the time and back to automatic can re-sync the time.
4. Sometimes the fault falls on the website owner for not using a valid certificate, in which case contacting the website owner or escalating to NOC is an appropriate response. Unless we're getting dozens of complaints, this likely isn't the issue.
5. Have the user try Firefox, which can use its own certificates rather than relying on the computer's.
6. Unfortunately, in many cases the device is simply too old and needs to be replaced.

s.colostate.edu is managed by Web Communications (web.colostate.edu). Any questions regarding that service that we are unable to answer should be redirected to that team. Their contact information is listed on their website. They are able to create custom shortened URLs if someone is requesting one.

The College of Business has a contract with the Wall Street Journal to provide access to all COB Faculty, Staff, and students.

Here’s how the authentication traffic flows for a COB user accessing WSJ:

1. User visits the WSJ URL for access (URL:http://csu.bz/cobwsj)
2. WSJ web site redirects the user’s browser to the CSU Shibboleth IdP server for authentication
3. Users who successfully authenticate will be redirected back to WSJ, and at that point will have full access to WSJ resources
   1. Note that if the user encounters an authentication failure at this point, they will receive an error from our IdP and will be prompted to re-authenticate
   2. Any user with an eID will be able to authenticate with our IdP.  WSJ is performing the filtering operation to limit access to only CoB users, and users who are not affiliated with the college will receive a message stating that access is denied.

 

If someone contacts us and is having issues accessing the WSJ site we need to verify the issue is not an authentication issue. If the user can sign into the WSJ site but is receiving a message stating that access is denied we will need to escalate the ticket. 

COB Faculty and Staff: If a COB Faculty or Staff member is receiving an access denied message they will need to talk to their local HR coordinator to figure out why their account if being filtered out by the WSJ.

COB students: Escalate a ticket to Middleware following the normal HL2 escalation process.

Be sure that we have double checked that the issue is not just an authentication or browser problem. Have the user access the WSJ link using a different browser. Make sure they can log into eid.colostate.edu. Check their account to see if they are associated with COB. Have them authenticate using Shibboleth on a different website like Ramweb or Canvas.

Can't write to TMP Files

Ensure that the user's computer doesn't have AV that blocks the write function of the JMP setup.exe. May have to temporarily disable the AV or uninstall it completely.

Setup requires .Net Framework 4.6.2, may have to enable it in the Windows Feature through the control panel. Doing a search for Windows Features on Windows 10 machines should take you right to it.

Expired/Missing License

If a user doesn't have a valid license, have the user contact their instructor or RAMtech in order to get the correct license. It will be a text file, which the user will need to select with the "Open License" option (refer to the instructions).

The Unix team has provided some good intro to Unix command line guides here.

 

LAMP & Web Hosting

DoIT used to provide LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) server hosting on request, but new cwis account requests are no longer allowed as of June 1, 2021. More information can be found on this site: https://web.colostate.edu/web-account-request/

Current alternatives for web hosting can be found on this page: https://www.acns.colostate.edu/web-hosting/

Colleges, departments and organizations: are set up with a special account for web services. The Division of IT provides the accounts, storage space and web services but does not provide end user support for authoring web pages.

• WordPress: University Web Management hosts web sites on the WordPress platform using themes that they develop and maintain, which follow university branding and graphic standards. They also offer hosting for WordPress sites created by other groups.  To begin the process, please contact University Web Management.
• .NET web applications: the Division of IT hosts web sites utilizing .NET technologies on IIS web servers. They provide the account, storage space and web services but do not provide end-user support for authoring web pages. To set up your .NET web hosting, email windows@colostate.edu to request an account.

Students, Faculty, and Staff: May create a personal web site via Google Apps for CSU.

 

FTP cannot connect to host - In order to connect the web servers clients will need to use SFTP (Secure FTP). A normal FTP application will return this error because usernames and passwords are sent in plain text. Using SFTP will ensure that all traffic is encrypted and will be able to connect to the web servers.

StudentVoice was a cloud based survey research software which is now part of Campus Labs. Another alternative is Qualtrics (see "Random Software"). If we receive questions about StudentVoice, you can respond with the following paragraph:

If you are a staff member at the Division of Student Affairs, you can contact Dave McKelfresh at Dave.McKelfresh@colostate.edu for help with Student Voice.  All other employees should direct their questions on Student Voice to Kim Bender at Kim.Bender@colostate.edu.

The site does use Shibboleth so troubleshooting their eID and/or browser may be required.

CCure is the software CSU uses to manage keycard access for the buildings across campus, including the Morgan Library. Request to access to CCure or to update RamCards is typically managed by the building proctor.

 

Past Issues

In 2018, DoIT patched an update on the CCure server that caused some issues in individual departments not being able to access the software. The user would get a 'server cannot be reached' error or something akin to that. 

This is something that will have to be handled by individual department desktop support groups or our fee-based DoIT desktop services.

The software is typically installed on either Windows 7 or 10, the solution the client will need to pass on to their local IT groups is as follows:

• Windows 10:  Windows 10 machines will need to apply either of the latest security and quality roll-up patches from June or July.
• Windows 7: My understanding is .NET 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, and/or 4.7.1 is required and must be patched with KB4340556.  If your Win7 machines don’t have these versions of .NET installed, you may want to manually download and install, then patch. 

 

Below is the entire email conversation between a few IT department heads and the folks that patched the server initially. Maybe useful to read through in case you need more details when answering a client's email.

Hi Bill,

 

Sorry for the delayed response, I was out for a few days.  I have one Windows 7 box that our users remote into for CCURE.  I followed your steps, installed all of the .NET Framework versions you mentioned and the update and I am able to again successfully connect to CCURE.

 

Thanks for all of the information and advice!

 

Richard

 

---

 

Hi Nick,

 

Thanks for the info and feedback.  That first update in the list, KB4340556, released earlier this month, is the one that I believe is the required one for CCURE to work on Win7.  The one-month delay in your patch deployments explains why you weren’t able to get your Win7 machines to work.  Win10 machines should now be working with CCURE as long as they have at least the June cumulative updates.

 

I’ve added some more people to the CC list to try to get this out to as many as I can…   Those of you that are having difficulties with Win7 machines connecting to CCURE:  My understanding is .NET 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, and/or 4.7.1 is required, and must be patched with KB4340556.  If your Win7 machines don’t have these versions of .NET installed, you may want to manually download and install, then patch. 

 

There’s an interesting sentence in the SoftwareHouse document about this issue:  “The [fix] is for .NET Framework versions 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, and 4.7.1.  If the computer has .NET 4.5.2 or 4.7.2 installed, the error will occur.”  Please note that I still don’t have a Win7 machine to test with, so I can’t verify anything, but this leads me to believe you MUST have 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, and/or 4.7.1 installed and patched in order to connect to CCURE.

 

I hope this helps.  If anyone can verify or debunk this information, I’d appreciate your feedback.

 

Thanks,

Bill

---

 

 

Bill,

I went ahead and forced update (updates that were installed are attached) to 2 machines that were Windows 7 -  6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601. After the update, both machines were able to open CCURE again. I have no tried anything for Windows 10.

Furthermore, updates are not coming from ACNS WSUS – they are being managed by the CVMBS IT Infrastructure team. They wait one month before deploying new updates to make sure no one runs into any issues.

 

Please let me know if I can provide any other information for you.

 

Thanks!
Nick

 

---

 

Good morning,

 

I think I’m missing some of the conversation here, but I’m going to take a stab at trying to help.  If I’m off-base, please fill me in on some more detail on what’s happening, OS builds involved, etc.

 

If you’re battling with Win7 machines, my understanding is that the MS patches in question are directly related to a deserialization fix on specific builds of .NET.  However, I do not know which build(s) for sure; I *think* it has to do with 4.6, 4.61, 4.62, 4.7, and 4.71.  Full .NET builds are not deployed via the central WSUS server (I’m making an assumption that your clients are pointing to the ACNS WSUS server for updates), but patches and updates to .NET are approved.  So it is conceivable that your Win7 clients do not have the “needed” version of .NET installed.  So…  My first suggestion would be to check for updates with Microsoft and download any full .NET builds that are available, then run another round of patches, and try again.

 

Hope this helps, and please let me know what you find – any feedback is helpful.

 

Thanks,

Bill 

The CDC often has users at the beginning of the year come in when they are having issues displaying some content of an online textbook for on of there classes. These issues are often cause by browser specific problems or missing/old plugins. Most of these books will have a "Check your browser" utility that will make sure the browser is supported and that the required plugins are installed and up to date.

See what is causing the problems by using the "Check your browser" utility.

Install whatever plugins are missing. Make sure that the plugins are allowed to run in the browser settings. The most commonly needed plugins are Java, Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, QuickTime, and Silverlight

Chrome doesn't support NPAPI plugins like Java, Silverlight, or Adobe Shockwave so they will not work on Chrome. If the textbook requires one of these plugins they will have to use a different browser.

Some textbook may require QuickTime 7 in order to display some content. If that is the case you can follow this guide in order to enable it on Macs: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205081

Safari may not allow Java to run properly unless you allow the Plugin to run in unsafe mode. To enable that go to Safari preferences, the security tab, click on the "Manage Website Settings" button. Select the Java plugin and you should see the current website (which should be the site you are trying to run the plugin on) on the right. Using the dropdown menu by the website select the "Run in Unsafe Mode" option then reload the webpage. Make sure that you only set that option on specific webpages. It is not recommended to have Java always running in Unsafe Mode.

Make sure Java and Adobe Reader are completely up to date. Uninstall all older versions of Java if applicable.

Make sure browsers are all up to date and no extensions are installed that may cause issues with Pace (i.e. Adware).

Make sure the computer is all up to date.

Make sure the user is downloading a new version of the Pace program. Downloaded versions may stop working after a certain amount of time.

Make sure the computer's date and time are correct. The Pace program may fail to download a test if the data and time are wrong.

If it is a Mac make sure that the security settings allow programs to run that are downloaded from anywhere and not just the app store. This setting is found in System Preferences->Security->General.

Common Issues

Trying to start a Pace math course opens IE or another program:

This will happen when the file association for java .jnpl files is not set correctly. Make sure Java is installed, the installer should set the file associations so if this is happening Java may not be installed at all. Use the "Associate a file type or protocol with a program" option in the Default Programs section of Control Panel to reassociate the file type to Java. You need to associate the .jnlp files to the javaws.exe program normally located in C:\Program Files\Java\jre#\bin -- where # is the current version of the jre. You can use the "Open With" option on a Mac or Windows to reassociate the file type as well.

Windows 10: Be aware that the "Choose default apps by file type" page in the Windows 10 settings will not allow you to set specific executables as default programs, you have to use either Open with or go to Control Panel and use the file association tool there.

Very Small Text on Windows

This is an issue with Java scaling text on some high resolution monitors. You may be able to fix this issue a few different ways. In the properties for the Java application try having it run in compatibility mode for Windows 7. In the Compatibility tab of the Properties there may also be options to "Run the application in 640x480 resolution" or "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings". Either of these may resolve the issue. Changing the screen resolution may also help with the issue and we can also recommend to use the built in Magnifier application.

The CSU Directory can be accessed on http://www.directory.colostate.edu/.

Users looking to change information that is listed in the online directory can reference the information and links in the box below.

There is also a CSU Employee Reverse Phone Lookup located here: http://www.directory.colostate.edu/reverse-phone.aspx

 

What if your listing is incorrect? What about privacy?

The information found in these listings is obtained from a number of database systems on campus.

 

Students

Students are able to make updates to some of their personal information found in the directory through eID and RAMweb, and are also able to publish a Web site address.

Other changes must be made through the Registrar's Office.

In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students have the option of removing themselves from the directory.

To remove your e-mail address, use eID Modify.

To remove your address, phone, and name, contact the Registrar's Office.

 

Faculty and Staff

Faculty and Staff members are able to make updates to some of their personal information found in the directory through eID, and are also able to publish a Web site address.

Other changes (such as office location, phone, and other information) should be directed to your departmental human resource representative.

For requests to stop solicitations, forward to adv_request@mail.colostate.edu

Make sure the request is legitimate. Some people will use phone apps like PaperKarma to try to unsubscribe from mailing lists. These apps often send emails to the wrong companies or Universities. The emails normally contain an image of the mail they received.

On the rare occasion that someone asks us about what NTP servers they should use for a system they are configuring you can provide them with the following servers:

ntp1.colostate.edu
ntp2.colostate.edu
ntp3.colostate.edu

Most incoming students will be required to take a placement exam to see what classes they need to register for in a specific subject. The Orientation website has a good breakdown of the different exams. If we receive any questions about these use the Orientation website to refer the student to the correct placement exam contact.

CSU used to have licenses for software training through Lynda.com that were provided to students, faculty, and staff. The license has been discontinued but CSU affiliates can still take advantage of the program. To use Lynda.com now CSU students, faculty, and staff will have to log into Ramweb and opt-in to the program to use their CSU ID as a Poudre River Library Card. The option is located in the Library Options link in the Student Records section of Ramweb. After they have done this they will be able to sign up for a Lynda.com account here using their ID number (including the dash and 10th digit on their Ramcard). It will take 24 hours after they opt-in before their ID number is recognized as a Library Card number. This means that they will have to wait 24 hours before they are able to sign up for a Lynda.com account.

The patron will also have to navigate to Lynda.com via the Poudre River website to successfully create their profile. They can find a link to Lynda.com under the L section in the Research tab located on the main page. The patron has to do this or Lynda.com won't recognize the user as a Poudre River Library account holder. 

Information about the Poudre River Library card program can be found here.

General Information about the Lynda program can be found at: https://lib.colostate.edu/access/poudre#lynda

The iClicker support page can be found at: http://ttc.colostate.edu/iclicker/

If an instructor needs help with the iClicker software they can contact canvashelp@colostate.edu.

If a student has an issue that cannot be solved by troubleshooting or referring them to the iClicker support page, they should contact iClicker support.

iClicker receiver support is done by Classroom Support so we should make sure one is installed in the room. It will be either in the podium or on the podium. There is only one cable connected to the iClicker base station, that is the USB cable that plugs into the instructor's computer. That will power the base station and allow the instructor to record responses using the iClicker software. If a base station is missing or damaged we should report that to Classroom Support by escalating a ticket.

If the remote ID has been rubbed off then you can refer the student to the Textbook Information counter, located on the lower level of the CSU Bookstore.

 

In a dire situation, you can call Nick L at 1-0783 for direct support or ask a question for the client. Refrain from handing out the number unless absolutely necessary.

Colorado State's "private" iTunesU account is no longer available. 

If users are looking for coursework-specific content, please have them contact their professor. 

However, CSU's "public" iTunesU content is still available. To view this content, open up iTunes on your device, and navigate to iTunesU, open 'Universities & Colleges,' and find Colorado State University.