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[downtime] REMINDER: CS Building Power Outage, Monday, March 13,

This is a reminder that we are ONE WEEK away from this scheduled power shutdown. Please see the below announcement and ensure you have a plan to power down and unplug any and all equipment you control in the CS Building or Friend Center before the start of the outage on Monday night.

Thanks for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
CS Staff

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: \”csstaff\”
To: \”downtime\”
Sent: Friday, February 3, 2023 10:06:44 AM
Subject: [downtime] CS Building Power Outage, Monday, March 13, 2023, 22:00-02:00

Date: Monday, March 13, 2023 (22:00-02:00)

Who is affected:
ALL users and occupants of the CS Building (35 Olden St) and Friend Center

What is happening:
From 22:00 (10PM) until 02:00 (2AM) on the night of Monday, March 13, 2023,
ALL power to the Computer Science building and the Friend Center will be
cut.

Emergency generator power will remain, so emergency lighting and the
building network will remain powered. ALL OTHER POWER will be off. It is
VERY IMPORTANT that all equipment, including that in labs and in Room 002,
be powered off on Monday evening prior to the shutdown. This includes
computers, printers, copiers, or anything else that runs on electricity.
Sensitive equipment will further benefit from being unplugged or physically
switched off in order to avoid any effects from possible fluctuations in
power quality during the work.

Why is it happening:
In August of 2022, a sprinkler head in the basement power vault opened,
flooding the main power feeds for the building with water and causing
damage to a main breaker. Since that time, the building has been operating
on a single breaker from a redundant set while the damaged breaker was sent
away for repairs. This outage will be used to re-install the repaired
breaker and return the building to normal operating status. Until this
repair is completed, the building power is more vulnerable than usual to a
long-term outage in the event the single remaining breaker is compromised.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

Note that this outage DOES NOT affect the CS computing infrastructure,
which is housed in the Forrestal Campus data center. All departmental
computing and network services are expected to continue unaffected.

If you have questions or concerns about this outage, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
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[downtime] REMINDER: CS Building Power Outage, Monday, March 13, Read More »

[downtime] CS Building Power Outage, Monday, March 13, 2023,

Date: Monday, March 13, 2023 (22:00-02:00)

Who is affected:
ALL users and occupants of the CS Building (35 Olden St) and Friend Center

What is happening:
From 22:00 (10PM) until 02:00 (2AM) on the night of Monday, March 13, 2023,
ALL power to the Computer Science building and the Friend Center will be
cut.

Emergency generator power will remain, so emergency lighting and the
building network will remain powered. ALL OTHER POWER will be off. It is
VERY IMPORTANT that all equipment, including that in labs and in Room 002,
be powered off on Monday evening prior to the shutdown. This includes
computers, printers, copiers, or anything else that runs on electricity.
Sensitive equipment will further benefit from being unplugged or physically
switched off in order to avoid any effects from possible fluctuations in
power quality during the work.

Why is it happening:
In August of 2022, a sprinkler head in the basement power vault opened,
flooding the main power feeds for the building with water and causing
damage to a main breaker. Since that time, the building has been operating
on a single breaker from a redundant set while the damaged breaker was sent
away for repairs. This outage will be used to re-install the repaired
breaker and return the building to normal operating status. Until this
repair is completed, the building power is more vulnerable than usual to a
long-term outage in the event the single remaining breaker is compromised.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

Note that this outage DOES NOT affect the CS computing infrastructure,
which is housed in the Forrestal Campus data center. All departmental
computing and network services are expected to continue unaffected.

If you have questions or concerns about this outage, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] CS Building Power Outage, Monday, March 13, 2023, Read More »

[downtime] CS Ionic/Cycles System Downtime, Tuesday, January 24,

Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2023 (06:00-10:00)

Who is affected:
All users of the CS Department Beowulf high performance computing cluster,
known as ionic.

All users of the CS Staff-managed public login systems, including the
cycles, courselab, and armlab systems.

What is happening:
Ionic nodes will have Nvidia, Cuda, and kernel drivers updated to fix
GPU-related failures. After the upgrade, machines will be rebooted.

Cycles, courselab, and armlab machines will be rebooted during this window
to clear some defunct user processes interfering with some research work.

Why is it happening:
Ionic nodes are experiencing various GPU-related failures. In an attempt
to fix them, we will be updating Nvidia, Cuda, and kernel drivers.

As some user processes have entered a defunct state, and those processes
prevent research work, machines require a system reboot to clear.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] CS Ionic/Cycles System Downtime, Tuesday, January 24, Read More »

[downtime] IMPORTANT – Project Web Server Upgrade 2022-08-09

Good morning,

Following up on the below downtime/upgrade announcement, it is important to note that this upgrade will bring a couple of significant changes to our project web server. Specifically, PHP on this server will be upgraded from version 5.6.25 to version 8.0.13, and Phusion Passenger, the system which allows for support of web application frameworks, will be upgraded from version 5.0.30 to version 6.0.14. There are several incompatibility changes between these versions, and some project web sites will need code upgrades/adjustments in order to work properly on the new server. You can read more about the changes between the PHP versions on these pages:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration70.php
https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration71.php
https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration72.php
https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration73.php
https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration74.php
https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration80.php

Note that each page has a \”Backward Incompatible Changes\” link, which is worth reviewing to prepare for your site update.

The most notable change in Passenger is that some configuration can no longer be accomplished in .htaccess files, so must, for security reasons, move to the server config files. The upgraded Passenger also introduced Generic Language Support, or: \”the ability to support any and all arbitrary apps\”. You can read more about the changes here:

https://blog.phusion.nl/2018/01/29/passenger-5-2-0/
https://blog.phusion.nl/2022/05/10/passenger-6-0-14/

CS Staff is performing a basic review of each project web site on the upgraded web server, and /most/ sites appear to be in good working order. For sites with obvious compatibility issues, we will be reaching out directly to the site owners to advise on expected changes. However, as it is impossible for us to review all possible aspects of your site, we strongly encourage you to review your site after the upgrade on August 9 to ensure it is working as expected, as well as reviewing the PHP changes before the upgrade in order to anticipate changes you may need to make.

Please note that the above changes apply ONLY to the project web sites at this time. Personal (\”tilde\”) sites, and any other content hosted under \”www.cs.princeton.edu\”, are not yet affected by this upgrade. If you are concerned that your site may need substantial change and would like to review it using the new web server prior to the upgrade, please reach out to [csstaff@cs.princeton.edu] for assistance in doing so. As always, please also let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
CS Staff

—– Forwarded Message —–
From: \”csstaff\”
To: \”downtime\”
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 1:32:22 PM
Subject: [downtime] CS Infrastructure Upgrades, Tuesday, August 9, 2022, 05:00-17:00

Date: Tuesday, August 9, 2022 (05:00-17:00)

Who is affected:
All users of the CS Department computing infrastructure.

What is happening:
CS Staff will upgrade the user-accessible servers in our infrastructure,
including cycles, ionic, courselab, armlab, and the project web servers.
The systems will be upgraded to the latest Springdale 8 distribution for
the x86_64 architecture and RockyLinux 8 distribution for the aarch64
architecture (i.e., armlab).

SPECIAL NOTE: As we are reloading the Linux servers, all crontabs will be
deleted. If you have crontabs that you wish to persist, you will need to
back up your crontabs before the downtime and restore them after.

Please note that the downtime window is significantly longer than our usual
windows due to the high-touch nature of OS reinstallations. It is our
intention that the cycles machines and web servers will see the earliest
returns to service. Some parts of the ionic cluster may extend later in the
day. Overall, we expect to finish all of the upgrades earlier than this
window, but the wide time frame acknowledges the uncertainties involved.

Why is it happening:
This is part of the routine maintenance of the publicly-accessible systems
and will bring newer versions of installed tools and software.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] IMPORTANT – Project Web Server Upgrade 2022-08-09 Read More »

[downtime] CS Infrastructure Upgrades, Tuesday, August 9, 2022,

Date: Tuesday, August 9, 2022 (05:00-17:00)

Who is affected:
All users of the CS Department computing infrastructure.

What is happening:
CS Staff will upgrade the user-accessible servers in our infrastructure,
including cycles, ionic, courselab, armlab, and the project web servers.
The systems will be upgraded to the latest Springdale 8 distribution for
the x86_64 architecture and RockyLinux 8 distribution for the aarch64
architecture (i.e., armlab).

SPECIAL NOTE: As we are reloading the Linux servers, all crontabs will be
deleted. If you have crontabs that you wish to persist, you will need to
back up your crontabs before the downtime and restore them after.

Please note that the downtime window is significantly longer than our usual
windows due to the high-touch nature of OS reinstallations. It is our
intention that the cycles machines and web servers will see the earliest
returns to service. Some parts of the ionic cluster may extend later in the
day. Overall, we expect to finish all of the upgrades earlier than this
window, but the wide time frame acknowledges the uncertainties involved.

Why is it happening:
This is part of the routine maintenance of the publicly-accessible systems
and will bring newer versions of installed tools and software.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] CS Infrastructure Upgrades, Tuesday, August 9, 2022, Read More »

[downtime] CS Infrastructure Upgrades, Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Who is affected:
All users of the CS department computing and network infrastructure.

What is happening:
Hello, everyone.

In the next 3-4 weeks (exact date TBD), CS Staff will upgrade the
user-accessible servers in our infrastructure including cycles, ionic,
courselab, armlab, and the web servers. These systems will be upgraded to
the latest Springdale 8 distribution for the x86_64 architecture and
RockyLinux 8 distribution for the aarch64 architecture (i.e., armlab).

To help ensure a smooth transition, we currently have the new distribution
installed on the following servers for your testing:
cycles-test
courselab-test
armlab-test

As appropriate, please try out your scripts, assignments, etc. on these
servers and report any issues to us ASAP. With the new distribution comes
updated software versions and, in some cases, removed packages.

As we continue our own testing and incorporate feedback from you, we will
follow up with additional information including the specific cut-over date.

Why is it happening:
This is part of normal maintenance of the publicly-accessible systems and
will bring newer versions of installed tools and software.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] CS Infrastructure Upgrades, Tuesday, July 12, 2022 Read More »

[downtime] CS Storage Maintenance, Wednesday, March 23, 2022,

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 (09:00-15:00)

Who is affected:
All users of the CS department storage or computing facilities

What is happening:
We are upgrading our storage operating system, which requires the
components of the CS storage system to be rebooted. This upgrade is
expected to be mostly non-disruptive, and department services will continue
as usual, but sporadic moments of interruption may be noticeable at times.

All services that depend upon access to storage share the same minor risk
of performance hiccups for some periods during this window, including cycle
servers, ionic cluster, web content, home directories, CIFS, etc.

Why is it happening:
This upgrade is necessary in order to get our storage aligned with the
latest operating system, which is crucial for our upcoming storage hardware
upgrade.

While we do not anticipate any extended service outages, you may find that
there are momentary interruptions, and some connections (especially
CIFS/SMB connections) may need to be reestablished.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] CS Storage Maintenance, Wednesday, March 23, 2022, Read More »

[downtime] CS Storage Maintenance, Wednesday, February 23, 2022,

Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 (13:00-14:00)

Who is affected:
Users of CS Department Storage Systems

What is happening:
During this window, one node in our storage cluster will be taken offline
to replace a failing DIMM.

Why is it happening:
Proactive monitoring has noted a DIMM that is nearing failure, so a
replacement has been arranged.

Some minor performance effects may occur due to the offline node. No outage
is anticipated, but maintenance always carries the risk of unexpected
problems, which is the reason for this notice.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] CS Storage Maintenance, Wednesday, February 23, 2022, Read More »

[downtime] Emergency CS Email Upgrades, TODAY Monday, February 7,

Date: TODAY Monday, February 7, 2022 (10:00-13:00)

Who is affected:
All users of CS Department Email Services

What is happening:
Patches will be applied to the CS email servers to mitigate a serious
zero-day vulnerability that was released over the weekend. During this
patching, email services should continue as normal, though you may notice
brief outages while services are restarted.

If your mail client with a \”remembered\” password suddenly prompts you for a
password, this may be a sign that you\’ve been disconnected due to a service
restart. The best approach is usually to cancel the password prompt and
wait a minute or two before restarting your email client. This should
preserve the \”remembered\” password, which should work after the service
restarts.

Why is it happening:
A serious zero-day vulnerability in our mail services was released over the
weekend. Leaving this vulnerability unpatched could lead to account
compromises by malicious emails.

As a reminder, you should always be cautious with unexpected emails,
particularly with attachments or links included. This particular
vulnerability requires that email recipients click on links in malicious
messages in order to effect the compromise.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this downtime will cause you undue hardship, please contact
csstaff@cs.princeton.edu immediately, so we can discuss options to reduce
any negative impact. Your patience is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
downtime@lists.cs.princeton.edu
https://lists.cs.princeton.edu/mailman/listinfo/downtime

[downtime] Emergency CS Email Upgrades, TODAY Monday, February 7, Read More »

[downtime] CS Network Maintenance, Wednesday, October 20, 2021,

Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2021 (07:00-09:00)

Who is affected:
Users of CS Department Network Services

What is happening:
The CS Department\’s network uplink to OIT\’s network (and onward to the
internet) will undergo configuration changes to finalize the deployment of
redundant upstream peering to OIT\’s new routers.

This work is expected to cause some very short outages of our uplink, but
most people or systems should not notice them. As technological changes
always present the possibility of unexpected results, though, this message
is notice in case of the unexpected.

Why is it happening:
This change will finalize the router peering with OIT\’s new routers in the
Lewis Library and New South buildings, providing more redundancy than the
original design which uplinked the department only through Lewis Library
(and 87 Prospect prior to that).

This last step will move the actual routing of CS Department traffic
through the new routers.

We will post updates to the status page: http://www.csstaff.org
as necessary.

If this work will cause you undue hardship, or if you have questions or
concerns, please contact csstaff@cs.princeton.edu to discuss. Your patience
is appreciated.

Sincerely,
CS Staff
_______________________________________________
downtime mailing list
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[downtime] CS Network Maintenance, Wednesday, October 20, 2021, Read More »