Studentnet Cloudburst
14 November 2014
We're all getting really busy preparing for the 2015 academic year, including
forming new vendor partnerships (more to come) and implementing new schools
using Cloudwork. By the end of 2014 Cloudwork will have grown to supporting
over 45,000 school accounts. Thank you for your contribution to our continued
growth and success.
Today, there's a lot we'd like to update you on:
- V2 Mandatory Upgrade Migration - all clients must be migrated to Cloudwork
v2 by end of March 2015, so schedule now to be ready for 2015 academic year
- Password Reset - available in production
- Chromebook Single Sign On - available in production
- Apple OpenDirectory - available in production
- AD Account Auto-Provisioning feature: we're coding this feature right now
and we're looking for beta test schools
- Security - Minimum Browser requirements
- Convert your departing year 12s to alumni accounts
Cloudwork V2 Upgrade - Time to Schedule Your Migration
Version 2 of Cloudwork is now available in production. All new school clients
are being implemented directly into V2. Existing V1 schools must be migrated by
the end of March 2015. This is due to some service providers such as Google
shutting down their existing API sets at this time. As migrating to V2 involves
some disruption (see below) to your existing users we STRONGLY recommend that
all schools complete the migration between the end of the 2014 academic year
and the start of the 2015 academic year.
Now is the time to schedule your mandatory V2 Migration.
The disruptive effect of the migration includes:
- during the period of the migration no sign on access will be available to
users. Migration may take up to a day to complete
- all accounts will be touched, most passwords will be retained but there may
be some leakage
- all service providers need to be reconfigured with new metadata
Please contact Studentnet to schedule your V2 migration.
Password Reset feature: Production V2 Feature
Our new Password Reset feature is now available in production as part of the V2
upgrade.
Password Reset provides a link on your login page that allows a user to request
a password reset. This means that the password reset is available from any of
your supported services without any change to your service providers and even
if the service does not natively support password reset.
When a password reset is requested a special code is dynamically generated and
SMSed, or emailed, to the user's mobile phone or external email address. The
user then uses that dynamic code to authorise their resetting of the password.
The password reset is immediately reflected in both Cloudwork's credentials and
at the school's directory.
Chromebook Single Sign On: Production V2 Feature
Cloudwork now support true single sign on on Chromebook devices. Users of
Chromebooks now need only sign in at their initial boot up screen and
automatically they are authenticated for all of their services once their
desktop is visible. This removes the need that previously existed to sign in a
second time, at the desktop, to access the school's services.
Chromebook SSO is only supported in Cloudwork V2.
Contact Studentnet to enable Chromebook SSO.
Apple Mac client and OpenDirectory support: Production V2 Feature
Cloudwork supports Apple Mac laptops and desktops that are both operating
inside your school network and those operating externally to the school
network. Inside a Microsoft AD network, client Macs fully participate in single
sign on to the network including applications running inside the network and
cloud based services running externally to the network. When running externally
to the Microsoft network, Mac clients fully participate as SSO users to all of
your cloud based services and any applications hosted inside the school's
network.
New to Cloudwork v2 is the ability to support Apple OpenDirectory networks in
addition to Microsoft Active Directory networks. This feature permits Apple
based schools to receive all of the advantages of single sign on and single
credential maintenance within their chosen directory environment.OpenDirectory
versions 10.6, 107 & 10.8 are currently supported.
OpenDirectory support requires version 2 of Cloudwork. It is now available in
production.
AD Account Auto-Provisioning feature: Beta test schools required
Coding for the AD provisioning feature has now commenced. Studentnet is now
seeking the assistance of schools that can act as development partner and beta
test users. We are currently looking for schools that are using Edumate and
Synergetic as their school information systems.
Please contact us via info@studentnet.net if you can partner with our
development team.
Security: Minimum browser requirements
As a result of the announcement of the recent security vulnerabilities
discovered in SSL3.0 protocol via the POODLE attack mechanism, Cloudwork no
longer supports SSL3.0. This means that your users must use a modern browser
capable of supporting at least TLS1.0.
Studentnet has prepared a list of browser versions that we now support
available at
studentnet.net/browsers.php. Please visit our
minimal-requirements browsers page and ensure that all of your users are using
a compatible browser and version.
Please contact us via info@studentnet.net if you require assistance.
Convert your departing year 12s to alumni accounts
As we all prepare for the forthcoming 2015 academic year please remember to
prepare your list of departing year 12 students so that their accounts can be
converted from active student accounts to alumni accounts. Remember alumni
accounts are provided free of charge - they are not chargeable. Converting your
accounts help keep your costs down!
Thanks for your attention to all of the above matters. Please contact us as
soon as possible to schedule your V2 migration.
Best Regards
The Studentnet Team
STUDENTNET®
ABN 90 001 966 892
Suite 1, 89 Jones St, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
Email:
info@studentnet.net
Site:
studentnet.net
Tel +61 2 9281 1626
NOC +61 2 9281 3905
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