Author Archives: Adam Thorn

Software removed from managed Ubuntu 16.04 workstations

Unfortunately we have had to remove opera and the desktop OwnCloud client (which can be used to access our ChemBox service) from our managed Ubuntu 16.04 workstations. The 3rd party repositories we use for installing these pieces of software no … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on Software removed from managed Ubuntu 16.04 workstations

Remote working tools

We have recently added a new page to our website with suggestions for tools that might be of use to people working remotely. This includes some suggestions for online collaboration systems, as well as advice about remotely connecting to IT … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Remote working tools

Amplification/Reflection attacks: Jenkins CVE-2020-2100

Jenkins Jenkins (https://jenkins.io) is an open-source tool which can be used to automatically perform tasks such as automatic building and testing of software (continuous deployment/integration). Here in the Department of Chemistry we host some Jenkins instances used by some of … Continue reading

Posted in security, technical | Comments Off on Amplification/Reflection attacks: Jenkins CVE-2020-2100

Windows 7: end-of-life on January 14th

After January 14th, Windows 7 will no longer receive security updates from Microsoft. We will thus be blocking general network access for Windows 7 computers after the 14th. Users of departmentally-managed Windows 7 computers have already been contacted to arrange … Continue reading

Posted in security, Software | Comments Off on Windows 7: end-of-life on January 14th

Olex2 now available for installation

The Olex2 software which lets you solve, refine and finish small-molecule crystal structures is now availble for installation on our managed Windows workstations. To select it for installation on a managed computer for which you are the registered user, go … Continue reading

Posted in Software, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

When is nothing something?

We use devmon to automatically monitor a variety of things on our network, including our uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) that ensure our core infrastructure is able to withstand short power outages. Our UPSs should perform a self-test routine every two … Continue reading

Posted in Hardware, technical | Comments Off on When is nothing something?

Network cable installation

We’re in the midst of refurbishing one of our server rooms, and as part of this we’re installing many network cables. If you didn’t know, network cables have eight wires inside them, and these are twisted into four pairs. So … Continue reading

Posted in Server rooms | Comments Off on Network cable installation

Group computer reps meeting, August 17th 2016

On August 17th we held one of our semi-regular meetings with the Department’s group computer reps. The links presented are available on our website, which also includes links to the slides used in our past meetings.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Group computer reps meeting, August 17th 2016

ZendTo – sending large files

ZendTo is a piece of software intended to let members of the Department send or receive files that are too large to attach to emails: it provides a website that lets people drop off files that can be collected by … Continue reading

Posted in Remote access | Comments Off on ZendTo – sending large files

TeamViewer and remote access

Some of you may have read a recent story about possible security problems concerning TeamViewer, for example: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/01/teamviewer_mass_breach_report/ There are a number of supported remote access technologies in the Department, as described at http://www.ch.cam.ac.uk/computing/remote-access Our recommended method for remotely connecting … Continue reading

Posted in Remote access, security | Comments Off on TeamViewer and remote access