The Research Computing website, https://rc.partners.org, was updated on Wednesday, June 2 at 6:30a.m. to apply platform updates. Updates completed at 6:42a.m.
Please contact rcwebmaster@partners.org if you have any questions or concerns.
There is a temporary outage on the LabArchives Single Sign-On server that affects ONLY those trying to create a new account with single sign-on. Existing users are not affected. LabArchives will notify when they have a fix.
Recently, Zoom accounts registered with @mgh.harvard.edu, @partners.org and other MGB emails were converted from a Harvard to a Mass General Brigham enterprise account. Mass General Brigham provides free limited “Basic” accounts as well as discounted enterprise accounts for $100/year. Full description of differences as well as instructions and links to the order form can be found in the Knowledge Base.
If you need to host a Harvard Medical School teaching, research, or administrative activity on Zoom, you are eligible for a Harvard Zoom account and will need to link it to @hms.harvard.edu email. Hospital business, such as graduate medical education, hospital-based laboratory research, or clinical departmental activities are not eligible.
For further reference please see the HMS website.
REDCap (https://redcap.partners.org/redcap) infrastructure improvements are scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday March 20 at 9AM ET.
We expect minimal downtime; however MGB REDCap could be unavailable for up to 3 hours.
The infrastructure improvements include our effort to encrypt the database and data at rest to meet our regulatory requirements by April 1, 2021.
If you have any concerns about this scheduled maintenance, please email edcsupport@partners.org
The Research Computing website, https://rc.partners.org, was updated on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 7a.m. to apply platform updates. The website was offline for a short period of time during this maintenance window.
Please contact rcwebmaster@partners.org if you have any questions or concerns.
ERIS Patching Schedule for 2021
| January 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, January 20, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, January 30, 2021 |
| February 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, February 17, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, February 27, 2021 |
| March 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, March 17, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, March 27, 2021 |
| April 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, April 21, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, May 1, 2021 |
| May 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, May 19, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, May 29, 2021 |
| June 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, June 16, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, June 26, 2021 |
| July 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, July 21, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, July 31, 2021 |
| August 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, August 18, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, August 28, 2021 |
| September 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, September 15, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, September 25, 2021 |
| October 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, October 20, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, October 30, 2021 |
| November 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, November 17, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, November 20, 2021 |
| December 2021 | |
| Non-Production Patching | Wednesday, December 15, 2021 |
| Production Patching and ERIS Maintenance | Saturday, December 18, 2021 |
Please email rcc@partners.org with any questions or concerns.
REDCap Upgrades to v10.0.30 Scheduled:
REDCap (https://redcap.partners.org/redcap) upgrades to v10.0.30 scheduled for Wednesday December 9 at 6:30AM EST were successful. REDCap was offline from 6:30AM - 6:39AM.
This upgrade includes security and bug fixes.
Release notes available soon.
If you have any concerns about REDCap being offline at this time, please email edcsupport@partners.org
The PEAS team is pleased to recommend the upgrade to macOS Big Sur 11 in the Enterprise.
Prior to upgrading, please ensure you have the most recent version of enterprise apps that you use, like Citrix Workspace, Cisco VPN or Microsoft Office. The latest version of these applications are available in PEAS Self Service. Also verify the compatibility of any non-enterprise apps you use prior to upgrading. 32-bit applications are no longer supported on macOS Catalina or macOS Big Sur. You can check if you’re running 32-bit apps in macOS Mojave before you download and install Big Sur. From the Apple menu > About This Mac > System Report > Legacy Software or by going to https://roaringapps.com/.
We advise everyone to upgrade and get the latest security features unless you have specialty software that is currently incompatible with macOS Big Sur. Keep in mind that Apple, and therefore MGB, only supports the current OS and two versions prior. With the release of macOS Big Sur 11, the only other supported mac OS's are macOS Mojave 10.14 and macOS Catalina 10.15. If you are running an out of date macOS, please view our webpage on how to Update Your Mac, or contact the Service Desk if you need assistance with an upgrade. Older Mac operating systems introduce risk to your data and the enterprise as they are not patched for security vulnerabilities, nor do they comply with MGB policies.
Please note: When upgrading to macOS Big Sur, any folders in the root folder will be moved to /users/shared/relocated items.
| Enterprise Applications | ||
| Software Tested | Version Tested | Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Crowdstrike | 5.41.12205 |  |
| Forescout | 19.0 | |
| Cisco AnyConnect | 4.9.02028 | |
| Microsoft Office | 16.41 | |
| Citrix Workspace | 20.10 | |
| Microsoft Teams | 1.3 | |
| Academic Applications | ||
| Software Tested | Versions Tested | Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| MatLab | 2020b & up | |
| EndNote | X9 |  |
| Flowjo | 10.7 |  |
| SPSS | 24 | |
| Stata | 16 | |
| Prism | 9 | |
| Microsoft Remote Desktop | 10.4.1 | |
| Parallels | 16.0.1 | |
Older devices or software may connect to email using “basic authentication”, which requires only your username and password for access. Basic authentication leaves you open to cyberattacks and does not meet Mass General Brigham’s security standards.
To increase email security, basic authentication will be disabled and requiring two-factor authentication to access email on November 17th.
To avoid any interruption to your email access, follow the instructions in the Knowledge Base.
If you do not update your device, you may access your email using Outlook on the web at https://outlook.office.com. For questions or assistance, please contact the IS Service Desk.
REDCap Upgrades to v.10.0.25 Scheduled:
REDCap (https://redcap.partners.org/redcap) upgrades to v10.0.25 scheduled for Friday November 13th, 6:30AM ET are complete. REDCap was offline from 6:40-7:25 AM ET.
This upgrade includes a number of new features and bug fixes:
New feature: Record-level locking: This feature allows users to lock an entire record (as opposed to locking individual instruments) so that none of the record’s data can ever be modified unless someone with record-level locking/unlocking privileges goes and unlocks the record again.
New feature: Field Embedding: Field Embedding is the ultimate way to customize surveys and data collection instruments to make them look exactly how you want. Field Embedding is a Shazam-like feature that allows you to reposition field elements on a survey page or data entry form so that they get embedded in a new location on that same page. Embedding fields gives users greater control over the look and feel of your instrument. Users may place fields in a grid/table for a more compact user-friendly page, or they can position fields close together in a group if they are related.
New Features, Changes, and Major Bug Fixes
If you have any concerns about REDCap being offline at this time or any questions about these new features, please email edcsupport@partners.org
There may be a short interruption of service for the RISC Website during a maintenance window on Tuesday, November 24 between 7:30- 8:00a.m. EST. The RISC Website, https://rc.partners.org, may be unavailable for a short period of time during this window.
Please contact rcwebmaster@partners.org if you have any questions or concerns.
On Saturday, October 31, 2020, the ERIS Hosted Services Infrastructure was impacted by planned power work in the Needham Data Center that unexpectedly impacted some equipment. It was not a data center power failure. This event took down several research websites and services as it impacted all of the DIPR and RFA infrastructure. The team restored power and focused on bringing up all the production servers and virtual machines (VMs) impacted by this event. At this point, all the production VM’s are up and available, and the team is focused on restoring the non-production VM’s. We anticipate that all the non-production nodes up and online on Tuesday, November 3, 20
If you are the owner of a website, hosted database, storage or virtual server on ERIS infrastructure, we encourage you to check your connection and reboot if needed.
If you have a critical process that is down, please send a note to rcc@partners.org, and the team we will investigate right away.
Please check the Service Alerts for service-specific instructions and impact. Please make sure you subscribe to receive appropriate email notifications for the services you subscribe to: https://rc.partners.org/subscribe.
HSPH REDCap (https://redcap.sph.harvard.edu/redcap) upgrades to version 9.5.35 scheduled for Tuesday October 20th, 6:30AM are complete. REDcap was offline from 6:30-7:15AM.
If you have any questions, please email edcsupport@partners.org
The Research Computing website, https://rc.partners.org, was updated on Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 7:30a.m. to apply platform updates. The website was offline for a short period of time during this maintenance window.
Please contact rcwebmaster@partners.org if you have any questions or concerns.
Due to the increase in ransomware attacks on hospitals all over the country—some close to home— Mass General Brigham is installing CrowdStrike antivirus software on all PEAS-enrolled Macs running version 10.14 or higher on October 13, 2020.
There is no action required on your part to complete this install. The new antivirus provides additional threat detection and prevention capabilities.
If you would like to get CrowdStrike antivirus before October 13, 2020, follow the instructions in this article.
If you are not already running macOS Mojave 10.14, or later, on your computer, reminder to please upgrade your Mac this month.
Please contact the IS Service Desk for additional assistance.
Thank you in advance.
Jigar Kadakia
Mass General Brigham Chief Information Security & Privacy Officer
CISPO@partners.org
REDCap Upgrades to v.9.5.35 Scheduled:
REDCap (https://redcap.partners.org/redcap) upgrades to v9.5.35 scheduled for tomorrow Friday October 2nd, 6:30AM EST are complete. REDCap was offline from 6:44-6:57AM.
This upgrade includes a number of security and bug fixes.
Release notes available here.
If you have any concerns about REDCap being offline at this time, please email edcsupport@partners.org
REDCap eConsent: Part 11 Compliance Documentation
For groups using the REDCap eConsent template and require 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, validation documentation can be found by going to our REDCap eConsent Compliance page.
REDCap Support is Limited - Please allow 2 business days for standard requests:
There is 1FTE supporting all REDCap standard requests and questions. We are seeing an increased demand in REDCap and we are supporting many priority Covid related projects. We are working to find ways to supplement support.
As a reminder, please allow up to 2 days for responses to your requests.
REDCap (https://redcap.partners.org/redcap) server maintenance is scheduled for Saturday, September 26th, 2020 from 9:00AM to 3:00PM ET.
Please expect REDCap to be down for a short time during the maintenance window.
If you have any concerns about this scheduled maintenance, please email edcsupport@partners.org
The ERIS infrastructure team will be patching the Production ERIS servers and VMs on Saturday, September 26, 2020, starting at 9:00 am. Please send any concerns to rcc@partners.org
Over the past 6 months, the ERIS Infrastructure team has been moving active URLs/Sites with access to the Internet from our older proxy server to a new redundant proxy server. We are targeting Wednesday, October 7th to shut down the old proxy server. There should be no impact when we shut down the old proxy server, however, if you have any questions or concerns you can send them to rcc@partners.org and we will follow up with you concerning your site.
The ERIS Infrastructure team is changing how we name VMs. Effective immediately we are dropping .dipr. from the VM name of all new VMs, and instead, we will add "rc-" to the beginning of each VM name when we deploy new VMs. Going forward all new VMs will be named rc-vmname.partners.org
There will be limited support from September 22nd-24th while the EDC Support team attends the annual REDCap Conference, which will be held virtually this year.
Please plan for delayed response times this week. Priorities will be made for moving projects to production, user access, creating new projects, and change requests. General REDCap questions will be best effort.
Be sure to review the Help&FAQ, Training Resources, Getting Started with REDCap and Knowledge Base pages.
If you have any questions, please email edcsupport@partners.org
