Bryn Mawr College

From: Janet Scannell

Shortly, Information Services will begin managing the updates that all college-owned computers receive to their Windows XP or Macintosh operating systems. Updates will be tested in advance and then distributed overnight. This process will be piloted in April and May and will begin campus-wide starting in June.

Below is a summary of points of interest. If you want more detail about this change please visit: http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/WorkstationMaintenance.shtml

For Desktop Users:

• This will affect both Mac and Windows computers.
• Patching your computer software will require a reboot. If a machine is on the network it will be awakened or turned on for the update.
• All computers will be left turned off after the update.
• These reboots will only be scheduled to happen on Thursday nights generally no more than once a month.

When a scheduled update is planned it will be announced on the I.S. blog two work days before the update. You can subscribe to get an email update if you prefer.

If you run software overnight that cannot be interrupted you can request an exemption from this scheduled update. Please visit http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/WMExclusionRequest.shtml to do so.

For Research computers:

• This process only applies to computers that are on the College domain. If you aren’t sure whether you will be affected, please contact Amy Pearlman at apearlman@brynmawr.edu.
• If you run software overnight that cannot be interrupted you need to request an exemption from this scheduled update for each computer that is used in your research. You will need the asset tag number (e.g. 08-1234) for each computer. Please visit http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/WMExclusionRequest.shtml to do so.

For Laptop Users:

• Laptop users will be notified in advance of the update and will have a few days to run it him or herself at a convenient time.
• After the self-scheduled interval, the next time the laptop is connected to the Bryn Mawr network the update will run automatically.

We expect this process to be invisible for most users and to offer significant benefits. The current Apple and Windows update cycles often interrupt work and require reboots at inconvenient times.

This change also allows Support Services to test updates before they are released on campus, protecting Bryn Mawr computers from occasional bad or problematic updates and to improve support by having campus computers at a common patch level.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Janet Scannell, Director of Computing Services

Amy Pearlman, Head of Support Services

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