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Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
YARA/Snort rules and malware
I just got forwarded some Department of Security whitepapers on malware that's been increasing in prevalence recently, especially being used against educational organizations. It's good info, but I'm not completely clear on what I can do to be proactive except to keep an eye out. We use a Meraki network and have no way of using YARA or Snort rules. What do you folks do at your district to check for and keep abreast of certain malware threats? Thanks for any guidance.
https://redd.it/1jps1xy
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Chrome Not Auto-Launching on Chromebooks?
We have our managed Chromebooks set to auto-launch Google Chrome when a student logs on. We've had it set this way for many years.
Currently, when students log into Chromebooks, the user has to manually click on the Chrome icon to launch the browser. This isn't a big deal, but for our youngest users this is proving frustrating. We are on the LTC channel on Chrome v132.
Is anyone else seeing this or know of a solution?
https://redd.it/1jpuw4t
@r_k12sysadmin
WiFi RADIUS
Hello!
I am over a school district that is wanting to get away from PSK WiFi SSID channels and move to a RADIUS solution. I've been researching it for weeks and did some trial and error but not having success. I've read a few of the posts here and on r/sysadmin and they've been helpful but most are 2+ years old and want to make sure what the current best practices are.
I made a post over there also while waiting for approval in this subreddit and got some feed back but wanted to see if you guys had any other input. So this post is a slightly edited copy of that one.
My general understanding is that Windows NPS can be finky with non-windows devices. We are currently using Windows NPS is the RADIUS solution we're using for our BYOD channels for personal devices. It works well enough but it requires windows AD auth to log in while we're going to try to do certificate based for district owned devices.
We're not a huge district but have around 300 Windows devices 400 iPads and probably 1200 Chromebooks. Enrolling them all would be a summer project but trying to have the process down and tested before then so I'm building the infrastructure for it now.
If anyone has any good documentation or suggestions on how to set this up that would be great, Thanks!
https://redd.it/1jpsf4e
@r_k12sysadmin
What to do? Apple MDM Admins
So like many school districts mine is downsizing due to lack of finding. Which means remaining staff get more "hats" to wear. One of the new "hats" I have to Apple MDM Admin. While I have used the MDM's to complete tasks, I wasn't the Admin for the MDM.
So my question is basically what are your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual tasks as a Apple MDM manager.
https://redd.it/1jpps6p
@r_k12sysadmin
Gmail end-to-end encryption
https://workspace.google.com/blog/identity-and-security/gmail-easy-end-to-end-encryption-all-businesses
https://redd.it/1jp9ym0
@r_k12sysadmin
Drive Wipe Program
Is it just me, or are there no good free drive wiping options anymore? What are you using, and is it bootable from a USB drive?
I have a small stack of drives that I need to sanitize before sending them off for e-waste.
https://redd.it/1jp65oy
@r_k12sysadmin
Broadcom purchases Proxmox. Crappp
https://redd.it/1jp48jt
@r_k12sysadmin
Destiny LMS and alternatives
Hello!
This year, due to “creating efficiencies in our budget” I was handed to opportunity to manage our Library Media management system Destiny. It’s been difficult.
I have had the hardest time working with their support all year. I’ve put in tickets through the portal and never get replies. Eventually i just started calling them.
In the 5 or 6 times I’ve had to call them, they have been mean, defensive and sometimes just rude. I always try to ask vendors for documentation, so I don’t have to ask for help as much , and everyone I asked I’ve been with questions like “why do you need that?”, “no one else as ever asked us for that?”
Last week I had a permissions issue with an admin account , and asked if they had any sort of document so I could understand how certain UI checkboxes assigned rights and was told “why would you expect us to have that, it’s unreasonable”
Now, maybe I am incompetent, impudent IT guy, and this is deserved, but I have never gotten anything close to this kind of response from my other vendors.
I wanted to gut check here if anyone else had experiences like this with Destiny, or can help me understand if I am approaching this wrong.
Also, this whole experience is making me consider pushing for an entirely different LMS, I was wondering if anyone uses something different than Destiny and what your experience has been.
https://redd.it/1jownqp
@r_k12sysadmin
Ongoing Securly Bugs? (Considering Switching Providers)
We started using Securly a couple years ago on our (admittedly old) Chromebooks. We have about 150 Chromebooks deployed, and we're constantly having issues with our Securly products.
Here are a few of the biggest ones:
1) A lot of devices get stuck on "Waiting on Device" in Classroom (see image below..... completely unacceptable).
2) Filter logs miss a non-negligible portion of actual site visits by students
3) There's have no way (at least that I've found) to apply Filter rules to subsets of students (or create groups that teachers can control for special classes/projects), so we have to separate students into a whole variety of OUs (which sometimes means we can't apply multiple policies to a student as needed).
4) Teachers report that even after pushing Filter-blocked URLs to students via Classroom, they remain blocked, despite our Filter integration being active.
Our teachers are getting weary of the issues, and I'm getting weary of telling them I don't have answers, even after talking with Support (who either don't have answers or say "that'll be fixed soon!").
I'm considering investigating other services like GoGuardian/etc.
Am I the only one having these issues, or this this a common experience?
https://preview.redd.it/hic1sm40p8se1.png?width=1857&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4a71dfe41711596267a0abab82230c36b92e0e7
https://redd.it/1joy5o7
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Docs Text Box Issue - Started today for most students. I have disabled Read & Write Extension and EasyLib 🤷♂️ All text stays in one place.
https://redd.it/1jouzrt
@r_k12sysadmin
Technology Ideas for Teacher Survey
Hello, we have a recent bond that passed and have a fairly large amount of money coming in for "classroom technology".
Part of my department is committed to just buying smart boards for every teacher. We currenlty have only 4 or 5 smart boards in our district and have about 250 total classrooms.
I have talked to our business office and they agree that we should really be surveying our teaching staff to see what they actually feel like they want or need.
Just looking for some general ideas to include on the survey.
So far I am including Smart Boards, Classroom Sound Systems, and Teacher Chromebooks (currently using HP 11" G9s).
Hoping that I can get some other ideas for areas that can be included on our survey.
Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1jobxos
@r_k12sysadmin
Recommended Summer Maintenance with Dell Chromebook 3100's?
I'm a long time Windows & Apple tech, new to ChromeOS & Chromebooks. I'm planning ahead for this summer. I work in a small school, about 250 three year old Chromebook 3100s. We will be collecting them from the 1-to-1 students in June. My question is, what is best practices to do with them over the summer? I plan on cleaning them since the students are filthy. I was thinking of Powerwashing all of the devices. Is this needed? Necessary? A good or bad idea? Should I update the ChromeOS? What's the best way to do this? I assume there is a way to push it out from the Admin Console, but won't I need to power up all the Chromebooks for the update to be pushed out? Is this push process 100% no-touch automated? Or will I need to manually reboot them? Do you have any other suggestions on what I should do with them over the summer?
Thank you all for your time and assistance!
https://redd.it/1bil0et
@r_k12sysadmin
Dukane bell system phone stopped working
We've been using a Dukane bell system phone for over 20 years to do the daily bells at our elementary school. It no longer powers on, and the principal is asking if we can use something else. I've seen a few older threads on this topic, but I'd love to hear some options that will be versatile and feature rich while hopefully minimizing fuss. Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1biir4c
@r_k12sysadmin
Disabling split-screen functionality on Chromebooks?
Recently found out that kids can get around our classroom management software by opening a second browser tab and then splitting their screens between the two. Does anyone know what the setting is to disable that functionality? Google support, my vendor for the software, nor does my Google-fu seem to be helping here. Anyone have that info by any chance?
Google's Response
https://redd.it/1bhwvco
@r_k12sysadmin
What Would You Ask Your New Principal?
I'm part of the interview panel for selecting a new principal at our high school, what question(s) would you ask a potential new boss to gauge their compatibility with your campus?
https://redd.it/1bhzrpd
@r_k12sysadmin
Found students using this site to run exploits to kill or hang extensions and get around filters
We found that students have been using this exploit to bypass goguardian and filters on their chromebooks. Has anyone else come across this? The file is linked here in my google drive. What they are doing is copying the contents into a browser. I can't seem to block it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XgFdBH-BzPh02sefzLhlYeu\_v6IGw7Y5/view?usp=sharing
https://redd.it/1jpwxvx
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Slide Kiosk for Signage Not Auto Updating Changes Made to Slide Without a Reboot
We used Google Signbuilder previously and the slides would auto update after changes were made. Since moving to the Google Slide kiosk setup, everything is working the same EXCEPT that the Chromebox has to be rebooted for changes to appear on the slide. I've currently got an 8:30am scheduled reboot in place to address this, but now am being told that changes are made to the slide throughout the day and it needs to update more frequently. Are there any automated ways make the Google Slide kiosk show the most recent changes?
https://redd.it/1jptz9q
@r_k12sysadmin
SchoolCare/CareDox Issues?
Are there other districts out there that use SchoolCare (formerly CareDox) that are having trouble with records being inaccurate/missing submitted information or login/access permission issues? The examples our school nurses have given seems mostly to involve diabetic treatment records.
The only communication we've received so far from SchoolCare on 5/28 was:
"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. Last night, our team performed a vital system upgrade, and unfortunately, this has led to the issues you're currently experiencing. Please rest assured, our team is actively working on a fix and is prioritizing getting everything back on track as quickly as possible. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding during this time."
https://redd.it/1jprecn
@r_k12sysadmin
u6 pro vs u7 pro unifi
is there any reason I should consider the U6 pro anymore or should I only be looking at the U7 pro in a K 12 environment
https://redd.it/1jpnd0y
@r_k12sysadmin
Savvas SuccessMaker
Other orgs that use Savvas SuccessMaker - do you constantly have issues with the platform? Like blank screens, content not loading, progress not saving, students getting booted..etc?
Support has been less than helpful and only provides the troubleshooting guides which have already been viewed 100 times.
Issues are not easy to reproduce and come in waves in random cycles. A few weeks will go by, no issues. Then issues for several days.
We are all on Chromebooks.
https://redd.it/1jp8hik
@r_k12sysadmin
Mimio Pad replacements
Has anyone found a good replacement for the mimio pads? I buy the ones I can find as they pop up on ebay but I'd like to find something I can get reliably that is good.
https://redd.it/1jp5ol9
@r_k12sysadmin
Teacher trying to play video on Play Store website. "We are sorry, but you do not have access to this service"
She can get to the website, browse the whole site no issue. This only occurs when she tries to play the video or trailer.
I dont think its the firewall, thats a straight google error on their website. I can play it in an incognito window as my personal google account. In the same incognito window if I log in as her, that message comes up.
I'm guessing something isn't enabled or restricted somewhere but I have checked it over and over, and I dont see it. The play store is enabled.
Does anyone know what services need to be on for that? She's definitely in the 18+ OU. She can get to play.google.com and youtube.com work fine.
I tried it as another user and it didnt work for them either, in a different OU.
https://redd.it/1jp28qw
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Admin delegating permission to delete security keys?
I haven't been able to find an option to let my helpdesk team delete user security keys. Am I overlooking something?
If this capability isn't available for custom roles, how are you handling this in your environment? It seems like only Super Admins have the necessary permissions. Appreciate any insights!
https://redd.it/1joys6y
@r_k12sysadmin
Embedded youtube videos in Formative
We have found that embedded youtube videos in Formative allow students to open a new tab watch any unfiltered content they want. How are other districts stopping this? We use securely/aware to filter ipads and the option is either allow embedded videos or not for apps. If we stop allowing embedded videos with Securley it will also break embedded videos in Ed-puzzle, Near Pod and many other apps used in our curriculum. We are an Apple School k-12 ipads and macbooks for teachers. Open to suggestions...
https://redd.it/1jovtoy
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Admin Weekly Gmail Reports?
Hi all,
Just posting to see if this is a thing or if anyone has any ideas.
We have a particular student whose email activity needs monitored and building administration is requesting a weekly report of some kind that they can review.
Apart from me manually running a report and emailing the admin it weekly, is there any way that this can be automated? I'd prefer to avoid third party apps if I can help it.
TIA!
https://redd.it/1jobmeb
@r_k12sysadmin
Meraki, having to reboot APs frequently now
I'm trying to figure out what the heck is going on with our biggest Meraki networks. Meraki has no answer for me, which wasn't encouraging. We're not even close to swamping our bandwidth per school, but some rooms have had speed absolutely TANK, or have student devices unable to log into Google SSO, and websites like Epic or DuoLingo for Schools. Weird little things like that. So we end up having to reboot the AP the room uses out of desperation, and things will work for a bit. Has anybody else had to deal with this? Here are my most pressing questions:
1) Why is this cropping up now in the 2nd half of the school year? We had no issues like this for the first half.
2) How can I check to see if we're running out of IPs or check the DHCP pool?
3) What protocols/best practices/contingency plans do all you pros out there use to deal with this kind of situation when it occurs?
https://redd.it/1joccn1
@r_k12sysadmin
Device refresh is going from desktops to laptops. What problems am I not thinking about that will be unique to laptops?
Our 5 year, more like 8, device upgrade is here and I am getting procedures written up(feel free to share if you have a template or example of those. I just asked ChatGPT to make me a basic one), finding apps we need to standardize, inventory, the whole shebang. I just feel like I am missing something when it comes to the difference between laptops and desktops...
Will I need to make a local account specific to that teacher if they are going to be taking it back and forth from school and home? Are there certain programs that we should think about adding that make more sense on a laptop? Am I going to have to delete dozens of copies of USB printers from them plugging and unplugging it since my director doesn't want networked printers? If I am missing anything obvious let me know. If I do it right the first time then I only have to do it once, ya know?
https://redd.it/1bikafg
@r_k12sysadmin
Examview -> Echo360?
Has anyone here migrated from examview to now echo360? From what I’ve read, echo360 must have bought out EV and EV will go EOL June 30th. Has anyone migrated to Echo360? Were you able to use your existing EV test banks? And what kind of cost is there (ballpark, but didn’t notice pricing on the site). I just learned of the EOL of EV tonight from one of our faculty members…
https://redd.it/1bi912b
@r_k12sysadmin
Downloading Music for IEP/Specific Student Use
Welcome to another round of IT gets dragged into promises made by another department.
I'm still waiting on the full details myself but the short of it is we have a student that gets music as a reward. This will be provided, theoretically, by an mp3 player that they've already acquired and I'm hoping will be compatible with one of my ideas. I've also dug out a brand new cd player so if we can somehow wrangle a disk that will probably be my back up plan.
My main issue, equipment compatibility aside, is would this use case be subject to being outside the normal terms and conditions for options such as Youtube Music or Spotify? My current thought is to have them pay for a premium account and use that to download the mp3 files. This use case is directed towards one user and is sort of along the lines of personal use, though we have another student that may benefit. Another thought would be to buy the music directly via Amazon Music or iTunes but then we'd have to keep that account around rather than just ending a subscription when it isn't needed anymore.
Has anyone else had to set up something similar?
https://redd.it/1bhxdyp
@r_k12sysadmin
How many days do you work?
I currently in a sysadmin role at a school district and work year round on an hourly rate. I will potentially be taking the IT Director position for the next school year. I was wondering what position do you work and how many days are you contracted to work? I am thinking about negotiating down to less days even if it comes at a lower salary. Having a kid soon and would like to have more time at home than at work.
https://redd.it/1bhz9kj
@r_k12sysadmin
