Fw: Update from Canvas: Some Canvas users were running into page errors when accessing Canvas on 4/28/2019

​FYI.

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From: Canvas Support <support@instructure-contact.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2019 5:52 PM
To: Scott Vigallon
Subject: Update from Canvas: Some Canvas users were running into page errors when accessing Canvas on 4/28/2019

 

Some Canvas users were running into page errors when accessing Canvas on 4/28/2019 OVERVIEW Between 6:40 PM and 7:05 PM MDT on April 28 2019, some Canvas users experienced slow loading times or page errors. This was caused by a server that became unresponsive, and needed to be restarted.   DETAILS At 6:40 PM MDT, users began seeing 504 page errors when trying to access courses, and pages within Canvas. This was caused by a job server that became unresponsive to requests. Job servers are responsible for processing server requests, including course migration files, imports and exports, and gradebook downloads. These requests had started to queue when the jobs server became unresponsive, resulting in the errors users were seeing. Our DevOps team was alerted to the issue by automated monitoring we have in place, and they quickly identified an unresponsive jobs server as the culprit. They restarted the job server at 6:53 PM. After the job server finished restarting, we verified that the timeout errors were no longer occurring. The queued job requests still needed to be processed, and resumed after the server restart. This resulted in some additional slow page load times until the queued jobs had been processed. The incident was resolved and Canvas was functioning as normal, at 7:03 PM MDT.   MITIGATION The root cause of the slow load times were due to the underlying database server being unresponsive. Such unresponsiveness isn’t something that can be foreseen, which is why we put measures in place to monitor and alert our team. Our goal is to resume server activity as soon as possible after such an event like this occurs. CONCLUSION We apologize for the inconvenience to you and your users. We understand any service interruptions while using Canvas directly impact your ability to serve your students and teachers. We appreciate the trust you have placed in us, and we will continue to apply the best technology and procedures to minimize future issues.   Copyright © 2019 Instructure, All rights reserved. You are receiving this message because you're listed as a Canvas Admin for your institution and either you or your Customer Success Manager requested that you be added to this mailing list. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Fw: Update from Canvas: Users unable to Access Canvas

FYI...in case you had any students experience this issue Sunday.

​Scott

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From: Canvas Support <support@instructure-contact.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2019 7:19 PM
To: Scott Vigallon
Subject: Update from Canvas: Users unable to Access Canvas

 

Somes users unable to access Canvas WHAT IS HAPPENING? Some users were unable to access Canvas between the approximate time of 6:35 PM MDT to 7:20 PM. WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT? Our DevOps team was quick to investigate and found that there was a problem with one of the Job Services that caused multiple instances to become unresponsive.  Our DevOps team has since resolved the issue and the affected regions of Canvas has since returned to normal. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? We appreciate your patience on this issue and will continue to update you with any necessary information.  Copyright © 2019 Instructure, All rights reserved. You are receiving this message because you're listed as a Canvas Admin for your institution and either you or your Account Manager requested that you be added to the Canvas Admin mailing list.  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Canvas updates: course requests, Notebowl, New Gradebook

Canvas instructors,

 

Three updates to pass along:

 

1.       Thank you to those of who requested your summer courses. If you haven’t done so, please take care of it in Class Web. As a reminder, courses for fall will be automatically created for you. My intention was to do this May 1, but I have pushed it back to May 2 because I will be available in case of questions. I will be on jury duty for the next few weeks, but will be in the office 1-2 days a week.

Since courses will be automatically created, I posted instructions on how to merge sections since you will now be doing this in Canvas instead of in Class Web. If you merge, please read the entire page. If you don’t, nothing for you to do.

2.       The CVC-OEI, which funds several of the tools we use in Canvas, has announced that because of low usage, its contract with Notebowl will not be renewed after the current fiscal year. Therefore, it will be deactivated in Canvas on June 10. My apologies if you were planning to use it with your summer courses. If you were one of the few who used Notebowl, you can go back to using the Canvas Discussion Board and Announcements.

 

3.       If you are one who is still using the current Gradebook in Canvas and want to continue using it, you received a reprieve because Canvas announced that it will not be removed until January 2020. It had previously said that the current Gradebook would be replaced permanently by the New Gradebook this summer. It is recommended that you move to the New Gradebook, but if you don’t want to, you won’t have to until after the fall semester.

 

Scott

Summer 2019 Canvas course requests

Canvas instructors,

 

You may now request your Summer 2019 Canvas courses by logging into Class-Web, clicking Menu for Faculty, Staff & Advisors, then clicking the Canvas link toward the bottom of the page. Choose Summer 2019 for the term and Las Positas for the campus, and click Submit Query. From here, you can request individual courses, or you can choose courses or sections to merge.

 

Some notes:

 

1.     The above course request process will change beginning with Fall 2019 courses. You will no longer have to request courses; they will be created automatically for you. The plan is to have all Fall 2019 courses automatically created in Canvas on May 1. If you want to merge courses or sections for Fall 2019, you will do that in Canvas, not in Class Web. Information and tutorials on doing this will be sent to you.

2.     If you are going to merge courses or sections for Summer 2019 in Class Web, please do so correctly. The attached screenshot shows how to merge correctly.

3.     When moving from one semester to another in Canvas, you can either copy a previous semester's course content or export the previous course and import it into the new course. You can do all of these by going to Settings in a course. While in Settings, DO NOT click the Copy this Course button on the right side; this tool creates a new course that your students will not be able to access.

1. Learn how to copy a course.
2. Learn how to export a course.
3. Learn how to import a course.

4.     If you are teaching an online course, you have the option to use the Canvas model course template as a starting point. The course is based on the Academic Senate-approved OEI’s Course Design Rubric and provides organization and structure for your course. If you want to view the model course, let me know. If you already have access to it and want to use it, complete this form.

5.     The OEI’s Quest for Online Success tutorial is the student readiness tool used for DE courses at LPC. There is a Canvas version to which you can have students self-enroll. You can even have students complete assignments based on the tutorial. Learn more about Quest.

6.     Remember that everything in your course must be made accessible to students with disabilities. To learn how to do this, you can either come to a workshop, make an appointment, or complete the Canvas tutorial called Web Accessibility Course.

 

Scott

 

Canvas quiz error Sunday

Canvas just sent an email saying that all users attempting quizzes between 5-5:34 p.m. Sunday received an error message. There was a technical issue with the Canvas database. It was fixed.

 

Scott