The work of updating the software running on our EZproxy server, which manages remote access to databases and login to ILLIad, is now complete. All systems are working normally again. If you encounter any issues, please report them.
Tag: EZproxy
Remote Access Interruption on May 29
From 9 AM – 1 PM on Thursday, May 29, there will be periodic interruptions to remote access for library resources (databases and the contents therein). We are working with BCTC to update the software on our EZproxy server.
When the work is complete, a new blog post will be posted here.
Remote Access Problem for Chronicle of Higher Ed and Chronicle of Philanthropy (Update: fixed)
Update (2 pm, Feb. 17, 2023): The problem detailed below has been resolved.
On the EZproxy mailing list today, I was alerted to a problem that everyone is having with remote access to the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Chronicle of Higher Education on the publisher’s website. Off campus users, will be connected to those sites via a link going through our proxy server, will see an error message along the lines of “This web property is not accessible via this address.” The error seems to be connected to the Cloudflare service, something that has come up occasionally with databases we access that also use the Cloudflare service for content delivery.
On campus access is unaffected.
As a workaround for remote users, we do have access via other databases, but those tend to have embargoes on the last month’s content:
- Chronicle of Higher Education (OneSearch record)
- Chronicle of Philanthropy (OneSearch record)
User Accounts That Say No Remote Access
If a student or faculty member sees this error message when trying to remotely connect to library resources, please always refer them directly to the BCTC Help Desk or SPS Help Desk:
This is the only remote access error page that has this yellow box on it and that has this unique message:
ERROR: This account doesn’t include remote access to library services from off-campus.
The user should be instructed to contact the BCTC Help Desk or SPS Help Desk and make sure that they clearly communicate that they are seeing this specific error message (this is essential to solving this problem). The user should be encouraged to share a screenshot of that error page or to copy the text of the unique message on it. The BCTC Help Desk or CUNY SPS Help Desk staff will then in turn reach out to the CUNY CIS help desk for help with this, as this is an issue that needs to be fixed in the CUNYfirst system.
In theory, this error message is one that is only supposed to appear when someone has a CUNY Login but no remote access to library databases (such as an alumni), but it seems that the systems that manage identities in the CUNYfirst system can get out of sync, and students who should have access will sometimes see this message.
If you’re not sure how to handle these situations, feel free to send an email to [email protected] (which Mike, Florencia, and I all monitor).
Remote Access System Is Intermittently Down
This is affecting both off campus and on campus access, as our EZproxy system isn’t able to load the login pages for our off campus users and our on campus users can’t get past any proxied link because the EZproxy system isn’t available.
I have a ticket into BCTC but haven’t been able to get any more info yet on whether network issues may be affecting our access to the EZproxy server.
Workarounds (only available for on campus users)
If you are are on campus, you can still get to our proxied resources as follows:
- Copy the full link of the resource you are trying to connect with.
- Paste that link into Notepad on your computer. Delete the initial portion of the link that begins with https://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url= and then copy the remainder of the link.
- Paste that remainder of the link into a new browser tab or window. That should take you directly to the resource instead of having it go first through the EZproxy server here on campus.
Example: You want to go to Academic Search Complete. Copy the link to the database and paste it into Notepad. The URL will like this:
https://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=a9h
Delete the portion at the front that begins with https://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=
That leaves you with something you can copy and paste back into your browser as long as you are on campus:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=a9h
CUNY Login Now Available for Off Campus Access to Library Resources
This week, we updated the EZproxy server used for authenticating off campus users before they are passed on to our licensed resources. For most of our resources, users will now see a new login page that gives them the preferred option of logging in with their CUNY Login (the same set of credentials used for Zoom, Blackboard, CUNYfirst, and library borrower accounts in OneSearch). The new login page also offers the option to log in with a Baruch username and password; this option will be removed at the end of the spring 2022 semester.
There are still a few resources that require a Baruch username and password: O’Reilly and FitchConnect. These, too, should be switched over very soon to use the CUNY Login system.
There are also a handful of other databases, mostly business ones, that have other login schemes (such as Calcbench, Comscore, FactSet, Refinitiv Eikon, etc.) I’m working on a spreadsheet that will go in the Library Services wiki that lists each database and what kind of login system it uses. Also worth noting here is that those databases that have a non-standard way of logging in should already have that noted in some way in the database description in our LibGuides system.
I’ve updated the page on our website, “Logging into Library Resources and Services,” to reflect these recent changes. If you run into any unexpected problems with remote access, please contact both Michael Waldman and me ASAP.
Wiley Remote Access Problems Fixed
The problem reported last week about our inability to get remote access to Wiley content has now been resolved. Wiley explained the problem this way:
Due to an abnormally high amount of web activity on Wiley Online Library, Cloudflare, our security solution, put extra checks in place to identify and prevent any potential for malicious activity. These checks flagged EZproxy traffic as a potential threat, blocking all access via EZproxy, as well as other third-party solutions, linking directly to the PDF. We are working on whitelisting these providers to restore access, and have already done so with OCLC-hosted EZproxy traffic.
Continuing Problems with Off-Campus Access to Wiley Online Library (updated)
The problems that all Wiley customers using EZproxy for authentication were reporting yesterday are still lingering. Users from off campus have been seeing an error message from Wiley that reads “This web property is not accessible via this address” and looks like this:
While we can now view and download PDFs from articles from off campus, if you try to download a book chapter, you’ll likely see this error message. This content should still be available though to users on the campus network.
As soon as Wiley sorts out this mess with their Cloudflare firewall, which as acting as though incoming traffic from EZproxy servers is part of a DDoS attack, I’ll post an update.
UPDATE: As of 11/2/2021, this problem is now fixed. See this blog post for details.
Remote Access Down on Morning of June 15 (updated)
UPDATE (6/15/2021 8:56 AM) The EZproxy software upgrade was successful. Remote access is working as expected.
As part of a planned upgrade for our EZproxy server software, remote access will be down for all databases that use it on Tuesday, June 15, between 7 AM and 9 AM (it’s likely the actual downtime will only be 20-30 minutes). This work will only affect the databases that use EZproxy for remote access (if you see this specific login page after clicking a link, that resource is one using EZproxy):
Workarounds for Login Problems to S&P NetAdvantage
As noted in last year’s post here about S&P NetAdvantage login problems, the most common issue is caused by oversized cookies in the user’s browser that get in the way of the login process in EZproxy. While a user might be able to log into some databases , S&P NetAdvantage will be a problem. After making sure that the user is starting from our link to S&P NetAdvantage on the A-Z databases page, there are three different workarounds that usually lead to a successful login:
- Ask the user to clear their browser cache (instructions can be found easily on the web by searching for the name of the browser and the terms “clear” and “cache.”)
- Ask the user to open up a new browser window or tab in “incognito” or “private” mode and then try to login from there.
- Ask the user to try a different browser (e.g., if it’s not working in Chrome, try Firefox or Safari).