Blog from June, 2023

Understanding Your ITS Private Cloud Bill
JM Lopez posted on Jun 27, 2023

We acknowledge the importance of understanding the charges on your ITS Private Cloud bill. The more you know about our Virtual Machine hosting service rates and additional services, the easier it will be to make informed decisions about your VM usage or whether certain resource tiering is right for your business needs.

The following content will help you understanding the most important sections of the ITS Private Cloud Bill, either Debit Memo or Invoice and also describe cases when additional services are included, such as the System Support service provided by the Systems and Solutions Group (EIS-SSG).

Table of Contents

Debit Memo

  1. Debit memo number: Composed of Billing Period (YYMMYYMM), Client ID, and document ID.

  2. Billing Period: Start Date, End date, Billing Period Name, and Option (Arrears).

  3. Date: When the debit memo was generated.

  4. Billing Information: Client and main contact details.

  5. Account Information: Main FIS codes to debit the amount.

  6. Line Item details: Each line item in the bill with item name, description, unit cost, quantity, subtotal and line total. Amounts are prorated when required.

  7. Notes: Client notes.

  8. Contact Information: Questions or clarifications with respect to debit memo.

  9. Virtual Machine Inventory: Virtual Hosting Service provided by the Hardware Infrastructure Group (EIS-HIG) with just VM infrastructure details.

  10. Virtual Machine Inventory Terms: How the previous section is calculated.

Invoice

  1. Invoice number: Composed by TM10 prefix and a four digit number XXXX. Internal document number formed with Billing Period (YYMMYYMM), Client ID, and document ID.

  2. Billing Period: Start Date, End date, Billing Period Name, and Option (Arrears).

  3. Date: When the debit memo was generated.

  4. Billing Information: Client and main contact details.

  5. Invoice Number Section: TM10 Accounts Receivable (A/R) reference number.

  6. Line Item details: Each line item in the bill with item name, description, unit cost, quantity, subtotal and line total. Amounts are prorated when required.

  7. Notes: Client notes.

  8. Customer and A/R details: Customer name and details for A/R.

  9. Remittance Section: Instructions about how to remit payment.

  10. Virtual Machine Inventory: Virtual Hosting Service provided by the Hardware Infrastructure Group (EIS-HIG) with just VM infrastructure details.

  11. Virtual Machine Inventory Terms: How the previous section is calculated.

Debit Memo with SSG support

  1. Debit memo number: Composed of Billing Period (YYMMYYMM), Client ID, and document ID.

  2. Billing Period: Start Date, End date, Billing Period Name, and Option (Arrears).

  3. Date: When the debit memo was generated.

  4. Billing Information: Client and main contact details.

  5. Account Information: Main FIS codes to debit the amount.

  6. Line Item details: Each line item in the bill with item name, description, unit cost, quantity, subtotal and line total. Amounts are prorated when required.

  7. NotesOPTIONAL: Client notes.

  8. FIS Notes OPTIONAL: FIS Notes.

  9. Terms OPTIONAL : Extra Conditions, such as Non-Billable folders, etc.

  10. Contact Information: Questions or clarifications with respect to debit memo.

  11. Virtual Machine Inventory: Virtual Hosting Service provided by the Hardware Infrastructure Group (EIS-HIG) with just VM infrastructure details.

  12. Virtual Machine Inventory Terms: How the previous section is calculated.

  13. Virtual Machine Inventory with System Support: Virtual Machines with System Support provided by the Systems and Solutions Group (EIS-SSG).

  14. Virtual Machine Inventory (Not Billed): Non-billed virtual machines. Usually part of the System Support service value, or existing agreements.

Debit Memo with UTORrecover Backups

  1. Debit memo number: Composed of Billing Period (YYMMYYMM), Client ID, and document ID.

  2. Billing Period: Start Date, End date, Billing Period Name, and Option (Arrears).

  3. Date: When the debit memo was generated.

  4. Billing Information: Client and main contact details.

  5. Account Information: Main FIS codes to debit the amount.

  6. Line Item details: Each line item in the bill with item name, description, unit cost, quantity, subtotal and line total. Amounts are prorated when required.

    1. Note that UTORrecover shows up in two charges:

      1. UTORrecover: Backed up data per 1 GB per year.

      2. Support: License, maintenance and support per host per year.

  7. NotesOPTIONAL: Client notes.

  8. Terms OPTIONAL : Extra Conditions, such as Non-Billable folders, etc.

  9. Contact Information: Questions or clarifications with respect to debit memo.

  10. Virtual Machine Inventory: Virtual Hosting Service provided by the Hardware Infrastructure Group (EIS-HIG) with just VM infrastructure details.

    1. Note that an additional column named “backups” shows up when the system identifies UTORrecover charges.

  11. Virtual Machine Inventory Terms: How the previous section is calculated.

  12. Virtual Machine Inventory with Backups: Virtual Machines with UTORrecover Backups provided by the Hardware Infrastructure Group.

  13. Backup info: Who to contact if there’s any backup charges questions.

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Introducing Ubuntu Pro POC for the ITS Private Cloud: Elevating Your Ubuntu Virtual Machines
JM Lopez posted on Jun 26, 2023

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a Proof of Concept (POC) that brings the power of Ubuntu Pro to virtual machines (VMs) running on the ITS Private Cloud. As part of this exciting initiative, Ubuntu Pro will be exclusively available for VMs running on Cluster FD3, opening up a new realm of possibilities for enterprise users. This strategic move aims to enhance the performance, security, and management capabilities of Ubuntu-based VMs, providing an elevated experience for our partners operating in the ITS Private Cloud.

In order to streamline the POC, Ubuntu Pro will be exclusively available for VMs running on Cluster FD3. This exclusive availability ensures that we can optimize our resources and provide the best possible experience to the participating partners.

Key Features and Benefits of Ubuntu Pro

  1. Enhanced Security: Ubuntu Pro brings an array of advanced security features, including kernel live patching, extended security maintenance, access to security updates for 30,000+ packages, etc. This ensures that your Ubuntu-based VMs are shielded from emerging threats and vulnerabilities, minimizing downtime and protecting critical business operations.

  2. Performance Optimization: With Ubuntu Pro, VMs on Cluster FD3 can benefit from optimized resource utilization, resulting in improved performance and efficiency.

  3. Streamlined Management: Ubuntu Pro includes powerful management tools that simplify the administration of large-scale VM deployments. With tools like Landscape, administrators gain centralized control, enabling them to efficiently manage and monitor multiple VM instances, deploy updates, and track system health, all from a single interface.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro: https://ubuntu.com/pro

Join the POC and Experience Ubuntu Pro for Yourself!

Once the requirements are met, we invite interested VM admins to join the POC by activating Ubuntu Pro in 2 steps:

Requirements

  1. ITS Private Cloud Command Line Interface vss-cli v2023.6.1 or higher: 

    vss-cli upgrade

# or

pip3 install --upgrade vss-cli

# or

brew update && brew upgrade vss-cli

  2. VM Running on Cluster FD3. If your VM is not currently running on Cluster FD3, do not worry, just request a migration to FD3 and proceed to next step:

    vss-cli --wait compute vm set {vm_id-or-name} domain FD3

  3. Open VMware Tools installed and running. Install and enable VMware Tools as follows:

    sudo apt install open-vm-tools

sudo systemctl enable --now vmtoolsd

Activation

Follow steps described here How to enable Ubuntu Pro on your VM

Questions?

Please feel free to reach out at vss-ubuntu-pub@eis.utoronto.ca

ITS Private Cloud Billing and Rate Changes: Complete
JM Lopez posted on Jun 15, 2023

TL;DR; Thank you! NewBilling FAQ, New Billing Portal. Billing inquiries:

We have successfully transitioned to a new, flexible, consumption-based monthly billing model for the ITS Private Cloud and System Management service. We thank you for your patience, trust, and support throughout this transformative journey.

In EIS, we strive to uphold our ITS core values through continuous improvement of the services we provide to you. We are committed to not only enhance your experience but also align with our commitment to service and operational excellence.

We will continue to listen to your feedback, address any concerns promptly, and strive to exceed your expectations. On that note, I would like to point you to our Billing Frequently Asked Questions section to ensure you have all the information you need at your fingertips.  Additionally, the newly created Billing Portal is a self-serve portal designed to provide you with easy access to your billing history, cost trends, service contracts and FIS codes.

More information

For more information about the ITS Private Cloud Service:

VSS Command Line Interface (vss-cli) v2023.6.0
JM Lopez posted on Jun 14, 2023

VSS-CLI v2023.6.0 is available for download via https://pypi.org/project/vss-cli/  or GitLab (internal). Latest version includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

Improvements

ci: update pre-commit flake8 endpoint (#624)

ci : rename Gitlab CI variable CI_BUILD_REF_NAME -> CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME (#626)

Bug Fixes

docs: search not working. Missing jquery (#625)

Upgrade

Remember, VSS-CLI documentation is now available in VSS-CLI and the full Change Log is available v2023.6.0 . Upgrade or install VSS-CLI as follows:

# using vss-cli
vss-cli upgrade 

# upgrade with pip
pip install vss-cli --upgrade

# install
pip install vss-cli 

# Homebrew users
brew update && brew upgrade vss-cli

For more information, please refer to the official documentation https://eis.utoronto.ca/~vss/vss-cli/.

VMware Tools for Windows update addresses Authentication Bypass vulnerability in VMware Tools (CVE-2023-20867)
JM Lopez posted on Jun 13, 2023

VMware released security advisory VMSA-2023-0013 with Low severity affecting VMware Tools for Windows.

The fix is available in VMware Tools for Windows v12.2.5 in the VSS-Windows Content Library as Item VMware-Tools-windows-12.2.5-21855600.iso. Please, use the VSS Portal or the VSS CLI to mount the ISO and Install the patched version.

How-To Remediate

Windows

ITS Private Cloud CLI

  1. Mount the VMware Tools ISO VMware-Tools-windows-12.2.5-21855600 with the vss-cli: 

    vss-cli compute vm set <id> cd up --backing VMware-Tools-windows-12.2.5-21855600 1

  2. Proceed with the installation in the OS.

ITS Private Cloud Portal

  1. Login to the https://cloud-portal.eis.utoronto.ca

  2. Look for your VM and click on the Edit button.

  3. Mount the VMWare Tools ISO VMware-Tools-windows-12.2.5-21855600.

  4. Proceed with the installation in the OS.

References