In January 2021, University IT will move all virtual host redirects from Stanford’s Andrew File System (AFS) to a cloud platform that will provide more flexibility, improved security, and greater performance to the virtual host service. This change will only impact virtual host redirects, not virtual host proxies at this time.
To help prepare for the change and ensure that members of your specified Stanford workgroup will be able to manage redirects after the move, please use the Virtual Host Data Conversion tool to update your virtual host information by Nov. 6, 2020.
Follow these instructions or please submit a Help request for additional support.
Every redirect URL will continue to work after they’re moved. What will change is the following:
Important: Without a workgroup designated as the owner, you will not be able to manage redirects in the new tool and the virtual host redirect name will expire in January 2022 with no advanced notice. Though redirects will continue to work after the move, current redirect owners will not be carried forward in the new tool.
To help prepare for the change and ensure that members of your specified Stanford workgroup will be able to manage redirects after the move, follow these instructions by Nov. 6, 2020.
For additional support, submit a Help request.
If you don't see any workgroups listed, that means you are not currently a member of any (non-personal) Stanford workgroup. To test this, have the closest Stanford department create a workgroup or add you to an existing workgroup they control. Log back into the conversion tool and pick the workgroup from the 'New Workgroup' drop-down.
A designated workgroup is required to own a redirect so that UIT can send yearly notifications to the workgroup, or redirect managers, about impending expirations of any redirects.
Additionally, workgroup members will have the ability to create short links based on the defined virtual host redirect name.
Important: Without a workgroup designated as the owner, you will not be able to manage redirects in the new tool and the virtual host redirect name will expire in January 2022 with no advanced notice. Current redirect owners will not be carried forward in the new tool.
The list you see on tools.stanford.edu shows both redirect and proxy virtual hosting types. The list in the conversion tool will only display the redirect URLs to which you have access through your Stanford workgroup memberships.
There are two types of virtual hosts offered within University IT’s virtual host service: redirect and proxy.
See the Virtual Host Details page for more information about virtual host types.
This effort to move all virtual host redirects from Stanford’s Andrew File System (AFS) to a cloud platform is part of University IT's Web Content Management Program.
AFS is minimally supported and hosts a number of web spaces created by individuals and other organizations in unsupported, outdated and vulnerable versions of web tools. In addition to inherent security issues, the decades-old system is costly to maintain and support, lacks modern usability features, and is impacted by delayed open source fix releases.
In 2017, the university president, provost, and board of trustees gave the directive to the Stanford CIO to address the growing concerns around the security, privacy, and stability of AFS. To date, UIT has focused on advancing the Web Content Management Program — a multi-year initiative to provide modern, secure, and managed cloud-based web alternatives, and reduce the overall footprint of AFS.
When you log into the Virtual Hosts Data Conversion tool with your SUNet ID, the tool will only display the virtual host redirects that you can manage.
If you are unsure which workgroup to select for a redirect that does not already show an owning workgroup, contact your local IT support for assistance or submit a Help request.