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IT Alerts

This page lists all official IT service alerts shared with the KAUST community. Alerts are also delivered directly to your KAUST email.

Standard Weekly Maintenance Window

Thursday at 5:00 PM to Saturday at 8:00 PM. During this window, some services may experience temporary slowdowns, intermittent issues, or brief outages while essential maintenance is performed.

Vendor-Scheduled Maintenance

Some KAUST systems hosted on the KAUST Portal (portal.kaust.edu.sa) are maintained directly by our cloud vendor. These activities are scheduled quarterly and are independent of KAUST IT's regular maintenance windows. They may temporarily affect the availability or performance of several online services.

View Planned Vendor Maintenance

 

Recent Alerts

The most recent IT service alerts are shown below. For the full history, see the archive further down this page.

 

30 September, 2026

Scheduled Maintenance: KAUST Sign-In Services, IT Website, and Network Switches

Planned IT maintenance includes a 30-minute KAUST sign-in maintenance window, IT Website maintenance, and ongoing network switch upgrades. Review the schedule and any action you may need to take.

Read more

27 September, 2026

IT Maintenance Notice: IT Website Maintenance

The KAUST IT Website will undergo maintenance on Tuesday, 6 October, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. No downtime is expected, but the website may be slower than usual during this time.

Read more

 

About IT Alerts and the Change Advisory Board

The Change Advisory Board (CAB) is a cross-functional group within KAUST IT that reviews and approves proposed IT changes to maintain service reliability and reduce risk. The CAB Chair is appointed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

For urgent or high-impact situations, the Emergency Change Advisory Board (ECAB) may be activated to ensure timely decisions while protecting service stability.

Learn more about the CAB

When Are Alerts Issued?

All IT changes are reviewed under the Change Management process. When communication is needed, an IT Alert is published and shared with the KAUST community. This includes:

  • Scheduled or planned service changes
  • Changes affecting specific groups or areas (such as faculty, students, or building residents)
  • Unplanned outages or urgent service issues

 

Alerts Archive

All past IT service alerts are listed below, including scheduled maintenance notices, unplanned outages, and service restoration updates.

 

IT Alert - Microsoft Advisory: Outlook for Mac (Legacy) Reply and Forward Issue

19 June, 2026

KAUST Community,
Microsoft has acknowledged an issue affecting some installations of Outlook for Mac.
When replying to or forwarding an email, the original message may not appear below your response as expected. This can make it difficult to see the conversation history and context of the email.

Am I affected?

This issue affects some people using Legacy Outlook (the older Outlook experience) on Mac.
If you see a “New Outlook” switch in the top-right corner of Outlook and it is turned off, you are using Legacy Outlook and may be affected by this issue.
How to check whether you are using Legacy Outlook or New Outlook on Mac

What can I do?

Until Microsoft releases a fix, you can use one of the following options:
Option 1: Switch to New Outlook
Open Outlook, turn on the “New Outlook” switch, and restart Outlook if prompted.
Option 2: Use Outlook on the Web
Access your email through a web browser and continue working normally.
Option 3: Reinstall Microsoft 365 using Self Service+
Open Self Service+, find Microsoft 365, reinstall it, and restart your Mac when the installation is complete.
Self Service+ screen showing Microsoft 365 reinstall option

Optional: Pause Outlook updates

If you are using Legacy Outlook and would prefer not to install future Outlook updates until Microsoft releases a fix:
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Select Help > Check for Updates.
  3. Clear the checkbox labeled Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date.
Microsoft is actively investigating the issue and working on a resolution.
If you need assistance, please contact the IT Service Desk.