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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.

 

Scheduled Maintenance: KAUST Portal (SAP) and Windows 11

08 July, 2026

KAUST Community,

The following maintenance activities are planned to keep KAUST IT’s services reliable, secure, and performing well. Please review the schedule and expected impacts below.

ActivityDetails
KAUST Portal Services (SAP Maintenance)

When

Sunday, 12 July 2026, 1:00 AM – 5:00 AM

Impact

SAP services may be unavailable during this window.

Action Required

For more about the affected services, please refer to the related maintenance notice.

Windows 11 Feature Update

When

Thursday, 9 July 2026 – Thursday, 30 July 2026

Impact

KAUST-managed Windows devices running an older supported version of Windows 11 will be upgraded to the latest supported release. The upgrade is deployed automatically in phases, so not everyone will receive it at the same time. Your applications, files, and settings will remain unchanged.

Action Required

Once the upgrade has installed, you will be prompted to restart your computer. You may restart immediately or postpone until a convenient time. Please save your work regularly and leave your computer powered on and connected to the KAUST network where possible.

Learn more about supported operating systems at KAUST.

Need help?

Contact the IT Service Desk at 910 or 012-808-0910, seven days a week from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Walk-in support is available Sunday to Thursday during business hours.

You can also log a ticket using our virtual assistant, VITA, at vita.kaust.edu.sa.

We appreciate your understanding as we continue improving KAUST IT’s services.

KAUST IT
it.kaust.edu.sa