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.
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
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 SwitchesPlanned 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.
27 September, 2026
IT Maintenance Notice: IT Website MaintenanceThe 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.
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.
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:
All past IT service alerts are listed below, including scheduled maintenance notices, unplanned outages, and service restoration updates.
15 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. Most require no action.
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| KAUST Maps (ArcGIS) | When Thursday, 16 July 2026, 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM Impact KAUST Maps and any services that rely on it may be unavailable for viewing during this window. Action Required No action is required. Access will return automatically once maintenance is complete. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KAUST IT Chatbot | When Friday, 17 July 2026, 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM Impact The KAUST IT Chatbot will be unavailable during this window while maintenance is performed. Action Required No action is required. If you need assistance during this time, contact the IT Service Desk at 910 or 012-808-0910, available 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, seven days a week. You can also log a ticket at servicedesk.kaust.edu.sa (KAUST network or VPN required). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KAUST Portal Services (SAP Maintenance) | When Sunday, 19 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Application License Server Patching | When Thursday, 23 July 2026, 8:00 PM – Friday, 24 July 2026, 6:00 AM Impact Licensed applications that rely on the Application License Server will not be accessible during the maintenance window. Action Required Save your work and close any affected licensed applications before 8:00 PM. Do not open or launch these applications during the maintenance window. If you are planning time-sensitive work, save your progress early and avoid launching licensed tools during this window. Affected Applications
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| Windows Server Security Updates (July 2026) | When Thursday, 23 July 2026, 8:00 PM – Friday, 24 July 2026, 6:00 AM Impact Microsoft’s July 2026 security updates will be applied to KAUST’s Windows servers. Some services hosted on these servers may be briefly unavailable or may restart while the updates are installed. Action Required No action is required. Save your work ahead of the maintenance window in case of brief service interruptions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Windows 11 Feature Update | When Ongoing, rolled out in phases. Impact KAUST-managed Windows devices running an older supported version of Windows 11 are being upgraded to the latest supported release. The upgrade is deployed automatically in batches, so not everyone will receive it at the same time. Your applications, files, and settings will remain unchanged. Action Required When your device prompts you that an update is ready, you can restart right away or postpone and complete it whenever it suits you. Please save your work regularly and keep 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 the KAUST IT Chatbot at vita.kaust.edu.sa.
We appreciate your understanding as we continue improving KAUST IT’s services.
KAUST IT
it.kaust.edu.sa
