All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:
An issue was discovered this morning with Business Objects (BO). BO applications were found to be unstable due to BO servers having not been rebooted since Thursday, December 21, 2023. Multiple Counties contacted the IBM Boulder Help Desk this morning stating that reports were suspended.
The BO team rebooted the BO servers at 8:30 this morning. Counties were able to log in to BO and create reports after the reboot.
BO applications are now stabilizing. Reports should process completely overnight.
The BO team is aware of the BO issues and is working on an upgrade to rectify the issue.
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports today and tomorrow morning. Rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
CWS/CMS
CWS/CMS Infected and Unsupported File Extension File Cleanup – UPDATE
CWS Directors, SPOCs and Technical Contacts in Affected Counties:
December 26, 2023 UPDATE: The California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the CWDS Project and IBM have decided that the safest option is to quarantine the identified infected and unsupported files in CWS/CMS. The files will not be deleted from CWS/CMS, but users will be prevented from opening the affected documents. The affected documents will be saved to a quarantined area of CWS/CMS on Saturday, January 6, 2024. If a CWS/CMS user attempts to open one of the quarantined documents, they will receive the following error message:
Please note that this DRMS 00122 error message is informational only and that the user will be able to continue to work in the CWS/CMS application after receiving the error message.
The CWDS Project and IBM are still looking to receive responses from the CWS Directors indicating their permission to permanently delete these files. Please contact CWDS Customer Relations (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov) by January 31, 2024, with your decision on whether to have IBM delete the files in a batch file deletion process.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
December 18, 2023 UPDATE: In the attached letter the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has provided updated guidance to Counties impacted by the CWS/CMS infected and unsupported file cleanup effort.
Please contact CWDS Customer Relations (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov) with any questions related to this guidance.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
As part of planning for CWS-CARES V1, the CARES Data Conversion team has been performing incremental conversion from CWS/CMS data and documents into CWS-CARES. After the documents are extracted from CWS/CMS, they are scanned to ensure that no viruses are introduced into the CARES environment. During this process, it was discovered that, out of 73 million documents that are stored in the CWS/CMS database, approximately 2,400 documents are infected with a virus or malware. Of these 2,400 documents, 95% were last updated in 2001 or before.
Further, there are an additional 2,600 files that have an unsupported file extension.
Due to security concerns, these documents and files cannot be moved into the CWS-CARES application.
Please NOTE: These infected documents are stored in binary large object (BLOB) format on the mainframe in the Db2 database. As a result, these documents do not affect CWS/CMS data on the mainframe. However, if the document is opened, the virus can infect the user’s personal computer. Please ensure that you have a current antivirus operating on your workstation.
If you are receiving this communication, it means that your county is impacted by this issue.
For each affected County, we will send a report listing the infected files and unsupported file extension files, with additional details pertaining to that County. The reports will be sent to affected counties after the Kick-off meetings.
Please provide a point of contact including IT Support and Security Officer as appropriate and their information (Name, Email, Role, etc.) for the person that should receive your County’s report no later than 11/8/23. The report will be sent via encrypted email to that person.
Please use this form to provide the point(s) of contact: CWS/CMS Infected Documents/Unsupported File Extension - Contacts
Once Customer Relations receives the point of contact person’s information, they will be invited to the Kick-off meetings scheduled for 11/14/23 and 11/16/23. The intent of those meetings will be to review the next steps.
Action Required
Please provide a point of contact and their information (Name, Email, etc.), using the link above, for the person that should receive your County’s report no later than 11/8/23.
December 26, 2023 UPDATE: The California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the CWDS Project and IBM have decided that the safest option is to quarantine the identified infected and unsupported files in CWS/CMS. The files will not be deleted from CWS/CMS, but users will be prevented from opening the affected documents. The affected documents will be saved to a quarantined area of CWS/CMS on Saturday, January 6, 2024. If a CWS/CMS user attempts to open one of the quarantined documents, they will receive the following error message:
Please note that this DRMS 00122 error message is informational only and that the user will be able to continue to work in the CWS/CMS application after receiving the error message.
The CWDS Project and IBM are still looking to receive responses from the CWS Directors indicating their permission to permanently delete these files. Please contact CWDS Customer Relations (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov) by January 31, 2024, with your decision on whether to have IBM delete the files in a batch file deletion process.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
December 18, 2023 UPDATE: In the attached letter the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has provided updated guidance to Counties impacted by the CWS/CMS infected and unsupported file cleanup effort.
Please contact CWDS Customer Relations (CWS_CustRel@otsi.ca.gov) with any questions related to this guidance.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
As part of planning for CWS-CARES V1, the CARES Data Conversion team has been performing incremental conversion from CWS/CMS data and documents into CWS-CARES. After the documents are extracted from CWS/CMS, they are scanned to ensure that no viruses are introduced into the CARES environment. During this process, it was discovered that, out of 73 million documents that are stored in the CWS/CMS database, approximately 2,400 documents are infected with a virus or malware. Of these 2,400 documents, 95% were last updated in 2001 or before.
Further, there are an additional 2,600 files that have an unsupported file extension.
Due to security concerns, these documents and files cannot be moved into the CWS-CARES application.
Please NOTE: These infected documents are stored in binary large object (BLOB) format on the mainframe in the Db2 database. As a result, these documents do not affect CWS/CMS data on the mainframe. However, if the document is opened, the virus can infect the user’s personal computer. Please ensure that you have a current antivirus operating on your workstation.
If you are receiving this communication, it means that your county is impacted by this issue.
For each affected County, we will send a report listing the infected files and unsupported file extension files, with additional details pertaining to that County. The reports will be sent to affected counties after the Kick-off meetings.
Please provide a point of contact including IT Support and Security Officer as appropriate and their information (Name, Email, Role, etc.) for the person that should receive your County’s report no later than 11/8/23. The report will be sent via encrypted email to that person.
Please use this form to provide the point(s) of contact: CWS/CMS Infected Documents/Unsupported File Extension - Contacts
Once Customer Relations receives the point of contact person’s information, they will be invited to the Kick-off meetings scheduled for 11/14/23 and 11/16/23. The intent of those meetings will be to review the next steps.
Action Required
Please provide a point of contact and their information (Name, Email, etc.), using the link above, for the person that should receive your County’s report no later than 11/8/23.
CWS/CMS C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing Registration - FINAL REMINDER
All Co-Existent County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
December 20, 2023 UPDATE: This is a reminder, if you have not done so already, to please complete and submit the two following forms regarding the C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing no later than 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023:
________________________________________________________________________
The CWS/CMS application is required to migrate from the existing Visual Basic 6 (VB6) code, which is no longer supported by Microsoft, to the C Sharp (C#) code. For this effort, the CWDS Office and IBM are conducting ongoing testing of the C# code for CWS/CMS in multiple environments.
The upcoming county test activity will test the C# code against images used by Co-Existent Counties. Participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous County Test Workshops (CTWs) that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers.
Testing will begin on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will complete on Friday, March 1, 2024. The testing will occur within the County, isolated from the production CWS/CMS environment. For example, the test workstations could be used within a training room or set up temporarily in a conference room. The County’s IT support and Technical Contacts will need to work with the CWDS Infrastructure team to coordinate network and firewall configurations to be used during this phase of the testing.
Also, one additional workstation (not used by County testers) will need to be set up within the environment to allow IBM developers to recreate and test code changes. The County will need to provide remote access to this one workstation. Instructions on how to provide this access will be provided when Counties register to participate in this phase of testing.
A separate communication that will be sent on November 30, 2023, will explain the process that IBM will use to gather/identify the County’s image/software used on the CWS/CMS workstations. This will assist the IBM developers and testers when testing against the County’s specific CWS/CMS image.
Prerequisites for workstations participating in C# testing:
Test workstations (for both the County testers and the “IBM test workstation”) need:
Counties will also need to identify the testers who will participate in this activity. This is required so that IDs can be created for each of the testing participants. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to identify each C# tester for this phase of the testing. The deadline to submit the participation form is 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Action Required
Complete and submit your form (https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7) for Co-Existent County image C# testing by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Complete and submit the form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to list the testing participants by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Send any questions that you have regarding this activity to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox.
December 20, 2023 UPDATE: This is a reminder, if you have not done so already, to please complete and submit the two following forms regarding the C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing no later than 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023:
- Co-Existent County image C# testing confirmation form: https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7
- C# testing participants list form: https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6
________________________________________________________________________
The CWS/CMS application is required to migrate from the existing Visual Basic 6 (VB6) code, which is no longer supported by Microsoft, to the C Sharp (C#) code. For this effort, the CWDS Office and IBM are conducting ongoing testing of the C# code for CWS/CMS in multiple environments.
The upcoming county test activity will test the C# code against images used by Co-Existent Counties. Participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous County Test Workshops (CTWs) that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers.
Testing will begin on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will complete on Friday, March 1, 2024. The testing will occur within the County, isolated from the production CWS/CMS environment. For example, the test workstations could be used within a training room or set up temporarily in a conference room. The County’s IT support and Technical Contacts will need to work with the CWDS Infrastructure team to coordinate network and firewall configurations to be used during this phase of the testing.
Also, one additional workstation (not used by County testers) will need to be set up within the environment to allow IBM developers to recreate and test code changes. The County will need to provide remote access to this one workstation. Instructions on how to provide this access will be provided when Counties register to participate in this phase of testing.
A separate communication that will be sent on November 30, 2023, will explain the process that IBM will use to gather/identify the County’s image/software used on the CWS/CMS workstations. This will assist the IBM developers and testers when testing against the County’s specific CWS/CMS image.
Prerequisites for workstations participating in C# testing:
Test workstations (for both the County testers and the “IBM test workstation”) need:
- To be at the supported level for Windows;
- To have .NetFramework 3.5 and .NetFramework 4.8 installed;
- To have at least 8GBs of ram memory;
- To meet all the requirements found within the CWS/CMS Workstation COTS Install Options guide.
Counties will also need to identify the testers who will participate in this activity. This is required so that IDs can be created for each of the testing participants. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to identify each C# tester for this phase of the testing. The deadline to submit the participation form is 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Action Required
Complete and submit your form (https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7) for Co-Existent County image C# testing by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Complete and submit the form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to list the testing participants by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Send any questions that you have regarding this activity to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox.
CWS/CMS: Education Provider Information from the California Department of Education (CDE)
What is Impacted: CWS/CMS Application
On Friday, December 22, 2023, from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM the CDE Interface will run to update Education Provider information for public schools, private schools, and school districts in the CWS/CMS application. This update applies to CDE school information only. School information manually created by a CWS/CMS user will not be affected. During this time, users may be unable to perform Education Provider searches in the CWS/CMS application.
Due to differences in data and formatting between CDE and the CWS/CMS application, some otherwise valid Education Providers may be end-dated. If this occurs, please refer to the Work Around section below. A list of all end-dated Education Providers will be sent to the SPOCs via email as soon as they become available.
Additional Notes
Code Table Refresh is not required.
Work Around
If an existing CDE Education Provider has been end-dated because of this process, users will need to conduct a search for the current Education Provider and create a new Education Notebook for the client.
Contact
CWDS Customer Relations
CWS/CMS: Business Objects Server Rebooted
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:
Some scheduled Business Objects (BO) reports did not run over the weekend. Therefore, BO scheduling services were restarted at 8:00 AM.
Please check your scheduled jobs to confirm that they have completed successfully during the course of the day.
CWDS Office and IBM are continuing to monitor the BO systems and services for any anomalies.
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports and rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
Some scheduled Business Objects (BO) reports did not run over the weekend. Therefore, BO scheduling services were restarted at 8:00 AM.
Please check your scheduled jobs to confirm that they have completed successfully during the course of the day.
CWDS Office and IBM are continuing to monitor the BO systems and services for any anomalies.
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports and rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
CWS/CMS C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing Registration - REMINDER
All Co-Existent County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
December 7, 2023 UPDATE: This is a reminder, if you have not done so already, to please complete and submit the two following forms regarding the C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing no later than 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023:
The upcoming county test activity will test the C# code against images used by Co-Existent Counties. Participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous County Test Workshops (CTWs) that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers.
Testing will begin on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will complete on Friday, March 1, 2024. The testing will occur within the County, isolated from the production CWS/CMS environment. For example, the test workstations could be used within a training room or set up temporarily in a conference room. The County’s IT support and Technical Contacts will need to work with the CWDS Infrastructure team to coordinate network and firewall configurations to be used during this phase of the testing.
Also, one additional workstation (not used by County testers) will need to be set up within the environment to allow IBM developers to recreate and test code changes. The County will need to provide the remote access to this one workstation. Instructions on how to provide this access will be provided when Counties register to participate in this phase of testing.
A separate communication that will be sent on November 30, 2023, will explain the process that IBM will use to gather/identify the County’s image/software used on the CWS/CMS workstations. This will assist the IBM developers and testers when testing against the County’s specific CWS/CMS image.
Prerequisites for workstations participating in C# testing:
Test workstations (for both the County testers and the “IBM test workstation”) need:
Counties will also need to identify the testers who will participate in this activity. This is required so that IDs can be created for each of the testing participants. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to identify each C# tester for this phase of the testing. The deadline to submit the participation form is 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Action Required
Complete and submit your form (https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7) for Co-Existent County image C# testing by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Complete and submit the form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to list the testing participants by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Send any questions that you have regarding this activity to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox.
December 7, 2023 UPDATE: This is a reminder, if you have not done so already, to please complete and submit the two following forms regarding the C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing no later than 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023:
- Co-Existent County image C# testing confirmation form: https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7
- C# testing participants list form: https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6 _______________________________________________________________
The upcoming county test activity will test the C# code against images used by Co-Existent Counties. Participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous County Test Workshops (CTWs) that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers.
Testing will begin on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will complete on Friday, March 1, 2024. The testing will occur within the County, isolated from the production CWS/CMS environment. For example, the test workstations could be used within a training room or set up temporarily in a conference room. The County’s IT support and Technical Contacts will need to work with the CWDS Infrastructure team to coordinate network and firewall configurations to be used during this phase of the testing.
Also, one additional workstation (not used by County testers) will need to be set up within the environment to allow IBM developers to recreate and test code changes. The County will need to provide the remote access to this one workstation. Instructions on how to provide this access will be provided when Counties register to participate in this phase of testing.
A separate communication that will be sent on November 30, 2023, will explain the process that IBM will use to gather/identify the County’s image/software used on the CWS/CMS workstations. This will assist the IBM developers and testers when testing against the County’s specific CWS/CMS image.
Prerequisites for workstations participating in C# testing:
Test workstations (for both the County testers and the “IBM test workstation”) need:
- To be at the supported level for Windows;
- To have .NetFramework 3.5 and .NetFramework 4.8 installed;
- To have at least 8GBs of ram memory;
- To meet all the requirements found within the CWS/CMS Workstation COTS Install Options guide.
Counties will also need to identify the testers who will participate in this activity. This is required so that IDs can be created for each of the testing participants. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to identify each C# tester for this phase of the testing. The deadline to submit the participation form is 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Action Required
Complete and submit your form (https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7) for Co-Existent County image C# testing by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Complete and submit the form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to list the testing participants by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Send any questions that you have regarding this activity to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox.
CWS/CMS: California Department of Technology Service Desk Bulletin - SAFE Cloud Service Scheduled Maintenance
ALL SPOCs, Technical Contacts and CAD Contacts:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, December 17, 2023, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance of the SAFE Cloud service. The maintenance begins on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at 8:00 PM and concludes on Sunday, December 17, 2023, at 2:00 AM. The activity will cause interruptions in the SAFE Cloud service. Some Business Objects (BO) reports will fail to send, or automated scripts may fail to retrieve from SAFE during this scheduled maintenance.
Action Required
All users should logoff of the SAFE Cloud service prior to the start of the stated maintenance timeframe. Please check on your scheduled BO SAFE reports and automated FTP scripts. If needed, re-run the reports and scripts.
Contact the IBM Help Desk (800-428-8268) to report any issues with your Business Objects content in SAFE.
CWS/CMS: California Department of Technology Service Desk Bulletin – SBCS Infrastructure Servers Security Patching
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and SBC Administrators:
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, December 30, 2023, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will apply Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance; however, CDT is asking that everyone log off from the Citrix SBC system, if not actively using it during the maintenance window.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has scheduled maintenance on Saturday, December 30, 2023, beginning at 6:00 AM and concluding at 10:00 AM. During the maintenance window, CDT will apply Standard Monthly OS Security Patches to SBCS Infrastructure Servers. There is no anticipated outage for this maintenance; however, CDT is asking that everyone log off from the Citrix SBC system, if not actively using it during the maintenance window.
Action Required
If users experience any issues with CWS/CMS, please follow your county process for reporting issues or you may contact the IBM Boulder Help Desk at 1-800-428-8268.
CWS/CMS: Business Objects Server Rebooted
All SPOCs, Technical Contacts, and CAD Contacts:
An issue was discovered this past weekend with Business Objects (BO) reports scheduling services. BO scheduling services were restarted at 9:00 AM. Please check your scheduled jobs to confirm that they have completed successfully. The CWDS Office and IBM are reviewing the issue with the California Department of Technology (CDT).
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports and rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
An issue was discovered this past weekend with Business Objects (BO) reports scheduling services. BO scheduling services were restarted at 9:00 AM. Please check your scheduled jobs to confirm that they have completed successfully. The CWDS Office and IBM are reviewing the issue with the California Department of Technology (CDT).
Action Required
Review scheduled BO reports and rerun the report jobs, as necessary.
CWS/CMS C Sharp (C#) Co-Existent In-County Image Testing Registration
All Co-Existent County SPOCs and Technical Contacts:
The CWS/CMS application is required to migrate from the existing Visual Basic 6 (VB6) code, which is no longer supported by Microsoft, to the C Sharp (C#) code. For this effort the CWDS Office and IBM are conducting ongoing testing of the C# code for CWS/CMS in multiple environments.
The upcoming county test activity will test the C# code against images used by Co-Existent Counties. Participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous County Test Workshops (CTWs) that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers.
Testing will begin on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will complete on Friday, March 1, 2024. The testing will occur within the County, isolated from the production CWS/CMS environment. For example, the test workstations could be used within a training room or set up temporarily in a conference room. The County’s IT support and Technical Contacts will need to work with the CWDS Infrastructure team to coordinate network and firewall configurations to be used during this phase of the testing.
Also, one additional workstation (not used by County testers) will need to be set up within the environment to allow IBM developers to recreate and test code changes. The County will need to provide the remote access to this one workstation. Instructions on how to provide this access will be provided when Counties register to participate in this phase of testing.
A separate communication that will be sent on November 30, 2023, will explain the process that IBM will use to gather/identify the County’s image/software used on the CWS/CMS workstations. This will assist the IBM developers and testers when testing against the County’s specific CWS/CMS image.
Prerequisites for workstations participating in C# testing:
Test workstations (for both the County testers and the “IBM test workstation”) need:
Counties will also need to identify the testers who will participate in this activity. This is required so that IDs can be created for each of the testing participants. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to identify each C# tester for this phase of the testing. The deadline to submit the participation form is 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Action Required
Complete and submit your form (https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7) for Co-Existent County image C# testing by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Complete and submit the form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to list the testing participants by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Send any questions that you have regarding this activity to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox.
The CWS/CMS application is required to migrate from the existing Visual Basic 6 (VB6) code, which is no longer supported by Microsoft, to the C Sharp (C#) code. For this effort the CWDS Office and IBM are conducting ongoing testing of the C# code for CWS/CMS in multiple environments.
The upcoming county test activity will test the C# code against images used by Co-Existent Counties. Participating testers will receive both broadly defined scenarios to test various areas of the CWS/CMS application along with a list of Incidents that have been identified in previous County Test Workshops (CTWs) that require retesting. In addition, testers will be asked to perform volume, robust testing of the C# code to see if it can handle various activities to support the way daily child welfare activities are performed by social workers.
Testing will begin on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will complete on Friday, March 1, 2024. The testing will occur within the County, isolated from the production CWS/CMS environment. For example, the test workstations could be used within a training room or set up temporarily in a conference room. The County’s IT support and Technical Contacts will need to work with the CWDS Infrastructure team to coordinate network and firewall configurations to be used during this phase of the testing.
Also, one additional workstation (not used by County testers) will need to be set up within the environment to allow IBM developers to recreate and test code changes. The County will need to provide the remote access to this one workstation. Instructions on how to provide this access will be provided when Counties register to participate in this phase of testing.
A separate communication that will be sent on November 30, 2023, will explain the process that IBM will use to gather/identify the County’s image/software used on the CWS/CMS workstations. This will assist the IBM developers and testers when testing against the County’s specific CWS/CMS image.
Prerequisites for workstations participating in C# testing:
Test workstations (for both the County testers and the “IBM test workstation”) need:
- To be at the supported level for Windows;
- To have .NetFramework 3.5 and .NetFramework 4.8 installed;
- To have at least 8GBs of ram memory;
- To meet all the requirements found within the CWS/CMS Workstation COTS Install Options guide.
Counties will also need to identify the testers who will participate in this activity. This is required so that IDs can be created for each of the testing participants. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to identify each C# tester for this phase of the testing. The deadline to submit the participation form is 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Action Required
Complete and submit your form (https://forms.gle/WS71t4wxQdjEjMUZ7) for Co-Existent County image C# testing by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Complete and submit the form (https://forms.gle/uMBZgc1pgzHt86uQ6) to list the testing participants by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
Send any questions that you have regarding this activity to the CWDS Customer Relations mailbox.
If unable to find a specific Bulletin, please contact Communications.