[Eril-l] Proxy Errors

Mon Oct 23 13:48:04 PDT 2017

This is in response to Tina’s post.

Innovative does have a way to avoid having to purchase separate security
certificates for separate library resources. They have something called the
“wam_sslhost_replace” option that works with a wildcard security
certificate and takes care of all of the sites that have moved to https. We
have implemented this option, and we are not getting security warning
errors all the time anymore. The errors we are getting are more like
"unable to connect to proxy server” or “cannot connect to downstream
server” or similar.

Pat

Patricia Dover

Electronic Resources Librarian

Collections Management

Jessie Ball duPont Library

The University of the South

178 Georgia Ave.

Sewanee, TN 37383

931.598.1657

prdover at sewanee.edu

*From:* Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] *On Behalf Of *Tina
Adams
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 1:25 PM
*To:* Mitchell, Rachel <rmitchell at MHU.EDU>; Leslie Burke <
Leslie.Burke at kzoo.edu>; Beth M. Johns <bmjohns at SVSU.edu>; Jordan Ruud <
Jordan.Ruud at uafs.edu>; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
*Subject:* Re: [Eril-l] Proxy Errors

I am not sure if this is at all related, but we were once using WAM and one
of the reasons we moved from it to EZ Proxy was that we started getting
security exceptions all the time, even on campus and having instability
issues. As more and more library resources moved to an https:// secure
site, security certificates were required. For proxy servers like WAM that
do not generate prefixed proxy URLs, neither Wildcard nor SAN certificates
will work. With WAM, each electronic resource requires a separate
certificate. You may need to request these certificates from your IT
department or Systems Librarian. With EZ Proxy one Wildcard Certificate is
able to be purchased to apply to multiple domains, so it is far less
expensive and much easier. I’m no expert on how to obtain or implement
them, I just know that’s what worked for us but if you need to keep using
WAM you may need to purchase separate certificates for separate library
resources to maintain secure connections and allow continued access.

Best,

Tina

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tina M. Adams

Electronic Resources Librarian, Assistant Professor

tmadams at wcu.edu

828-227-3728

Hunter Library, Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC 28723

*From:* Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org
<eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>] *On Behalf Of *Mitchell, Rachel
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 10:17 AM
*To:* Leslie Burke <Leslie.Burke at kzoo.edu>; Beth M. Johns <bmjohns at SVSU.edu>;
Jordan Ruud <Jordan.Ruud at uafs.edu>; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
*Subject:* Re: [Eril-l] Proxy Errors

It did coincide with a lot of vendors moving to https. However, it seems to
be impacting vendors that have not transitioned to https too. Maybe if we
all complain enough to iii they will open a ticket?

Thanks for your input.

Rachel
------------------------------

*From:* Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> on behalf of Leslie Burke <
Leslie.Burke at kzoo.edu>
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 9:57 AM
*To:* Beth M. Johns; Jordan Ruud; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
*Subject:* Re: [Eril-l] Proxy Errors

Ditto!

Leslie D. Burke

Collection Development & Digital Integration Librarian, Library

Kalamazoo College

1200 Academy St

Kalamazoo, MI 49006

p 269.337.7144

f 269.337.7395

Leslie.Burke at kzoo.edu

*More in Four. More in a Lifetime.*

*No one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something – What’s
your Green Dot?*

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leslieburke/

Twitter: librarygal2go; K’s Library on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/kalamazoocollegelibrary

*From:* Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org
<eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>] *On Behalf Of *Beth M. Johns
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 9:42 AM
*To:* Jordan Ruud <Jordan.Ruud at uafs.edu>; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
*Subject:* Re: [Eril-l] Proxy Errors

Add "me too."  We have also noticed an uptick in proxy errors with WAM as
our proxy.

I attributed it to network instability -- often it seems to correct itself
after a few minutes. But maybe not. It seemed to coincide with all of the
vendors moving to https.

Beth M. Johns, MLIS

E-Resources Librarian

Saginaw Valley State University

Melvin J. Zahnow Library

------------------------------

*From:* Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> on behalf of Jordan Ruud <
Jordan.Ruud at uafs.edu>
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 9:39 AM
*To:* eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
*Subject:* Re: [Eril-l] Proxy Errors

I’ve been noticing the same thing with III’s WAM proxy recently (add EBSCO
to the list). It’s inconsistent, which makes it difficult to diagnose the
problem. I don’t have a solution aside from clearing the cache, but just
wanted to chime in as another data point.

Jordan Ruud

Public Services Librarian, University of Arkansas – Fort Smith

jordan.ruud at uafs.edu

(479) 788-7208

*From:* Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org
<eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>] *On Behalf Of *Mitchell, Rachel
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 8:34 AM
*To:* eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
*Subject:* [Eril-l] Proxy Errors

Hi All,

Although I have been reading the list for some time now, this is my first
post. My library has been getting a number of "proxy errors" when trying to
access some of our resources. This is primarily happening when users are
on-campus. It happens more in IE and Chrome but sometimes in Firefox too.
It happens inconsistently making it hard to recreate when trying to get our
IT department involved. This has happened with Gale, JSTOR, and ProQuest to
name a few. A majority of the time, switching browsers fixes the problem
and clearing the cache in the offending browser and then trying again also
seems to resolve it. It's like the browser is hanging on to cookies and
after x number of loads it results in an error. I can go into a Gale
product in the morning and work in it multiple times with no issues.
However going into the same resource in the afternoon results in an error
message, but when I try the same resource in a different browser I have no
trouble accessing it. Does anyone have any ideas about what this could be?
It seems to be a relatively new phenomenon. It started this summer.

On a side note, I asked another library if they had any ideas of what
the problem could be and they responded they had
also been experiencing similar problems. We both use iii WAM proxy. I'm not
sure if it is related at all.

Feel free to contact me off-list with insights/comments.

Many thanks,

Rachel Mitchell

Mars Hill University - Renfro Library

Reference and Electronic Resources Librarian

828-689-1443
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