AFS Website Upgrade Project

The University of Michigan is committed to making certain that all of the institution’s websites are safe, secure, and protected. To achieve this goal, the ITS AFS Website Upgrade Project team is working with AFS website owners to upgrade their websites that are hosted on the ITS Web Virtual Hosting Service to the current version of PHP and Content Management Systems (CMS), ensure all websites are using Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and migrate websites off of Cosign. While ITS maintains the infrastructure of websites, it is the responsibility of the website owner to make updates to their site.

Websites that had not discontinued use of Cosign or upgraded from PHP 5.6 by June 30, 2023, were taken offline. If your websites are still using an outdated version of WordPress or Drupal, or are still on HTTP, ITS strongly encourages you to make those upgrades now. 

AFS Unit Websites Dashboard

Website owners should regularly check and keep their website on the latest version of the software they install (for example, WordPress or Drupal). Website owners can check on the health of their website on the AFS Unit Websites Dashboard.

Project Communications

The project team will use a MCommunity Group and unit leadership email IDs that are associated with the website to inform units when upgrades are needed to their website. The MCommunity Group should contain more than one person that is responsible to maintain and upgrade websites when needed. The MCommunity Group associated with a website can be found by looking up the website on the AFS Unit Website Dashboard. If the MCommunity Group that is associated with a website is incorrect, fill out the ITS WebHosting Upgrade Form and indicate the correct MCommunity Group that should be used for future communications.

What You May Have To Do

  • Upgrade your website's PHP
    ITS Web Hosting currently supports PHP 8.1 and PHP 7.3.
  • Upgrade your website's CMS
    Website owners that use WordPress or Drupal Content Management System (CMS) should ensure their websites are using the current supported version.
  • Migrate your website off of mod_auth_openoidc
    The ITS Web Hosting team recommends using OIDC for website authentication and to start this effort as soon as possible.

Decommissioning

If your AFS website is no longer being used and ready to be decommissioned, fill out the ITS WebHosting Upgrade Form and the ITS Web Hosting team will start the process.

Needed and Recommended Upgrades to U-M Websites

Latest Update: June 9, 2023

Migrate from HTTP to HTTPS ASAP

Requirement: Immediate Action Needed

Ensure all webpages are using HTTPS

Upgrade WordPress or Drupal to Current Version by 3/31/23

Requirement: Immediate Action Needed

Ensure all CMS are upgraded

Upgrade PHP 5.6 Sites by 6/30/23

Urgent Requirement

  • PHP 5.6
    • Decommission
    • Redirect
    • Upgrade to PHP 7 or PHP 8 (see next)

Migrate off Cosign by 6/30/23

Urgent Requirement

  • Does Website Use Cosign?
    • Yes
      • Migrate off Cosign to use OIDC
    • No
      • (See next)

Migrate to Wolverine Web Services (targeting 2023)

Action Recommended for Futureproofing

  • Does WWS Require PHP 8?
    • Yes
      • Upgrade to PHP8 or higher
      • Migrate to WWS
    • No
      • Migrate to WWS