Major Content Refresh & New Scheduling System Release

DASWebs Inc. (Operate & Maintain Focused) Environment Refresh

The DASWebs Inc. environment is the oldest of our environments. It is the environment most Operate & Maintain challenges occur in and has served admirably for the past eight years. However, we consider the NICE Challenges to be living content, which should be updated and improved over time to stay within the bounds of realism. While we believe we have accomplished this thus far, the challenges in the DASWebs Inc. environment are starting to be held back by their aging environment.

Thus, during the first week of January 2022, we will be releasing a refreshed and updated DASWebs Inc. environment! The refreshed environment has had all its operating systems upgraded to newer versions, new services and software installed (e.g., OpenMediaVault, osTicket, MediaWiki, Docker, etc.), and a fresh coat of paint applied to the DASWebs business website. Please find below a preview of the refreshed network map.

Challenge Conversions & Updates

The NICE Challenges and environments are closely linked. Due to this, when we do a major environment refresh, we must convert every challenge linked to that environment (80 challenges in this case) to work in the new environment. Depending on the changes to the environment and the nature of the challenge, the conversion process can lead to challenges receiving minor alterations to significant reworks. We also updated some challenges to improve their functionality, reliability, and user experience during the challenge conversion process.

New Scheduling System Release Date

We will be releasing the new scheduling system alongside the initial new content release during the first week of January 2022. Look at our previous newsletter for more information on the new scheduling system.

Maintenance Window for These Major Releases

To safely test and release the new DASWebs Inc. environment, most of the converted and updated challenges, and the new scheduling system, we will need to take the NICE Challenge Webportal and Infrastructure into maintenance mode for the duration of January 3rd, 2022, to January 7th, 2022. During this time window, you will be unable to use on-demand workspaces, deploy challenges, or schedule reservations for workspaces within the affected week. Additionally, the NICE Challenge Webportal might become unavailable for brief periods during these five days.

We always attempt to be as minimally disruptive to our users as possible. We have identified this time window to be the least disruptive to our users based on historical trends. If this planned maintenance window is critically disruptive to your class, please contact us through the NICE Challenge HelpDesk as soon as possible.

-- Last Updated February 17th, 2022
-- Originally Published December 2021

If you wish to use the NICE Challenges and don't yet have a Curator account on our Webportal (currently limited to faculty/staff at U.S. educational institutions), use the link below to access our website and fill out the sign-up form to get started. We are always looking for feedback on our work!

As always, thank you for your interest! All of us in the NICE Challenge Development Team look forward to working with you to make the best platform, environments, and challenges to enable the cybersecurity workforce of the future.

NICE Challenge Project Links...

NICE Challenge Project Website - https://nice-challenge.com
NICE Challenge Webportal - https://portal.nice-challenge.com
NICE Challenge Helpdesk - https://nicechallenge.freshdesk.com