StarRez Resident Mangement


StarRez

Summary

StarRez is a cloud hosted, resident management software package used by UCF Housing & Residence Life to manage all aspects of student housing on campus, such as room assignments, email and texting campaigns, invoicing, reporting, etc.

Business Owner

UCF Housing and Residence Life

Contact Information

Meredith Varner
Meredith.varner@ucf.edu
407.823.0048

Hardware

Virtual Machine
Net2504.net.ucf.edu
10.228.1.8
DSO Zone 4

PeopleSoft Processes

Website(s)
https://ucf.starrezhousing.com/StarRezWeb/
https://ucf.starrezhousing.com/StarRezWebDev/ (Sandbox Environment)

Vendor Information

StarRez
6100 Greenwood Plaza Blvd.
Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Sales/Tech Contact        
Megan McWade
mmcwade@starrez.com
303-996-6022

UCF Contact:     
Application Services
rich.baro@ucf.edu
407.823.5117

Software Version

10.9.51.36110 (Cloud Hosted)

Software Status

Active

Application Data

Compatibility

Compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10.
Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer (NOT in compatibility mode)

Other Information

Installation Instructions

Because StarRez is cloud hosted, there are no installation requirements for StarRez - just a link to a web client. However, resident data needs to be transferred to and from PeopleSoft, as well as Housing’s keycard systems. This information is shared via flat files that are transferred to and from Amazon’s AWS Cloud service and a Virtual Machine on campus. The flat files do contain sensitive information and the StarRez Gateway VM serves as a secure conduit to transfer that data to the target recipients. The following will explain the setup.


StarRez data needs to be exported for consumption by Peoplesoft and Housing’s keycard systems. Conversely, PeopleSoft data needs to be imported into StarRez for processing as well; PowerShell scripts are used for this purpose. It’s important to note that none of the sensitive data that passes through the StarRez Gateway stays there. Once processing is complete, the flat files and any archive data is removed. Log files will remain, but they do not contain sensitive data.  

IMPORTANT! All references in this documentation to imports and exports are done from the StarRez point of view. For example, the Application Export is exported from StarRez, not PeopleSoft. 

The graphic below will help explain the topography. Notice the endpoints. Due to security restrictions and processes, internal endpoints and Amazon do not negotiate with each other directly to pass the data they need. The StarRez Gateway (NET2504) was created for this purpose and lives in the DMZ. It is public facing so that Amazon S3 repository will be able to export/import to and from our network. The UCF endpoint VMs cannot be public facing as that would raise security concerns.

To successfully transfer files from StarRez to PeopleSoft and back, two different servers need to work together: NET2504.net.ucf.edu (the StarRez Gateway) and NET1957.net.ucf.edu (the Persona Offline Server). Both servers have unique and vital roles: 

The following will explain the setup of each server as it relates to StarRez file transfer. Let's start with the StarRez Gateway. 

StarRez Gateway Setup 

File Transfer Tool: 

StarRez imports and exports are transferred to the StarRez Gateway (NET2504) from StarRez (Amazon S3) by way of StarRez's File Transfer tool. This tool is installed locally on the Gateway and runs as a service to transfer flat files to and from StarRez using port 443. The service is titled StarRezFileTransferService and it runs at startup. The service account used is NET\svc_sdes_srftsa. Settings such as paths and run frequency are managed in an XML file located here:

\\net2504\Users\svc_sdes_srftsa\AppData\Roaming\StarRez Hosted Transfer Tool\Settings\SettingList.xml.  The paths in this xml file act as a ‘StarRez supplied trigger’.

Folder Structure: 

A folder has been created off the root named ‘StarRez’. Under C:\StarRez, there are folders corresponding to the import/export name. This is the source/destination for the File Transfer Tool. Also, in the StarRez folder, you will find the PowerShell scripts and the Admin.csv file which contains the email addresses of those who need to be notified should an interface encounter an error.  

The Interfaces: 

There are 11 interfaces or file transfers: 8 exports and 3 imports. (Note: The Report Export folder is used for three file transfers with potential for more). They run at regularly scheduled intervals, mostly at night and usually once per day. The chosen schedule was a collaboration between UCF IT, Housing Administration, Finance and Accounting, and PeopleSoft ERP. If a schedule needs to be changed, all must be on board.  

Application Export 

Housing applications by students are exported to PeopleSoft for viewing in the PeopleSoft portal.  

Booking Export 

All room bookings and related information is transferred to PeopleSoft for viewing in the PeopleSoft portal.  

Financial Export Debits 

All daily charges are exported to PeopleSoft for viewing in the portal and to be reconciled by Housing’s accounting team.  

Financial Export Credits 

All credits are exported to PeopleSoft for viewing in the portal and to be reconciled by Housing’s accounting team.  

Reports Export

Any NEW report can be scheduled to export using this ‘Reports’ channel. Report purposes vary.

Security Access Export 

All inhouse and reserved students and their room assignments are exported to the Persona keycard systems. 

Demographic Import 

This interface will import all current UCF applicants, whether they apply for housing or not.  

Photo Import 

All photos from all current UCF applicants are imported and viewable in StarRez. 

Financial Import 

Feeds account payments from PeopleSoft back to StarRez. 

 

 ***Exports*** 

Exports are scheduled within StarRez. When a StarRez schedule exports a file to Amazon S3, the File Transfer Tool will retrieve the file and place that export under the respective folder found in C:\StarRez. Ftom there, they are sent to their destination (NET1957.net.ucf.edu) via PowerShell triggers that are launched at server startup (see scheduled tasks, screenshot below). Once on NET1957, a separate process will send the files to SFTP.it.ucf.edu (see NET1957 setup).  

Each scheduled task is associated with one or more PowerShell scripts. Opening each task will give you a better understanding of the workflow. The following will list the PowerShell scripts that are executed with the Scheduled Tasks listed above:

Trigger – StarRez Applications Export

C:\StarRez\TriggerApplicationExport.ps1

Trigger – StarRez Bookings Export

C:\StarRez\TriggerBookingExport.ps1

Trigger – StarRez Finance CREDITS Export

C:\StarRez\TriggerFinancialExport_CREDITS.ps1

Trigger – StarRez Finance DEBITS Export

C:\StarRez\TriggerFinancialExport_DEBITS.ps1

Trigger – StarRez Photo Import *

C:\StarRez\TriggerPhotoImport.ps1

Trigger – StarRez Report Export

C:\StarRez\TriggerReportExportWTS.ps1 C:\StarRez\TriggerReportExporteRezLife.ps1
C:\StarRez\TriggerReportExportSendSuite.ps1
C:\StarRez\TriggerReportExportVexchtxn.ps1

Trigger – StarRez Security Export

C:\StarRez\TriggerSecurityExport.ps1

* The Photo IMPORT is obviously not an export. See “The One Exception” below. The Photo Import has been redesigned to extract the zip file on NET1957, BEFORE it gets to NET2504, then send over the jpg’s in batches. From here, StarRez’s own triggers send the jpg’s to the AWS bucket, just like the other imports.

***Imports*** 

Imports are sent from PeopleSoft by way of sftp.it.ucf.edu to NET1957.net.ucf.edu. Scheduled PowerShell scripts on NET1957 (see scheduled tasks on NET1957. Screenshot below.) use SFTP to retrieve the file from sftp.it.ucf.edu and place them accordingly on NET2504.  

Since the StarRez File Transfer Service has its own triggers, no triggers are needed on NET2504 for IMPORTS, however, there is one non-standard setup.

***The One Non-Standard Setup***

The Photo Import can only process JPGs, but the photos come from SFTP.it.ucf.edu as a zip file. A trigger was set on NET1957 up to unzip the photos and place them in a temp folder for processing. The jpg's have to be sent one at a time and there's a 'handshake' after every file. That stated, a full run of 6000+ residents can take more than 36 hours. And while they're processing, other nightly interfaces are missed due to 100% resource occupation. To work around this, I have set the Photo trigger to transfer photos only during the daytime. 

Log Files: 

When the imports and exports are processed, a corresponding log file is updated with success or failure and why. Also, if there is an error in processing, an email will be sent to the Applications team. The file C:\StarRez\Admin.csv on the StarRez Gateway contains recipient names and email addresses. Edit this file to add or remove recipients.  

NET1957 Setup 

Folder Structure: 

Like the StarRez Gateway, a folder has been created off the root named ‘StarRez’. Under C:\StarRez, there are folders corresponding to the import/export name. Files stop here on their way TO SFTP.it.ucf.edu or the StarRez Gateway. Also, in the StarRez folder, you will find the PowerShell scripts that are used to SFTP exports and imports to and FROM SFTP.it. These scripts are run from the Task Scheduler and are timed to cooperate with other scheduled tasks.

The Interfaces: 

The same 11 interfaces, or file transfers, are still involved: 8 exports and 3 imports. (Note: The Financial Export folder is used for two file transfers, Debits and Credits, the Reports folder is used for 4 file transfers). They run at regularly scheduled intervals, mostly at night and usually once per day. The scheduled tasks also use the service account NET\svc_sdes_srftsa. The assigned schedules are chosen specifically to work with the schedules on the StarRez Gateway as well as StarRez and Pollux process schedules. If a schedule needs to be changed, other schedules will need to be adjusted. 

***Exports*** (From the StarRez point-of-view) 

As discussed in StarRez Gateway Setup, exports are placed on NET1957 via PowerShell triggers from the StarRez gateway. From here, a Scheduled Task will run a PowerShell script to SFTP into SFTP.it.net.edu and upload the ‘export’.  

***Imports*** (Again, from the StarRez point-of-view) 

Imports are retrieved from FTP.it.net.edu via scheduled PowerShell scripts. The PowerShell scripts use SFTP to retrieve the file from Pollux and place them accordingly on NET2504 where the File Transfer Tool takes over the delivery process.  

Known Issues