UW-Madison Google Workspace - Known Issues

The following document outlines known issues with UW-Madison Google Workspace.

Login

  • When attempting to access UW-Madison Google Workspace with an Office 365 service account, you will need to log in with your NetID and password, then select the account from the linked account login menu. However, if you have already logged in to UW-Madison Google Workspace with your @wisc.edu account, you will not be stopped at the linked account login menu and you will be logged directly into your @wisc.edu account. This issue is caused by a cookie that Google stores in your web browser, which prevents UW-Madison Google Workspace from stopping you at the linked account login page. There are several workarounds:
  • Attempting to log in to UW-Madison Google Workspace via Google's commercial login page (e.g., https://www.google.com/drive/) with your firstname.lastname@wisc.edu address or your NetID will result in an error.
    • To use a commercial login page, you will need to enter your netid@wisc.edu address, then click Continue. Do not enter your NetID and password on this screen. You will be redirected to the NetID login page. For more information about using Google's commercial login page, click here.
  • Office 365 service accounts should log in to UW-Madison Google Workspace by following the instructions here.
  • If you are eligible for the UW-Madison Google Workspace service and receive an error when trying to log into your UW-Madison Google Workspace account, please Activate Missing Services.
    • Error message example 1: On Google sign-in page, there is a message that says "couldn't find Google account" or,
    • Error message example 2: When trying to access Google Drive through myUW, an internal server error 500 appears

Sharing

  • If you attempt to access a file that is shared with your UW-Madison Google Workspace account or "People at UW-Madison Google Workspace" while you are logged in with a personal Google Workspace account, you will receive an error. To avoid this issue, make sure to log out of your personal Google Workspace account(s) before trying to access a file shared with your UW-Madison Google Workspace account.
  • It is not possible to grant "Is owner" permissions to an account outside of UW-Madison Google Workspace. If you attempt to hit "Save" after selecting this option, you will receive the following error: "Error Sorry, cannot transfer ownership to jenny.rado@gmail.com. Ownership can only be transferred to another user in the same domain as the current owner."
  • When granting "Can edit" permissions to a Google Site, the " UW-Madison Google Workspace" and "People at UW-Madison Google Workspace with a link" options only work if the individual you are sharing with is in the same domain. For example, if you are logged in with bbadger@wisc.edu, you would be unable to gran "Can edit" permissions to bbadger@doit.wisc.edu

Google Workspace Groups

  • It is possible to create a Google Workspace Group while logged in with UW-Madison Google Workspace Groups that is not covered by the Google Workspace for Education terms of service by going to http://groups.google.com. This will create a group in @googlegroups.com. Groups in @googlegroups.com are covered by Google Workspace's commercial terms of service. To create a Google Workspace Group that is covered by the Google Workspace for Education terms of service, create the Google Workspace Group via the Wisc Account Administration site. Groups covered by Google Workspace for Education terms of service will end in @g-groups.wisc.edu.
  • Sending a message to a Google Group causing a large amount of auto replies.

Shared Drives

  • Users cannot drag/drop multiple folders/files from My Drive to SharedDrives.
  • Users with the Contributor access can add and edit documents on the online version of Google Drive. However, Contributors have read-only access to files in Google Drive for desktop or files in the Chrome OS Files app.
    • To allow users to edit files in a shared drive in Drive for desktop and Chrome OS, give the user Content manager or Manager access to the shared drive.
    • If there is concern with giving users Content manager or Manager access due to the additional ability to create files, you can monitor the shared drive activity using the steps in UW - Madison Google Workspace - View activity and file versions.

New Google Sites

  • Users cannot create intranet sites using new Google Sites.

Mobile Devices

  • Individuals who want configure an Android device with an OS version earlier than 5.0 (Lollipop) for UW-Madison Google Workspace will need to complete a few extra steps during setup. Click here for instructions.

Domain Administration

ChromeOS/Chromebook compatibility with WiscVPN

  • ChromeOS/Chromebook VPN connectivity only supports dynamic IP addresses; it DOES NOT support static IP addresses. For details about WiscVPN on ChromeOS/Chromebooks: WiscVPN service on Chromebooks

See Also