Identity Management

Introduction

Introduction

Since 2005/2006 the need for a comprehensive Identity Management solution has been recognised and there have been several associated projects which have begun the process of analysing requirements, researching tools, technologies and prototyping solutions. These are well documented at http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/iam/ and http://gilead.ex.ac.uk/ and it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the benefits of Identity Management and its importance for the University.

The aim of this project is to build upon the experience and information gathered previously along with latest developments and best of breed tools to deliver an identity management core system which initially supports controlled single sign on access to Electronic Library resources which are Shibboleth enabled.

Identity management:
"Impressive - in an understated way"
Bill Edmunds, 2008

Single sign-on at the University

Single sign-on at the University

Single sign-on is an authentication and authorisation system. Firstly, you authenticate so that the system knows who you are. Then, you can access web resources that you are authorised to access.

The change to Single sign-on (SSO) will mean that for the vast majority of users on campus you “Sign On” once to your desktop via your normal login. Your credentials are subsequently used to check whether you are authorised to access protected web resources. This should be a familiar concept to anyone who has used the MyExeter portal which currently implements SSO for a good number of resources.

Occasionally you must log into the Single Sign On system itself - but only on the first occasion you access one of the protected web resources in your browser session – you will be prompted automatically when you either …

• are off campus
• use a browser other than Internet Explorer or Firefox
• use Firefox but have not set your preferences to enable trusted login (a helper page will appear and guide you through the simple process of enabling this)

This is designed to enhance the user experience, improve security and greatly simplify administration/maintenance.

The real benefit is felt when many web resources are integrated with the SSO system and we will aim to greatly increase the coverage over the coming weeks.

Note: If you are using Internet Explorer please ensure that you are using Internet Explorer version 7. Earlier versions are prone to intermittent failure during the automated login sequence.

Any problems should be reported via the helpdesk who should assign any SSO or FSC issues to the Advanced Systems team.

Single sign-on - What's New

Single sign-on - What's New

Single sign-on permits access to:

• The Electronic Library;
• The Forward Schedule of Change;
• The Academic Services' intranet;
• The IT infrastructure monitoring service;
• Secure areas of the university web site:
  • Projects Team Documentation;
  • SITS System Documentation;
  • IT Infrastructure Documentation;
  • Staff Induction Information;
  • Education Enhancement Case Studies.
• Other Applications:
  • Electronic Library Shibboleth Identity Provider Service;
  • JIRA IT Project Management Tool.

New areas for consideration:

• Blogs;
• MyExeter Portal;
• BART - BART is the system used at the University in almost every School for
  the submission of assessed (sometimes referred to as summative) coursework;
• LISA;
• etc

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The Forward Schedule of Change (FSC)

The FSC application has been integrated into the University Single Sign On system.

This is a schedule that contains details of all the Changes approved for implementation and their proposed implementation dates. It should be agreed with Customers, Service Level Management, the HelpDesk and Availability Management. Once agreed, the HelpDesk would communicate to the Users any planned or additional downtime arising from implementing the Changes.

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A new way to login to library electronic resources

Since Tuesday 4th August 2009, there has been a new way to log into library electronic resources, taking advantage of the University’s new Single sign-on system.

On campus access

If you are on campus (Streatham/St Luke's), and you have already logged into the desktop on your PC (cluster PCs or staff PCs), you won’t require any further logins for a number of resources, including the library’s electronic resources.

So, when logging into library electronic resources either via the Electronic Library (http://as.exeter.ac.uk/elibrary), or via MyExeter (http://my.exeter.ac.uk/), you will already be logged in and will remain so, as long as you keep the browser window open. You shouldn’t be prompted for further logins unless the resource requires a separate username and password.

Off campus access

If you are off campus, or have not already signed into Single Sign On anywhere else on the University site, when you reach the Electronic Library page instead of seeing the usual Electronic Library Login screen and subsequent UoE login boxes, you will be presented with a Single sign-on login screen. Log in using your University of Exeter login name. Once you have logged in, as long as you keep this browser open, you will not require any further logins to access the electronic resources, unless a resource requires a separate username and password, or if the resource is authenticated by IP (in which case you will need to log in using your UoE login).

For further information, please see: http://library.exeter.ac.uk/electronic/access.html#sso. If you have any queries, please contact the IT Helpdesk (helpdesk@exeter.ac.uk).

Useful links

Useful links

• Identity and Access Management Project
  • Project SWISH in Exeter
• Issue management - Jira. Requires username/password
• SAML V2.0 Technical Overview
• Wikipedia article on SAML 2.0