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By Dr. Philip
Baczewski, Associate Director of Academic Computing
A new account management system has been put in place for
managing EUID passwords and other aspects of online login
accounts. The new management page is located at
http://ams.unt.edu/ and is similar to the previous UNT
Internet Services account management page, but now serves a
much wider suite of applications.
Background and History of the EUID System
Online services are an increasingly important part of the
University's operation. Students, in particular, are
aware of this change, whether it's using online registration
to schedule their classes, viewing their tuition charges via
Web Bills, or checking their grades online. With the
coming change to the University's administrative information
technology systems, faculty and staff will also be using
more and more Web-based applications to access various
services provided to support their work at UNT.
In order to provide online information in a secure and
accessible environment, an authentication system is needed
to ensure that a request for service is actually coming from
a person who is eligible to receive that service.
Authentication requires a username that is recognizable to a
number of different online systems and a password which is
known only to the person requesting access. For a
number of years, UNT has been using an electronic username
called an EUID (Enterprise-wide UserID) to provide universal
login to a number of online systems.
EUIDs were first used for providing student Internet E-mail
accounts on ACS UNIX systems. As UNT Internet Service
was developed to include E-mail, personal web pages, and
dialup access, EUIDs were expanded to serve as login values
for all of those systems. In order to have EUIDs
available for use in a number of different online systems,
in Fall 1999 an EUID database was developed using the LDAP
directory services protocol and EUID values were assigned to
all students, faculty, and staff known to the administrative
computing systems (SIMS and HRMIS). EUIDs are now used for
access to UNT Library electronic resources, various online
student services, student E-mail (EagleMail), and many other
UNT intranet-based facilities.
Most recently, the EUID database has been migrated to
Novell's eDir LDAP server platform and management of that
server has been transferred to the Computer and Information
Technology Center's Network Computing Services division.
In addition, the LDAP service which provides authentication
for EagleMail has been migrated to eDir as well, allowing
the quick synchronization of passwords and other data
between it and the central EUID server. As before,
EUIDs are assigned based on data entered into the SIMS and
HRMIS systems and are automatically generated when a student
enrolls or when an employee is placed on the payroll.
Impact of Recent Changes
Recent changes are just one step toward creating a single-signon
environment for online applications at UNT. Single-signon
allows you to use the same username and password to access
all online systems. On the one hand, it is more
convenient to you because it means that you don't need to
remember a slew of UserIDs and passwords. On the other
hand, it means that you must be more diligent in setting a
secure password and guarding it from discovery by others.
To that end, the new account management system includes a
secret question and password feature that helps to identify
you if you've forgotten your password and need to reset it.
You can pick from a number of pre-selected questions and
provide an answer that is personal to you. When
picking your question, you should choose one for which the
answer is obvious to you but not known to others.
Other changes which came with the new configuration include:
- individuals will now only have one EUID for use with all
UNT applications -- some people who were both students and
employees at UNT have had their EUIDs consolidated, with
their ongoing EUID being the one associated with their
primary role at UNT (i.e., student or employee);
- some systems which use EUID for authentication now use
your secure password, rather than UNT ID number for access
-- in particular this includes the UNT Libraries electronic
resources;
- the Remedy trouble call tracking system used by the CITC
helpdesk and other support areas on campus now uses your
EUID and secure password for login access;
- personal web page management is no longer part of the
account management system and now runs on the people.unt.edu
server, but still requires EUID and secure password for
access;
- students will automatically have an EagleMail mailbox
created for them when their EUID is created -- faculty/staff
will no longer be required to have an EagleMail mailbox to
set and use a secure password;
- WebCT will continue to use EUID for login, but maintain a
separate password until WebCT Vista comes into production.
Future Developments
As this academic year progresses you may notice a number of
services which use your EUID and password for
authentication. If you don't already have a secure
EUID password, you can visit http://ams.unt.edu/ to create
your password and set your secret question and answer. Some
UserIDs, such as your mainframe or Novell Netware login IDs, will remain
unchanged for now, but eventually it may be possible to use one username
for all of your login access.
As the PeopleSoft EIS system comes on line, faculty and
staff will be using their EUID to connect to these new
administrative applications. There are also plans to
create a comprehensive E-mail directory which will allow
faculty and staff to set their preferred E-mail address.
Finally, use of eDir as the LDAP database will allow
eventual tighter integration with the Novell Enterprise
directory used to support faculty and staff desktop
computing.
While the transition to the new authentication service is
complete, it may have generated or may still generate questions from you
regarding your EUID status. If you can't address those questions
via the Account Management System ,
feel free to contact the CITC helpdesk via E-mail (helpdesk@unt.edu) or phone
(940-565-2324).
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