User types

Three authentication methods are proposed by the esup-helpdesk application:

• CAS (Central Authentication Service),
• Shibboleth (Identity Federation),
• Application (by the application itself).

CAS users

Identification

CAS users are identified by their unique ID in the Information System, typically the LDAP uid (e.g. paubry). Their id in the database is prefixed by cas- (e.g. cas-paubry).

Authentication

CAS users are authenticated:

• for portlet deployments: by the portal thanks to CAS.
• for servlet and quick-start deployments: directly by CAS.

Profiles

CAS users are characterized by their attributes in the Information System: the LDAP directory (see Configuring the LDAP access).

Shibboleth users

Identification

Shibboleth users are identified by their ID, as provided by Shibboleth (e.g. paubry@univ-rennes1.fr). Their id in the database is prefixed by shib- (e.g. shib-paubry@univ-rennes1.fr).

Authentication

Shibboleth users are authenticated:

• for portlet deployments: by the portal thanks to Shibboleth.
• for servlet and quick-start deployments: directly by Shibboleth.

Profiles

Shibboleth users are characterized by the attributes passed to the application by:

• Shibboleth for servlet and quick-start deployments (HTTP headers)
• The portal for portlet deployments (JSR-168 preferences).

Application users

Identification

Application users are identified by their email address (e.g. pascal.aubry@gmail.com). Their id in the database is prefixed by app- (e.g. app-pascal.aubry@gmail.com).

Authentication

Application users are authenticated by the application itself, thanks to a password. The password is generated at the account creation and sent to the users by email. The password can be re-sent to the users at any time later.

Profiles

No attribute is avalable for application users.

Administrators

The administrators of the application are true users.

The first administrator is created by the application when initializing the database (see 03 Administration).

Afterwards, administrators are co-opted using the 'Administration' menu.

Preferences

All the authenticated users (local or external) can manage their preferences using the 'Preferences' menu.

Ticket monitoring allows users to recieve alerts by email when events occur on tickets. By checking the proposed boxes, users receive emails with links that allow them to access the application directly (even when the application is deployed as a portlet in a portal).

The last link ('Edit your preferences as a manager') is show to managers only and allows them to manage their manager preferences: