Overview
The my.eos.ubc.ca web site will be updated to use the EOAS ID user name and password for authentication.
Background
The web site relied on the NIS log on system (http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/NIS.html), however this system is no longer supported and so efforts are being made to migrate our community away from NIS to LDAP, which also supports the new EOAS mail system. The new LDAP system is currently in use for some Windows-based desktop login accounts (MDRU and others), and for the new mail system at exchange.eoas.ubc.ca.
Requirement
NIS is an outdated protocol that has not been updated for 2+ years on the FreeBSD platform. Various sites recommend that NIS/NIS+ no longer be used and the LDAP protocol be adopted as a replacement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIS%2B
Impact
The majority of the EOAS community has migrated from the old mail system to the newer mail system, which is accessible via the web at https://exchange.eoas.ubc.ca. As part of that migration, the process required that all migrated accounts had their password reset.
The expectation is that most of our user community will be happy to have one less password to remember, however this change may be disruptive for anyone who has stored their password in their web browser or anyone who is aware of the underpinning of NIS that supports our my.eos.ubc.ca web site and the SSH-shell access used to upload course files.
Side-Effects
The other major system that relies on NIS is the shell access, which is used to upload course material located on arda.eos.ubc.ca. This change will only merge the account used for the my.eos.ubc.ca web site, it will not change the account and password used to upload files to the course web sites.
Proposed Mitigation
Prior to the change occuring, an email will be sent to the EOAS community detailing the change (at a high level), with a focus on the impact, i.e., the need to use the same user account/password for my.eos.ubc.ca as exchange.eoas.ubc.ca, and a reference to the help desk for questions.
Feedback and Questions
Feedback and questions about this proposed change can be submitted via the comments section of the help desk at https://helpdesk.eoas.ubc.ca/news/changes