Ukrainian researchers and educators could access many important online resources through the eduGAIN service, but first it must be implemented and configured by technicians. Technical staff from Ukrainian research and education (R&E) institutions learned how to do this in a webinar on 27 October 2021 with URAN Association, which provides eduGAIN with the support of the EU-funded EaPConnect project.
Twelve specialists from R&E institutions were introduced to the technical components of eduGAIN, how they interconnect, the commands and directories used for configuring the service depending on an institution’s role in the eduGAIN system, and typical schemes for eduGAIN’s use.
Oleh Yurchenko, a technical specialist at URAN Association, told the webinar participants about the eduGAIN components that interact in the case of PEANO – the Ukrainian National Identity Federation operated by the URAN Association.
Yevhenii Preobrazhenskyi, Executive Director of URAN Association, showed how to install and configure these components. He explained in detail the setup process for the system roles as service provider (SP) and as identity provider (IdP).
In response to participants’ questions, Yevhenii stressed that: “Each organisation has its own needs and features. Our specialists work individually with each client and help to adjust the services for their specific tasks. Contact us and we will be happy to cooperate with you”.
Each organisation has its own needs and features. Our specialists work individually with each client and help to adjust the services for their specific tasks. Contact us and we will be happy to cooperate with you”
Background – what does eduGAIN consist of?
The eduGAIN interfederation service interconnects identity federations around the world, enabling users from participating research and education institutions to access connected services using the identity provided by their institution – their so-called ‘home organisation’. Using a single-sign-on authentication and authorisation system, eduGAIN greatly simplifies access to content, services and resources for the global research and education community.
An identity federation is a collection of organisations that agree to interoperate under a certain rule set, and to act within the federation in a certain role:
- service provider (SP) – provider of services and resources such as digital libraries, data centres, databases etc.
- identity provider (IdP) – the entity that issues personal electronic accounts for users and then confirms to the service provider that these are authentic (the authentication process) each time the user requests the service.
Any organisation participating in the identity federation can fulfill one or both of these roles.
Further information
This event took place on the WebClass platform provided by URAN Association, the national research and education network (NREN) of Ukraine. This event was one of a series of webinars about URAN services, and followed up on an earlier event: “eduGAIN – your key to digital research and education services”. Further webinars will be arranged as part of URAN’s outreach activities to engage with its research and education community, explain the benefits of the network and services it provides, and connect institutions and users to those services so they can better participate in international collaborations and the digital society.