Authentication

Authentication is the process by which you demonstrate that you are who you say who are

The system then checks the credentials (normally username and password) offered, and then checks whether you are authorised to have the access you requested.

By virtue of your membership of the University your are automatically provided with the access someone in your position would normally require. Additional accesses my be requested via the service desk, and forms to apply for access to SITS or to manage a web site are available on the registration page

Log-on names

Your  username is issued to you on joining the University. It is usually in one of the following forms, abcde, ab1234 or ab12345. This is used to access all University systems, although some do require other prefixes or suffixes. We appreciate that this is a nuisance, but is inevitable. The example of ab12345 is used in the following examples of  key exceptions:-

• Google mail for life(student) accessed directly from google.co. Username format is ab12345@my.bristol.ac.uk
• Google mail for staff accessed directly form google.co. Username format is ab12345@bristol.ac.uk
• The remote desktop needs UOB\ab12345 if accessed from a PC, or ab12345@UOB if accessed from a Mac
• The VPN uses ab12345, but requires UOB specifying in the 'domain' box
• The UK Access federation (Shibboleth)  uses ab12345, but requires 'University of Bristol' specifying in the drop down box
• Eduroam for wireless access at participating institutions uses ab12345@bristol.ac.uk or ab12345@my.bristol.ac.uk as appropriate

We operate a single sign on mechanism for many web applications which means that they all share the same authentication mechanism and you only need to log on to one of them to gain access to all.  This uses the format ab12345.

We will endeavour to provide examples of the required format on log on pages wherever we sensibly can