Edugate

• Edugate is…
• SAML is…
• JAGGER (federation management tool for Shibboleth IdP or SAML) is…
• How it all works together: Edugate, SAML and JAGGER
• How to join Edugate Federation
• Edugain is…

Edugate is HEAnet’s federated single sign-on (SSO) service which deals with an average of 40 million authentications every year across our HEAnet network.

For users it simply means you only need one set of credentials to log in and access campus services such as:

• Email
• Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)
• Journal and library services
• Video conferencing
• Web application login (SaaS)

Edugate is available to all HEAnet client institutions for both students and staff, at no extra cost.

*SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is an XML-based framework for authentication and authorisation between two entities: a Service Provider and an Identity Provider. SAML is a standard single sign-on (SSO) format.

“Edugate federated access is based on SAML protocol and needs both SAML and JAGGER to work effectively.

JAGGER is HEAnet’s in-house software – a federation management tool to manage a Shibboleth Identity Provider or SAML federation. Where service providers do not wish to join Edugate and support SAML, we can configure a bilateral trust between the institutions identity provider service and the service provider.

JAGGER publishes source-code for the research & education (NREN) community. JAGGER can also be used to manage a bilateral trust for a single SAML entity or as a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for Shibboleth.”

• Edugate provides aggregated metadata containing all the information required for use by both Service Providers and Identity Providers.
• SAML helps create a “circle-of-trust” around this transfer of information and that is why it is vital to Edugate.
• This is when JAGGER (Edugate Resource Registry) comes into play.
  JAGGER manages the smooth transition of information between a Service Provider and an Identity Provider. It essentially manages the “circle-of-trust” that Edugate contains and prevents the need to manually update the Identity Provider with every new login, thus saving our clients both time and money.  Additionally, JAGGER allows organisations as Identity Providers to control the information released about their users to service providers.

HEAnet client institutions who wish to join the Edugate Federation should first read the Edugate Rules and then download and complete the Edugate Agreement and return it to HEAnet, at the address below.

Who else can apply:

• Private and Public Sector Higher Education Institutions that are not a HEAnet client can complete the Edugate Agreement – stating clearly in their application – how their institutions participation in Edugate will be of benefit to Edugate and its membership (the institutions application will then be considered by the Edugate Governance Committee);
• Organisations who provide online services that are of benefit to the education and research needs of HEAnet client’s institutions;
• Organisations who have been contracted to deliver online services to any HEAnet client institution are also eligible to join – stating clearly in their application – the Institution that has contracted their service.

ALL applications should be posted to: Edugate Operator, HEAnet CLG,
3rd Floor, North Dock 2, 93/94 North Wall Quay, Dublin 1, D01 V8Y6, Ireland

Edugate partners with eduGAIN  which is run by GÉANT.

eduGAIN is the pan-European network with around 300 identity providers and 2600 service providers worldwide. Due to this partnership, Ireland’s Edugate users have access to shared resources on an international level.