University of Dundee Intranet

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I obtain an ID and Password?
2. I cannot get access - what am I doing wrong?
3. I cannot access a red-key area - what am I doing wrong?
4. Whom do I contact if am still having problems?
5. What are the different levels of protection?
   • Green Key
   • Blue Key
   • Red Key
6. Are there many different intranets?
7. My browser appears to hang when I try to go to the password issuer? (... or trying to access the intranet on SOMiS)

A. How do I obtain a User ID and Password?

1. The password will be emailed to you, so you must be able to receive email at your expected university email address.
   
   
2. Go to the Password Issuer and submit your university email address. Your password will arrive by email within a couple of minutes of submitting the request.
   
   
3. If when you request your password you get Error 111, then the address you submitted does not exist in the email directories. See if you can search the directories in step 4 below otherwise jump to step 5.
   
   
4. 1. You must have an email address recognised by the web-based email directories. The address would normally be in the form of a.n.other@dundee.ac.uk or exeptionally a.n.other@subdomain.dundee.ac.uk or a.n.other@...nhs.uk.
   2. If you are on campus you can search the full email directory (opens in a new window). The address you see in the directory must be the address you submit for your password. If you are not on campus please go to step 5.
      
      
5. Please contact the intranet administrators, say who you are and explain the problem you are having.
   
   

B. I cannot get access - what am I doing wrong?

1. Please remember to enter both your ID and password in lower case.
   
   
2. Obtain a recent copy of your ID and password. Your password may have been unintentionally changed.
   
   
3. Please verify if your ID and password work at all by trying to login to our test area:
   1. If you are staff or student please login to the IP intranet test page (opens in a new window).
   2. If you are staff please login to the staff intranet test page (opens in a new window).
   
   
4. Are you trying to access a red-key area? If yes, please see the next section.
   
   
5. Please contact the intranet administrators, say who you are and provide the URL you are trying to access.
   
   

C. I cannot access a red-key area - what am I doing wrong?

Red-key areas are for specific groups of staff and/or students. The administrator of the pages normally maintains a file with the IDs of the users who have access to the red-key area.

1. Test if your ID and password are correct. Please login to the IP test intranet page (opens in a new window).
   
   
2. If you can access the test web page above, then it would appear that your ID does not exist in the file which controls access to the red-key area. You must contact the administrators of those pages.
   
   
3. If you cannot access the test web page above then please contact the intranet administrators, say who you are and provide the URL you are trying to access.
   
   

D. Whom do I contact if am still having problems?

Please contact the intranet administrators, say who you are and provide the URL you are trying to access.

E. What are the different levels of protection?

As a matter of course most of our pages are open on the world wide web. However, some pages are restricted. The following guidance on restrictions applies only to pages on the www.dundee.ac.uk (secure.dundee.ac.uk) and www.somis.dundee.ac.uk (secure.somis.dundee.ac.uk) servers. On pages linking to restricted pages you should either see one of the keys below or their text based description:

White-key

Free access for anyone (this key is rarely used).

Green-key or Dundee only

Access is open to users within the Dundee campus and accessing the internet though a device (e.g. computer) recognised by the University's Network, i.e. the device has a University IP address. Green-Key pages can be accessed from outside the campus (or from non-university PCs within the campus) using the Intranet ID and password.

Blue-key or Staff only

Access allowed to staff only. An intranet ID and password is required. Any member of staff and most associate and honorary staff can obtain a user ID and password (see above).

Red-key or Group only

Access given only to selected users (staff and/or students) who may need to view a particular area. Permission to access one red-key area does not automatically give permission to access any other red-key areas. In most cases the department/person responsible for the webpages will maintain a list of the users who can have access.

A common use of Red-Key areas is for the publication of committee agendas which would normally only be available to members of the committee.

F. Are there many different intranets?

Yes, it is possible for web administrators to set up an intranet using any user IDs and passwords they like. There maybe instances where it is necessary not to use the intranet setup described on this page. If you are trying to access such an intranet, in the first instance you must try to contact the person who is managing it. Failing that, please contact intranet administrators, say who you are and give us the URL you are trying to access. We will try and point you in the right direction.

G. My browser appears to hang when I try to go to the password issuer? (... or trying to access the intranet on SOMiS)

If you are Windows Vista

Internet Explorer on Vista cannot access the secure pages on SOMiS. Firefox available freely from www.mozilla.org can access the pages but requires the patch explained below to be applied.

If you are using Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher on Windows NT, 2000 or XP

You must change the security settings of your browser. To do this, go to
Tools
Internet Options
Advanced (Tab)
Then look near the bottom of the list for
SSL 2.0
SSL 3.0
TLS 1.0
Make sure TLS 1.0 is not ticked.

If you are using Firefox 2.0 or higher

You must change the security settings of your browser. To do this
Type in the address bar (URL box) about:config
Press Enter
Type security in the filter box.
On the list of preferences, look for the one named 'security.ssl3.rsa_rc2_40_md5'
and double-click it, to change its value to 'true'.
The first time Somis is accessed, Firefox will issue a security warning - just read it and click OK.

Charles Christacopoulos
February 2007