Core Data Trial inNorth West Institute of Further &

Higher Education

27 May 2003

Greg McClure

Maureen McKee

Davey O’Hare

Outline of Presentation

• Technical preparation• Business logistics• Outcomes and lessons• Preparation for trials at the other institutions

Portal Server

• Sunblade 150 workstation – Sun OS 5.8• uPortal v2.1.2 installed• Jakarta Tomcat v4.0.6 installed• MySQL database v4.0.12 installed• Custom SecurityContext developed• Custom ‘core data’ channel developed

– Java code, XSLT stylesheets

Architecture Overview

mySQL 4.0.12

User PreferencesPortal parameters

HTTP POST Student number and password

Core data (XML)

Portal server: Sunblade 150 - Solaris 5.8

Tomcat 4.0.6

Web server - remote institution

uPortal 2.1.2

Remote agent

NWIFHE Agent Architecture

• NIIMLE (web) server (Mandrake Linux)

• PHP and LDAP support in Apache

• Data Warehouse (MySQL)

• PHP agent – authentication against Active Directory via LDAP– data extraction from warehouse via PHP

NWIFHE Agent Architecture

Local Remote

Portal

Directory

Active Directory

MIS Data

Oracle FEMIS

Warehouse

Agent(PHP)

NIIMLE Server

MySQL

Portal Firewall Configuration

• Required ports:– 80(HTTP), 443(SHTTP)– 8080(Tomcat), 8443(Secure Tomcat)– 22(SSH)

• Access restricted to specified IP(s)• NAT in use at NWIFHE

– Everyone or no-one can access

NWIFHE Firewall Configuration

• Required ports:– 80(HTTP), 443(SHTTP)– 22(SSH)

• Access restricted to:– Portal server– One development PC (SSH)

The NIIMLESecurityContext

• Custom authentication class

• POST student ID/password to remote agent• Parse XML returned by agent• Populate iPerson object• Set ‘authenticated’ flag• Exceptions result in failed authentication

The Core Data Channel

• Display student core data

• Generate XML from iPerson object

• Pass XML to XSLT appropriate stylesheet

• Stylesheets for Netscape and IE

Data Preparation

• Cron job export from FEMIS• Cron job import to MySQL• Link MIS database to Active Directory

– Entry of login ID to MySQL from paper lists– Error Prone !

• Class lists more accurate from academic than from MIS database

Business LogisticsPreparing for the Day

• Welcome page produced for the portal • NIIMLE web site and tips for the day added• Document produced on how to use the portal• DPA form requesting students’ permission

The Event• 27 students took part – 2 sessions held

• Students welcomed and given introduction to NIIMLE project. Also given voucher

• Students asked to complete DPA form which was in two sections:– informing students of data held– requested their agreement to take part in trial– after completing trial, asked if information held

was correct

Business LogisticsThe Day

• Only 3 students had problems logging on– 1 could not remember password– 2 due to error inputting details in data

warehouse– errors now corrected

Welcome Page of Portal

NIIMLE web site and tipsfor the daywere added totabs acrosstop of portalwelcome

Log in with your normal username and password you use forNorth West Institute system

Core Data for Student

Students asked to check that the following is correct

Your reference number, for North West Institute, also your name should be displayed

Check that this is the correct course reference and title you are enrolled on

The year of your courseSemester or period codeFor reference purposes only‘S’ should be displayed, as you are a current student

User Preferences

DPA form Results

• All students signed DPA form and agreed that their data was correct (exception of 2 students – see above).

• Students could change the colour scheme/skin displaying their information. One choice was “The Matrix” movie scheme. Although it was a popular choice, text did not display clearly on the screen, as the scheme was too dark.

• Only other comment referred to guessing game provided as a fun element – not connected to core data.

QUB Agent Architecture

• Data warehouse built on QUB warehouse server

• PHP and LDAP support built on QUB server• PHP agent built for authentication and data

extraction• Testing – currently• Data trials – with placement students - done

over the summer

QUB Agent Architecture

Local Remote

Portal

Directory

NDS

MIS Data

INGRES SIS

Warehouse

Agent(PHP)

QUB Development Server

SQL Server

NDAI Agent Architecture

• ASP agent built for authentication and data extraction

• Querying the MIS database directly – scalability could be an issue

• Authentication against Active Directory

• Secure access provided

• Testing – ongoing

• Data trials – September ‘03

NDAI Agent Architecture

Local Remote

Portal

Directory

Active Directory

MIS Data

Oracle FEMIS

Agent(ASP)

NDAI Web Server

UU Agent Architecture

• Data warehouse built on UU warehouse server

• PHP and LDAP support built on the UU server

• PHP agent built for authentication - NDS

• Stored procedure instead of direct query

• Extracting XML from Oracle CLOB – under development

• Testing ongoing

• Data trials – September ‘03

UU Agent Architecture

Local Remote

Portal

Directory

NDS

MIS Data

Oracle

Warehouse

Agent(PHP)

UU Web Server

Oracle

BIFHE Agent Architecture

• NIIMLE server configured & built – still to be installed on BIFHE network

• PHP and LDAP support built on NIIMLE server• PHP agent built for authentication installed on

NIIMLE sever – authenticating against NDS• Data warehouse to be built on NIIMLE server• Agent to be tested for both authentication and data

extraction• Data trials – September ‘03

BIFHE Agent Architecture

Local Remote

Portal

Directory

NDS

MIS Data

Oracle FEMIS

Agent(PHP)

NIIMLE Server