The mailing list for users of the eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool (CAT)

[Daniele Albrizio <albrizio AT units.it>]

Thank you very much, Paul for your precise and detailed analysis.

What you point out should be seriously considered by the CAT management team as a starting point to improve a such widely used tool an so critical for Institutions and the widespread good configuration and user experience about eduroam.

Some of what you highlight is common over the experience of many medium and big eduroam identity providers. Unfortunately I don't have enough working time to invest in this type of analysis that nevertheless intercepts much of our user and support matters.

About the mentioned responsiveness, usability on mobile devices and accessibility, some of these aspects are ruled by laws and regulations mainly for public services in some EU member states. So, improving on these tasks should consequently place a bunch of institutions in a better position.

In the hope of a fast governance and development response, thanks again.

On 14/07/23 15:31, Paul Menzel (via cat-users Mailing List) wrote:

    Dear
      colleagues,
      
      
      
      Due to the DFN PKI abandonment, my organization’s Radius server
      certificate expired and needed to be replaced. (We started to use
      our own Eduroam CA [1].) Therefore, all user devices needed to be
      updated.
      
      
      Unfortunately, it wasn’t smooth sailing in several cases. The
      institute specific cat.eduroam.org URL for our institute [2] is
      shared with the users, but my expectation, that the page contains
      all necessary information, is not met, and additional
      documentation in different languages has to be written. My
      institute instructions are at the end.
      
      
      If my expectation is not unreasonable, I see the following pain
      points with the Web page.
      
      
      1.  The wording is confusing. For Android users it’s not clear,
      they need to install the “app” first. The small infobox is often
      overlooked.
      
      
      2.  The instructions on the Web page also sound like, you get the
      program from the Web page, but it’s only a configuration file.
      
      
> Laden Sie Ihr Installationsprogramm
>         herunter für Chrome OS
>         
>       
      
> Laden Sie Ihr Installationsprogramm
>         herunter für Apple Gerät
>         
>       
      
> Laden Sie Ihr Installationsprogramm
>         herunter für Android 8 und höher
>         
>       
      
      The wording is confusing, as it’s a configuration file for the
      first two, and for Android users seem to have to install an App
      from the app store first, which is only shown in the infobox.
      
      
      3.  Looking at the information/details, there is no difference in
      the description (i symbol) of the two Android options.
      
      
          > Android 8 und höher
      
          > Dies ist eine generische Konfigurationsdatei im IETF EAP
      Metadata -00 XML Format.
      
      
          > Android 4.3 bis 7
      
          > Dies ist eine generische Konfigurationsdatei im IETF EAP
      Metadata -00 XML Format.
      
      
      4.  Due to the variety of Android versions, there are always users
      with phones where the procedure does not work, and need help from
      the IT staff.
      
      
      5.  The information is hidden behind buttons, when clicked on
      opening a popup, which often contains only little text. This
      information should be directly and more prominently visible.
      
      
      6.  The download URL for files is not visible, hovering over the
      buttons.
      
      
      7.  Back and forward buttons do not work, when switching the
      operating system, as it’s not separate pages.
      
      
      8.  The Web site does not offer to just show the configuration and
      to download the certificate for manual use.
      
      
      9.  The Web site is not responsive, and therefore looks bad on a
      mobile device.
      
      
      10.  My institute name is spelled differently in German and
      English, so sometimes it’s not found in the apps. Sometimes it’s
      not found at all.
      
      
      11. Accessing the page 1.86 MB are transferred (1.17 MB for
      jquery.js). It takes over 500 ms to load.
      
      
      12. According to PageSpeed Insights, it’s not fully accessible
      [3][4].
      
      
      As every second saved in setup time saves the user and the support
      staff time, for this many Eduroam users (millions?), it would be
      really great, if a new (static) Web site could be created.
      
      
      
      Kind regards,
      
      
      Paul
      
      
      
      PS: Why is a script for Linux created instead of extending
      NetworkManager to support a configuration file? Users should not
      have to run random unverifiable scripts from the internet. I
      created a ticket for NetworkManager for ONC support [5].
      
      
      
      [1]: https://github.com/buczek/eduroam-ca/
      
      [2]: https://cat.eduroam.org/?idp=5807
      
      [3]:
https://pagespeed.web.dev/analysis/https-cat-eduroam-org/0hp5z32jx6?form_factor=mobile
      [4]:
https://pagespeed.web.dev/analysis/https-cat-eduroam-org/0hp5z32jx6?form_factor=desktop
      [5]:
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/-/issues/1348
           "No support for Open Network Configuration (ONC)
      configuration files (#1348)"
      
      
      PPS: Our instructions in the intranet (also translated to German):
      
      
      for Android:
      
      
          For Android 8 and newer: Install the geteduroam-App from the
      Google Play store
      (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.eduroam.geteduroam)
      
          For Android 7 and older: Install the eduroam CAT-App from the
      Google Play store
      (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.ac.swansea.eduroamcat)
      
          Use the eduroam CAT (Configuration Assistent Tool) at
      https://cat.eduroam.org/?idp=5807
      
          Enter your username according to user AT molgen.mpg.de and your
      password (ideally set at the start of the setup)
      
      
      for iOS (iPhones and iPads):
      
      
          On iPhones and iPads, make sure to use the Safari browser (not
      Chrome). You should have installed at least iOS 12.1.1
      
          Use the eduroam CAT (Configuration Assistent Tool) at
      https://cat.eduroam.org/?idp=5807
      
          After installing the profile from the CAT-tool, please remove
      any existing WLAN eduroam (“Forget This Network”) and then
      activate the downloaded profile via Settings > General >
      Profiles & Device Management.
      
          In newer version of iOS you can find the profiles via Settings
      > General > VPN & Device Management.
      
          If you are asked for credentials use your username acording to
      user AT molgen.mpg.de and your password (ideally set at the start of
      the setup)
      
      
      for GNU/Linux:
      
      
          Use the eduroam CAT (Configuration Assistent Tool) at
      https://cat.eduroam.org/?idp=5807
      
          You might need to execute the file from the command line. Open
      a terminal, enter `python ` (with space at the end), and drag the
      file into the terminal. Then, press the enter key.
      
          If you are asked for credentials use your username acording to
      user AT molgen.mpg.de and your password (ideally set at the start of
      the setup)
      
      
      for Windows / macOS:
      
      
          Use the eduroam CAT (Configuration Assistent Tool) at
      https://cat.eduroam.org/?idp=5807
      
          If you are asked for credentials use your username according
      to user AT molgen.mpg.de and your password (ideally set at the start
      of the setup)
      
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--

---

Daniele Albrizio

Ufficio Reti e Telefonia | Networks and Telephony Office
Università degli Studi di Trieste | University of Trieste
Via Alfonso Valerio 12 - 34127 Trieste (Italy)
daniele.albrizio AT units.it
Tel. | Ph. +39 040 558 3319

Ufficio Reti e Telefonia | Networks and Telephony Office
Tel. | Ph. +39 040 558 3331

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