Grouper Developers Forum

[Emily Eisbruch <>]

Draft Minutes: Grouper call 19-June-2013

Attending

Tom Barton, U. Chicago (chair)  

Chris Hyzer, University of Pennsylvania  

David Langenberg, U. Chicago

Jim Fox, University of Washington

Emily Eisbruch, Internet2, scribe

New Action Items

[AI] (Chris) review training videos and wiki doc on Subject API and make improvements where needed.

[AI] (Chris) email the Grouper-Users list urging campuses to contribute examples of how they handle key Grouper topics, 

such as attributes and permissions, sample Subject API, sample PSP.

[AI] (Chris) email the list to get input on the preferred shipped default for READ & VIEW privileges. (DONE)

https://lists.internet2.edu/sympa/arc/grouper-users/2013-06/msg00069.html

[AI] (Chris) review the new UI community requests 

https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/Grouper/Grouper+UI+redesign+v2.2

[AI] (Tom) put on agenda for next call the preferred shipped default for READ & VIEW privileges.

[AI] (Dave) create additional JIRAs regarding PSP and handling attributes.

[AI] (Emily invite Jeff to add to the community requests table his idea for additional attribute functionality in the new UI (for post-2.2.0 release).

https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/Grouper/Grouper+UI+redesign+v2.2

Carry Over Action Items

[AI] (Tom) add to the agenda for a future call: steps towards getting more info on who is using Grouper 

[AI] (Shilen) email users lists to ask who is using the legacy attributes and ask how they are using them  

[AI] (Chris) upgrade the Grouper demo to the latest Grouper version 2.1

DISCUSSION

Feedback from Grouper PreConference Seminar at Apereo conference

http://conf2013.apereo.org/schedule/preconference#grouper

http://lanyrd.com/2013/apereo/schtrd/

-The June 2 Grouper PreConference Seminar at the Apereo Conference went well

-Bill and Chris were co-presenters, and attendance was good

-Much discussion on Subject API

-Jim noted that the example config files have useful guidance on Subject API

-Would be helpful to make the information on the wiki page on Subject API easier to find and clearer:

   https://spaces.internet2.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=14517958#APIBuilding%26Configuration-ChoosingIdentifiersforSubjects

[AI] (Chris) review training videos and wiki doc on Subject API and make improvements where needed.

-There were issues at the Apereo Pre-Conf. Seminar with running the Grouper installer, due to capacity issues when attendees started downloading

-Chris will consult with the Shib installers on how they solve similar capacity issues for the Shib installfests

[AI] (Chris) email the Grouper-Users list urging campuses to contribute examples of how they handle key Grouper topics, 

such as attributes and permissions, sample Subject API, sample PSP .

-Chris had a good conversation with Mohan, who works as a consultant in the San Diego area.

-There was a lunch during the Apereo conference for people interested in Grouper

-Also at the Apereo conference, Benn and Chris presented a session on the CIFER API

http://lanyrd.com/2013/apereo/schtyq/

Read and View Default – should it be  off or on in the Shipped Config?

Grouper ships by default with the UI auto-selecting group privileges to be globally viewable and readable (can see the group exists and view its members).

Is this the correct default?

Jim: U Washington likes the default as is, with group privileges globally viewable and readable.

Later, some can be turned off. 

Chris: for security purposes, the default should be that we ship with the read and view privileges off. 

Q: Can a loader job specify the privileges for the group?

A: yes

Rules on the stem can be used to help manage the defaults for the individual deployment.

However, the interaction between a rule and the checkbox on the Create Group dialog could become confusing.

[AI] (Chris) email the list to get input on the preferred shipped default for READ & VIEW privileges. (DONE)

https://lists.internet2.edu/sympa/arc/grouper-users/2013-06/msg00069.html

UI Progress 

Chris will move forward with working on the new Grouper UI in the coming weeks.

As part of this Chris will review the community requests.

[AI] (Chris) review the new UI community requests 

https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/Grouper/Grouper+UI+redesign+v2.2

There was a request on the list regarding drop down for attribute data

https://lists.internet2.edu/sympa/arc/grouper-users/2013-06/msg00051.html

This is probably considered an advanced task.

Should be added to the community request table.

[AI] (Emily invite Jeff to add to the community requests table his idea for additional attribute functionality in the new UI (for post-2.2.0 release).

https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/Grouper/Grouper+UI+redesign+v2.2

Takeaways from Recent List threads

Dave: There was a recent issue discussed on the list about the PSP and Shib Attribtue Resolver response to group types and attributes.

Dave plans to add a few modules to address this.

[AI] (Dave) create additional JIRAs regarding PSP and handling attributes.

Character Set Issue

https://lists.internet2.edu/sympa/arc/grouper-users/2013-06/msg00048.html

Character set issues have been discussed on the list related to using a legacy Oracle database and systems that use bytes instead of chars.

Grouper columns have a max length. 

Chris opened a JIRA:

https://bugs.internet2.edu/jira/browse/GRP-916

Important questions are:

-Can we convert from bytes to chars in an upgrade?

-Are there negative performance implications (should more space be available for this? 

-Do each of the databases support chars instead of bytes?

Appreciation: Appreciation to TomZ for his help in addressing several PSP questions on the  Grouper-users list.

Next Grouper Call: Wed. July 3 at noon ET

Emily Eisbruch, Technology Transfer Analyst

Internet2

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