Use the commands below to add, change, and delete entries in the Princeton University Host Database, or to set the Departmental Contacts for a department.
These commands should not be used for entries associated with Dormnet subscriptions. To subscribe to Dormnet, change an entry associated with a Dormnet subscription, create an additional Dormnet subscription, unsubscribe from Dormnet, etc., see Changing the Host Database (Dormnet).
Before proceeding, please review the General Information below. It should answer most questions you may have about how your request will be processed.
If you are a currently-enrolled undergraduate or graduate student who wishes to
subscribe to Dormnet, this is not the correct choice;
this will create a new entry for an office device.
Instead,
Subscribe to Dormnet.
(If you wish to obtain an additional Dormnet subscription,
Create an Additional Dormnet Entry,
then after it has been created, you may
Subscribe it to Dormnet.)
To change an existing entry, you must already be listed as one of the
Technical Contacts for that entry,
or be one of the
Financial Contacts
associated with the University Account Number listed in the entry,
or be one of the
Departmental Contacts
associated with the Department Name listed in the entry.
You will be prompted for your OIT LDAP Directory netid and password.
(Some OIT technicians are also authorized to make changes for others.)
To change an existing entry, you must already be listed as one of the
Technical Contacts for that entry,
or be one of the
Financial Contacts
associated with the University Account Number listed in the entry,
or be one of the
Departmental Contacts
associated with the Department Name listed in the entry.
You will be prompted for your OIT LDAP Directory netid and password.
(Some OIT technicians are also authorized to make changes for others.)
To set a department's Departmental Contacts, you must already be listed as one of the Departmental Contacts for that department, or be one of the Financial Contacts associated with a 3-digit account prefix for that department. You will be prompted for your OIT LDAP Directory netid and password. (Some OIT technicians are also authorized to make changes for others.)
You will be prompted for your OIT LDAP Directory netid (a.k.a. userid) and password. In the text below, your OIT netid is referred to as yournetid.
Your netid and password are transmitted over a secure connection, using SSL or TLS. If your Web browser does not support SSL or TLS, you cannot use this service.
If you are changing or deleting an existing Host Database entry, yournetid must be one of the Technical Contacts listed for the entry, or one of the Financial Contacts associated with the University Account Number listed in the entry, or be one of the Departmental Contacts associated with the Department Name listed in the entry. (Some OIT technicians are also authorized to issue these commands.)
If you are setting Departmental Contacts for a department, yournetid must be one of the Departmental Contacts for that department, or be one of the Financial Contacts associated with a 3-digit account prefix for that department, or be one of the Departmental Contacts associated with the Department Name listed in the entry. (Some OIT technicians are also authorized to issue this command.)
If you use the Web to request the addition, change, or deletion of an entry in the Host Database, or to set Departmental Contacts for a department, your request will be emailed to the Hostmaster using a special format that allows it to be processed automatically. (A copy of this mail will be sent to yournetid@princeton.edu, for you information.)
After you are done submitting your request, remember to log out of the Host Database Web Service by quitting from your Web browser.
A request submitted via the Web is normally processed within one business day (often in just a few hours), and then email is then sent to yournetid@princeton.edu indicating that your request has been processed. That email does not indicate the outcome of the request, just that it has been processed.
Some requests can take up to three business days to be processed, as they require staff review or manual handling:
Until your request is processed, it's not a good idea to try to submit another request affecting the same entry (e.g. an add followed by a change, or a delete followed by an add). The second request generally won't work; wait until the first request is processed, then submit the second request.
If your request successfully adds, changes, or deletes an entry in the Host Database, another piece of email is sent to all of the Technical Contacts listed in the (resulting) Host Database entry, indicating the result of processing the request. (Assuming you are one of the Technical Contacts, you will receive this email.) This email is also cc'd to all of the Financial Contacts associated with the Host Database entry's ACCOUNT-NUMBER except if the request was to change an existing entry in such a way that the billing status was not altered. This email is also cc'd to all of the Departmental Contacts associated with the Host Database entry's DEPARTMENT, except those Departmental Contacts who choose not to receive such email.
If your request successfully sets the Departmental Contacts for a department, another piece of email is sent to all of the Departmental Contacts (including any present in the Departmental Contact list both before and after the request is processed), along with any Financial Contacts for any 3-digit account number prefixes associated with the Department Name.
If there is an error in your request, email is sent back to the person who submitted the request, describing the problem. That email is sent to yournetid@princeton.edu. (No other mail is sent to the Technical Contacts, Financial Contacts, or Departmental Contacts.)
There may be times you need to add, change, or delete an entry in the Host Database, or need to set Departmental Contacts for a department. but cannot use the Web to submit the request. (For example, a few database fields cannot be changed via the Web.) In those circumstances, please send email to hostmaster@princeton.edu ; in your email include both the request and why you could not use the Web to submit it.
Requests sent via email instead of via the Web will generally take longer to process, as staff must handle emailed requests manually. Assuming your request contains no errors and does not require any special handling, it will usually be processed within three business days of when the email arrives at hostmaster@princeton.edu . Requests containing errors or requiring other special handling may take longer. Therefore, for the fastest turnaround, it is to your advantage to use the Web interface whenever possible, and to make sure the information you submit contains no errors.
If you send a request via some means other than email to hostmaster@princeton.edu or the Host Database Web interface, you should anticipate additional delay, as someone will need to re-route your request to hostmaster@princeton.edu . In particular, note this includes any time you place a Host Database request as a ticket in OIT's OPM incident ticketing system (available to IT support staff). And it also includes any time you misdirect a Host Database request to OIT staff members' personal email addresses.
It is best to use the Host Database Web site to submit any Host Database requests supported by the Web site, as most such requests are processed automatically. Requests sent any other way will always require manual handling. If you persistently send requests via email, OPM tickets, or via any mechanism other than via the Host Database Web site, and these requests could have been submitted via the Host Database Web site, handling of these requests may be delayed to allow us to give priority to customers whose manually-submitted requests truly required manual handling.