On June 17 2003, OIT Remote Access Services (dial-in services) will be reconfigured to use LDAP Directory accounts and passwords, instead of NIS (UNIX) accounts and passwords. This change is one step in making Princeton's password use more secure.
NIS accounts and passwords are the same ones that OIT UNIX systems (e.g. arizona, hats) have traditionally used; they are often referred to as "UNIX accounts and passwords." LDAP Directory accounts and passwords are the ones that OIT IMAP Mail Service uses; in the past they were sometimes referred to as "mail accounts and passwords."
If you use OIT Remote Access Services today, the account name you use to login to Remote Access will not change; it will remain your OIT netid. This is because both NIS accounts and LDAP use the same OIT netid, and NIS accounts are a subset of LDAP accounts,
However, the password you use to login to OIT Remote Access Services may change. That's because your NIS password and LDAP password may differ. If they differ, then beginning June 17 you will need to switch to specifying your LDAP password to login to OIT Remote Access Services. (If you use OIT Remote Access Service but do not enter your password each time you connect, then you have configured your computer to save the password (e.g. on disk); you will need to reconfigure your computer.)
If you wish, you may change your NIS and LDAP passwords using P-Synch, an OIT facility used to set a number of your OIT passwords, including those used for NIS and LDAP. You may even choose to change the passwords so they are identical to each other.
There are also LDAP accounts that are not present in NIS, because not all entries in the LDAP Directory have associated UNIX accounts. Up until now, these LDAP accounts could not use OIT Remote Access Services. Starting June 17 2003, these LDAP accounts will be able to use OIT Remote Access Service, assuming the accounts have a valid LDAP password.