Getting an account

From OCFwiki

Getting an account on the OCF server is a relatively simple process.

1. Check Eligibility. Check the account eligibility to make sure that you or your group are eligible for an OCF account.
   1. Students: all regularly enrolled students are eligible
   2. Groups: all OSL-registered groups are eligible
   3. Note: But our list of eligibilities cover much more than that, so make sure to check our account eligibility page.
2. Visit the OCF Computer Lab. Check the staff schedule to see when a staff member will be in the lab (Heller Lounge, in the Martin Luther King Student Union, 2F.) You need to bring the following if you are:
   1. An Individual. Your university identification and a picture ID (if your identification does not have a picture)
   2. A Group. (Note for group accounts. Individuals ignore this.) Group accounts can be created for your student organization.
      1. Your organization must be registered with Office of Student Life .
      2. Bring a copy of your OSL group verification form to office hours.
      3. The person who brings the verification form must be either a signatory on the form or a designated contact (and have a signed letter from one of the signatories claiming that the contact is authorized).
3. Fill a New Accounts Form. Bring a filled "new accounts" form to a staff member, and make sure to read the user policy on the form carefully beforehand. The form is available in paper and PDF form. (You can check if your chosen username is taken yet with this program.)
   1. Paper Form. The tangible paper form is available in the paper tray by the printer in the OCF computer lab.
   2. PDF Form. You can also fill out this form beforehand by downloading and printing it. Here are the account forms for individual accounts and group accounts.
4. Sign-up Process with Staff Member. After approving your account and verifying your status, the staff member will then ask you to input an interim password into the account queue. Your password should be 6-8 characters, letters and numbers, and mixed case. After your account is created, please change your password.
5. Await E-mail Confirming Full Activation. In less than a week, your account should be created and usable.

Group account vs. Individual account

Are you considering whether you should get an individual account or group account to host pages regarding activities of a UCB-affiliated group that you are involved with? Following is a distinction that we draw between group accounts and individual accounts and will help you decide whether you should get a group account:

• Individual account: Individual accounts are associated with a single person. This means:
  • The account password must not be shared between two or more people. Account sharing is against the OCF policies and if it continues after a warning, the account will be disabled.
  • The account name must be based on your own real name, and it will be part of the URL for the page you are hosting.
  • Lastly, individual accounts are not eligible for virtual hosting service that we offer for group accounts.
• Group account: Group accounts are associated with a group, which means:
  • The account password may be shared between several members of group, or anyone else (in particular, a hired webmaster) who is eligible to get an individual account.
  • Since the account is associated with the group, it will outlast any one single person's time at Berkeley. In particular, if the group goes dormant for a few years, most likely the account will still be there when the group becomes active again, and all that the new contact person for the group needs to do is reset the account password in person (if that had been lost over time).
  • Lastly, group accounts are eligible for virtual hosting, which allows for a shorter, more memorable URL, among many other benefits.