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EZproxy/Blackboard Building Block 1.4 Install/Update

Required versions of Blackboard and EZproxy

The enterprise version of Blackboard 6.1 or later is required.

For Blackboard 6.1 through 7.0, the minimum version of EZproxy required is EZproxy 3.2b GA (2005-04-03).

For Blackboard 7.1 or later, the minimum version of EZproxy required is EZproxy 3.8a GA (2006-07-07).

For Blackboard 7.2 or later, the minimum version of this building block required is 1.3.

Two variants of the Building Block

There are two variants of the Building Block. The first variant is for Blackboard 6.1 and 6.2. The second variant is for Blackboard 6.3 and later and will not install on earlier versions.

Starting with Blackboard 6.3, a user can be assigned to multiple portal roles. The variant for 6.1 and 6.2 only allows authorization decisions based on the primary portal role. This variant can be installed on later versions of Blackboard, but it retains the limitation of testing only primary portal role. The variant for 6.3 and later can test based on primary and secondary portal roles. Support for secondary portal role testing is the only functional difference between the two variants.

System Extension versus Building Block

In older releases of Blackboard, the term System Extension appeared in places where Building Block now appears. If you are installing the Building Block on an older release of Blackboard, the option to use at a given step may be named slightly differently from what appears in these instructions (e.g. for Manage Building Blocks, you might have Manage System Extensions instead).

Change history

This is version 1.4 of the EZproxy/Blackboard Building block. See EZproxy/Blackboard Building Block Changes for information on changes that have appeared in different versions of this building block.

Install/Update

The following instructions describe how to install or update to the current version of the EZproxy/Blackboard Building Block. The instructions for installing and updating are the same except where noted.

  1. For Blackboard 6.1 or 6.2, download ezproxybbb.1.4.61.zip and save it to your computer.

    For Blackboard 6.3 or later, download ezproxybbb.1.4.63.zip and save it to your computer.

  2. Log in to Blackboard as a system administrator.
  3. Go into the Blackboard System Admin area.
  4. In Blackboard Building Blocks Management, click Manage Building Blocks.
  5. If a version of the EZproxy/Blackboard Building Block is already installed and has a version number starting 2006, you have the original beta version installed. You will need to remove this version before you can install the production release. When you remove the building block, your settings will be retained and will reappear when you install the current version.
  6. In Manage Building Blocks, click Install Building Block.
  7. Browse to the zip file downloaded in the first step, highlight it, click OK, click Submit. Blackboard should confirm installation of the Building Block, click OK. If your are updating and Blackboard complains about a newer version being installed, you may need to remove the existing version then reinstall.
  8. Now back at the Manage Building Blocks, change the status of the EZproxy Building Block to Available. Review the permissions page, click OK. Blackboard confirms the Building Block is available, click OK.
  9. Blackboard 7.2 introduced a new Course/Org Default option for building blocks. This building block does not have any visible presence within courses or organizations, so whether this setting is left in the default Unavailable or changed to Available has no effect on this building block.
  10. Next to the EZproxy Building Block, click Properties.

  11. If you are installing for the first time, you will need to create an EZproxy server configuration:

    1. In Add/Modify EZproxy Server Configurations, click Add EZproxy server configuration.

    2. Fill in the fields in Add EZproxy Server Configuration as follows:

      • Auth: pick an arbitrary text string to identify the EZproxy server.
      • EZproxy server URL: enter the URL to your EZproxy server, including the port number if your server requires a port (e.g. http://ezproxy.yourlib.org:2048 ).
      • SHA1 shared secret: this is an arbitrary string used to digitally sign the information sent to the EZproxy server. The SHA1 secret should be kept secure. If compromised, you can change it on this page and in the user.txt/ezproxy.usr configuration file to a new value.
      • Authorization Mapping: leave this blank for now, which authorizes all users who can log into Blackboard to also access EZproxy. See Authorization Mapping for information on how to build an authorization mapping
      • Click Submit. If necessary, correct errors, then submit again until the configuration is accepted. Click OK.

  12. Click Suggested user.txt/ezproxy.usr configuration.

    If you are installing for the first time, review the information provided for the entries needed in user.txt/ezproxy.usr to complete integration. Copy and paste the appropriate configuration information into user.txt/ezproxy.usr.

    If you are updating, cross-check the suggested information with the settings on your existing EZproxy server as the settings may have changed.

    If Blackboard is set to require SSL on the log in page, you will need to change the URL in the suggested configuration that appears after CGI= from http:// to https://.

  13. If your config.txt/ezproxy.cfg file has an AutoLoginIP entry for your current workstation, the following changes will not have any effect and you will need to test from a machine that is not within an AutoLoginIP range. With the changes complete, try accessing the login URL of your EZproxy server (e.g. http://ezproxy.yourlib.org:2048/login ). If you chose full integration, you should move right through to the menu. If you chose mixed integration, you should have the option to log in to Blackboard.
  14. If necessary, return to the EZproxy Building Block properties and use Modify to change any of the settings.
  15. To link Blackboard with another EZproxy server, return to the EZproxy Building Block properties and use either Add EZproxy server configuration or Copy for one of the existing configurations.