Capacity Building Programme on the onboarding of Institutions onto the Nigerian Research and Education Network Identity Federation

Name: Capacity Building Programme on the onboarding of Institutions onto the Nigerian Research and Education Network Identity Federation
Start: 2026-09-03T08:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-09-04T18:00:00+01:00
Location: Peter Okebukola Building. National Universities Commission. No. 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, FCT

3 Sept 2026, 08:30 → 4 Sept 2026, 18:00 Africa/Lagos

NgREN Secretariat (Peter Okebukola Building. National Universities Commission. No. 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, FCT)

NgREN Secretariat

Peter Okebukola Building. National Universities Commission. No. 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, FCT

Description

This two-day capacity building programme is designed to equip technical personnel from participating institutions with the knowledge and practical skills required to onboard their institutions to the Nigerian Research and Education Network Identity Federation (NgRENID). Participants will receive hands-on training on Identity Provider (IdP) deployment, federation requirements, authentication, metadata management, and best practices to enable secure access to NgREN services and global research and education resources.

NgREN

info@ngren.edu.ng

+234 916 153 1765

Registration

Participants

BENJAMIN ADEBISI
Giwa Yusuf
John Paul Iloh
Kameel Tijani
Kate Folayan
Miracle Nwakeze
Mohammed Salihu
Mohammed sani Ibrahim
ROCK EZEKIEL
+6

Thursday 3 September
- Thu 3 Sept
- Fri 4 Sept
- 08:30 → 10:00
  
  Arrival & Registration 1h 30m
  
  Participant check-in, credential verification, and participant introductions.
- 10:00 → 10:10
  
  Welcome & Opening Remarks 10m
  
  Opening address by the Programme Coordinator outlining workshop goals and expectations.
  
  Speaker: Dr Joshua Atah (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 10:10 → 10:30
  
  Introduction to Identity Federation (NgRENID) and eduroam. 20m
  
  An introduction to NgRENID and eduroam, covering the fundamentals of identity federation, secure federated access, global connectivity through eduGAIN, and the benefits for Nigerian research and education institutions.
  
  Speaker: Mr Abdulkarim Giwa Suleiman (Nigerian Research and Education Network)
- 10:20 → 10:30
  
  System architecture primer: Shibboleth IdP and OpenLDAP. 10m
  
  This session provides an overview of the core components of an identity federation infrastructure, focusing on the roles of Shibboleth Identity Provider (IdP) and OpenLDAP. Participants will learn how these technologies work together to authenticate users, manage identity information, and enable secure, federated access to services within the NgRENID ecosystem.
  
  Speaker: Mr Chinedu Otuya (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 10:30 → 12:00
  
  Lab 1: Deploying & Structuring OpenLDAP 1h 30m
  
  Deployment: Installing OpenLDAP on institutional server instances, creating DNS records, and installing SSL certificates.
  
  Speakers: Mr Femi Ogundele (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN)), Mr Oluwatobi Fowora (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 12:00 → 12:15
  
  Coffee Break & Quick Troubleshooting 15m
  
  Refreshment break and informal Q&A / catch-up session for Lab 1 setups.
- 12:15 → 15:30
  
  Lab 2: Shibboleth IdP Installation & LDAP Binding 3h 15m
  
  Core Environment: Installing Java and Jetty web server; downloading Shibboleth IdP software.
  Security: Generating institutional cryptographic keys and SSL/TLS certificates.
  Attribute Release: Configuring the IdP to safely release attributes.
  Directory Integration: Pointing ldap.properties securely to LDAP and mapping attributes via attribute-resolver.xml.
  
  Speakers: Mr Femi Ogundele (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN)), Mr Oluwatobi Fowora (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 15:30 → 16:30
  
  Lunch Break 1h
  
  Networking and lunch.
- 16:30 → 17:30
  
  Day 1 Wrap-up & Metadata Exchange 1h
  
  Customizing the institutional IdP interface.
  Generating institutional IdP metadata XML.
  Submitting metadata to the NgRENID Staging Environment Registry.
  
  Speakers: Mr Femi Ogundele (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN)), Oluwatobi Fowora (NgREN)
Friday 4 September
- Thu 3 Sept
- Fri 4 Sept
- 08:00 → 09:00
  
  Arrival an Signing in 1h
- 09:00 → 09:30
  
  Day 1 Recap 30m
  
  Review of key takeaways, troubleshooting
  outstanding IdP issues, and day two agenda review.
- 09:30 → 10:30
  
  Lab 3: Deploying FreeRADIUS for Institutional Authentication 1h
  
  Architecture Deep Dive: Understanding hierarchical RADIUS proxying (Local → National → Regional/Global).
  Installation: Setting up FreeRADIUS.
  LDAP Auth: Configuring FreeRADIUS to authenticate local users directly against the LDAP directory built on Day 1.
  
  Speaker: Mr Femi Ogundele (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 10:30 → 11:00
  
  Coffee Break 30m
  
  Refreshments and informal networking.
- 11:00 → 13:00
  
  Lab 4: Upstream Proxying & eduroam Integration 2h
  
  Registration: Creating institutional accounts on the eduroam Switchboard platform.
  
  Proxy Routing: Configuring proxy.conf and clients.conf to seamlessly route
  unknown/visiting user realms to the NgREN National Top-Level RADIUS (TLR) servers.
  
  Speaker: Mr Femi Ogundele (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 13:00 → 14:00
  
  Lunch Break 1h
  
  Midday meal and networking.
- 14:00 → 15:30
  
  Lab 5: Wireless Controller (WLC) Config & Testing 1h 30m
  
  SSID Provisioning: Configuring mock Wireless LAN Controllers (WLC) or Access Points (AP) to broadcast eduroam via WPA2/WPA3 Enterprise
  Testing & Debugging: Using tools like radclient and the eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool (CAT) to test and debug user logins.
  
  Speaker: Mr Femi Ogundele (Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN))
- 15:30 → 16:30
  
  Open Clinic: Troubleshooting & Production Onboarding 1h
  
  Speaker: Mr Femi Ogundele
- 16:30 → 17:00
  
  Closing Remarks 30m