UH Login will be upgraded to the latest version of the Apereo CAS software.  With this upgrade we are simplifying our UI customizations while also ensuring that the user experience remains familiar.  The increased efficiency in deploying new versions of CAS software will become very important as we move towards a faster CAS software upgrade cadence.  We anticipate multiple upgrades annually and new procedures to support this cadence.  The faster cadence is needed to ensure the security of our UH Login services.

Schedule:

• New 6.3 Test environment: Monday, July 12, 2021

• Production environment: Sunday, August 15, 6:45 AM, 2021

The current UH Login experience vs the new UH Login experience:

Open

• CAS 6.3 implements Twitter Bootstrap (not new, but previously ignored by the UH Login customizations) and Material Design Components.

• CAS 6.3 utilizes the Maven WAR Overlays.  These make it easier to upgrade CAS while preserving the UH Login UI changes.  

• CAS 6.3 changes are implemented with minimal coding changes, as minimal as possible while ensuring a high degree of familiarity to our community.

The CAS 6.3 out-of-the-box presentation has evolved such that it is not much different from what we've implemented in UH Login already.

The changed elements:

• The username and pwd input boxes.  These are rendered

  • without the leading input text icons,

  • using UH colors for the boarders and filler text, and

  • using the filler text preservation feature to remind the user of what is being entered while typing.

• Pwd input box is rendered

  • [updated 09/29/2021] using the default CAS make-visible feature, which can't be left visible since it is only visible while being pressed (a minor security enhancement).

  • Due to ADA issues later discovered with the new implementation, we have reverted back to the original show/hide toggle implementation.  We have also notified the team that maintains the CAS open source project of the ADA issue.

• Login button

  • Login is spelled as a single word, the default CAS spelling.

• UH Logo

  • Slightly smaller in order to fit the Bootstrap layout and to reduce the need for further modifications.

• Copyright

  • Updated to 2021.

• Responsive design changes

  • The Forgot Password link is not converted to a button on small screens.

• UH Login Upgrade Blog for the UH developers community: <CAS 6.3 Upgrade plans for Summer 2021>