Account System

= The Fedora Account System =

The Fedora Account System keeps track of Fedora Project contributors and the projects they work on. It is used to grant authentication and authorization to various components. This currently includes the various CVS repositories and Bugzilla.

Using the Account System
The initial accounts page has links to:
 * Login to the FAS (Completing the  NewAccount  steps are necessary)
 * Apply for a new account
 * Joining Fedora

Other Tools

 * Query an Account
 * Query a Group

Account System Internals

 * Exporting the email aliases happens hourly, on the hour on bastion.
 * Exporting CVS and shell accounts happens hourly, shortly after :30 on various boxes.
 * Exporting the Bugzilla fedora_contrib group from the 'fedorabugs' group happens hourly, on the hour on ElliotLee's personal workstation inside Red Hat.

The account system code is available at git://git.fedorahosted.org/git/fas.git. The project page is at https://fedorahosted.org/fas/.

Do I need an account in the Fedora Account System?
Many of the Fedora sub-projects require an account in the Fedora Account System for contributors. The system allows management of contributor agreements, group memberships, a single sign-on usable throughout Fedora services, and more.

In short, if you wish to contribute to a project which uses FAS accounts, you need an account. If not, you do not.

What is the Contributor Agreement?
This is an agreement that helps to maintain Fedora's free and open source status by making certain that all contributions to the project are properly licensed, and ensuring that all contributions are available under an open source license, even if one is not explicitly declared. For more information, see Legal:Fedora Project Contributor Agreement

The FPCA replaces the former Individual Contributor License Agreement.

What is an SSH key, and why do I need one?
SSH, short for Secure SHell, allows cryptographically authenticated and encrypted connections between computers. SSH is used to tunnel CVS connections for the Fedora Project. Anytime you use CVS with the Fedora Project, the transaction will be performed through an SSH connection. Your SSH key will identify you to the CVS servers, and host keys on the CVS servers will allow your computer to verify the remote server, too. An SSH key is only needed if you are planning on contributing source code or content, working on Fedora Project website pages or using fedorapeople.org.

See Cryptography

I have requested a group membership, and it shows as unapproved, what does this mean?
New group memberships require approval from the group administrator or a group sponsor. Different groups handle this differently. See the appropriate project pages for the group for the specific process. Some projects, such as PackageMaintainers, will require you to have a dedicated sponsor or complete a certain procedure. Other groups may grant your request as soon as they get around to it.

I encountered a strange error while using the Account System, what should I do?
Send an email to the address at the bottom of this page, or file a ticket in the Account System Trac.

How do I complete the CA?
See How to sign CA

Where can I get more information about the account system?
Contact the management.

Voluntary
If you wish to deactivate your account for some reason, simply edit your account to remove all personal information, and mark the account as "Inactive."

For cause
Malicious usage may result in account termination. Individuals using multiple accounts without prior written approval will have all but one account terminated.

Users will be warned by email before any accounts are terminated