# Adding AAF Authentication **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** knowledge-base, authentication, aaf\ **Created:** [14 February 2025 14:19 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/adding-aaf-authentication/4166 "2025-02-14T14:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aidan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.access-hive.org.au/aidan/32/42_2.png) [@Aidan](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/Aidan)\ **Post date:** [14 February 2025 14:19 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/adding-aaf-authentication/4166/1 "2025-02-14T14:19:38Z")
## About How to add [Australian Access Federation (AAF)](https://aaf.edu.au) authentication to your account. ## Who is this for? Anyone with a user account on the forum who is a member of a [subscriber organisation](https://aaf.edu.au/subscribers/), which includes most Australian Universities and many other Research Organisations such as CSIRO and ANSTO. ## Why should I do this? AAF provides a service that allows you to login to the forum using your institutional credentials. This means that, you don’t need to manage yet another set of login credentials. AAF provides high quality affiliation data, and is a trusted source of identity. Also, ACCESS-NRI is required to report broad metrics to our partners about how many of their stakeholders are using our service. This reporting is one way of demonstrating the value that ACCESS-NRI brings to the community. ## How do I add AAF if I already have an account If you already have an account on the forum you can easily add AAF authentication without affecting the way you currently login. It will simply mean you can also use AAF authentication in addition to your other login methods. > ⚠ You must be logged in for this to work Go to [your account preference page](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/my/preferences/account) and it should look like this: ![Home Preferences Before](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/access1/original/2X/3/3d64be9e0c03b418f8a46e8990df5cd4a401ccdb.png) > ⚠ If you cannot see **Associated Accounts** you may have enabled two-factor authentication (2FA). You can [turn this off in your preferences](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/my/preferences/second-factor) (password will be required). In this case Homer has connected his GitHub account, but not his AAF. Simply push on the “Connect” button next to AAF: ![Associated account buttons 2](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/access1/original/2X/c/c33149289f2a87900b0ddd92a08d167ad873895c.png) This will take you to the AAF login window. Select the institution to which you belong and the authentication process will proceed. It may ask for your username and password, or if you are already logged in through AAF to another service it may not. Now your user preferences page will look something like this, with the Associated Accounts now showing AAF as authenticated, and the email associated with the account. ![Homer Preferences AFter](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/access1/original/2X/3/3a9a9de60fdd2aea4a1e7c39d732853de640908a.png) ## How do I add AAF if I don’t already have an account If you don’t already have an account follow the instructions for registering and choose AAF as your registration option: > [@How to register to contribute to the forum](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/how-to-register-to-contribute-to-the-forum/884): > > About Describes how to register to get an account on this forum Who is this for? The forum is completely open to access and read. However registration is required for anyone who wants to interact in any way on this forum: reply, post, like, bookmark or watch topics, tags or categories. Who can register? Anyone can register for an account on the ACCESS-Hive forum. The [welcome topic](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/welcome-to-the-access-hive-forum/7) outlines what the forum is for, and who might be interested in joining. The [FAQ](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/faq) has guidelines about how to use th… ## What if I change my institution? If you change institution you will not be able to log in using AAF connected to your old institution. You can add other authentication methods like GitHub once you have an active account. It can be a good idea to have alternate login methods as you can then access your account in this way. ### How to switch AAF affiliation 1. Disconnect your old AAF authentication (click the red trash icon next to your AAF Associated Account) 2. Follow [instructions above to authenticate to your new institution](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/adding-aaf-authentication/4166#p-12975-how-do-i-add-aaf-if-i-already-have-an-account-4) if that is affiliated with AAF If you do lose access to your account please email [access.nri@anu.edu.au](mailto:access.nri@anu.edu.au) ## Support If you have any difficulties follow these instructions > [@ACCESS Help and Support](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-help-and-support/908): > > How do you get help and support? [Create a topic here on the ACCESS-Hive Forum](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/new-topic?tags=help) Tag it with #help. face_in_clouds Private help option (NEW!!) Prefer not to post your question publicly? [Write a private help request!](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/new-message?&body=%253Cdiv%2520data-theme-toc%253D%2522true%2522%253E%253C%252Fdiv%253E%250A%250A%2523%2523%2520Description%2520of%2520request%253A%250A%250A%2523%2523%2520Environment%253A%250A%250A%253C!--%2520NCI%253F%2520ARE%253F%2520gadi%2520login%2520node%2520or%2520PBS%2520job%253F%2520--%253E%250A%250A%253C!--%2520List%2520software%2520versions%2520if%2520relevant.%2520--%253E%250A%250A%2523%2523%2520What%2520executed%253A%250A%250A%253C!--%2520copy%2520and%2520paste%2520any%2520commands%2520and%2520output%2520in%2520a%2520code%2520block%2520--%2520%253E%250A%253C--%2520for%2520code%2520you%2520are%2520writing%252C%2520prepare%2520a%2520minimal%2520reproducible%2520example%2520(https%253A%252F%252Fforum.access-hive.org.au%252Fdocs%253Ftopic%253D843)%2520--%253E%250A%250A%2523%2523%2520Actual%2520results%253A%250A%250A%253C!--%2520Copy%2520full%2520error%2520messages%2520if%2520relevant%2520--%253E%250A%250A%2523%2523%2520Expected%2520results%253A%250A%250A%2523%2523%2520Additional%2520info%253A&groupname=Support) This opens a new private message with the ACCESS-NRI Support team only. Other ACCESS-NRI staff will be added only if the Support team thinks they can help address your request. What happens after you create a help request? 1. ACCESS-NRI help and community help (NEW TAGS!!) For fu…