CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Classification Web Plus provides two methods for automatic login: by IP (Internet Protocol) address
and by registration code. When a user logs in automatically, their session will be read-only.
This means they will not be able to modify local notes, create proposals or modify
account settings.
You must configure your account to allow automatic login. In order to login by IP address, the computers connecting to ClassWeb Plus must have a static IP address. This means that those computers must always be assigned the same IP address or range of IP addresses. Most home computers do not have static addresses (they are dyamic) and change periodically depending on your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Login by IP address:The remainder of this page describes how to configure your account to automatically login by IP address.
Login by registered computer:If you do not have a static IP address or only have a small number of computers that need automatic login, you may prefer this approach. It is simple to configure and does not require any knowledge of IP addresses. Please refer to the Automatic Login by Registered Computers section of the Account Settings Help Page for further instructions. This solution may also be used by people who work or study from home. It only requires logging in with a password once to register a computer and then future logins can be automatic (via the /Auto menu).
Proxy server: With more people working and studying from home, your institution can provide a proxy server for access to subscription services like ClassWeb Plus. There are both free and pay proxy services available. The proxy server does not physically have to reside at your institution -- it just needs a static IP address. Once you have added the IP address of the proxy server, your users will point their browsers to the proxy server to make the connection to ClassWeb Plus and get logged in automatically. Please contact your IT department for more information on this option.
LOGGING IN
Once you have associated one or more IP addresses with your account, you
must use auto-login menu (/Auto) instead of the regular
menu (/Menu) to access Classification Web Plus.
Only the auto-login menu will log you in automatically. The regular menu will always require you to log in manually. Both menus have a link to the other.
Any time you use auto-login, you will have read-only access to your account. If you need the ability to edit local notes, change account settings or submit proposals, you must log out and start a new session from the regular menu (/Menu).
IPV4 and IPV6
The IP addresses most people are familiar with have four digits separated by dots
(like 192.168.1.100). These are called IPv4 or Internet Protocol, version 4
addresses. You may have heard that the world is running out of IPv4 addresses because
these can only accomodate about 4 billion computers. If that sounds like
a lot, consider that a "smart phone" is also a computer and most people
have a smart phone.
The solution is IPv6 or Internet Protocol, version 6 which uses eight numbers
separated by colons (like 2603:7000:4c3d:db02:eed6:4063:d6b0:c669).
IPv6 runs over the same network as IPv4 and is being rolled out gradually
by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like your cable company. At this point in time, using
IPv6 is optional but in many cases you may already be using IPv6 without knowing it.
Keep in mind that even when you have IPv6, you will still be using IPv4 to connect
to sites that do not support IPv6. In order to use IPv6, your computer, your ISP
and the sites you connect to must all support the protocol.
Checking for IPv6
If you are interesting in knowing whether your computer connects to the internet using IPv6, click on
the following link:
https://ipv6.classweb.org/min/info
This is the ClassWeb Plus IPv6 diagnostics page. If your IP address has eight numbers separated by colons, you are making an IPv6 connection and this is your IPv6 address. If your IP address has four numbers separated by dots, you are making an IPv4 connection and this is your IPv4 address.
Even if you do have IPv6, you can still make IPv4 connections to ClassWeb Plus. To see your IPv4 address, click on the following link:
ClassWeb Plus Support for IPv6
ClassWeb Plus supports IPv6 through the following domain name:
ipv6.classweb.org
If you want to connect to ClassWeb Plus using IPv6, you must use ipv6.classweb.org. If your computer or ISP does not support IPv6, you can still use ipv6.classweb.org because it handles both IPv4 and IPv6.
ClassWeb Plus IPv6 Menu Links
Use the following main menu for IPv6 manual login:
https://ipv6.classweb.org/Menu/
Use the following main menu for IPv6 auto login:
https://ipv6.classweb.org/Auto/
Using IPv4 Only
To access ClassWeb Plus with IPv4 only, continue using the regular domain name:
classweb.org
This option is attractive if you want to use auto-login by IP address but aren't ready to add your IPv6 addresses to your account.
Use the following main menu for IPv4 manual login:
Use the following main menu for IPv4 auto login:
Switching Between IPv4 and IPv6
Keep in mind that accessing ClassWeb Plus at classweb.org
and ipv6.classweb.org at the same time will use two account sessions.
If you want to switch between sites without using two sessions, log out first.
CONFIGURATION
To configure your account to allow for automatic user login by IP address, use the
Settings
link found on the drop-down menu at the top-left corner of every page. From the Settings
Menu click on Account Settings and select the Login tab.
There is one text box for IPv4 addresses and a separate box for IPv6 addresses. If you click on the blue "information" icon under either text box, you will see your current IPv4 or IPv6 address. Your current address will depend on whether your computer supports IPv6 and which domain name you are currently using (classweb.org or ipv6.classweb.org). You may find knowing your current IP address helpful when adding new addresses to your account.
Each text box can accomodate multiple IP addresses. Each ip address should be placed on a separate line. When you have made all of your changes, click on the Save button on the upper-right corner of the page.
IPv4 Addresses
An IPv4 address contains four decimal numbers, separated by periods (i.e.
192.168.1.2). To input a network address (a range of IP addresses),
follow the IP address by a slash (/) and a prefix length from 8 to 32. The
prefix length indicates how many bits at the front of the address make up the
network address.
One of the most common scenarios is a prefix length of 24 which is
designated with a /24 after the IP address. It represents all 256 addresses
in the last position of the address. For example, the IPv4 address of
192.168.1.0/24 refers to all IP addresses from
192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.255.
If your network administrator has given you a network address with asterisks
(*) in it, you must convert this value by replacing the asterisks with zeros
and appending a network mask (a slash followed by a number) as follows:
| Asterisks |
Network Mask |
Example |
|---|---|---|
| One |
/24 |
192.168.1.* becomes 192.168.1.0/24 |
| Two |
/16 |
192.168.*.* becomes 192.168.0.0/16 |
| Three |
/8 |
192.*.*.* becomes 192.0.0.0/8 |
IPv6 Addresses
An IPv6 address contains eight hexadecimal numbers (the digits 0-9 and the letters a-f),
separated by colons (i.e. 2603:7000:4c3d:db02:eed6:4063:d6b0:c669).
To input a network address (a range of IP addresses),
follow the IP address by a slash (/) and a prefix length from 56 to 128. The
prefix length indicates how many bits at the front of the address make up the
network address.
One of the most common scenarios is a prefix length of 64 which is
designated with a /64 after the IP address. It means that the last four
numbers in the IP address can be any value. For example, the IPv6 address of
2603:7000:4c3d:db02:eed6:4063:d6b0:c669/64 refers to all IP addresses from
2603:7000:4c3d:db02:0:0:0:0 to
2603:7000:4c3d:db02:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff.
In the previous example the /64 prefix length means that the last
four numbers can be anything. As a result, ClassWeb Plus will change this number
into 2603:7000:4c3d:db02:0:0:0:0/64 when you save your account settings.
This example could also have been written as 2603:7000:4c3d:db02::/64
because of the double colon rule (see next note).
Note: IPv6 addresses may contain double colons in place of a series of zeros.
Double colons may only be used once in an IP address. For example,
2603:7000:4c3d:db02::c669 will expand into 2603:7000:4c3d:db02:0:0:0:c669.
The double colons add enough zeros to create an address with eight numbers.
ClassWeb Plus supports both IPv4 and IPv6, simultaneously. This means you can configure auto-login for both IPv4 and IPv6, and your users may connect to ClassWeb Plus with either. You may also choose to only support IPv4 or IPv6, or neither. When diagnosing auto-login issues, first decide which IP version you are attempting (IPv4 or IPv6).
Tip: When diagnosing end-user proglems with auto-login, if you don't have access to the user's computer, have them send you screen shots. Make sure the screen shots include the web browser URL bar so that the URLs can be checked. If you need help from the ClassWeb Plus support desk, please send screen shots to help explain the problem.
IPv4 Diagnostics
1) Verify that the user is connecting to the regular ClassWeb Plus domain name of
classweb.org and that they are using the following auto-login menu:
2) Verify the IPv4 address the user's computer is connecting from by having them click on the following link:
3) Compare the user's IPv4 address to the list in your account setings on the Login tab, in the text box marked Automatic Login by IPv4 Address (Advanced Feature).
IPv6 Diagnostics
1) Verify that the user is connecting to the IPv6 ClassWeb Plus domain name of
ipv6.classweb.org and that they are using the following auto-login menu:
https://ipv6.classweb.org/Auto/
2) Verify the IPv6 address the user's computer is connecting from by having them click on the following link:
https://ipv6.classweb.org/min/info
3) Compare the user's IPv6 address to the list in your account setings on the Login tab, in the text box marked Automatic Login by IPv6 Address (Advanced Feature).