Username Matching in Securly Classroom

Why it is important

For Windows and macOS devices utilizing the MSI agent or PKG file for deployment, Securly uses the device's Username for student authentication and agent activation.

Critical Configuration Requirement

The Username configured on the Windows or macOS device must precisely match the corresponding configuration within your Classroom management platform to ensure successful operation.

Discovering the Username

The most straightforward method to retrieve the active Username on the device is by executing the following command in the system's command prompt or terminal:  whoami

How Securly Classroom Matches Usernames

The Securly Classroom agent checks the SAMAccountName (the unique user ID in a Windows domain) when it communicates with the server. This ID is usually the same as the student's username but can differ. The system matches this ID with the username field in the Students section.

If they match, the student is added to the class. If they don’t match, a red exclamation mark will appear. Clicking it will show you more information about the mismatch, including the SAMAccountName used for login.

This process works the same even if you're not directly interacting with the SAMAccountName, such as when you are using locally-created users in BYOD or have logged in users through GCPW.

Limitations of SAMAccountName

The SAMAccountName field has a limit of 20 characters. This means that a student’s username can’t be longer than 20 characters, whether it's their email or another identifier. All these accounts point to the same local username, which follows the SAMAccountName format.

However, on some macOS systems, the 20-character limit doesn’t apply. If that’s the case for you, it’ll need to be updated. 

How to Ensure Accurate Username Matching

For Schools Using Student IDs

• If usernames are based on student IDs, there’s typically no issue with matching. The system will work as expected.

For Schools Using Email Addresses as Usernames

• If your usernames are based on email addresses, the truncated 20 character convention will work.  

For GCPW Schools and Custom Conventions

Schools using GCPW (Google Credential Provider for Windows) or other custom username formats will need to work with our support team to ensure accurate username matching. There are a few ways to handle this:

• Option 1: Update the Convention
  GCPW schools fall in this category. We have a convention we can apply to your users when generating usernames to match the GCPW convention. This works well if all usernames can be generated based on your SIS import data.
  
  Create a support ticket and let us know how you would like to proceed. Mention the convention that should be used. If you use GCPW, mention this. Note that usernames will be truncated to 20 characters as we are using the SAMAccountName format. If your machines seem to be behaving differently, provide a screenshot of the student device error message that shows the username in question or a log report.
   
• Option 2: Override Specific Usernames
  If you're using Securly Sync, create a CSV with OneRoster sourcedId and username that we can use to update the usernames for you during sync.
  
  For initiating this process, create a support ticket describing the goal (do not include the CSV yet). We will then guide you through the next steps for data augmentation.
   
• Option 3: Update Usernames Manually
  If you prefer to do it yourself, log in to Securly Classroom and uncheck the “Use as source for usernames” option for your Roster Integration under Settings > System. This will keep your current usernames intact and stop future syncs from changing them. You’ll also need to add usernames manually when adding new students.