Outside Vendors And Your OTDI Website

OTDI Web Hosting encourages our customers to use internal development teams (Faculty, Students & Staff) to keep their website content & management software (Drupal, WordPress, etc.) current, patched, and relevant. When those internal resources don’t exist, OTDI Web Hosting recommends the use of outside website design vendors.

Among the plethora of outside designers, OTDI Web Hosting has no preference for one vendor over another, but we do require any vendor accessing protected Web Hosting resources like SSH & sFTP to have a valid OSU Sponsored Guest Account and VPN access.  

Any OSU Employee can easily request a Guest Account, but due to the varied nature of The University, creating them can seem daunting with over 18 Role assignments, 7 Actor definitions, and a multitude of Job-Families.  You can find the full documentation here, but we’ve found that 95% of our Web Hosting customers can use this simplified process.

(Note! For this example, we’ll be using the made-up name, Marylou Wilensky)

First, let’s check to ensure your chosen vendor tech doesn’t already have a guest account.

  1. Login to my.osu.edu
  2. Under ‘Guest Tools’ on the Left-Hand Menu, click ‘Find Guest Requests’
  3. Enter the technician’s last name and click [Search]
A screenshot of the 'Wilensky' search results.

Several Wilensky’s found, but no Marylou Wilensky. We need to create a new account.

Requesting a new Sponsored Guest Account for Marylou Wilensky.

  1. Under ‘Guest Tools’ on the Left-Hand Menu, click ‘Add New Guest’, read the descriptive text, and click [Next].
  2. In the Request Form, enter these values:
Screenshot of Request Form, Part 1.
  • Relationship Role: Contractor/Vendor/Other
  • Detailed Role: University Contractor idM Only
  • First Name: Marylou
  • Last Name: Wilensky
  • Email Address: someone@not-an-osu.email
  • Start Date: Pick a date
  • Expiration date: Pick another date >365 days away
  • Primary Sponsor: your_name.#
  • Alternate Sponsor: your_managers_name.#
  • Guest Administrator: Choose best option from dropdown menu.
  1. Click [Next] for Part 2 of the Request Form
  2. In Part 2 of the Request Form, enter these values:
A screenshot of the Request Form - Part 2.
  • Campus: Columbus
  • Title: External Website Design Technician
  • Business Reason: Something like, “Access to OTDI Web Hosting’s Backend while we design my awesome website!”
  1. Click [Next] to review your Sponsored Guest Account request.
  2. Click [Create Request] to request your Sponsored Guest Account.
    • This request has an approval step that must be approved by the ‘Alternate Sponsor’ entered in Step #5. The approver can complete this action at my.osu.edu.

Once Approved, the account will be created & you‘ll be notified of its completion. Then, you’ll need to:

  1. Request they be granted access to OSU’s VPN Software & Service.
    • Click here to open your email client & request access. Just enter your Guest’s Name.# account in the body of the email and click [send].
  2. Your guest will need to Activate their new Name.# account before using it.

Finally, here’s some additional information your Guests may need after activating their accounts.

Link to this post!