Account migration

Tried to look at my portal page today and it said "you dont have permission"
I closed the page and re opened it to get a page saying "your account has been migrated to single server login" or something like that. There was a "skip for now" option.
I clicked the SSO option and was directed to a blank screen that stayed blank !!!
I opened a fresh web page and went to the portal page again but used the "skip for now" option and that opened my portal and allowed me to get to the Community page and type this.

What is going on.
Why don't GivEnergy warn their customers

Just had a pop up saying that GE were migrating all their customers to single sign on (whatever that is) and would I like to click the button to transfer across now. Umm, I don't think so!

I've just migrated without any problems.

Single sign in how?
What does it sign me into (not just the portal I assume?)
How does it sign me in (are we talking oauth, google, facebook etc?)

My login is now giving me the choice of LOGIN or SSO. Wonder if you have to use old login and transfer to SSO before logging out and logging in again with new SSO login?

I signed out and tried to sign in with the SSO bit.
It asked for my email but then failed to login.
I have never used my email for my GivEnergy login. I have always used a username.
I went back to my portal and logged in with my username.

A bit of information from GivEnergy would be useful

SteveCook A bit of information from GivEnergy would be useful

Hmmm sounds like a new own goal is on its way just before Christmas and the support staff are already trying to resolve the dongle issues...

Happy Christmas everyone...

Worked fine for me, all back to normal. Had to create a new user/password, just used original email and new p/w.

…oh, has to go into app and find my modem to get ‘home’ to work.

I can see the point of this for installer accounts.

However the "benefits" to end-users seem somewhat nebulous as this is already available...

What this means for end users
For end users, SSO provides a seamless sign-in experience for consumers to access both the GivEnergy app and portal with a single set of credentials associated with their identity. It increases security through multi-factor authentication (MFA), protects personal data as part of GDPR compliance requirements, and simplifies account management.
There is currently no deadline to enforce SSO login for end users – any deadline will be announced in due course.

I intend waiting until I have to. May as well let the installers beta-test it 😃

If you want to log in normally, just enter your username and password and click LOGIN.

Don't click SSO LOGIN unless you want to be beta tester. They plan to upgrade ALL customers, meaning, you don't need to be the first to test it. No need to rush.

Well, there is a link to this [https://givenergy.co.uk/givenergy-transition-to-new-sso-service-in-further-commintment-to-data-security/] on my home page -- most of it is aimed at installers, for the time being anyway.

SimonP Looks like we have more than one year to click SSO LOGIN button, and then to add/configure 2nd factor authentication method they mention. No problem at all.

Both myself and my wife access the inverter. How will that work with 2FA?

bRhFDKtjRMK9 2fa better not be phone number

Jellybaby i just migrated to SSO login and the 2FA is a 6 digit code sent to the email address of the account

Hmmm GivEnergy are a pita just signed me out of the app and to sign back in I needed my 2FA which I use an authenticator app which generates a code.

To get that code I need to open another page and in doing so the page to access the app closes..

So after trial and error. Write down the code beforehand you get 30secs to use it.

But the GivEnergy page to enter that code keeps swapping focus on keyboard back to letters not the number key pad!!!

The dev team are really taking the piss and should test this before releasing it. I managed to sign in but truly frustrating and for non technical folk it's going to cause more support calls and stress all round!!

The GivEnergy management team need a serious shake up...

It signed me out on android and ios just re entered saved passwords etc and all works fine.

Not sure how 3rd party Apps are going to deal with 2FA once it is enforced on all end users.

Thinking Inverter Monitor etc.

So why can't it continue using an authenticator app rather than emailing a code?
Will the forum login be added?
You need to update the android app to be able to login with SSO (old login still works).

Simon_C I would have thought that the 2FA is only for cloud access - inverter monitor reads directly (locally as I understand it) so wouldn't be affected?

It's just taken me six attempts to log into the app from my android phone, six authentication codes later and some irritation later and I'm back to where I was before the "easier way to log in" !!!!

I'm not even going to attempt this until the new year but I do admire the bravery of deploying an auth migration the week before Christmas.

Should any of the support team actually be hiding on here, I think Ash conveyed it far better than I could:

"I can't lie to you about your chances, but... you have my sympathies.”

This smacks to me of a similar situation to the GivInstaller app update, which was actually targeted at installers, not general users. Happy to be proved wrong.

hoggy indeed, not exactly the best time to do it especially when it looks like to people you are not answering any contact attempts

hoggy I do admire marvel at the bravery stupidity of deploying an auth migration the week before Christmas.

Fixed your post 😉

M_J .. I wonder if anybody actually tested it on Andoid? Seriously annoying.

I decided to bite the bullet and went for it. No problems at all with the web, and had to try a couple of times to get the app up and running (android), but fairly painless 😃

As I said before I did it on android and iOS with no issues. Just done it again on my wife’s android phone also no problem

bRhFDKtjRMK9 it wasn't clear that this is a beta test period, rather something that would become compulsory soon

hoggy "I do admire the bravery" you are Sir Humphrey and I claim my £5

M_J I had exactly the same issue, this update is really badly timed and implemented.

SSO also feels pointless, I have an identity using my gmail account and a strong MFA code via the google authenticator app as well, what would I need SSO for? just seems to be for the benefit of GE and not for consumers.

It also signed me out of the GE app so I had to re-authenticate to get back in, and then hit the same experience you did.

Another piece of dogsh1t from Givenergy.

LordHippos

I have run Dev teams and this should have easily been spotted in UAT, but I doubt they have any UAT.

As for those saying it worked fine for you, bully for you....

Other users are accessing the app in a different way via 2FA on an authenticator app and that requires a work around that less technically able folk will not work out.

Anyway let's hope the new year brings a new management ethos and stability to the GivEnergy support team...

Did the update yesterday and it went fine but I’ve now got no local monitoring on the app. I can still log in with either my old username and password on the standard login screen or with my new username and password on the new SSO login screen. Doing a manual scan for the inverter does nothing. Luckily I don’t rely on the app for anything as it’s garbage but it’s still frustrating.

Goshiki2 Thanks for taking one for the team 🏆 Beta testers are always welcome in GivEnergy community. 😅

sunnyjoe it wasn't clear that this is a beta test period, rather something that would become compulsory soon

Please see post above from @Goshiki2 if you think this is well and tested smooth transition, instead of a beta test. 😅 Regarding this being "compulsory soon": Deadline for transition is February 2026. Plenty of time. Link with details was posted earlier by @SimonP.

bRhFDKtjRMK9 I think I just do it in the vain hope that it might actually improve something 🙄
I’m yet to be proved right 😂.
As I said though, I rarely use the app for anything so it’s no great loss.
Edit: I just did a full shutdown and restart of my IPhone and it’s now got local access 🤷🏻‍♂️

bRhFDKtjRMK9
I haven't done this yet as I am completely useless with computers and by the sounds of it its a right bloody faff but my deadline says 3rd February 2025.

sunnyjoe Sir Humphrey would call it "courageous" 🙂

steveroberts1 You are right, this is my oversight, twice! My apologies. February next year it is, then. Two months. Still, plenty of time for them fox fix any potential problems.

I think you have covered almost all the wrinkles except passwords. My original pasSw0rd met all the criteria bar one. My paSw0rd& has an extra symbol. They are not alone in forcing a re-arrangement to include a symbol. Have found this on some old sits that I have not used in a while.

GivEnergy blog post about the migration to SSO https://givenergy.co.uk/givenergy-transition-to-new-sso-service-in-further-commintment-to-data-security/

SSO in general is a good think but I too wonder about the rationale of launching this and starting the installer reminder process just a couple of days before Christmas. Seems that installers will only be able to bypass the existing login method 5 times before they are forced into using SSO.

Can only assume this timetable is driven by something external such as an ISO audit that GivEnergy have coming up or something similar.

No deadline for customer migration so I am ignoring it

I don't understand why it says a single set of credentials for the app and the portal. Isn't that already the case? According to the google password manager I use the same username and password for both.

nophead we use the same credentials for the app and portal but different credentials for the community forum.

SSO should enable users/installers to link their authentication to another trusted source, e.g. their email system to their givenergy account to simplify access.

So imagine you login to your email system (say on Microsoft Office) and because you have confirmed your identity to Microsoft and Microsoft is a trusted authentication source you can then access your GivEnergy account without having to separately login and without a separate password - this is because the GivEnergy account accepts Microsoft as a trusted authenticator. No separate GivEnergy login, no separate password to remember.
Extend that to say your Octopus account and again you can login without needing a separate password and login sequence.

Imagine it for an installer who installs GivEnergy equipment, Solax, FoxESS, etc. At the moment they need separate credentials and passwords for each separate system. With SSO the installer doesn’t have all those credentials to manage they can just use all the trusted systems seamlessly

geoffreycoan because you have confirmed your identity to Microsoft and Microsoft is a trusted authentication source you can then access your GivEnergy account without having to separately login and without a separate password - this is because the GivEnergy account accepts Microsoft as a trusted authenticator. No separate GivEnergy login, no separate password to remember.

Imagine that you, or Microsoft close your Microsoft account. How you are going to access your GivEnergy account then? You never had a separate account, therefore you must rely on external third party (Microsoft) at all times. Unnecessary risk and complication, if you ask me.
Same goes for all these pages with Login with ... Twitter/Google/Microsoft/Facebook or whatever.

bRhFDKtjRMK9 The information presented by GE's new log in message didn't convey that this is a beta test and implied that it would become compulsory soon. 99% of users aren't going to come here for 2nd guessing of GE's policies

sunnyjoe Entire GivEnergy product line is a beta test 😁

bRhFDKtjRMK9 Imagine that you, or Microsoft close your Microsoft account. How you are going to access your GivEnergy account then? You never had a separate account, therefore you must rely on external third party (Microsoft) at all times. Unnecessary risk and complication, if you ask me.

Yes absolutely, this is a consequence of this architecture. One user account, one password, 2FA to secure it (email, text, authenticator code, etc), but that becomes a single critical point that has to be secure and properly managed.

SSO Is more common and older than you might have noticed. If you have Microsoft Office or a Windows 11 PC then you have a Microsoft SSO, if you have a Google account (email, youtube, etc) its SSO, as is the Government gateway id used in the UK to login when filing your tax return, claiming for child benefits, etc,
If you see on a website ‘login with Google id’ or twitter or facebook id, these are all SSO. You login once to the authenticator source and grant what permissions it can share with Octopus/GivEnergy etc

For the companies that use SSO it means they no longer have to handle your account details, password, all that personal information, dealing with people that forget their password etc, that’s all dealt with by the authentication provider. For the end user less passwords and accounts to have to remember/write down

geoffreycoan But inverters are in family homes. How do multiple family members access it.

nophead You have the option in Account security settings to create delegate access, so presumably this is still an option?

bRhFDKtjRMK9 amen

SteveCook I have tried to migrate to SSO, but it isn't recognising my current password.

KathlynThomas
Thanks. As you can see in my post I also failed and used the "original" method

Different issue but this SSO is really annoying as it keeps signing me out of app when I exit app instead of keeping me logged in as before and the 2FA means having to check email for code every time. This is not a banking app for crying out loud it needs to be simple to use and not make viewing the details of the system difficult.

Please go back to how it worked before GivEnergy for goodness sake.

Also emailed for support to state “our teams will get back to you in New Year”. To roll out such a significant change just before Christmas and then stand down support teams - I can accept bank holidays they would be off and have smaller staff in between - but to shut down all support for whole Xmas and NY period seems a bit off when you’ve made such a major change and clearly (from all above posts) not properly proven the system works.

Oh and just to add, I have 3 systems I monitor and thought SSO would be better, but not with above issues and to use the old login now you have to log out and back in when in the app for each account every time you switch between them whereas before you just selected the system from a drop down menu.

Sort this out GivEnergy

The crest Deadline to switch is February 2025, you migrated willingly, becoming a beta tester before anyone else. No one at GivEnergy will probably touch it until January.

bRhFDKtjRMK9

Not true, app updated, app wouldn’t login and to,d me to logout and log back in. I did and 2 of my 3 systems disappeared. Looked at login options and it says all are being migrated to single sign on - create an account. No mention of becoming a beta tester and no mention of being able to ignore and get all 3 of my systems on there again

The comms were atrocious for this - the multiple posts above prove this!!!

bRhFDKtjRMK9 Not really. The updated app won't login without SSO. No great loss in my opinion but people do use it.

Vestas
And even when you do it it logs you out every time you shut it down now - really annoying. I use app as I don’t need all the detail of the web portal but do need to monitor 3 systems and switching between them on the app was easy before this change

The crest

I suggest putting a negative rating on Google play about the app and negative comments these do get read by the Dev team.

Vestas The updated app won't login without SSO. No great loss in my opinion but people do use it.

Android app has updated on my phone, I was logged out. I logged in again using normal login. No SSO.

bRhFDKtjRMK9 Goes off looking for a SSO token on mine and does nothing after that. No great loss, it was crap anyway 🙂

My wife's app updated and all she had to do is log out and in again. No SSO requirement.

geoffreycoan GivEnergy blog post about the migration to SSO https://givenergy.co.uk/givenergy-transition-to-new-sso-service-in-further-commintment-to-data-security/

I am bemused by this! I have many accounts that use 2FA and very happy using 2FA.
If I log out and attempt to login via SSO, I am requested for my email address rather than my username which I use for current logins.
I input my email address with current password, to be told that either or both are incorrect.
If I input my user name instead of the requested email address with current password, I am also told that either or both are incorrect.
I then revert to 'normal login' which works.

The blog referenced by @geoffreycoan does provide deadlines for installers but not for us 'customers'.

So I continue to use 'normal login' until GE sort out what they are doing. They seem to be sending out installer communications to everybody who has log in credentials, whether installers or customers.

Rob

Martin Phipp (Giv employee) has posted a guide on Facebook for people who are struggling.

Vestas

This does work for mine, but on first occasion it says all are being migrated to SSO and gives no deadline just says create an account. It doesn’t tell you you can login as normal and if you do (I did) you get one system showing and not all three I monitor and it loses the option to add a system. I therefore migrated. There is no mention of beta testing and no indication of deadlines on this screen, but there is a link to the blog that adds more detail but is still not clear about beta testing and implies all need to migrate.

Since migration the app fails to remember my username (even though the box is checked) which means it logs me out of the app every time I shut it down (it never did that before). This is slightly better than using the SSO sign on as at least I can login now and see all three systems without the 2FA email code, but still not ideal. Irritating now rather than really annoying🤨

Oh and having registered for 2FA all 3 systems again show in the app having added them on the web portal and the drop down menu has reappeared. My only issue now is the auto logout despite asking it to remember me, but it took lots of fiddling and guessing vice any clear instructions/guidance from GivEnergy.

My app is the one for iOS so not sure if same happens on Google as I made sure my Dad (one of the three systems I monitor as he is in his 80s and not tech savvy) did not upgrade his app so is still on the old version.

Not convinced about this sso. Seems primarily aimed at installers but like the comments above, the app updated and had to logout, get rejected and then use normal login. Works as before on Android on both phone and tablet. Having to login each time would be a complete faff. OK if it could use biometrics though. So not going down that route unless forced to but why would end users want it?

I don’t use the app much as I tend to use Home Assistant. Tried the app today and it said an error had occurred.

Logged out, clicked to login, got a screen saying about the new SSO but I just put my existing GivEnergy cloud credentials in and it all worked fine

Closed the app, re-opened it, all works OK still without having to login again. Does seem to have lost my local monitoring IP addresses so local mode didn’t initially work until I rescanned and put the IP addresses back in

iOS app on iPhone

geoffreycoan same here

Goshiki2 I have looked at the pdf.
I fall down at step 1.

• I don't have a top banner so obviously no migrate link within it.
• I don't have a section on SSO migration and therefore I have no 'Migrate to SSO' button in account settings > manage account security.

I can still login using my current credentials so I will ignore SSO until GE sort out the process.

Rob

Rbor Very strange, maybe it’s different dependent on systems. I actually migrated before the guide was issued so maybe I was lucky but it was very straightforward. Portal first, then the app.
The only problem I had was no local monitoring in the app after the update but that was solved by an iPhone restart.

Goshiki2 I can be stubborn when IT processes gets the better of me so I have persevered with this SSO thing.

I think I have managed to migrate.
I can now log on using a new password and I have gone through the 2FA process.

In my account settings>account security settings, I now see this:

I have now logged out and back in again using my SSO credentials with my email address rather than username and new password (with special characters, Caps on my iPhone, iPad and iMac.

Further down the account security settings page, under 'Connected services', I get a strange entry dated 22/12/2024 when I think I first attempted to migrate from iphone:

When I look under 'Manage API tokens', there is no 'unnamed token there.
What is it?

Do you get any of these entries on your Account Security page?

Rob

Rbor Yes, mine is exactly the same as yours.

hoggy attempted this morning (wasn't planned but the app booted me out so might as well) all went smoothly via the portal (including merging a few accounts into one) then logged in fine on Android afterwords.
Slight issue with my old work phone not supporting IOS17 - so I can no longer use the app now on that (SSO supported app version is below above this threshold it seems and i'm stuck on IOS16) but not really too bothered as I can't recall ever using it anyway.
That little fact may however be of interest to anyone using an old iphone/ipad as a home display.

What info does the SSO migration require? And is it for both portal and app?

hoggy No support for iOS 16? That would really annoy me -- I use it every day!

[unknown] February went, I have not migrated anything, and I am still using normal login as before. I thought the conclusion was that the deadline is February 2025.

bRhFDKtjRMK9 The deadline was for installers. AFAIK there is no deadline for us consumers

I can no longer log in using duckduckgo, any ideas anyone?

positor1

I'm in an endless loop trying to log in, asks for user/pass sends code to email, enter correctly... takes me back to enter user/pass page, sends code to email... in a never ending loop of utter incompetence.