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A convenient way of managing and using multiple 2FA/MFA accounts is by means of the Authenticator extension. This extension can be installed for several popular internet browsers, like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and others. The extensions are platform-independent, so will work on e.g. Windows, Linux, and MacOS. The usage of the extension is the same for all browsers and platforms. Below are instructions on how to install the extension in Firefox on Windows, and how to add your 2FA/MFA code generators for Leiden Observatory and Leiden University logins. Installation for other browsers and/or on other platforms is very similar.

Open the Firefox browser. In the top-right corner click the button with 3 horizontal lines (3 dots in Chrome and Edge) and from the pull-down menu select Add-ons and Themes (Extensions in Edge, More Tools→Extensions in Chrome). In the search box enter Authenticator and hit enter. One of the first results that pops up is the Authenticator extension by author mymindstorm. After installing this extension, a new button carrying the logo will have appeared in the top-right corner. Clicking on this button gives access to the 2FA/MFA code generators that are to be added.

Figure 1: Authenticator extension (Click image to enlarge).

When 2FA at Leiden Observatory is set up, an email is sent to the user on their private email address containing the 2FA setup information as well as an attached QR-code (png image) with the same setup information. This email can be resent by visiting the Intranet Self-service or by contacting the helpdesk.

The easiest way to add the 2FA code generator to the Authenticator extension is by scanning the QR-code. This needs to be done within a web browser window; either open the attached QR-code via a webmail interface, or save the attachment to disk and then open the attachment file inside Firefox (keyboard shortcut CTRL-O or via menu File→Open File…).

Figure 2: Leiden Observatory 2FA QR-code (Click image to enlarge).

Once the QR-code is visible within the browser window, click on the top-right Authenticator button to open the pull-down window, then click the Scan QR-code button (little square with a horizontal line in it). Probably the extension needs to be allowed some permissions for this to work (only once). The browser will present a crosshair as mouse-pointer, as well as an example QR-code that is being scanned. Move the crosshair to the top-left of the true QR-code, hold down the left mouse button and drag toward the bottom-right, drawing a (dotted-line) box around the QR-code. Make sure to enclose the full QR-code while staying within the white boundary surrounding it. If done correctly, a message box will appear stating that <username> has been added. If a message box with Unrecognized QR-code appears, please try the scan again. After a successful scan, the Authenticator pull-down window will contain a box with the Leiden Observatory code generator linked to your account. Clicking on the box will copy the current code to the clipboard (Copied appears), which can then be pasted into any login window asking for the Leiden Observatory 2FA/OATH/One-time (pass-)code.

Figure 3: Leiden Observatory 2FA code generator (Click image to enlarge).