The Shibboleth IdP generally requires SAML metadata to provision connectivity with relying parties and inform it about their capabilities and technical specifics. While you have the option to operate in a more "promiscuous" way (by enabling profiles for "unverified" RPs), this is relatively rare. In most cases, you will configure metadata sources in order to use the IdP's SAML features; this is done by adding <MetadataProvider> elements inside the metadata-providers.xml file.
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The following attributes are required on all metadata provider types:
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
id | String | required | Identifier for logging, identification for command line reload, etc. |
xsi:type | String | required | Specifies the exact type of provider to use (from those listed above, or a custom extension type). |
The following attributes are available on all metadata provider types (except the ChainingMetadataProvider type):
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You can, if you choose, override this with additional or different files or more advanced sources. Each resource must supply a "top level" <MetadataProvider> element with attributes and child elements as described above. Search order amongst multiple top level elements is arbitrated by the sortKey attribute, where lower values are processed before higher ones.
Anchor SearchOrdering SearchOrdering
Search Ordering
| SearchOrdering | |
| SearchOrdering |
If a specific relying party (as identified by a specific entityID) is duplicated in the metadata sources provided, then which precise entry is chosen is governed by the following rules:
- Metadata sources combined via a chain are searched in the order in which they occur in the chain, and the first entry matching the entityID is returned.
If multiple "top level" Metadata Providers are provided then they are searched in an order derived from the (numeric) value of the
sortKeyattribute (lowest key first). If nosortKeyis specified, then the search order is undefined.- In whatever order of sources is in effect, the first entry matching the entityID is returned.
- If a single metadata source contains multiple entries with the same entityID, then which entry is returned is undefined.
V2 Compatibility
A single <MetadataProvider> element may be embedded in a legacy relying-party.xml file as described in the older documentation. Consult the V2 documentation for this, and do not mix and match this approach with newer configuration features.
During the V2 to V3 upgrade process, the original V2 relying-party.xml file is copied to metadata-providers.xml, to serve as the metadata configuration for the new version. It's strongly advisable after upgrading to update that file by stripping it of the older content and promote the <MetadataProvider> element in it to the root of the file. In the interim all other content in the file except for <MetadataProvider> elements (and any referenced <security:TrustEngine> elements) is ignored.
The following non-relevant trust engine types often found in a legacy relying-party.xml file are ignored if seen and cannot be used for metadata verification:
ChainingMetadataExplicitKeyMetadataPKIXX509CredentialMetadataExplicitKeySignatureMetadataPKIXSignatureStaticPKIXX509Credential
New Capabilities in V3
The V3 metadata configuration syntax is backward-compatible with the V2 <MetadataProvider> syntax and adds some useful new shortcuts.
You can provide multiple metadata configuration files (not just multiple metadata sources in one file), as described above.
When configuring more than one MetadataFilter, you need not wrap them in a "ChainingFilter" filter.
The SignatureValidation filter need not contain a trustEngineRef attribute referencing a separately-defined trust engine, instead a certificate file may be specified directly with the certificateFile attribute, or a PEM-format public key may be supplied inline via the <PublicKey> element. For more advanced requirements, an inline <security:TrustEngine> element . may be defined.
| Note | ||
|---|---|---|
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As a child element of the
See the SignatureValidationFilter topic for more information. |