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As a novice, it's going to be virtually impossible to approach learning about metadata unless you understand XML well enough to read and write it. We've found the w3schools site to be a good source of introductory material. Understanding namespaces is particularly important.
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Technical Specs
There are several metadata schemas defined by different specifications or software, but Shibboleth is currently designed around the SAML 2.0 Metadata specification standardized by OASIS.
Shibboleth also supports "profiles" of this specification for use with other identity protocols, including SAML 1.x and WS-Federation. The SAML 1.x profile has also been standardized by OASIS.
For specific technical profile information to interoperate with the Shibboleth software, refer to the ShibbolethMetadataProfileShibboleth also includes some extensions to the core metadata schema; for technical details refer to the Shibboleth Metadata Extension specification.
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Help with Correctness/Validation
For information on what goes into ensuring metadata is properly formatted, refer to the MetadataCorrectness topic.
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Use (and non-use) of Metadata
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