Extension Tips and Tricks

• Plugins often need access to Shibboleth build properties. For example, a plugin may need to know the location of its install directory, which is a function of build properties idp.home and ext.name . To capture these values, specify a Java properties file in the extension's src-conf directory as follows:

  my.idp.home=$IDP_HOME$ my.ext.name=$EXTENSION_NAME$ my.ext.path=$IDP_HOME$/etc/$EXTENSION_NAME$

  The placeholders $IDP_HOME$ and $EXTENSION_NAME$ will be replaced when the extension is installed. Since resources in the src-conf directory are bundled in the extension JAR file, these properties are readily available to the plugin.

• While developing your extension, type 'ant compile' from the Shibboleth root directory. At the end of a development cycle, type 'ant install' (or simply ='ant'=) to actually install the extension.

• (include your favorite development tip here)