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To support the Research and Scholarship Category, an IdP operator configures the IdP to release the R&S attribute bundle to all R&S SPs,

To support the Research and Scholarship Category, an IdP has multiple options:

1. Release the essential attribute bundle to all SPs
2. Release the R&S attribute bundle to all R&S SPs
3. Release a minimal subset of the R&S attribute bundle to all R&S SPs
4. Release a dynamic subset of the R&S attribute bundle to each R&S SP on an SP-by-SP basis

See the sections below for detailed instructions.

Once you've configured your IdP to release attributes to all R&S SPs (both present and future) as described below, you should optimize your IdP configuration files by removing all references to the entity IDs of individual R&S SPs. (That is, in fact, the whole point of using entity attributes to configure attribute release policy.)

Contents:

Software Requirements

To release attributes to all current and future R&S SPs with a single one-time configuration, an IdP leverages entity attributes (instead of entity IDs). Thus the The configuration steps documented here require Shibboleth IdP v2.3.4 or laterIdP V3, which fully supports using entity attributes in SP metadata as part of an attribute release filter policy.Note: The attribute filter policies shown in the following sections are based on an exact match of an entity attribute. In the Shibboleth IdP, an attribute filter policy may be based on a regex match of an entity attribute as well.

No other SAML IdP software is known to support entity attributes at this time.

Release the R&S Bundle to All R&S SPs

An IdP supports R&S by releasing the R&S attribute bundle to all R&S SPs. Both of the examples in this section illustrate such a configuration.

The configuration based on entity attributes in the next subsection is a one-time operation. In contrast, the configuration produced by the XSLT script in the following subsection must be performed every time a new R&S SP is added to InCommon metadata. Clearly the configuration based on entity attributes is preferred.

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Configure an IdP to Release R&S Attributes Globally

Configure a Shibboleth IdP to release the R&S Attribute Bundle to all R&S SPs, including R&S SPs in other federations, as follows:

<!-- for Shibboleth IdP V3.2.0 or later -->
 
<AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseRandSAttributeBundle">
 

...

For Shib IdPs v2.3.4 and higher

To release a fixed subset of the R&S bundle (or the complete bundle itself), configure a new <AttributeFilterPolicy> element that refers to the R&S entity attribute. The following example releases the full R&S bundle to all R&S SPs:

...

<AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseFullBundleToRandS">

  <PolicyRequirementRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeRequesterEntityAttributeExactMatch"
      attributeName="http://macedir.org/entity-category"
      attributeValue="http://id.incommon.org/category/research-and-scholarship"/>

  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonPrincipalName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonTargetedID">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="email">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="displayName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="givenName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="surname">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonScopedAffiliation">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>

</AttributeFilterPolicy>

Note that the above <AttributeFilterPolicy> releases the Research & Scholarship Attribute Bundle for all users whereas an IdP that supports R&S is only required to release attributes for some subset of the IdP's user population. For example, an IdP may choose to release attributes for faculty and staff only, or perhaps for non-students. The Shibboleth wiki contains examples of such configurations, which could easily be incorporated into the above <AttributeFilterPolicy> element.

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For Shib IdPs prior to v2.3.4

Old versions of the Shib IdP don't support entity attributes so we provide an XSLT script that extracts the entity IDs of the R&S SPs. Run the script (InCommonRandSPolicy.xsl) at the command line as follows:

<pre>
$ <b>curl --silent http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml \
    | xsltproc InCommonRandSPolicy.xsl - \
    | tidy -quiet -xml -indent -wrap 0</b>
</pre>

The output will include a listing of the entity IDs of all R&S SPs found in the metadata file:

<AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseFullBundleToRandS">

  <PolicyRequirementRule xsi:type="basic:OREntityAttributeExactMatch">
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value attributeName="httpshttp://carmenwiki.osu.edu/shibboleth" />
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value="https://filesender.internet2.edu/shibboleth" />
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value="https://wikispaces.psu.edu/shibboleth" />
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value="https://www.indianactsi.org" />
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value="https://cilogon.org/shibboleth" />
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value="https://cgca.phys.uwm.edu/shibboleth-sp" />macedir.org/entity-category"
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value attributeValue="httpshttp://panther.gpolab.bbn.com/shibboleth" />
    <basic:Rule xsi:type="basic:AttributeRequesterString" value="https://ligorefeds.org/ligovirgo/cbcnote/shibboleth-sp" category/research-and-scholarship"/>

    < <!-- etc. -->
  </PolicyRequirementRule>

  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonPrincipalName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonTargetedID">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="email">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="displayName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="givenName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="surname">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonScopedAffiliation">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>

</AttributeFilterPolicy>

You can of course modify either of the above <AttributeFilterPolicy> elements to release a minimal subset of the R&S attribute bundle as shown in the following section.

Release a Minimal Subset of the R&S Bundle to All R&S SPs

The following example for Shib IdP v2.3.4 (and higher) releases a minimal subset of the R&S attribute bundle to all R&S SPs:

<AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseMinimalBundleToRandS">

  <PolicyRequirementRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeRequesterEntityAttributeExactMatch"
      attributeName="http://macedir.org/entity-category"
      attributeValue="http://id.incommon.org/category/research-and-scholarship"/>

a fixed subset of the Research & Scholarship Attribute Bundle -->
 
  <!-- release of ePPN is REQUIRED -->
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonPrincipalName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>

  <!-- if your deployment of ePPN is non-reassigned, release of ePTID is OPTIONAL -->
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonTargetedID">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>

  <!-- release of email is REQUIRED -->
  <AttributeRule attributeID="email">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>

  <!-- either displayName or (givenName and sn) is REQUIRED but all three are RECOMMENDED -->
  <AttributeRule attributeID="displayName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="givenName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="surname">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="basic:ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>

</AttributeFilterPolicy>

Note that the above policy may be trimmed further depending on your IdP's capabilities.

Release a Dynamic Subset of the R&S Bundle to All R&S SPs

To dynamically release a subset of the R&S bundle to each R&S SP on an SP-by-SP basis, configure a new <AttributeFilterPolicy> element that refers to the R&S entity attribute but limits attribute release to only those <md:RequestedAttribute> elements in SP metadata.

For Shib IdPs v2.4.0 and higher

Shib IdP v2.4.0 (and higher) can base policy decisions on <md:RequestedAttribute> elements in SP metadata. For example, the following configuration releases an R&S attribute from the minimal subset if and only if that attribute is called out in SP metadata:

<AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseMinimalToRandS">
 
  <PolicyRequirementRule
      xsi:type="saml:AttributeRequesterEntityAttributeExactMatch"
      attributeName="http://macedir.org/entity-category"
      attributeValue="http://id.incommon.org/category/research-and-scholarship"/>
 
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonPrincipalName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="email">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="displayName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="givenName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="surname">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>

</AttributeFilterPolicy>

See the Shib wiki for more information about type saml:AttributeInMetadata.

For Shib IdPs prior to 2.4.0

Shib IdPs prior to v2.4.0 are not able to natively process <md:RequestedAttribute> elements in SP metadata so here we show how to install and configure a third-party plugin that adds this capability. The following two-step configuration process is required:

1. Install and configure a general-purpose plugin that limits attribute release to the <md:RequestedAttribute> elements in SP metadata.
2. Configure a new <AttributeFilterPolicy> element for R&S SPs.

These two configuration steps taken together constrain the release of attributes to precisely those attributes requested by R&S SPs (assuming those attributes constitute a subset of the R&S bundle).

Install and Configure the Plugin

The uApprove addon to the Shibboleth IdP includes a plugin that limits attribute release to the <md:RequestedAttribute> elements in SP metadata.

To install and configure the plugin, perform the following steps:

1. Download and unpack the uApprove package
2. Copy the IdP plugin to your IdP build directory:
   

   HTML
   <code>$ <b>cp $UAPPROVE_INSTALL$/idp-plugin-2.2.1/lib/* $IDP_INSTALL$/lib/</b></code>

3. Rebuild the IdP
4. Add the namespace declaration xmlns:ua="http://www.switch.ch/aai/idp/uApprove/mf" to the <AttributeFilterPolicy> element (or better yet, to the parent <AttributeFilterPolicyGroup> element).
5. Append the following values to the whitespace delimited list of values for the xsi:schemaLocation attribute:
   http://www.switch.ch/aai/idp/uApprove/mf classpath:/schema/uApprove-mf.xsd

The plugin adds a new PermitValueRule of type ua:AttributeInMetadata.

Configure a New AttributeFilterPolicy

The following IdP configuration implicitly releases attributes to any R&S SP. An attribute is released if and only if it is listed in SP metadata.

<AttributeFilterPolicy id="releaseToRandS" xmlns:ua="http://www.switch.ch/aai/idp/uApprove/mf">

  <PolicyRequirementRule xsi:type="saml:AttributeRequesterEntityAttributeExactMatch"
      attributeName="http://macedir.org/entity-category"
      attributeValue="http://id.incommon.org/category/research-and-scholarship"/>
 <!-- release of ePSA is OPTIONAL -->
  <AttributeRule attributeID="eduPersonPrincipalNameeduPersonScopedAffiliation">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="ua:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="email">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="ua:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="displayName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="ua:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="givenName">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="ua:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"ANY"/>
  </AttributeRule>
  <AttributeRule attributeID="surname">
    <PermitValueRule xsi:type="ua:AttributeInMetadata" onlyIfRequired="false"/>
  </AttributeRule>

</AttributeFilterPolicy>

The attributes shown above constitute a minimal subset of the R&S bundle. Simply customize the above example to match your policy.

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