Shibboleth Metadata Configuration
The Shibboleth software will not only consume metadata, it will also fetch and verify a fresh metadata file on a regular basis. The Shibboleth software is highly optimized with respect to metadata refresh.
Contents
Before you can verify the XML signature on a metadata aggregate, you need an authentic copy of the InCommon Metadata Signing Certificate. Do this first, before configuring Shibboleth for metadata refresh.
Configure the Shibboleth IdP
The IdP configuration examples in this section fetch the main InCommon production metadata aggregate. See the Metadata Aggregates wiki page for other options.
Protect Against Failed Metadata Processes
The Shibboleth IdP is known to be sensitive to large metadata aggregates. To protect against failed metadata processes, InCommon recommends that deployers allocate at least 1500MB of heap space in the JVM. Do this for all your Shibboleth IdP deployments, in both test and production, for both V3 and V2.
Configure Shibboleth IdP V3
To configure Shibboleth IdP 3.2.0 (and later) to download and verify signed InCommon metadata every hour, do the following:
<!-- Use a ChainingMetadataProvider in case you want to nest other metadata providers later on --> <MetadataProvider id="ShibbolethMetadata" xsi:type="ChainingMetadataProvider" xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata"> <!-- Refresh the InCommon production metadata aggregate every hour. Note: The defaults for minRefreshDelay, maxRefreshDelay, and refreshDelayFactor are "PT5M", "PT4H", and "0.75", respectively. The value of maxRefreshDelay has been modified below such that the metadata is refreshed every hour ("PT1H"). The other properties merely regurgitate their default values. They are included here for convenience, in case you want to change their default values. --> <MetadataProvider id="ICMD" xsi:type="FileBackedHTTPMetadataProvider" xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata" metadataURL="http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml" backingFile="%{idp.home}/metadata/InCommon-metadata.xml" minRefreshDelay="PT5M" maxRefreshDelay="PT1H" refreshDelayFactor="0.75"> <!-- To bootstrap the trust fabric of the federation, each relying party obtains and configures an authentic copy of the federation operator’s Metadata Signing Certificate (https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/moHFAg). Fetch the InCommon Metadata Signing Certificate and check its integrity: $ IDP_HOME=/opt/shibboleth-idp $ /usr/bin/curl -s https://ds.incommon.org/certs/inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/tee $IDP_HOME/credentials/inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/openssl x509 -sha1 -fingerprint -noout SHA1 Fingerprint=7D:B4:BB:28:D3:D5:C8:52:E0:80:B3:62:43:2A:AF:34:B2:A6:0E:DD Verify the signature on the root element of the metadata aggregate (i.e., the EntitiesDescriptor element) using the trusted Metadata Signing Certificate. --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="SignatureValidation" requireSignedRoot="true" certificateFile="%{idp.home}/credentials/inc-md-cert.pem" /> <!-- Require a validUntil XML attribute on the EntitiesDescriptor element and make sure its value is no more than 14 days into the future. --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="RequiredValidUntil" maxValidityInterval="P14D" /> <!-- Consume all SP metadata in the aggregate --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="EntityRoleWhiteList"> <RetainedRole>md:SPSSODescriptor</RetainedRole> </MetadataFilter> </MetadataProvider> </MetadataProvider>
Configure Shibboleth IdP V2
Shibboleth IdP V2 is obsolete
To configure Shibboleth IdP 2.2 (and later) to download and verify signed InCommon metadata every hour, do the following:
<!-- Chaining metadata provider defined in the default IdP relying-party configuration file --> <MetadataProvider id="ShibbolethMetadata" xsi:type="ChainingMetadataProvider" xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata"> <!-- Refresh the InCommon production metadata aggregate every hour. Note: The defaults for minRefreshDelay, maxRefreshDelay, and refreshDelayFactor are "PT5M", "PT4H", and "0.75", respectively. The default for maxRefreshDelay has been modified below such that the metadata is refreshed every hour ("PT1H"). The other properties merely regurgitate their default values. They are included here for convenience, in case you want to change their default values. --> <MetadataProvider id="ICMD" xsi:type="FileBackedHTTPMetadataProvider" xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata" metadataURL="http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml" backingFile="/opt/shibboleth-idp/metadata/InCommon-metadata.xml" minRefreshDelay="PT5M" maxRefreshDelay="PT1H" refreshDelayFactor="0.75"> <!-- Use a chaining filter to allow multiple filters to be added --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="ChainingFilter"> <!-- Require the metadata to be signed and use the trust engine labeled id="ICTrust" to determine its trustworthiness --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="SignatureValidation" trustEngineRef="ICTrust" requireSignedMetadata="true" /> <!-- Require a validUntil XML attribute on the EntitiesDescriptor element and make sure its value is no more than 14 days into the future --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="RequiredValidUntil" maxValidityInterval="P14D" /> <!-- Consume all SP metadata in the aggregate --> <MetadataFilter xsi:type="EntityRoleWhiteList"> <RetainedRole>samlmd:SPSSODescriptor</RetainedRole> </MetadataFilter> </MetadataFilter> </MetadataProvider> </MetadataProvider> <!-- This TrustEngine (beneath the Security Configuration section) is an implementation of the Explicit Key Trust Model (https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/t43NAQ). To bootstrap the trust fabric of the federation, each relying party obtains and configures an authentic copy of the federation operator’s Metadata Signing Certificate (https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/moHFAg). Fetch the InCommon metadata signing certificate and check its integrity: $ /usr/bin/curl -s https://ds.incommon.org/certs/inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/tee /opt/shibboleth-idp/credentials/inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/openssl x509 -sha1 -noout -fingerprint SHA1 Fingerprint=7D:B4:BB:28:D3:D5:C8:52:E0:80:B3:62:43:2A:AF:34:B2:A6:0E:DD --> <security:TrustEngine id="ICTrust" xsi:type="security:StaticExplicitKeySignature"> <security:Credential id="MyFederation1Credentials" xsi:type="security:X509Filesystem"> <security:Certificate>/opt/shibboleth-idp/credentials/inc-md-cert.pem</security:Certificate> </security:Credential> </security:TrustEngine>
Configure the Shibboleth SP
The SP configuration examples in this section fetch the IdP-only InCommon production metadata aggregate. See the Metadata Aggregates wiki page for other options.
Basic Shibboleth SP Configuration
To configure Shibboleth SP 2.5 (and later) to download and verify signed InCommon metadata every hour, do the following:
<!-- The following MetadataProvider attempts to refresh the InCommon IdP-only metadata aggregate every hour. --> <MetadataProvider type="XML" url="http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata-idp-only.xml" backingFilePath="InCommon-metadata-idp-only.xml" maxRefreshDelay="3600"> <!-- To bootstrap the trust fabric of the federation, each relying party obtains and configures an authentic copy of the federation operator’s Metadata Signing Certificate (https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/moHFAg). Fetch the InCommon Metadata Signing Certificate and check its integrity: $ /usr/bin/curl -s https://ds.incommon.org/certs/inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/tee inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/openssl x509 -sha1 -fingerprint -noout SHA1 Fingerprint=7D:B4:BB:28:D3:D5:C8:52:E0:80:B3:62:43:2A:AF:34:B2:A6:0E:DD Verify the signature on the root element of the metadata aggregate (i.e., the EntitiesDescriptor element) using the trusted Metadata Signing Certificate. A large metadata file can cause a significant increase in startup time at the SP. This is due to the time it takes to verify the signature on the metadata, which is known to increase exponentially as the size of the metadata file increases. To disable signature verification at startup time only, add verifyBackup="false" to the MetadataFilter element below. --> <MetadataFilter type="Signature" certificate="inc-md-cert.pem"/> <!-- Require a validUntil XML attribute on the EntitiesDescriptor element and make sure its value is no more than 14 days into the future --> <MetadataFilter type="RequireValidUntil" maxValidityInterval="1209600"/> <!-- Consume all IdP metadata in the aggregate. TIP: If the SP supports SAML2 Web Browser SSO only, the md:AttributeAuthorityDescriptor elements in IdP metadata can be ignored. --> <MetadataFilter type="EntityRoleWhiteList"> <RetainedRole>md:IDPSSODescriptor</RetainedRole> <RetainedRole>md:AttributeAuthorityDescriptor</RetainedRole> </MetadataFilter> </MetadataProvider>
Shibboleth SP Configuration with Discovery
If your SP has a dynamic discovery interface, use this configuration instead:
<!-- The following MetadataProvider attempts to refresh the InCommon IdP-only metadata aggregate every hour. The discovery interface relies primarily on mdui:DisplayName. To fall back on md:OrganizationDisplayName if mdui:DisplayName is missing from IdP metadata, add legacyOrgNames="true" to the MetadataProvider element as shown below. --> <MetadataProvider type="XML" url="http://md.incommon.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata-idp-only.xml" backingFilePath="InCommon-metadata-idp-only.xml" maxRefreshDelay="3600" legacyOrgNames="true"> <!-- To bootstrap the trust fabric of the federation, each relying party obtains and configures an authentic copy of the federation operator’s Metadata Signing Certificate (https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/moHFAg). Fetch the InCommon Metadata Signing Certificate and check its integrity: $ /usr/bin/curl -s https://ds.incommon.org/certs/inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/tee inc-md-cert.pem \ | /usr/bin/openssl x509 -sha1 -fingerprint -noout SHA1 Fingerprint=7D:B4:BB:28:D3:D5:C8:52:E0:80:B3:62:43:2A:AF:34:B2:A6:0E:DD Verify the signature on the root element of the metadata aggregate (i.e., the EntitiesDescriptor element) using the trusted Metadata Signing Certificate. A large metadata file can cause a significant increase in startup time at the SP. This is due to the time it takes to verify the signature on the metadata, which is known to increase exponentially as the size of the metadata file increases. To disable signature verification at startup time only, add verifyBackup="false" to the MetadataFilter element below. --> <MetadataFilter type="Signature" certificate="inc-md-cert.pem"/> <!-- Require a validUntil XML attribute on the EntitiesDescriptor element and make sure its value is no more than 14 days into the future --> <MetadataFilter type="RequireValidUntil" maxValidityInterval="1209600"/> <!-- Consume all IdP metadata in the aggregate. TIP: If the SP supports SAML2 Web Browser SSO only, the md:AttributeAuthorityDescriptor elements in IdP metadata can be ignored. --> <MetadataFilter type="EntityRoleWhiteList"> <RetainedRole>md:IDPSSODescriptor</RetainedRole> <RetainedRole>md:AttributeAuthorityDescriptor</RetainedRole> </MetadataFilter> <!-- Hide all IdPs with the hide-from-discovery entity attribute. This filter has no effect if your app has no discovery interface. Note: Hiding an IdP from the discovery interface does NOT prevent the SP from accepting an assertion from the IdP. --> <DiscoveryFilter type="Blacklist" matcher="EntityAttributes" trimTags="true" attributeName="http://macedir.org/entity-category" attributeNameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri" attributeValue="http://refeds.org/category/hide-from-discovery"/> </MetadataProvider>
See the List of IdP Display Names in InCommon Metadata to preview the IdPs that will appear on the discovery interface.
Slow network connection?
If you routinely experience network issues while refreshing InCommon metadata, try increasing the timeout on the SP's metadata refresh process. For example, the following child element of the above <MetadataProvider>
parent element sets the transport timeout to 120 seconds:
<TransportOption provider="CURL" option="13">120</TransportOption>
See the NativeSPTransportOption topic in the Shibboleth wiki for more details.
For More Information
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/IDP30/HTTPMetadataProviders
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/IDP30/SignatureValidationFilter
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/IDP30/RequiredValidUntilFilter
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/SHIB2/IdPMetadataProvider
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/SHIB2/NativeSPMetadataProvider
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/SHIB2/NativeSPTransportOption
- https://wiki.shibboleth.net/confluence/display/EDS10