The configuration examples here assume the latest supported versions of Shibboleth.

The Shibboleth software will not only consume metadata, it will also fetch and verify a fresh metadata file on a regular basis.

To configure a Shibboleth IdP to download and verify signed Federation metadata, do the following:

<!-- inside the ChainingMetadataProvider -->
<MetadataProvider xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:2.0:metadata" 
    id="ICMD" xsi:type="FileBackedHTTPMetadataProvider"
    metadataURL="http://wayf.incommonfederation.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml"
    backingFile="/opt/shibboleth-idp/metadata/InCommon-metadata.xml">
  <MetadataFilter xsi:type="ChainingFilter">
    <MetadataFilter xsi:type="RequiredValidUntil" maxValidityInterval="2419200" />
    <MetadataFilter xsi:type="SignatureValidation" 
        trustEngineRef="ICTrust" requireSignedMetadata="true" />
    <MetadataFilter xsi:type="EntityRoleWhiteList">
      <RetainedRole>samlmd:SPSSODescriptor</RetainedRole>
    </MetadataFilter>
  </MetadataFilter>
</MetadataProvider>

...

<!- underneath the Security Configuration section -->
<security:TrustEngine id="ICTrust" xsi:type="security:StaticExplicitKeySignature">
  <security:Credential id="MyFederation1Credentials" xsi:type="security:X509Filesystem">
    <security:Certificate>/opt/shibboleth-idp/credentials/incommon.pem</security:Certificate>
  </security:Credential>
</security:TrustEngine>

Similarly, to configure a Shibboleth SP, do the following:

<MetadataProvider type="XML" uri="http://wayf.incommonfederation.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml"
        backingFilePath="InCommon-metadata.xml" reloadInterval="28800">
    <!-- Verify with signing key. -->
    <SignatureMetadataFilter certificate="incommon.pem"/>
    <!-- Require metadata expiration at least monthly. -->
    <MetadataFilter type="RequireValidUntil" maxValidityInterval="2419200"/>
</MetadataProvider>