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149 <h2>Shibboleth Target Deployment Guide</h2>
151 <p>Shibboleth Target Deployment Guide<br>
152 Shibboleth Version 1.1<br />
155 <h3>This version of the deploy guide is for Shibboleth v1.1. For documentation
156 related to prior versions of Shibboleth, please consult the appropriate branch
157 in the Shibboleth CVS.</h3>
158 <h3>Federations have been abstracted out from the Shibboleth documentation. For
159 further information on using Shibboleth in a federation, refer to the federation
161 <p>Shibboleth v1.1 is stable and secure enough to deploy in production
162 scenarios. It is backward compatible with 1.0 in all respects, including
163 configuration, but some older commands have been deprecated or replaced.</p>
164 <p>Features and changes specific to 1.1 are marked with <span class="feature">
166 <h4>Major New Features in 1.0 and 1.1</h4>
167 <p>This new release contains several improvements and enhancements, including:
169 <h5>Federation Support</h5>
171 <li>Federation and trust support has been substantially extended. Federation
172 structures are now defined. The set of metadata collected and managed by
173 each Federation is more fully defined. The configuration values assigned by
174 a Federation are now identified. </li>
175 <li>There is some support for targets to be members of multiple federations;
176 this support will continue to evolve. When a browser user arrives, a target
177 will determine which federation their origin belongs to, and then use the
178 trust fabric associated with that Federation.</li>
179 <li>Better support for flexible and bilateral trust agreements. A key
180 specific to an origin site can be used to vallidate its signature.</li>
181 <li>This version contains a significantly more mature security
182 implementation, and should meet the security requirements of typical sites.</li>
186 <li>The Attribute Authority has a powerful new attribute resolver. Simple
187 scenarios (using a string attribute stored in ldap) can be accomplished by
188 merely editing a configuration file. Java classes may still be written for
189 more complex evaluations (eg retrieving information from multiple disparate
190 repositories, and computing the SAML attribute using business rules). This
191 should greatly simplify the process of configuring the AA to support
192 additional general attributes.</li>
193 <li>An attribute connector for JDBC data sources is now available.
194 <span class="feature">[1.1]</span></li>
195 <li>Support for a runtime-derived per-requester persistent identifier
196 attribute to support anonymous personalization by targets has been added via
197 an attribute plugin. <span class="feature">[1.1]</span></li>
198 <li>Specialized deployments without privacy needs can configure
199 identity-based handles interoperable with other SAML deployments.
200 <span class="feature">[1.1]</span></li>
204 <li>Significantly more flexibility in configuring targets to ensure
205 robustness. Failover and redundant configurations are now supported.</li>
206 <li>The SHAR may now optionally store its session and attribute cache in a
207 back-end database in addition to the previously available in-memory option.
208 This would allow a site to run an apache server farm, with multiple SHARs,
209 supporting the same set of sessions.</li>
210 <li>Federation supplied files (sites.xml and trust.xml) are now refreshed in
211 a much more robust manner.</li>
212 <li>The SHAR can be configured to request specific attributes from the
214 <li>The SHAR can use TCP sockets when responding to the Apache module, for
215 specialized deployment behind firewalls. <span class="feature">[1.1]</span>
217 <li>Attribute acceptance policies have been greatly enhanced, and are now
218 used to configure all aspects of attribute handling by the target, except
219 for requesting specific attributes by sitename. Adding attributes now takes
220 place in one configuration step. <span class="feature">[1.1]</span></li>
221 <li>Support for Apache 1.3 on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 has been added.
222 <span class="feature">[1.1]</span></li>
223 <li>Microsoft IIS web server support has been added via an ISAPI filter and
224 extension. <span class="feature">[1.1]</span></li>
226 <h5>Miscellaneous</h5>
228 <li>Origin sites can configure a value to describe the type of
229 authentication mechanism used at the origin site(e.g. password, Kerberos,
230 PKI, etc.). This value is made available on the target side as Shib-Authentication-Method.</li>
231 <li>Various improvements to error handling. Origin sites are now able to
232 supply an error URL and contact information to a federation. When a target
233 encounters an error, it can include this information in the error page.</li>
234 <li>Local time string values are now used in log files.</li>
235 <li>Internationalization support has been extended.</li>
237 <p>Before starting, please sign up for all applicable
238 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/shib-misc.html#mailinglist">mailing
239 lists</a>. Announcements pertinent to Shibboleth deployments and developments
240 and resources for deployment assistance can be found here.</p>
241 <p>Please send any questions, concerns, or eventual confusion to
242 <a href="mailto:mace-shib-users@internet2.edu">mace-shib-users@internet2.edu</a>.
243 This should include, but not be limited to, questions about the documentation,
244 undocumented problems, installation or operational issues, and anything else
245 that arises. Please ensure that you have the
246 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/release/shib-download.html">appropriate
247 tarball</a> for your operating system.</p>
254 <h3><a name="TOC"></a>Shibboleth Target -- Table of Contents</h3>
257 <h4><a href="#1."><font color="black">Shibboleth Overview</font></a></h4>
259 <li><a href="#1.a."><font color="black">Origin</font></a></li>
260 <li><a href="#1.b."><font color="black">Target</font></a></li>
261 <li><a href="#1.c."><font color="black">WAYF</font></a></li>
262 <li><a href="#1.d."><font color="black">Federations</font></a></li>
266 <h4><a href="#2."><font color="black">Planning</font></a></h4>
268 <li><a href="#2.a."><font color="black">Requirements</font></a></li>
269 <li><a href="#2.b."><font color="black">Join a Federation</font></a></li>
270 <li><a href="#2.c."><font color="black">Security Considerations</font></a></li>
271 <li><a href="#2.d."><font color="black">Server Certificates</font></a></li>
272 <li><a href="#2.e."><font color="black">Attribute Release Policies</font></a></li>
273 <li><a href="#2.f."><font color="black">Designate Contacts</font></a></li>
274 <li><a href="#2.g."><font color="black">Browser Requirements</font></a></li>
275 <li><a href="#2.h."><font color="black">Clocks</font></a></li>
276 <li><a href="#2.i."><font color="black">Other Considerations</font></a></li>
280 <h4><a href="#3."><font color="black">Installation</font></a></h4>
282 <li><a href="#3.a."><font color="black">Software Requirements</font></a></li>
283 <li><a href="#3.b."><font color="black">Deploy the Shibboleth Package</font></a></li>
284 <li><a href="#3.c."><font color="black">Configuring Apache 1.3.x</font></a></li>
285 <li><a href="#3.d."><font color="black">Configuring IIS</font></a></li>
286 <li><a href="#3.e."><font color="black">Running the SHAR on Windows</font></a></li>
290 <h4><a href="#4."><font color="black">Getting Running</font></a></h4>
292 <li><a href="#4.a."><font color="black">Configuring <span class="fixed">
293 shibboleth.ini</span></font></a></li>
294 <li><a href="#4.b."><font color="black">Dynamic Error Page Generation</font></a></li>
295 <li><a href="#4.c."><font color="black">Key Generation and Certificate
296 Installation</font></a></li>
297 <li><a href="#4.d."><font color="black">Protecting Web Pages</font></a></li>
298 <li><a href="#4.e."><font color="black">Defining Attributes and
299 Acceptance Policies</font></a></li>
300 <li><a href="#4.f."><font color="black">Using Attributes in Applications</font></a></li>
301 <li><a href="#4.g."><font color="black"><span class="fixed">siterefresh</span></font></a></li>
302 <li><a href="#4.h."><font color="black">MySQL Session Cache</font></a></li>
306 <h4><a href="#5."><font color="black">Troubleshooting</font></a></h4>
308 <li><a href="#5.a."><font color="black">Basic Testing</font></a></li>
309 <li><a href="#5.b."><font color="black">Common Problems</font></a></li>
318 <h3><a name="1."></a>1. Shibboleth Overview</h3>
319 <p>Shibboleth is a system designed to exchange attributes across realms for the
320 primary purpose of authorization. It provides a secure framework for one
321 organization to transmit attributes about a web-browsing individual across
322 security domains to another institution. In the primary usage case, when a user
323 attempts to access a resource at a remote domain, the user's own home security
324 domain can send certain information about that user to the target site in a
325 trusted exchange. These attributes can then be used by the resource to help
326 determine whether to grant the user access to the resource. The user may have
327 the ability to decide whether to release specific attributes to certain sites by
328 specifying personal Attribute Release Policies (ARP's), effectively preserving
329 privacy while still granting access based on trusted information.</p>
330 <p>When a user first tries to access a resource protected by Shibboleth, they
331 are redirected to a service which asks the user to specify the organization from
332 which they want to authenticate. If the user has not yet locally authenticated
333 to a WebISO service, the user will then be redirected to their home
334 institution's authentication system. After the user authenticates, the
335 Shibboleth components at the local institution will generate a temporary
336 reference to the user, known as a handle, for the individual and send this to
337 the target site. The target site can then use the handle to ask for attributes
338 about this individual. Based on these attributes, the target can decide whether
339 or not to grant access to the resource. The user may then be allowed to access
340 the requested materials.</p>
341 <p>There are several controls on privacy in Shibboleth, and mechanisms are
342 provided to allow users to determine exactly which information about them is
343 released. A user's actual identity isn't necessary for many access control
344 decisions, so privacy often is needlessly compromised. Instead, the resource
345 often utilizes other attributes such as faculty member or member of a certain
346 class. While these are commonly determined using the identity of the user,
347 Shibboleth provides a way to mutually refer to the same principal without
348 revealing that principal's identity. Because the user is initially known to the
349 target site only by a randomly generated temporary handle, if sufficient, the
350 target site might know no more about the user than that the user is a member of
351 the origin organization. This handle should never be used to decide whether or
352 not to grant access, and is intended only as a temporary reference for
353 requesting attributes.</p>
354 <h4><a name="1.a."></a>1.a. Origin</h4>
356 <p>There are four primary components to the origin side in Shibboleth: the
357 Attribute Authority (AA), the Handle Service (HS), the directory service,
358 and the local sign-on system (SSO). The AA and HS are provided with
359 Shibboleth, and an open-source WebISO solution Pubcookie is also supplied;
360 the directory is provided by the origin site. Shibboleth is able to
361 interface with a directory exporting an LDAP interface or a SQL database
362 containing user attributes, and is designed such that programming interfaces
363 to other repositories should be readily implemented. Shibboleth relies on
364 standard web server mechanisms to trigger local authentication. A .htaccess
365 file can be easily used to trigger either the local WebISO system or the web
366 server's own Basic Auth mechanism, which will likely utilize an enterprise
367 authentication system, such as Kerberos.</p>
368 <p>From the origin site's point of view, the first contact will be the
369 redirection of a user to the handle service, which will then consult the SSO
370 system to determine whether the user has already been authenticated. If not,
371 then the browser user will be asked to authenticate, and then sent back to
372 the target URL with a handle bundled in an attribute assertion. Next, a
373 request from the Shibboleth Attribute Requester (SHAR) will arrive at the AA
374 which will include the previously mentioned handle. The AA then consults the
375 ARP's for the directory entry corresponding to the handle, queries the
376 directory for these attributes, and releases to the SHAR all attributes the
377 SHAR is entitled to know about that user.</p>
379 <h4><a name="1.b."></a>1.b. Target</h4>
381 <p>There are three primary components to the target side in Shibboleth: the
382 Shibboleth Indexical Reference Establisher (SHIRE), the Shibboleth Attribute
383 Requester (SHAR), and the resource manager (RM). An implementation of each
384 of these is included in the standard Shibboleth distribution. These
385 components are intended to run on the same web server.</p>
386 <p>From the target's point of view, a browser will hit the RM with a request
387 for a Shibboleth-protected resource. The RM then allows the SHIRE to step
388 in, which will use the WAYF to acquire the name of a handle service to ask
389 about the user. The handle service (HS) will then reply with a SAML
390 authentication assertion containing a handle, which the SHIRE then hands off
391 to the SHAR. The SHAR uses the handle and the supplied address of the
392 corresponding attribute authority (AA) to request all attributes it is
393 allowed to know about the handle. The SHAR performs some basic validation
394 and analysis based on attribute acceptance policies (AAP's). These
395 attributes are then handed off to the RM, which is responsible for using
396 these attributes to decide whether to grant access.</p>
398 <h4><a name="1.c."></a>1.c. Where are you from? (WAYF)</h4>
400 <p>The WAYF service can be either outsourced and operated by a federation or
401 deployed as part of the SHIRE. It is responsible for allowing a user to
402 associate themself with an institution of their specification, then
403 redirecting the user to the known address for the handle service of that
406 <h4><a name="1.d."></a>1.d. Federations</h4>
408 <p>A federation is one way to provide part of the underlying trust required
409 for function of the Shibboleth architecture. A federation in the context of
410 Shibboleth is a group of organizations(universities, corporations, content
411 providers, etc.) who agree to exchange attributes using the SAML/Shibboleth
412 protocols and abide by a common set of policies and practices. In so doing,
413 they must implicitly or explicitly agree to a common set of guidelines.
414 Joining a federation is not explicitly necessary for operation of
415 Shibboleth, but it dramatically expands the number of targets and origins
416 that can interact without defining bilateral agreements between all these
418 <p>A federation can be created in a variety of formats and trust models, but
419 to support Shibboleth, it must provide a certain set of services to
420 federation members. It needs to supply a registry to process applications to
421 the federation and distribute membership information to the origin and
422 target sites. This must include distribution of the PKI components necessary
423 for trust between origins and targets. There also needs to be a set of
424 agreements and best practices defined by the federation governing the
425 exchange, use, and population of attributes before and after transit, and
426 there should be a way to find information on local authentication and
427 authorization practices for federation members.</p>
430 <h3><a name="2."></a>2. Planning</h3>
431 <p>There are several essential elements that must be present in the environment
432 to ensure Shibboleth functions well, both political and technical. Shibboleth
433 currently runs on a specific range of platforms and web server environments. The
434 SHAR and SHIRE are implemented entirely in C/C++. These are the recommendations
435 and requirements for a successful implementation of a Shibboleth target.</p>
436 <h4><a name="2.a."></a>2.a. Requirements</h4>
438 <p>Shibboleth currently supports Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, Linux, and
439 Solaris. At present, Shibboleth consists of Apache (or IIS) plugins and a
440 separate SHAR process. The plugins use the ONC RPC mechanism to communicate
441 with the SHAR over Unix domain or TCP sockets. The target's web servers must
442 be running <a href="http://http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache</a>
443 1.3.26+, or Microsoft IIS 4.0+, but not Apache 2. More precise technical
444 details are discussed in <a href="#3.a.">3.a</a>.</p>
446 <h4><a name="2.b."></a>2.b. Join a Federation</h4>
448 <p>While it is not necessary for a target or origin to join a federation,
449 doing so greatly facilitates the implementation of multilateral trust
450 relationships. Each federation will have a different application process.</p>
451 <p>For more information on federations, refer to <a href="#1.d.">1.d</a> or
452 the Shibboleth v1.0 architectural document.</p>
453 <p>To use Shibboleth without a federation, manual configuration of target
454 and origin trust and site information will be needed to insure that sites
455 interoperate. Most identifiers, such as site names, should be URI-based, and
456 should be chosen in accordance with DNS domains under the control of the
457 parties involved, much as Java package naming is coordinated. In other
458 words, don't use a URI containing a DNS domain or hostname that you do not
461 <h4><a name="2.c."></a>2.c. Security Considerations</h4>
463 <p>Shibboleth's protocols and software have been extensively engineered to
464 provide protection against many attacks. However, the most secure protocol
465 can be compromised if it is placed in an insecure environment. To ensure
466 Shibboleth is as secure as possible, there are several recommended security
467 precautions which should be in place at local sites.</p>
469 <li>SSL use is optional for target sites, but should be used if at all
470 possible, at least in the processing of incoming sessions (called the
471 SHIRE URL or assertion consumer service). Federation guidelines should
472 be considered when determining whether to implement SSL, and, in
473 general, SSL should be used for interactions with client machines to
474 provide the necessary authentication and encryption to ensure protection
475 from man-in-the-middle attacks. It is strongly suggested that all
476 password traffic or similarly sensitive data should be SSL-protected.
477 Assessment of the risk tradeoff against possible performance degradation
478 should be performed for all applications.</li>
479 <li>Many other attacks can be made on the several redirection steps that
480 Shibboleth takes to complete attribute transfer. The best protection
481 against this is safeguarding the WAYF service and ensuring that rogue
482 targets and origins are not used, generally by development of the trust
483 model underneath Shibboleth. Shibboleth also leverages DNS for security,
484 which is not uncommon, but attacks concerning bad domain information
485 should be considered.</li>
486 <li>Information regarding origin users is generally provided by the
487 authoritative enterprise directory, and the acceptance of requests from
488 target applications can be carefully restricted to ensure that all
489 requests the SHAR performs are authorized and all information the origin
490 provides is accurate. Use of plaintext passwords is strongly advised
492 <li>Server platforms should be properly secured, commensurate with the
493 level that would be expected for an organization's other security
494 services, and cookie stores on client machines should be well protected.</li>
497 <h4><a name="2.d."></a>2.d. Server Certs</h4>
499 <p>In the Shibboleth architecture, the SHAR, HS, and AA must all have
500 various client and/or server certificates for use in signing assertions and
501 creating SSL channels. These should be issued by a commonly accepted CA,
502 which may be stipulated by your federation. After understanding the CA's
503 acceptible to your federations, consult chapter <a href="#4.c.">4.c</a> for
504 information on certificate and key generation.</p>
506 <h4><a name="2.e."></a>2.e. Attribute Release Policies</h4>
508 <p>The Attribute Authority maintains a set of rules called Attribute Release
509 Policies (ARP's) that define which attributes are released to which targets.
510 When a browser user tries to access a resource, the SHAR asks the origin
511 site AA to release all the attributes it is allowed to know, possibly
512 restricted to specifically desired subset. The SHAR provides its own name
513 and an optional URL on behalf of which the attribute request is made which
514 can further refine the information the SHAR is allowed to know. The AA
515 processes this request using all applicable ARP's, determines which
516 attributes and values it will release, and then obtains the values actually
517 associated with the browser user. The AA sends these attributes and values
518 back to the SHAR.</p>
519 <p>Targets should work together with expected origin sites to ensure that
520 the sets of attributes that both sites expect to correspond using are
523 <h4><a name="2.f."></a>2.f. Designate Contacts</h4>
525 <p>Since Shibboleth deals both with daily technical and operational issues
526 and also with contractual issues, a set of contacts should be set up to
527 support the user base and to facilitate interactions with other Shibboleth
528 sites and federation members. It is recommended that at least technical and
529 administrative contacts be designated. Names, titles, e-mail addresses, and
530 phone numbers may all be useful information to provide.</p>
532 <h4><a name="2.g."></a>2.g. Browser Requirements</h4>
534 <p>A primary Shibboleth design consideration was to require very little or
535 no modification to client machines. The only requirement is that a browser
536 is used which supports cookies, redirection and SSL. Browser users will have
537 to perform an additional click to submit the authentication assertion if
538 JavaScript is not functional.</p>
540 <h4><a name="2.h."></a>2.h. Clocks</h4>
542 <p><a href="http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~ntp/">NTP</a> should be run on all
543 web servers. Shibboleth employs a short handle issuance time to protect
544 against replay attacks. Because of this, any significant degree of clock
545 skew can hinder the ability of users to access sites successfully.</p>
547 <h4><a name="2.h."></a>2.i. Other Considerations</h4>
549 <p>Especially for higher education, there are a handful of laws enacted
550 which may have important ramifications on the disclosure of personal
551 information and attributes. Since Shibboleth does not necessarily need to
552 transmit identity, it is an ideal solution for many higher education
553 situations. Nevertheless, all parties within the United States of America
554 are strongly advised to consult the
555 <a href="http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/ferpa/">Family Educational Rights
556 and Privacy Act of 1974(FERPA)</a>, and all other relevant state and federal
557 legislation before deploying Shibboleth.</p>
562 <h3><a name="3."></a>3. Installation</h3>
563 <h4><a name="3.a."></a>3.a. Software Requirements</h4>
564 <p>The Shibboleth project makes binary packages available for Solaris and Linux
565 that are precompiled against recent releases of various required libraries such
566 as OpenSSL. It is highly advisable to build from source when using Shibboleth in
567 a production environment in order to permit patching or updating of packages as
568 security holes and bugs are fixed. Building from source is necessary to give you
569 complete control over your deployment platform. The binary packages represent a
570 snapshot in time only. To build from source, see the <span class="fixed">
571 INSTALL.txt</span> files in the doc folder of the OpenSAML and Shibboleth source
573 <p>The software requirements listed correspond to the binary distributions. In
574 general, source builds should work against all recent versions of the operating
575 systems and software dependencies listed below. For specific questions, inquire
576 to the support mailing list, or give it a try. Note that OpenSSL releases
577 frequent security updates; the version listed may not be the most current, but
578 most minor "letter" updates should be usable.</p>
580 <p><b>Operating System:</b> </p>
582 <li>Windows NT/2000/XP/2003<ul type="disc">
583 <li><a href="http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache 1.3.27</a> or
585 <p>Apache must be compiled with mod_so for DSO module support,
586 and must include SSL support (preferably using
587 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>), and EAPI support (which
588 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span> requires and provides).
589 Shibboleth can coexist with <span class="fixed">mod_auth</span>,
590 which may be compiled or loaded into the server for use
591 elsewhere, but Shibboleth does not need or use it.</p>
592 <p>Any Apache modules used, and Apache itself, must be compiled
593 with the Microsoft DLL-based runtime, selected by compiling with
598 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/release/shib-download.html">
599 Shibboleth v1.1 Target for Windows</a><blockquote>
600 <p>Available in both self-installer and ZIP format, the
601 installer will prompt for an install path, change default
602 configuration files as appropriate for Windows, and set various
603 environment variables for you. A default SHAR service can also
604 be installed for you, or you can install it manually using the
605 instructions in this guide.</p>
606 <p>Note that debug/symbol versions of the libraries and software
607 are included, and may be used by appending "debug" to the
608 Shibboleth library path and using the corresponding modules and
609 binaries. If you do so, be aware that Apache and other modules
610 must also be compiled with Microsoft's debug runtime (via the /MDd
611 compiler option). In most cases, you can safely ignore or even
612 delete the debug versions.</p>
618 <li>RedHat 7.2-7.3:<ul type="disc">
619 <li><a href="http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache 1.3.27</a><blockquote>
620 <p>Apache must be compiled with mod_so for DSO module support,
621 and must include SSL support (preferably using
622 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>), and EAPI support (which
623 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span> requires and provides).
624 Shibboleth can coexist with <span class="fixed">mod_auth</span>,
625 which may be compiled or loaded into the server for use
626 elsewhere, but Shibboleth does not need or use it. The most
627 recent Red Hat RPM (1.3.27-2 as of this writing) is sufficient.</p>
630 <p>On Linux, Shibboleth requires that Apache and Apache-SSL be
631 built with <span class="fixed">libpthread</span>, or loading the
632 <span class="fixed">mod_shibrm</span> or <span class="fixed">
633 mod_shire</span> modules will cause Apache to stop. While
634 RedHat's Apache is compatible, Debian's Apache must be rebuilt
635 with <span class="fixed">libpthread</span>:</p>
637 <p><span class="fixed">$ export LDFLAGS=-lpthread<br>
638 $ apt-build --rebuild --reinstall install \<br>
639 apache-common apache apache-ssl</span></p>
644 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/release/shib-download.html">
645 Shibboleth v1.1 Target for RedHat</a></li>
646 <li><a href="http://www.openssl.org/source/">openssl-0.9.6, revision
647 <span class="fixed">i</span> or newer</a></li>
648 <li>libstdc++3-3.0.4-1.i386.rpm and libgcc-3.0.4-1.i386.rpm<blockquote>
649 <p>Shibboleth binaries are currently built with
650 <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc.html">GCC 3.04</a>,
651 and require these specific library versions. They are available
652 as RPMs and are available in the RedHat 7.2 updates directory on
654 <a href="ftp://rufus.w3.org/linux/redhat/updates/7.2/en/os/i386/">
655 RedHat mirror</a>. They can be installed alongside earlier and
656 later GCC libraries.</p>
659 <li><b>Portions of the <span class="fixed">libphp4</span> Apache
660 plugin are written in C++, as is Shibboleth. There is a known
661 conflict between the PHP extensions <span class="fixed">libpspell.so</span>
662 and <span class="fixed">libsablot.so</span> which will manifest
663 itself as segmentation faults when starting Apache. If a site wants
664 to use <span class="fixed">libphp4.so</span> and Shibboleth at once,
665 then one of the following may be done:</b><ol>
666 <li>Remove the options <span class="fixed">--with-pspell</span>
667 and <span class="fixed">--with-xslt-sablot</span> from PHP's
669 <li>Rebuild these two modules using the same version of GCC that
670 was used to compile Shibboleth.</li>
677 <li>Solaris 2.8:<ul type="disc">
678 <li><a HREF="ftp://ftp.openssl.org/source/openssl-0.9.7b.tar.gz">
681 <p>The shared library version of OpenSSL is required by
682 Shibboleth. The static libraries may be installed as well if
683 necessary for other applications, but cannot be used within
684 mod_ssl or any other Apache modules.</p>
687 <li><a href="http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache 1.3.27</a><blockquote>
688 <p>Apache must be compiled with mod_so for DSO module support,
689 and must include SSL support (preferably using
690 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>) and EAPI support (which
691 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span> requires and provides).
692 Shibboleth can coexist with <span class="fixed">mod_auth</span>,
693 which may be compiled or loaded into the server for use
694 elsewhere, but Shibboleth does not need or use it.</p>
695 <p><span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>'s loadable module,
696 <span class="fixed">libssl.so</span>, must be compiled against
697 <span class="fixed">OpenSSL 0.9.7b</span>'s shared libraries.
698 Other versions or a statically linked build of
699 <span class="fixed">libssl.so</span> will cause failures such as
700 bus errors when used with Shibboleth.</p>
701 <p>To check how OpenSSL was built, run the <span class="fixed">
702 ldd</span> command against <span class="fixed">libssl.so</span>
703 in the Apache <span class="fixed">/libexec/</span> folder and
704 check the output for references to <span class="fixed">
705 libssl.so.0.9.7b</span>. If you see an earlier version
706 mentioned, or no mention of it at all, then <span class="fixed">
707 OpenSSL 0.9.7b</span> must be built with shared libraries from
708 source, and the Apache module rebuilt with it.</p>
712 <a href="ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/sparc/8/libgcc-3.2.2-sol8-sparc-local.gz">
713 libgcc v3.2.2+ and libstdc++ v3.2.2+</a><blockquote>
714 <p>Shibboleth binaries are currently built with
715 <a HREF="http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc.html">GCC 3.2.2</a>,
716 and require these specific library versions or newer. They are
717 available as Sun freeware packages and can be installed
718 alongside earlier and later GCC libraries.</p>
722 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/release/shib-download.html">
723 Shibboleth v1.1 Target for Solaris</a></li>
724 <li><b>Portions of the <span class="fixed">libphp4</span> Apache
725 plugin are written in C++, as is Shibboleth. There is a known
726 conflict with the PHP extensions <span class="fixed">libpspell.so</span>
727 and <span class="fixed">libsablot.so</span> which will manifest
728 itself as segmentation faults when starting Apache. If a site wants
729 to use <span class="fixed">libphp4.so</span> and Shibboleth at once,
730 then one of the following may be done:</b><ol>
731 <li>Remove the options <span class="fixed">--with-pspell</span>
732 and <span class="fixed">--with-xslt-sablot</span> from PHP's
734 <li>Rebuild these two modules using the same version of GCC that
735 was used to compile Shibboleth.</li>
742 <li>RedHat 8 and 9:<blockquote>
743 <p>RedHat 8 and 9 ship with Apache 2, which is not yet supported by
744 Shibboleth. To run Shibboleth under this OS,
745 <a href="http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache 1.3.27</a> must
749 <p>Apache must be compiled with mod_so for DSO module support, and
750 must include SSL support (preferably using <span class="fixed">
751 mod_ssl</span>), and EAPI support (which <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>
752 requires and provides). Shibboleth can coexist with
753 <span class="fixed">mod_auth</span>, which may be compiled or loaded
754 into the server for use elsewhere, but Shibboleth does not need or
755 use it. The most recent Red Hat RPM (1.3.23-14 as of this writing)
759 <p>On Linux, Shibboleth requires that Apache and Apache-SSL be built
760 with <span class="fixed">libpthread</span>, or loading the
761 <span class="fixed">mod_shibrm</span> or <span class="fixed">
762 mod_shire</span> modules will cause Apache to stop. While RedHat's
763 Apache is compatible, Debian's Apache must be rebuilt with
764 <span class="fixed">libpthread</span>:</p>
766 <p><span class="fixed">$ export LDFLAGS=-lpthread<br>
767 $ apt-build --rebuild --reinstall install apache-common \<br>
768 apache apache-ssl</span></p>
773 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/release/shib-download.html">
774 Shibboleth 1.1 Target for RedHat</a></li>
775 <li><a href="http://www.openssl.org/source/">openssl-0.9.6, revision
776 <span class="fixed">i</span> or newer</a></li>
777 <li>libstdc++3-3.0.4-1.i386.rpm and libgcc-3.0.4-1.i386.rpm
779 <p>Shibboleth binaries are currently built with
780 <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc.html">GCC 3.04</a>,
781 and require these specific library versions. They are available
782 as RPMs and are available in the RedHat 7.2 updates directory on
784 <a href="ftp://rufus.w3.org/linux/redhat/updates/7.2/en/os/i386/">
785 RedHat mirror</a>. They can be installed alongside earlier and
786 later GCC libraries.</p>
789 <li><b>Portions of the <span class="fixed">libphp4</span> Apache
790 plugin are written in C++, as is Shibboleth. There is a known
791 conflict with the PHP extensions <span class="fixed">libpspell.so</span>
792 and <span class="fixed">libsablot.so</span> which will manifest
793 itself as segmentation faults when starting Apache. If a site wants
794 to use <span class="fixed">libphp4.so</span> and Shibboleth at once,
795 then one of the following may be done:</b>
797 <li>Remove the options <span class="fixed">--with-pspell</span>
798 and <span class="fixed">--with-xslt-sablot</span> from PHP's
800 <li>Rebuild these two modules using the same version of GCC that
801 was used to compile Shibboleth. </li>
808 <h4><a name="3.b."></a>3.b. Deploy the Shibboleth Package</h4>
810 <p>For the sake of clarity, this deployment guide assumes that standard
811 directories are used for all installations. These directories may be changed
812 for local implementations, but must be done so consistently.</p>
814 <li>Ensure that you have obtained the proper
815 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/release/shib-download.html">
816 tarball</a> or installer for your operating system.</li>
817 <li>On Unix, the tarballs expand into <span class="fixed">
818 /opt/shibboleth</span>, and should be expanded as <span class="fixed">
819 root</span> from <span class="fixed">/</span>. If you use a different
820 layout or location, you will need to adjust your configuration files.
821 You should see the following directory structure (date and size details
822 notwithstanding):<blockquote>
823 <p><span class="fixed">$ ls -l<br>
824 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:54 bin<br>
825 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:54 data<br>
826 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:54 doc<br>
827 drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:54 etc<br>
828 drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:54 include<br>
829 drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:55 lib<br>
830 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 24 03:55 libexec<br>
831 drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Oct 24 02:02 share</span></p>
833 <p>On Windows, if the installer is not used, the zip file should be
834 unpacked beneath the root of the system drive, where it will create an
835 <span class="fixed">\opt\shibboleth</span> tree that resembles the Unix
836 layout above. This will allow the standard configuration options to
837 work. <b>The <span class="fixed">C:\opt\shibboleth\lib</span> directory
838 MUST be added to the system path to enable proper operation.</b> If you
839 use a different location, changes to various configuration files must be
840 made by hand. The installer can do this for you, and is recommended in
844 <h4><a name="3.c."></a>3.c. Configure Apache 1.3.x</h4>
847 <li>Shibboleth includes configuration directives in the file
848 <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/apache.config</span>
849 which must be added to the httpd.conf file used locally. It is
850 recommended that these directives simply be added to the end of the
851 existing <span class="fixed">httpd.conf</span> file rather than trying
852 to merge it in-line; <a href="#3.c.2.">step 2</a> describes the
853 necessary modifications to the Apache startup script. The default
854 configuration will often work, but if customization is necessary, these
855 options may be modified:<dl>
856 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">LoadModule <module>
857 <pathname></span> </dd>
858 <dd class="value">Specifies the title and location of the
859 <span class="fixed">shibrm_module</span> resource manager and
860 <span class="fixed">shire_module</span> SHIRE modules. These are
861 installed by default at <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/libexec/mod_shibrm.so</span>
862 and <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/libexec/mod_shire.so</span></dd>
863 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">SHIREConfig <pathname></span>
865 <dd class="value">Specifies the <span class="fixed">pathname</span>
866 of the SHIRE's configuration file. Defaults to <span class="fixed">
867 /opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shibboleth.ini</span>.</dd>
868 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">SHIREURL <url><br>
869 <Location <url>><br>
870 SetHandler <method><br>
871 </Location></span></dd>
872 <dd class="value">Specifies the <span class="fixed">URL</span> and
873 the <span class="fixed">method</span> the target uses to handle
874 requests for Shibboleth-protected resources. Currently,
875 <span class="fixed">shib-shire-post</span> is the only available
876 handler <span class="fixed">method</span>. <span class="fixed">
877 SHIREURL</span> is used by Shibboleth when re-directing the user to
878 the WAYF and <span class="fixed"><Location></span> by Apache; for
879 this reason, both <span class="fixed">URL</span> specifications must
880 match. Note that the configuration file itself contains <>'s, and
881 <span class="fixed">Location</span> should not be replaced.<p>The
882 referenced <span class="fixed">URL</span> can be either a partial
883 path or an absolute URL. The partial path allows each virtual server
884 to use its own hostname and port in the SHIRE for session cookie
885 purposes, while the absolute URL forces HTTP virtual servers to use
886 HTTPS for the SHIRE. Use of a full <span class="fixed">https://</span>
888 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibMapAttribute
889 <attribute-uri> <HTTP-header> [alias]</span> </dd>
890 <dd class="value"><b>This command has been deprecated in favor of
891 the configuration support available in the Attribute Acceptance
892 Policy file. See <a href="#4.e.">section 4.e.</a> It may be removed
893 in a future release.</b></dd>
896 <li><a name="3.c.2."></a>These modifications must be made to the Apache
897 startup script on Unix:<p>Add the following environment variable:</p>
899 <p><span class="fixed">SHIBCONFIG=/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shibboleth.ini<br>
900 export SHIBCONFIG</span></p>
902 <p>If the OpenSSL libraries are not in the system's search path, they
903 should be added to <span class="fixed">LD_LIBRARY_PATH</span>. Generally
904 libtool's linker options will insure that the modules can locate the
905 Shibboleth libraries, but if not, you may need to add
906 <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/lib</span> to <span class="fixed">
907 LD_LIBRARY_PATH</span> as well.</p>
908 <p>If the SHIBCONFIG environment variable is not specified, Shibboleth
909 will use <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shibboleth.ini</span>
911 <p>On Windows, the installer will set the path and SHIBCONFIG variable
912 for you in the system path, enabling Apache or IIS to be used.</li>
913 <li>The SHAR must be started along with Apache. Among other methods on
914 Unix, this can be done either by creating a separate SHAR startup script
915 or by modifying Apache's RC script to start/stop the <span class="fixed">
916 SHAR</span> <b>before</b> <span class="fixed">httpd</span>. It is
917 suggested that Apache's script be modified by adding:<blockquote>
918 <p><span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/bin/shar -f &</span> </p>
920 <p>Sample <span class="fixed">init.d</span> scripts may be included with
921 future releases. Ensure that the environment variable referenced in
922 <a href="#3.c.2">3.c.2</a> are in place.</p>
923 <p>On Windows, the SHAR is a service and is managed separately.</li>
924 <li>By default, the Shibboleth modules are configured to log information
925 on behalf of Apache to the file <span class="fixed">
926 /opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shire.log</span>, though this can be
927 changed. For this log to be created, Apache must have permission to
928 write to this file, which may require that the file be manually created
929 and permissions assigned to whatever user Apache is configured to run
930 under. If the file does not appear when Apache runs with the modules
931 loaded, check for permission problems. </li>
932 <li>The options in <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> must be
933 configured as documented in <a href="#4.a.">4.a</a>. Apache content will
934 then need to be modified for Shibboleth authentication. This is
935 discussed in <a href="#4.d.">4.d</a>. It is recommended that the target
936 then be tested as detailed in section <a href="#5.a.">5.a</a>.</li>
939 <h4><a name="3.d."></a>3.d. Configure Microsoft IIS</h4>
942 <li>The package includes an ISAPI filter and bundled extension for SHIRE
943 POST processing in a single library, <span class="fixed">libexec\isapi_shib.dll</span>.
944 This filter is configured using commands in <span class="fixed">
945 C:\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth\shibboleth.ini</span>. Make sure you've
946 added the library directory to the path as directed in <a href="#3.b.">
947 section 3.b.</a><p>Installing the extension into IIS is a two step
948 process:<ol type="1">
949 <li type="a">First, add the filter using the Internet Services
950 Manager MMC console. Right click on the machine icon on the left,
951 and edit the WWW Service master properties. On the "ISAPI Filters"
952 tab, add a new filter called Shibboleth and specify the DLL named
953 above. The priority should be High, and once the filter is loaded,
954 make sure it appears in the list <b>below</b> the "sspifilt" entry.
955 Restart IIS and make sure the filter shows up with a green arrow.
956 Check the Windows event log if it fails to load. The default
957 configuration options are sparse, but they should allow the filter
958 to at least initialize.</li>
959 <li type="a">Secondly, map a special file extension, such as
960 <span class="fixed">.shire</span>, to the ISAPI library so that
961 virtual URLs can be specified to invoke the SHIRE handler for each
962 web site. Right click on the machine icon on the left, and edit the
963 WWW Service master properties. On the "Home Directory" tab, add a
964 script mapping using the "Configuration" button. The "Executable"
965 box should point to the filter/extension library, and the
966 "Extension" can be set to anything unlike to conflict, but
967 <span class="fixed">.shire</span> is assumed (and the dot must be
968 included). You should select the option to limit verbs to POST, and
969 you must uncheck the "Check that file exists" box.</li>
972 <li>All other aspects of configuration are handled via the
973 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> file and associated XML-based
974 policy files described in subsequent sections. Particular use is made of
975 the per-hostname section feature that allows global settings to be
976 overridden per-site, and this permits different IIS instances to be
977 separately configured.</li>
978 <li>A special section must be added/uncommented in the
979 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> file to support IIS usage. The
980 <span class="fixed">[isapi]</span> section must be used to map IIS
981 Instance ID numbers to fully-qualified hostnames that correspond to
982 named sections later in the file. Instance IDs are used in the IIS
983 metabase to identify web sites. They are applied starting with the
984 number 1 and number the web sites in order in the Internet Services
985 Manager from top to bottom. In the <span class="fixed">[isapi]</span>
986 section, add lines in the following form:
987 <blockquote class="fixed">
988 <p>1=hostname.domain.com<br>
989 2=hostname2.domain.com<br>
992 <p>At least an empty configuration section named <span class="fixed">
993 hostname.domain.com</span> should then be added to the end of the file.
994 Any options specific to that web site can be added as documented in
996 <li>See the following section for information on running the SHAR
997 service on Windows.</li>
998 <li>The options in <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> must be
999 configured as documented in <a href="#4.a.">4.a</a>. It is recommended
1000 that the target then be tested as detailed in section <a href="#5.a.">
1004 <h4><a name="3.e."></a>3.e. Running the SHAR on Windows</h4>
1006 <p>The SHAR is a console application that is primarily designed to be
1007 installed as a Windows service. To run the process in console mode for
1008 testing, the <span class="fixed">-console</span> parameter is used.
1009 Otherwise, parameters are used to install (or remove) the SHAR from the
1010 service database and subsequent control is via the Service Control Manager
1011 applet. The following command line parameters can be used:</p>
1013 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-console</span></dd>
1014 <dd class="value">Allows the process to be started from a command
1015 prompt. Since the console will exit if the desktop user logs out, this
1016 is not suitable for production use, but may be useful for testing.</dd>
1017 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-config <pathname></span> </dd>
1018 <dd class="value">Specifies the pathname of the SHAR's configuration
1019 file. Defaults to <span class="fixed">\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth\shibboleth.ini</span>
1020 or the value of the <span class="fixed">SHIBCONFIG</span> environment
1021 variable, if it is set.</dd>
1022 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-install <servicename></span></dd>
1023 <dd class="value">Installs the SHAR as a named service in the Windows
1024 service database. A name should be provided if multiple instances of the
1025 SHAR need to be run on different ports, and thus installed separately.
1026 The <span class="fixed">-config</span> option can be provided to include
1027 a specific configuration file on the service's command line.</dd>
1028 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-remove <servicename></span></dd>
1029 <dd class="value">Removes the named service instance of the SHAR from
1030 the Windows service database.</dd>
1036 <h3><a name="4."></a>4. Getting Running</h3>
1037 <h4><a name="4.a."></a>4.a. Configuring <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span></h4>
1039 <p>Most of the configuration for the SHAR, SHIRE, and RM is stored in the
1040 file <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span>. This file is split into
1041 several pre-defined sections. The first sections, <span class="fixed">
1042 [general]</span>, <span class="fixed">[shire]</span>, and
1043 <span class="fixed">[shar]</span>, define the operational parameters for the
1044 <span class="fixed">SHIRE</span> and <span class="fixed">SHAR</span>. While
1045 not precisely accurate, the <span class="fixed">[shire]</span> section is
1046 generally associated with the web server modules and libraries that
1047 applications interface with, while the <span class="fixed">[shar]</span>
1048 section is associated with the separate SHAR process. The
1049 <span class="fixed">[general]</span> section holds global settings, used by
1050 all components. The <span class="fixed">[shire]</span> and
1051 <span class="fixed">[shar]</span> sections can override the
1052 <span class="fixed">[general]</span> tags with SHIRE- or SHAR-specific
1053 configuration. For example, if the SHAR is looking for a tag, it will look
1054 first in the <span class="fixed">shar</span> section; if it does not find
1055 the tag there, it will proceed to look in the <span class="fixed">general</span>
1057 <p>The following sections, <span class="fixed">[metadata_shire]</span>,
1058 <span class="fixed">[metadata_shar]</span>, and <span class="fixed">
1059 [policies]</span>, define the trust framework within which the entire system
1060 operates. Example configuration files are bundled with the Shibboleth
1061 distribution, currently derived from the InQueue staging federation managed
1063 <p>For Apache (but not IIS), there is also information that must be
1064 configured in <span class="fixed">/usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf</span>
1065 (or equivalent); for more information, refer to <a href="#3.c.2.">3.c</a>.</p>
1066 <p>Information in the logging configuration files referenced by
1067 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> may require additional changes to
1068 meet local needs. The logging level can be raised to <span class="fixed">
1069 INFO</span> or <span class="fixed">DEBUG</span> if additional detail is
1070 needed for testing. It is recommended that after initial installation is
1071 completed, the log level in both files be left at either <span class="fixed">
1072 INFO</span> or <span class="fixed">WARN</span>.</p>
1073 <p>Fields that are purple are optional; grey fields are mandatory. If the
1074 option only applies to a specific environment, such as IIS/ISAPI only, then
1075 this is indicated.</p>
1076 <p><span class="fixed">[general]</span>:</p>
1078 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">logger = <pathname></span></dd>
1079 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the <span class="fixed">
1080 log4cpp</span> configuration file for most Shibboleth events. This
1081 element may also be optionally specified for each of the components
1082 individually (which is the default provided, so this setting is often
1083 unused). Default logging settings (using local log files) should
1084 suffice. If using a remote syslogd instead, the <span class="fixed">
1085 syslog</span> daemon must accept <span class="fixed">UDP:514</span>
1086 messages, and on Linux, <span class="fixed">SYSLOGD_OPTIONS</span> must
1087 include <span class="fixed">-r</span> to enable logging from remote
1088 machines. The logging level is also defined in the logger configuration
1089 file. The configuration format and log levels are similar to that of the
1090 <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/log4j/docs/documentation.html">Log4j</a>
1091 package's property format.</dd>
1092 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">schemadir = <pathname></span></dd>
1093 <dd class="value">Specifies the directory in which the XML schema files
1094 are located; defaults to <span class="fixed">
1095 /opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/</span>. This should generally be left
1096 alone, unless a non-default installation path is used.</dd>
1097 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">sharsocket = <pathname> | [IP
1098 interface:]port</span></dd>
1099 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the socket the SHAR uses to
1100 form connections. Note that if you change this, the SHAR and Apache
1101 should both be restarted immediately, since new Apache child processes
1102 will use the changed value as soon as they start up.
1103 <p>On Unix, this is usually set to a domain socket path, often something
1104 in <span class="fixed">/tmp</span>. On Windows, this must be either a
1105 TCP port number, or a combination of an IP address and port, with a
1106 colon in between. Using an address specifies an IP interface to bind to
1107 on multi-homed servers. Using just a port number generally suffices. If
1108 this syntax is used on Unix, then the process will use a TCP socket
1109 instead of a domain socket. </p>
1110 <p><b>Security Note:</b> Using TCP, which is mandatory on Windows, can
1111 be insecure if used in certain non-default configurations. If you allow
1112 access to the service from other hosts, be sure a firewall is in place
1113 to prevent unauthorized access. The <span class="fixed">sharacl</span>
1114 setting, described later, provides some minimal filtering, but TCP is
1115 still an insecure protocol.</dd>
1117 <p>The rest of the <span class="fixed">[general]</span> configuration
1118 section defines global settings that can be overridden by server-specific
1119 tags in sections defined by the server name. This is especially applicable
1120 for non-Apache configurations. For example, if you have a web server named
1121 www.example.edu, you can define a section <span class="fixed">[www.example.edu]</span>
1122 and override global tags with tags for that server only.</p>
1123 <p>The following table lists the server-specific tags. It is broken into
1124 mandatory tags, and optional tags. Tags in the <span class="fixed">[general]</span>
1125 section correspond to all servers; to override specific tags on a per-server
1126 basis, use <span class="fixed">[<FQDN>]</span> as the header for a section (FQDN
1127 means fully-qualified domain name, and corresponds to the name you assign to
1128 a virtual host using the Apache ServerName directive, or that you map IIS
1129 instance IDs to using the <span class="fixed">[isapi]</span> section.</p>
1130 <p><span class="fixed">[<general>]</span>:</p>
1132 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">wayfURL = <absolute url></span></dd>
1133 <dd class="value">Specifies the URL of the WAYF service the user is
1134 redirected to. Federations will often provide this URL in order to
1135 control the way in which sites are presented to users, but a target may
1136 provide this function, or it may be set directly to a specific site's
1137 Handle Service, effectively rendering the system internal to a single
1139 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">shireURL = <absolute or
1140 relative url></span> ISAPI</dd>
1141 <dd class="value">Specifies the URL of the SHIRE POST URL, or assertion
1142 consumer service, at which new sessions are initiated. This can be an
1143 absolute URL, or a relative path to be prefixed by the base URL of the
1144 web site. Using an absolute URL allows a virtual server to funnel SHIRE
1145 requests to a fixed location, such as in the case where a non-SSL site
1146 wants to handle SHIRE requests over SSL (on a different port).
1147 <p>Note that this URL will result in a cookie being set, and this cookie
1148 must be returned in subsequent requests, so the virtual server's domain
1149 name and port must be consistent with the SHIRE's domain name and port
1150 for some browsers to properly return the cookie. If default ports are
1151 used (and thus left unspecified), browsers will generally return cookies
1152 set via SSL to a non-SSL server. If non-default ports are used, it is
1153 recommended that this be a relative URL so that each virtual host
1154 handles its own cookie operations.</p>
1155 <p>For Shibboleth to function in IIS, the file extension at the end of
1156 this URL must match the value configured into IIS and mapped to the
1157 ISAPI extension. This causes the request to be serviced properly, even
1158 though no file by that name actually exists.</dd>
1159 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">cookieName = <string></span></dd>
1160 <dd class="value">Defines the name to be assigned to in-memory session
1162 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">shireError = <pathname></span></dd>
1163 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the template for the error
1164 page generated when there is an error re-directing the user to the WAYF
1165 or processing a new session sign-on.</dd>
1166 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">rmError = <pathname></span></dd>
1167 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the template for the error
1168 page generated if internal errors occur in the RM.</dd>
1169 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">accessError = <pathname></span></dd>
1170 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the template for the page
1171 displayed to users when access to a protected resource is denied by the
1172 RM. This is distinct from when errors occur during the evaluation
1173 process itself, and indicates a denial of authorization.</dd>
1174 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">normalizeRequest = <true|false></span></dd>
1175 <dd class="valueopt">If true, all redirects and computed request URLs
1176 generated by Shibboleth will be created using the virtual server name
1177 assigned to the server. If <span class="fixed">false</span>, the
1178 browser's supplied URL is sometimes used to compute the information.
1179 This sometimes has no effect, depending on the capabilities of the web
1180 server, since the correct behavior is almost always to rely on the
1181 server's API to report the hostname and ignore the browser.</dd>
1182 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">checkIPAddress = <true|false></span></dd>
1183 <dd class="valueopt">If <span class="fixed">true</span>, Shibboleth will
1184 check client addresses for impersonation protection. In most
1185 circumstances, this should be enabled to prevent certain attacks
1186 concerning stolen cookies, but this can cause problems for users behind
1187 proxies or NAT devices. Defaults to <span class="fixed">false</span>.</dd>
1188 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">shireSSLOnly = <true/false></span></dd>
1189 <dd class="valueopt">If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the SHIRE will
1190 reject HTTP connections for new session sign-on that are not SSL-protected.
1191 This guards the initial session sign-on from the browser, but does not
1192 preclude non-SSL content. Use of SSL is strongly recommended; see
1193 section <a href="#2.c.">2.c</a> for more information.</dd>
1194 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">mustContain =
1195 <string1>;<string2></span> ISAPI</dd>
1196 <dd class="valueopt">Controls what content in IIS to protect with
1197 Shibboleth. Multiple values should be separated with a semicolon. Each
1198 string is matched directly against the requested URL, and if the URL
1199 contains the string, a match is made and Shibboleth applies. No regular
1200 expressions are supported, only literal matches. Slashes are matched
1201 like other characters, so path components can be surrounded with slashes
1202 to match any requests with a particular component in the path. Defaults
1203 to protecting everything on a server or site.</dd>
1204 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">contentSSLOnly = <true|false></span>
1206 <dd class="valueopt">If <span class="fixed">true</span>, Shibboleth will
1207 insist that any request for protected content is over an SSL connection.
1208 Defaults to <span class="fixed">false</span>.</dd>
1209 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">authLifetime = <seconds></span>
1211 <dd class="valueopt">If set, sessions are always terminated after the
1212 specified number of seconds, resulting in a new redirect and request for
1213 authentication, just as if a new request without a session is received.
1214 Defaults to infinite.</dd>
1215 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">authTimeout = <seconds></span>
1217 <dd class="valueopt">If set, sessions are always terminated after the
1218 specified number of seconds of inactivity (defined as no requests
1219 received in that session), resulting in a new redirect and request for
1220 authentication, just as if a new request without a session is received.
1221 Defaults to infinite.</dd>
1222 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">requestAttributes = <attr1>
1223 <attr2> <attr3>...</span> </dd>
1224 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies a space-delimited list of attributes
1225 (named by a designated URI) that the SHAR will request when querying for
1226 attributes. By default, the SHAR will ask for and receive all attributes
1227 the AA is willing to release to it.</dd>
1228 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">exportAssertion = <true|false></span>
1230 <dd class="valueopt">If set, the SAML attribute assertion received by
1231 the SHAR is exported to a CGI request header called Shib-Attributes,
1232 encoded in base64. Defaults to <span class="fixed">false</span>. While
1233 this does require parsing the raw XML, it also permits an application to
1234 see attributes that may have been filtered by an AAP, or to forward the
1235 SAML assertion to a third party.</dd>
1236 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">supportContact = <e-mail></span></dd>
1237 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the local site's support e-mail address,
1238 and is used in the generation of error pages.</dd>
1239 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">logoLocation = <pathname></span></dd>
1240 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the location of the logo used in the
1241 generation of error pages. This logo can be in any format that the web
1242 browser will understand, and should be a URL (absolute or relative) that
1243 will return a valid logo.</dd>
1245 <p><span class="fixed">[shire]</span>:</p>
1247 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">metadata = <section tag></span></dd>
1248 <dd class="value">Specifies the tag that defines the section of
1249 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> the SHIRE should use to
1250 acquire its metadata. The SHIRE does not need trust metadata, and so
1251 generally it will only need site metadata and attribute acceptance
1252 policy to define attributes and enforce policies like scope
1253 limitations(e.g. MIT not asserting attributes @brown.edu.)</dd>
1254 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">logger = <pathname></span></dd>
1255 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the location of the <span class="fixed">
1256 log4cpp</span> configuration file for Shibboleth events produced by the
1257 web server modules and libraries. Refer to the global setting for more
1259 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">aap-uri = <uri></span>
1261 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the URI of an attribute acceptance policy
1262 XML file. This command has been replaced with a new metadata provider
1263 type for attribute policy that should be provided to both the SHIRE and
1264 SHAR components. To replace this command, add lines to both metadata
1265 sections of this form:
1266 <blockquote class="fixed">
1267 <p>edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.AAP.XML=<uri></p>
1269 <p>For more information, refer to section <a href="#4.e.">4.e</a>. This
1270 command will be removed in future releases.</dd>
1272 <p><span class="fixed">[shar]</span>:</p>
1274 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">metadata = <tag></span></dd>
1275 <dd class="value">Specifies the tag that defines the section of
1276 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> the SHAR should use to acquire
1277 its site, trust, and attribute metadata.</dd>
1278 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">cacheType = <method></span></dd>
1279 <dd class="value">Specifies the method used by the SHAR to cache
1280 sessions and attributes. The default is <span class="fixed">memory</span>,
1281 which indicates that the SHAR should store received attributes in
1282 memory. Another option is <span class="fixed">mysql</span>, which will
1283 use the MySQL Credential Cache, if it is available.</dd>
1284 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">cacheClean = <seconds></span></dd>
1285 <dd class="value">Specifies the duration in seconds between cleanups of
1286 the SHAR's cached but expired sessions and attributes. Defaults to
1287 <span class="fixed">300</span>, or 5 minutes.</dd>
1288 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">cacheTimeout = <seconds></span></dd>
1289 <dd class="value">Specifies the duration in <span class="fixed">seconds</span>
1290 that must elapse between user accesses before that user's session is
1291 destroyed, including the associated handle and all cached attributes.
1292 Defaults to <span class="fixed">28800</span> seconds, or 8 hours. This
1293 should generally be longer than the associated server's settings for
1294 session lifetime and timeout.</dd>
1295 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">logger = <pathname></span></dd>
1296 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the location of the <span class="fixed">
1297 log4cpp</span> configuration file for Shibboleth events produced by the
1298 SHAR service. Refer to the global setting for more information.</dd>
1299 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">sharacl = <IP Address></span></dd>
1300 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies one or more space-delimited IP addresses
1301 from which a TCP-based SHAR service will accept connections. Defaults to
1302 127.0.0.1 (localhost). Should only be changed if proper precautions have
1303 been taken to protect connections from off-host.</dd>
1304 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">certFile = <pathname></span>
1306 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the location of the PEM-format
1307 certificate used by the SHAR to communicate in authenticated fashion
1308 with origin site Attribute Authorities.</dd>
1309 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">keyFile = <pathname></span>
1311 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the location of the PEM-format private
1312 key used by the SHAR to communicate in authenticated fashion with origin
1313 site Attribute Authorities.</dd>
1314 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">keyPass = <password></span>
1316 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the <span class="fixed">password</span>
1317 used to access the <span class="fixed">keyFile</span>, if any.</dd>
1318 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">calist = <pathname></span>
1320 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies a single file of PEM-format certificates
1321 containing the root CAs the SHAR will consider to be valid signers of AA
1322 server certificates. Currently applies globally to all communication
1324 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">AATimeout = <seconds></span>
1326 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the number of seconds that the SHAR will
1327 wait for attributes to be sent from an AA. Defaults to
1328 <span class="fixed">60</span>.</dd>
1329 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">AAConnectTimeout =
1330 <seconds></span> </dd>
1331 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the number of seconds that the SHAR will
1332 wait for a connection to be established with an AA. Defaults to
1333 <span class="fixed">30</span>.</dd>
1335 <p><span class="fixed">[metadata]</span> sections must be created and named
1336 in accordance with the value of the <span class="fixed">metadata</span>
1337 parameter in the <span class="fixed">[shire]</span> and <span class="fixed">
1338 [shar]</span> sections. Metadata sections may be shared or defined for each
1339 component. Three XML-based providers are supported by Shibboleth, but future
1340 providers may be specified with name/value pairs consisting of
1341 <span class="fixed"><metadata provider type>=<source></span>.</p>
1342 <p>Note that any number of files of the three types may be loaded into the
1343 system, which supports aggregating policy from across federations.</p>
1344 <p>Shibboleth provides a simple utility called <span class="fixed">
1345 siterefresh</span> for updating metadata files from a central location and
1346 verifying a digital signature over them, as described in section
1347 <a href="#4.g.">4.g</a>.</p>
1348 <p><span class="fixed">[<metadata>]</span>:</p>
1350 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">
1351 edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.metadata.XML = <pathname></span></dd>
1352 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the file to load site
1353 metadata from. This information controls what origin sites are trusted
1354 by the target and provides contact information. This should be a file
1355 stored locally, and may be used by both the SHIRE and SHAR.</dd>
1356 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">
1357 edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.trust.XML = <pathname></span></dd>
1358 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the trust database of
1359 certificates and/or CA roots used by the SHAR during session initiation
1360 (but currently is not used during attribute exchange). The SHIRE
1361 component generally does not need trust data.</dd>
1362 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">
1363 edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.AAP.XML = <pathname></span></dd>
1364 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of the Attribute Acceptance
1365 Policy file that defines what attributes will be visible to
1366 applications, how to filter their values based on the source, and how to
1367 make them available to applications and the RM. See <a href="#4.e.">
1368 section 4.e.</a> for detailed information on this file.<p><b>This
1369 provider has been added as of version 1.1, and supersedes the old
1370 <span class="fixed">aap-uri</span> and <span class="fixed">attributes</span>
1371 settings, as well as the Apache <span class="fixed">ShibMapAttribute</span>
1374 <p>The <span class="fixed">[extensions:saml]</span> section specifies a set
1375 of extension libraries to load that add additional functionality to the
1376 system. Examples include session cache implementations, such as the MySQL
1377 cache, or advanced metadata providers.</p>
1378 <p><span class="fixed">[extensions:saml]</span>:</p>
1380 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed"><name> = <library pathname></span>
1382 <dd class="value">The name of the extension is simply a unique key and
1383 is not important. The path to the library to load must be absolute and
1386 <p>The <span class="fixed">[policies]</span> section contains the policy URI
1387 values that control acceptance of assertions from origin sites. This may
1388 eventually have multiple elements associated it for targets that are members
1389 of multiple federations.</p>
1390 <p><span class="fixed">[policies]</span>:</p>
1392 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed"><federation> = <URI></span>
1394 <dd class="value">The name of the <span class="fixed">federation</span>
1395 and its associated policy <span class="fixed">URI</span>. This
1396 information should be provided by federations and is designed to support
1397 future work in federation deployment. For the time being, it simply
1398 insures that deployments not meant to interoperate will not do so.<p>
1399 This set of URI values is matched against the SAML <span class="fixed">
1400 Audience</span> fields of assertions received from HS's and AA's. One of
1401 the URI's specified by the origin in the <span class="fixed">
1402 edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.audiences</span> property must match
1403 one of these URIs or the assertion will not be accepted by design.</dd>
1406 <h4><a name="4.b."></a>4.b. Dynamic Error Page Generation</h4>
1408 <p>Shibboleth supports the dynamic generation of information in error pages
1409 referenced by <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span>. The Shib Target
1410 employs a special Markup Language Processor to insert special tags into the
1411 generated HTML. The parser will read the error file looking for any tag that
1414 <p><span class="fixed"><shibmlp tag-name /></span> </p>
1416 <p>Shibboleth will replace <span class="fixed">tag-name</span> with the
1417 appropriate markup tag from the table below:</p>
1419 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">supportContact</span></dd>
1420 <dd class="value">The value of the <span class="fixed">supportContact</span>
1421 for this web site.</dd>
1422 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">logoLocation</span></dd>
1423 <dd class="value">The value of the <span class="fixed">logoLocation</span>
1424 for this web site. This is used to fill in the template error page only;
1425 if a custom error page is created, then the image may be linked to
1426 statically by the page itself.</dd>
1427 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">requestURL</span></dd>
1428 <dd class="value">The user's requested URL.</dd>
1429 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">errorType</span></dd>
1430 <dd class="value">The type of error.</dd>
1431 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">errorText</span></dd>
1432 <dd class="value">The actual error message.</dd>
1433 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">errorDesc</span></dd>
1434 <dd class="value">A textual description of the error intended for human
1436 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">originContactName</span></dd>
1437 <dd class="value">The contact name for the origin site provided by that
1438 site's metadata.</dd>
1439 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">originContactEmail</span></dd>
1440 <dd class="value">The contact email address for the origin site provided
1441 by that site's metadata.</dd>
1442 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">originErrorURL</span></dd>
1443 <dd class="value">The URL of an error handling page for the origin site
1444 provided by that site's metadata.</dd>
1446 <p>This configuration is only for Apache servers, and is only used by
1447 resources protected by Shibboleth. See <a href="#4.d.">section 4.d.</a></p>
1448 <p>Sample error templates for different kinds of errors are included in the
1449 Shibboleth distribution, and can be triggered by anything that will cause
1450 Shibboleth to be unable to make an authorization decision, including a bad
1451 sites file, certificate verification failures, or a skewed clock between
1453 <p><b>You should edit these templates, provide or remove style sheets and
1454 images, and otherwise customize these templates to suit the user experience
1455 you want your users to have when errors occur. The defaults are not likely
1456 to meet the needs of any site.</b></p>
1458 <h4><a name="4.c."></a>4.c. Key Generation and Certificate Installation</h4>
1460 <p>The only target component that must have a private key and certificate is
1461 the SHAR. While the target server itself should support SSL in most cases
1462 for users, it is mandatory for the SHAR to authenticate when contacting an
1463 AA, and it must therefore be given a key and an SSL client certificate. It
1464 is permissible for the SHAR to use the same keypair and certificate used by
1465 the target web server itself, provided the certificate is signed by a CA
1466 accepted by the origin sites that will be queried for attributes.</p>
1467 <p>On Unix, we require that OpenSSL be installed to use Shibboleth. On
1468 Windows, OpenSSL libraries and the command line tool are included in the
1469 package and can be used directly, if not otherwise available.</p>
1470 <p>The certificate and key file location should be based on whether they
1471 will also be used for Apache. If they will be used as a server certificate
1472 as well, they should probably be in the Apache tree in the usual
1473 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>-defined locations inside the Apache
1474 configuration folder., and the SHAR can read them from there. If the SHAR is
1475 not running as <span class="fixed">root</span>, permissions might need to be
1476 changed to allow this access. If the certificate and key will only be used
1477 for the SHAR, they can be put in the same folder with the
1478 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> file and protected appropriately.</p>
1479 <p>Other web servers like IIS do not use the raw PEM format that Apache and
1480 Shibboleth can share, and therefore the components must generally use
1481 separate copies of the key and certificate if they are to be shared. Most
1482 other servers can export and/or import keys to and from PEM format or other
1483 formats that OpenSSL can convert. Refer to your server's documentation or
1484 ask for assistance from others who use it.</p>
1485 <p>The SHAR is assigned a key and a certificate using shibboleth.ini's
1486 <span class="fixed">certFile</span>, <span class="fixed">keyFile</span> and
1487 <span class="fixed">keyPass</span> settings, described in <a href="#4.a.">
1488 section 4.a.</a> These files must currently be in PEM format. OpenSSL
1489 commands to generate a new keypair and a certificate request are shown here,
1490 assuming 2048 bit RSA keys are to be used:</p>
1492 <p><span class="fixed">$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out ssl.key 2048<br>
1493 $ openssl req -new -key ssl.key -out ssl.csr</span> </p>
1495 <p>The signed certificate file returned by the CA should be usable directly,
1496 or can be converted to PEM format using the <span class="fixed">openssl x509</span>
1498 <p>If the key is to be shared with Apache, the web server's child processes,
1499 often running as <span class="fixed">nobody</span>, must be able to read
1500 them while the server is running, which may require permission changes.</p>
1501 <p>This particularly applies when sharing the key and certificate used by
1502 mod_ssl, which are only readable by root by default. The password, if any,
1503 must be placed in the <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span> file, since
1504 the Apache module cannot prompt for it during initial startup as mod_ssl
1505 can. The issues surrounding how to securely obtain a key while running as
1506 <span class="fixed">nobody</span> may be addressed in a later release. Since
1507 the password will be stored in clear text in a frequently examined file, it
1508 is suggested to use a password not used elsewhere.</p>
1509 <p>Finally, the <span class="fixed">calist</span> command provides the SHAR
1510 with a set of CA roots to trust when validating AA server certificates. In
1511 all cases, the SHAR verifies that the certificate's Subject CN equals the
1512 AA's hostname, but the CA list restricts the accepted signers to those
1513 permitted by the SHAR. The parameter can be omitted to skip such validation,
1514 but this is not secure.</p>
1516 <h4><a name="4.d."></a>4.d. Protecting Web Pages</h4>
1518 <p>Protection of web pages is primarily achieved through "mapping"
1519 attributes provided by an AA to a localized vocabulary for authorization
1520 rules. This was formerly accomplished in Apache with the <span class="fixed">
1521 ShibMapAttribute</span> command, but this has been replaced with additional
1522 features in the AAP syntax, described in <a href="#4.e.">section 4.e.</a>
1523 This applies to both Apache and IIS.</p>
1524 <p><b><u>IIS</u></b></p>
1525 <p>The IIS RM module supports the mapping of attributes via AAP files, but
1526 it does not support rule-based policies and therefore cannot protect static
1527 content at this time. In addition, all of the configuration settings are
1528 managed globally or per-site and are pulled from the <span class="fixed">
1529 shibboleth.ini</span> file, so there are no additional commands to document
1532 <p><b><u>Apache</u></b></p>
1533 <p>The Apache RM module provided can interpret AAP settings to map
1534 attributes to HTTP request headers and to <span class="fixed">Require</span>
1535 rules, permitting protecting of both static and dynamic content. The
1536 commands described here can appear in content-specific configuration blocks
1537 or <span class="fixed">.htaccess</span> files. They determine what content
1538 is to be protected, session policies, and static access control rules.</p>
1539 <p>Any of the typical ways of protecting content may be used (.htaccess,
1540 Directory, Location, Files, etc.). There are two ways to trigger Shibboleth
1541 authentication: specifying an <span class="fixed">AuthType</span> of
1542 <span class="fixed">shibboleth</span> to use Shibboleth directly, or using
1543 <span class="fixed">ShibBasicHijack</span> to process existing .htaccess
1544 files using Shibboleth instead. Support for authorization consists of
1545 mod_auth-style require directives, as well as support for mod_auth group
1547 <p>A complete list of the directives and their values is below:</p>
1549 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">AuthType <string></span></dd>
1550 <dd class="value">Use <span class="fixed">shibboleth</span> for direct
1551 invocation, or <span class="fixed">Basic</span> plus the
1552 <span class="fixed">ShibBasicHijack</span> option described below.</dd>
1553 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibSSLOnly <on/off></span></dd>
1554 <dd class="value">Controls whether Shibboleth will reject non-SSL
1555 requests for resources from clients. Defaults to <span class="fixed">off</span>.</dd>
1556 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibBasicHijack <on/off></span></dd>
1557 <dd class="value">Controls whether Shibboleth should or should not
1558 ignore requests with <span class="fixed">AuthType Basic</span>. Defaults
1559 to <span class="fixed">off</span>.</dd>
1560 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibExportAssertion <on/off></span></dd>
1561 <dd class="value">Controls whether the SAML attribute assertion provided
1562 by the AA is exported in a base64-encoded HTTP header,
1563 <span class="fixed">Shib-Attributes</span>. Defaults to
1564 <span class="fixed">off</span>. While this does require parsing the raw
1565 XML, it also permits an application to see attributes that may have been
1566 filtered by an AAP, or to forward the SAML assertion to a third party.</dd>
1567 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibAuthLifetime <seconds></span></dd>
1568 <dd class="value">If set, sessions are always terminated after the
1569 specified number of seconds, resulting in a new redirect and request for
1570 authentication, just as if a new request without a session is received.
1571 Defaults to infinite.</dd>
1572 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibAuthTimeout <seconds></span></dd>
1573 <dd class="value">If set, sessions are always terminated after the
1574 specified number of seconds of inactivity (defined as no requests
1575 received in that session), resulting in a new redirect and request for
1576 authentication, just as if a new request without a session is received.
1577 Defaults to infinite.</dd>
1578 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">AuthGroupFile <pathname></span></dd>
1579 <dd class="value">Same as mod_auth; collects values found in REMOTE_USER
1580 into a named group for access control. An attribute must be mapped to
1581 REMOTE_USER for this to work. Note that mod_auth will not support group
1582 files when mod_shibrm is loaded, since they share the same command.
1583 <p><a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/core.html#require">This is
1584 implemented</a> by placing a <span class="fixed">.htaccess</span> file
1585 that references a group file stored at <span class="fixed">/pathname</span>:</p>
1587 <p><span class="fixed">AuthGroupFile /pathname<br>
1588 require group workgroup</span></p>
1591 <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/mod_auth.html#authgroupfile">
1592 AuthGroupFile</a> used by Shibboleth might resemble:<br>
1593 <span class="fixed">workgroup: joe@example.edu, jane@demo.edu, jim@sample.edu</span>
1595 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">Require <string></span></dd>
1596 <dd class="value">Enforce authorization using one of the following
1597 methods.<ul type="circle">
1598 <li><span class="fixed">valid-user</span><blockquote>
1599 <p>Any Shibboleth user from a trusted origin site is accepted,
1600 even if no actual attributes are received. This is a very
1601 minimal kind of policy, but is useful for testing or for
1602 deferring real policy to an application.</p>
1605 <p><span class="fixed">user</span></p>
1607 <p>A space-delimited list of values, such as from the
1608 <span class="fixed">
1609 urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonPrincipalName</span>
1610 attribute. Actually, any attribute can be mapped to REMOTE_USER,
1611 even if this doesn't always make sense.</p>
1614 <li><span class="fixed">group</span><blockquote>
1615 <p>A space-delimited list of group names defined within
1616 <span class="fixed">AuthGroupFile</span> files, again provided
1617 that a mapping to <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> exists.</p>
1620 <li><span class="fixed"><alias></span><blockquote>
1621 <p>An arbitrary rule name that matches an Alias defined in an
1622 AAP file. The rule value is a space-delimited list of attribute
1623 values, whose format depends on the attribute in question (e.g.
1624 an affiliation rule might look like:</p>
1625 <p><span class="fixed">require affiliation staff@osu.edu
1626 faculty@mit.edu</span></p>
1630 <p>Additionally, for <span class="fixed">user</span> and
1631 <span class="fixed"><alias></span>-based rules, if a tilde character is
1632 placed immediately following <span class="fixed">user</span> or
1633 <span class="fixed"><alias></span>, the expressions that follow are
1634 treated as regular expressions. The syntax supported is generally based
1635 on the one defined by <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/#regexs">
1636 XML Schema</a>. This specification borders on unreadable, but the syntax
1637 is generally Perl-like. Expressions should generally be "anchored" with
1638 the ^ and $ symbols to insure mid-string matches don't cause false
1640 <p>For example, the rule:<br>
1641 <span class="fixed">require affiliation ~ ^member@.+\.edu$<br>
1642 </span>would evaluate to allowing anyone with an <span class="fixed">
1643 affiliation</span> of <span class="fixed">member</span> from a .edu
1647 <h4><a name="4.e."></a>4.e. Defining Attributes and Acceptance Policies</h4>
1649 <p>Shibboleth allows a user and a site to release a varying set of
1650 attributes to a destination site, and does not impose restrictions on the
1651 kinds of attribute information provided by an AA. Target implementations
1652 must be prepared to examine the attributes they receive and filter them
1653 based on policies about what information to permit an origin site to assert
1654 about its users.</p>
1655 <p>Attribute acceptance is the process of defining acceptable attributes and
1656 filtering attribute values before passing them on to a resource manager,
1657 such as the <span class="fixed">mod_shibrm</span> module. Data blocked by
1658 AAP filters will not be passed to the CGI environment or used when enforcing
1659 <span class="fixed">.htaccess</span> rules. Note that the attribute
1660 assertion exported to the <span class="fixed">Shib-Attributes</span> header
1662 <p>The Shibboleth implementation supports Scoped and Simple attributes and
1663 filtering policies for different kinds of attributes, and is potentially
1664 extensible to more complex attributes in the future. An attribute is
1665 considered Scoped if the XML representation of its values contains a "Scope"
1666 attribute. As of 1.1, this is detected at runtime and requires no
1667 configuration in advance.</p>
1668 <p><b>An essential part of the Shibboleth trust fabric is ensuring that
1669 sites only assert attributes for domains for which they are considered
1670 authoritative by the target. Typically, this means that Brown University
1671 will be trusted to assert attributes only scoped to <span class="fixed">
1672 brown.edu</span>. Unless there are very specific circumstances requiring
1673 this restriction be removed, it is strongly encouraged that such policies be
1677 <p>Scoped attributes are a special kind of attribute whose values are a
1678 combination of a <span class="fixed">value</span> and a
1679 <span class="fixed">scope</span>, or <span class="fixed">context</span>
1680 for the value. An example is <span class="fixed">
1681 eduPersonScopedAffiliation</span>, which adds a scope to the defined set
1682 of <span class="fixed">eduPersonAffiliation</span> values, such as
1683 <span class="fixed">student</span>, <span class="fixed">member</span>,
1684 or <span class="fixed">faculty</span>. Scopes are expressed as DNS
1685 domains and subdomains.</p>
1686 <p>Any <span class="fixed">scoped</span> attribute can be scoped only to
1687 the origin site's permitted domains. These domains are listed in the
1688 site metadata that provides policy information to the system. Domains
1689 can be explicit or regular expressions, and can be changed by a target
1690 to meet its needs. Targets can also override the rules specified for the
1691 site in their own AAPs, choosing to accept additional scopes or deny
1692 scopes that would ordinarily be accepted based on metadata provided by a
1693 federation. Thus, attribute acceptance processing for
1694 <span class="fixed">scoped</span> attributes is based on site metadata
1695 and target-specified overrides in addition to the mechanism described
1696 below for <span class="fixed">simple</span> attributes.</p>
1697 <p>Scope rules specified in an AAP are additive with any domains
1698 permitted by site metadata, and the rules are applied by first looking
1699 for an applicable denial rule, and then looking at site metadata and any
1700 applicable site rules for an accept rule.</p>
1704 <p>Simple attributes are attributes whose value is expressed in XML as a
1705 Text node; that is, the value is just a string. Multiple values are
1706 permitted. <span class="fixed">eduPersonEntitlement</span>, in which the
1707 values are URIs, is one example of a simple attribute.</p>
1708 <p>Both Simple and Scoped attribute acceptance is controlled with an
1709 external policy file written in XML. The schema for the file is
1710 described by the <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xsd</span> schema, and
1711 an example file is included, <span class="fixed">AAP.xml</span>. It is
1712 mandatory to supply such a file, because attributes are recognized based
1713 on their presence in this file, and not by separate configuration
1714 processes. Only by listing an attribute in the file will it be accepted
1715 and processed by the RM.</p>
1716 <p>The policy is a default-deny algorithm that requires permissible
1717 attributes and values be listed explicitly. That is, an empty file
1718 permits nothing. Each attribute to be supported must be listed in the
1719 file by name in an <span class="fixed"><AttributeRule></span>. Each such
1720 rule is a collection of <span class="fixed"><SiteRule></span> elements
1721 along with an optional <span class="fixed"><AnySite></span> default
1722 rule. In turn each site rule is a set of <span class="fixed"><Value></span>
1723 rules that specify matches to permit, either literal or regular
1724 expressions, or a wildcarded <span class="fixed"><AnyValue></span>
1725 default rule, which is equivalent to a single regular expression rule
1726 allowing anything.</p>
1728 <p>A syntax summary follows:</p>
1730 <p><span class="fixed"><AttributeAcceptancePolicy</span></p>
1732 <p>The top level element in the file.</p>
1734 <p><span class="fixed"><AttributeRule<br>
1735 Name="urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonScopedAffiliation"<br>
1736 Header="Shib-EP-Affiliation" Alias="affiliation"></span></p>
1738 <p>Specifies a rule for an attribute, named by its URI. The
1739 following XML attributes can be supplied:</p>
1740 <table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5">
1742 <td><span class="fixed">Name</span></td>
1743 <td>The name of the Shibboleth attribute, usually a URI.
1744 This is the only required XML attribute.</td>
1747 <td><span class="fixed">Namespace</span></td>
1748 <td>If the attribute's name includes a SAML namespace,
1749 supply it here. Normally this is unused.</td>
1752 <td><span class="fixed">Header</span></td>
1753 <td>The HTTP request header to map the attribute's values
1757 <td><span class="fixed">Alias</span></td>
1758 <td>A short name for the attribute, determines the name of
1759 the Apache <span class="fixed">Requires</span> rule.</td>
1763 <p><span class="fixed"><AnySite></span></p>
1765 <p>Specifies a rule that always applies to the attribute, regardless
1766 of the asserting AA.</p>
1768 <p><span class="fixed"><SiteRule Name="host.domain.com"></span></p>
1770 <p>A rule that applies to the origin site AA corresponding to the
1773 <p><span class="fixed"><Scope Accept="true|false"> Type="type"></span></p>
1775 <p>Specifies a value to accept or deny, either directly using
1776 <span class="fixed">type</span> <span class="fixed">literal</span>,
1777 or using a set of matching expressions as <span class="fixed">type</span>
1778 <span class="fixed">regexp</span>. <span class="fixed">literal</span>
1779 is the default if <span class="fixed">Type</span> is not specified.
1780 Accept defaults to "true">.</p>
1782 <p><span class="fixed"><AnyValue></span></p>
1784 <p>Specifies a rule that always applies to the attribute and site,
1785 regardless of the value(s).</p>
1787 <p><span class="fixed"><Value Type="type"></span></p>
1789 <p>Specifies a value to permit, either directly using
1790 <span class="fixed">type</span> <span class="fixed">literal</span>,
1791 or using a set of matching expressions as <span class="fixed">type</span>
1792 <span class="fixed">regexp</span>. <span class="fixed">literal</span>
1793 is the default if <span class="fixed">Type</span> is not specified.</p>
1796 <p>The regular expression syntax is a subset of the usual Perl and Unix
1797 syntaxes that is described in the XML Schema specification by the W3C. Most
1798 typical expressions should work. Be sure to anchor them using
1799 <span class="fixed">^</span> and <span class="fixed">$</span> to avoid
1800 unintentional matches midstring.</p>
1802 <h4><a name="4.f."></a>4.f. Using Attributes in Applications</h4>
1804 <p>Apart from the simple RM functionality provided, attribute information
1805 may be made available directly to applications via the standard practice of
1806 creating custom HTTP request headers before passing control to the
1807 application. Applications should make no assumption about the presence of
1808 specific attributes for their use unless they have intimate knowledge of the
1809 attribute release policies in place.</p>
1810 <p>The AAP metadata controls this interface, and maps a Shibboleth attribute
1811 to a header name, such as <span class="fixed">Shib-EP-Affiliation</span>.
1812 Using that example, any values of the mapped attribute will be placed in
1813 that header, delimited by semicolons. An application that uses a CGI-like
1814 syntax to access the header will find the values in the <span class="fixed">
1815 HTTP_SHIB_EP_AFFILIATION</span> variable. Any attribute can be placed in any
1816 header, to drive legacy applications that expect information in a particular
1818 <p>The <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> variable is a special case
1819 that is generally populated automatically by the web server based on an
1820 internal piece of data that represents the current <span class="fixed">
1821 username</span>. Unlike many authentication modules, Shibboleth does not
1822 guarantee that <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> will have any value,
1823 because users may remain anonymous in many cases. If it does have a value,
1824 it is set solely because of an AAP file that maps an attribute to that
1825 header name. For many purposes, the <span class="fixed">
1826 urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonPrincipalName</span> attribute should be
1827 mapped to <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span>. Even so, EPPN may not be
1828 provided by the AA, and <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> might still
1830 <p>The <span class="fixed">Shib-Origin-Site</span> variable will contain the
1831 unique name/identifier of the origin site of the user. Some applications may
1832 use this to lookup additional policy or application data. It normally takes
1833 the form of a URI but could be any string in some deployments.</p>
1834 <p>Finally, configuration may instruct the web server to place the entire
1835 XML message containing the SAML attribute information from the AA into a
1836 base64-encoded header called <span class="fixed">Shib-Attributes</span>.
1837 This is a raw interface that provides an application with the entire AA
1838 response, and is not a filtered view based on any attribute acceptance rules
1839 or even based on what attributes are recognized by the target. What was sent
1840 is what you see.</p>
1842 <h4><a name="4.g."></a>4.g. <span class="fixed">siterefresh</span></h4>
1844 <p>Shibboleth provides a simple tool called <span class="fixed">siterefresh</span>
1845 in the <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/bin</span> folder of the
1846 distribution to maintain metadata files referenced by <span class="fixed">
1847 shibboleth.ini</span>. It will return 0 on success and a negative number on
1848 failure and log errors to <span class="fixed">stderr</span>. If the data in
1849 the new metadata file is bad or the signature is invalid, the existing copy
1850 is kept. The SHAR and SHIRE stat all metadata files each time the data is
1851 used, allowing them to detect and utilize updates in real-time operation.</p>
1852 <p><span class="fixed">siterefresh</span> takes the following command-line
1855 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">--url <URL></span> </dd>
1856 <dd class="value">Specifies the <span class="fixed">URL</span> of the
1857 remote metadata file with which to update the local file.</dd>
1858 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">--out <pathname></span> </dd>
1859 <dd class="value">Specifies the local file to which to write the new
1861 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--cert <pathname></span>
1863 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the location of a certificate stored in
1864 <span class="fixed">PEM</span> format used to validate the signature of
1865 the metadata file. Since much of Shibboleth's security flows from
1866 metadata files, this option is highly recommended, and the certificate
1867 used should be verified independently.</dd>
1868 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--schema <pathname></span>
1870 <dd class="valueopt">Optionally defines a base path for schemas to use
1871 when validating the file. Defaults to <span class="fixed">
1872 /opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/</span>.</dd>
1874 <p>A complete command issued to <span class="fixed">siterefresh</span> might
1877 <p><span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/bin/siterefresh --out sites.xml
1878 --cert internet2.pem \<br>
1879 --url http://wayf.internet2.edu/InQueue/sites.xml </span></p>
1881 <p>It is recommended that similar commands be added to a <span class="fixed">
1882 crontab</span> to keep the site and trust files refreshed. AAP files tend to
1883 be site-specific, but could be maintained and distributed centrally. If the
1884 command is invoked in a script that writes the file to a new location and
1885 compares it with the old contents before overwriting the original, the
1886 command could be run very often without impacting target operations,
1887 providing a high degree of currency in case sites become compromised.</p>
1889 <h4><a name="4.h."></a>4.h. MySQL Session Cache</h4>
1891 <p>Shibboleth includes a useful plugin that extends the default memory cache
1892 for storing session data in the SHAR with a backing cache using an embedded
1893 MySQL database. In most distributions, it is enabled by default. The plugin
1894 can be found in the <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/libexec</span>
1895 folder, and is loaded as an extension library using the <span class="fixed">
1896 [extensions:saml]</span> section of <span class="fixed">shibboleth.ini</span>.
1897 The following configuration options are available:</p>
1899 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">mysql-cache-timeout =
1900 <seconds> (in [shar] section)</span></dd>
1901 <dd class="valueopt">Specifies the duration in <span class="fixed">
1902 seconds</span> that must elapse between user accesses before that user's
1903 session is purged from the persistent cache. Defaults to
1904 <span class="fixed">28800</span> seconds, or 8 hours. This should
1905 generally be longer than the associated server's settings for session
1906 lifetime and timeout, and the memory cache's timeout.</dd>
1907 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed"><MySQL Arguments>
1908 (one per line in [mysql] section)</span></dd>
1909 <dd class="valueopt">To pass arguments to the MySQL engine, create
1910 argument lines in the <span class="fixed">[mysql]</span> section in the
1912 <blockquote class="fixed">
1913 <p>arg1=<argument><br>
1914 arg2=<argument><br>
1917 <p>Important arguments you'll find by default include: </p>
1918 <blockquote class="fixed">
1919 <p>arg1 = --language=/opt/shibboleth/share/english<br>
1920 arg2 = --datadir=/opt/shibboleth/data</p>
1922 <p>which set the message file path and the location of the cache's
1923 database files respectively. Make sure the data directory exists before
1924 starting the SHAR if you change this path.</dd>
1930 <h3><a name="5."></a>5. Troubleshooting</h3>
1931 <p>This section provides basic information about testing Shibboleth targets.
1932 This information is not intended to be comprehensive, but instead rudimentary
1933 guidelines for basic configuration tests and problems. For more detailed
1934 information or answers to specific problems not addressed in this section,
1935 please mail <a href="mailto:mace-shib-users@internet2.edu">
1936 mace-shib-users@internet2.edu</a> with a thorough description of errors and
1937 configurations used.</p>
1938 <h4><a name="5.a."></a>5.a. Basic Testing</h4>
1940 <p>The target may be tested by generating a folder with very basic access
1941 controls on it, and accessing it using a web browser. Place a simple webpage
1942 such as <span class="fixed">index.html</span> in <span class="fixed">
1943 /secure/</span>. Then, add the following lines to <span class="fixed">
1944 httpd.conf</span>, which should be removed when testing is over:</p>
1946 <p><span class="fixed"># Configure a test directory<br>
1947 <Location /secure><br>
1948 AuthType shibboleth<br>
1949 require valid-user<br>
1951 # Per-directory SHIRE Configuration<br>
1952 #ShibBasicHijack On<br>
1953 #ShibSSLOnly On<br>
1954 #ShibAuthLifetime 60<br>
1955 #ShibAuthTimeout 600<br>
1957 # RM Configuration<br>
1958 #AuthGroupFile /foo<br>
1959 #ShibExportAssertion On<br>
1960 </Location><br>
1963 <p><b>For information regarding specific error messages that may be
1964 generated if the target does not work successfully, please refer to section
1965 <a href="#5.b.">5.b.</a>, or write
1966 <a href="mailto:mace-shib-users@internet2.edu">mace-shib-users@internet2.edu</a>.</b></p>
1968 <h4><a name="5.b."></a>5.b. Common Problems</h4>
1970 <p>A knowledge base is being developed in the
1971 <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~wassa/shib.faq/shibboleth-faq.html">
1972 Shibboleth Deployer's FAQ</a>. Please mail
1973 <a href="mailto:mace-shib-users@internet2.edu">mace-shib-users@internet2.edu</a>
1974 with any additional questions or problems encountered that are not answered
1975 by this basic guide.</p>
projects / shibboleth / sp.git / blob