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134 <h2>Shibboleth Target Deployment Guide</h2>
136 <p>Shibboleth Target Deployment Guide<br>
137 Shibboleth Version 1.2.1<br />
138 November 15, 2004<br />
139 <h3>This version of the deploy guide is for Shibboleth v1.2.1. For documentation
140 related to prior versions of Shibboleth, please consult the appropriate branch
141 in the Shibboleth CVS.</h3>
142 <h3>The default configuration of Shibboleth is <b>not</b> secure and should not be
143 used for protection of production content. The example private key bundled with the
144 distribution is publically available, widely circulated, and well-known; also, the
145 default federation and trust metadata is for testing purposes only. For information
146 about securing a Shibboleth deployment, please refer to the production guide.
147 Shibboleth should only be used to protect sensitive content when deployed carefully
148 in conjunction with proper trust settings and policies.</h3>
150 <p>The Shibboleth target implementation was substantially redesigned in version 1.2.
151 1.2.1 is a bug-fix release intended to address stability, major bugs, and small issues
152 that have arisen in the last 6 months. For a list of new features and fixes, please
153 refer to the NEWS.txt file in the doc/ folder of the distribution.</p>
155 <p>Before starting, please sign up for all applicable
156 <a href="http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/shib-misc.html#mailinglist">mailing
157 lists</a>. Announcements pertinent to Shibboleth deployments and developments
158 and resources for deployment assistance can be found here.</p>
159 <p>Please send any questions, concerns, or eventual confusion to
160 <a href="mailto:shibboleth-users@internet2.edu">shibboleth-users@internet2.edu</a>.
161 This should include, but not be limited to, questions about the documentation,
162 undocumented problems, installation or operational issues, and anything else
170 <h3><a name="TOC"></a>Shibboleth Target -- Table of Contents</h3>
173 <h4><a href="#1."><font color="black">Shibboleth Overview</font></a></h4>
175 <li><a href="#1.a."><font color="black">Origin</font></a></li>
176 <li><a href="#1.b."><font color="black">Target</font></a></li>
177 <li><a href="#1.c."><font color="black">WAYF</font></a></li>
178 <li><a href="#1.d."><font color="black">Federations</font></a></li>
179 <li><a href="#1.e."><font color="black">Relying Parties</font></a></li>
180 <li><a href="#1.f."><font color="black">Applications</font></a></li>
181 <li><a href="#1.g."><font color="black">Sessions</font></a></li>
185 <h4><a href="#2."><font color="black">Planning</font></a></h4>
187 <li><a href="#2.a."><font color="black">Requirements</font></a></li>
188 <li><a href="#2.b."><font color="black">Join a Federation</font></a></li>
189 <li><a href="#2.c."><font color="black">Security Considerations</font></a></li>
190 <li><a href="#2.d."><font color="black">Server Certificates</font></a></li>
191 <li><a href="#2.e."><font color="black">Attribute Release Policies</font></a></li>
192 <li><a href="#2.f."><font color="black">Attribute Acceptance Policies</font></a></li>
193 <li><a href="#2.g."><font color="black">Browser Requirements</font></a></li>
194 <li><a href="#2.h."><font color="black">Clocks</font></a></li>
195 <li><a href="#2.i."><font color="black">Other Considerations</font></a></li>
199 <h4><a href="#3."><font color="black">Installation</font></a></h4>
201 <li><a href="#3.a."><font color="black">Software Requirements</font></a></li>
202 <li><a href="#3.b."><font color="black">Deploy the Shibboleth Package</font></a></li>
203 <li><a href="#3.c."><font color="black">Configuring Apache 1.3.x</font></a></li>
204 <li><a href="#3.d."><font color="black">Configuring IIS</font></a></li>
205 <li><a href="#3.e."><font color="black">Running the SHAR on Windows</font></a></li>
209 <h4><a href="#4."><font color="black">Getting Running</font></a></h4>
211 <li><a href="#4.a."><font color="black">Configuring <span class="fixed">
212 shibboleth.xml</span></font></a></li>
213 <li><a href="#4.b."><font color="black">Dynamic Error Page Generation</font></a></li>
214 <li><a href="#4.c."><font color="black">Key Generation and Certificate
215 Installation</font></a></li>
216 <li><a href="#4.d."><font color="black">Protecting Web Pages</font></a></li>
217 <li><a href="#4.e."><font color="black">Defining Attributes and
218 Acceptance Policies</font></a></li>
219 <li><a href="#4.f."><font color="black">Using Attributes in Applications</font></a></li>
220 <li><a href="#4.g."><font color="black"><span class="fixed">siterefresh</span></font></a></li>
221 <li><a href="#4.h."><font color="black">MySQL Session Cache</font></a></li>
222 <li><a href="#4.i."><font color="black">Using Lazy Sessions</font></a></li>
226 <h4><a href="#5."><font color="black">Troubleshooting</font></a></h4>
228 <li><a href="#5.a."><font color="black">Basic Testing</font></a></li>
229 <li><a href="#5.b."><font color="black">Common Problems</font></a></li>
238 <h3><a name="1."></a>1. Shibboleth Overview</h3>
239 <p>Shibboleth is a system designed to exchange attributes across realms for the
240 primary purpose of authorization. It provides a secure framework for one
241 organization to transmit attributes about a web-browsing individual across
242 security domains to another institution. In the primary usage case, when a user
243 attempts to access a resource at a remote domain, the user's own home security
244 domain can send certain information about that user to the target site in a
245 trusted exchange. These attributes can then be used by the resource to help
246 determine whether to grant the user access to the resource. The user may have
247 the ability to decide whether to release specific attributes to certain sites by
248 specifying personal Attribute Release Policies (ARP's), effectively preserving
249 privacy while still granting access based on trusted information.</p>
250 <p>When a user first tries to access a resource protected by Shibboleth, they
251 are redirected to a service which asks the user to specify the organization from
252 which they want to authenticate. If the user has not yet locally authenticated
253 to a WebISO service, the user will then be redirected to their home
254 institution's authentication system. After the user authenticates, the
255 Shibboleth components at the local institution will generate a temporary
256 reference to the user, known as a handle, for the individual and send this to
257 the target site. The target site can then use the handle to ask for attributes
258 about this individual. Based on these attributes, the target can decide whether
259 or not to grant access to the resource. The user may then be allowed to access
260 the requested materials.</p>
261 <p>There are several controls on privacy in Shibboleth, and mechanisms are
262 provided to allow users to determine exactly which information about them is
263 released. A user's actual identity isn't necessary for many access control
264 decisions, so privacy often is needlessly compromised. Instead, the resource
265 often utilizes other attributes such as faculty member or member of a certain
266 class. While these are commonly determined using the identity of the user,
267 Shibboleth provides a way to mutually refer to the same principal without
268 revealing that principal's identity. Because the user is initially known to the
269 target site only by a randomly generated temporary handle, if sufficient, the
270 target site might know no more about the user than that the user is a member of
271 the origin organization. This handle should never be used to decide whether or
272 not to grant access, and is intended only as a temporary reference for
273 requesting attributes.</p>
274 <h4><a name="1.a."></a>1.a. Origin</h4>
276 <p>There are four primary components to the origin side in Shibboleth: the
277 Attribute Authority (AA), the Handle Service (HS), the directory service,
278 and the local sign-on system (SSO). The AA and HS are provided with
279 Shibboleth, and an open-source WebISO solution Pubcookie is also supplied;
280 the directory is provided by the origin site. Shibboleth is able to
281 interface with a directory exporting an LDAP interface or a SQL database
282 containing user attributes, and is designed such that programming interfaces
283 to other repositories should be readily implemented. Shibboleth relies on
284 standard web server mechanisms to trigger local authentication. A .htaccess
285 file can be easily used to trigger either the local WebISO system or the web
286 server's own Basic Auth mechanism, which will likely utilize an enterprise
287 authentication system, such as Kerberos.</p>
288 <p>From the origin site's point of view, the first contact will be the
289 redirection of a user to the handle service, which will then consult the SSO
290 system to determine whether the user has already been authenticated. If not,
291 then the browser user will be asked to authenticate, and then sent back to
292 the target URL with a handle bundled in an attribute assertion. Next, a
293 request from the Shibboleth Attribute Requester (SHAR) will arrive at the AA
294 which will include the previously mentioned handle. The AA then consults the
295 ARP's for the directory entry corresponding to the handle, queries the
296 directory for these attributes, and releases to the SHAR all attributes the
297 SHAR is entitled to know about that user.</p>
299 <h4><a name="1.b."></a>1.b. Target</h4>
301 <p>There are three primary components to the target side in Shibboleth: the
302 Shibboleth Indexical Reference Establisher (SHIRE), the Shibboleth Attribute
303 Requester (SHAR), and the resource manager (RM). An implementation of each
304 of these is included in the standard Shibboleth distribution. These
305 components are intended to run on the same web server.</p>
306 <p>From the target's point of view, a browser will hit the RM with a request
307 for a Shibboleth-protected resource. The RM then allows the SHIRE to step
308 in, which will use the WAYF to acquire the name of a handle service to ask
309 about the user. The handle service (HS) will then reply with a SAML
310 authentication assertion containing a handle, which the SHIRE then hands off
311 to the SHAR. The SHAR uses the handle and the supplied address of the
312 corresponding attribute authority (AA) to request all attributes it is
313 allowed to know about the handle. The SHAR performs some basic validation
314 and analysis based on attribute acceptance policies (AAP's). These
315 attributes are then handed off to the RM, which is responsible for using
316 these attributes to decide whether to grant access.</p>
318 <h4><a name="1.c."></a>1.c. Where are you from? (WAYF)</h4>
320 <p>The WAYF service can be either outsourced and operated by a federation or
321 deployed as part of the SHIRE. It is responsible for allowing a user to
322 associate themself with an institution of their specification, then
323 redirecting the user to the known address for the handle service of that
326 <h4><a name="1.d."></a>1.d. Federations</h4>
328 <p>A federation is one way to provide part of the underlying trust required
329 for function of the Shibboleth architecture. A federation in the context of
330 Shibboleth is a group of organizations(universities, corporations, content
331 providers, etc.) who agree to exchange attributes using the SAML/Shibboleth
332 protocols and abide by a common set of policies and practices. In so doing,
333 they must implicitly or explicitly agree to a common set of guidelines.
334 Joining a federation is not explicitly necessary for operation of
335 Shibboleth, but it dramatically expands the number of targets and origins
336 that can interact without defining bilateral agreements between all these
338 <p>A federation can be created in a variety of formats and trust models, but
339 to support Shibboleth, it must provide a certain set of services to
340 federation members. It needs to supply a registry to process applications to
341 the federation and distribute membership information to the origin and
342 target sites. This must include distribution of the PKI components necessary
343 for trust between origins and targets. There also needs to be a set of
344 agreements and best practices defined by the federation governing the
345 exchange, use, and population of attributes before and after transit, and
346 there should be a way to find information on local authentication and
347 authorization practices for federation members.</p>
349 <h4><a name="1.e."></a>1.e. Relying Parties</h4>
351 <p>Some aspects of both origin and target configuration can vary and be
352 expressed in terms of the "relying party". To an origin, a target
353 is a relying party, while targets consider origins to be relying
354 parties (it's a matter of perspective). Certificates, policies, and
355 other aspects of an interaction are specified on the basis of the relying
356 party, and may or may not vary between relying parties depending on the
357 deployment's needs.</p>
358 <p>Each origin and target is assigned a URI, a unique identifier to enable
359 control over configuration down to the level of an individual partner (a single
360 relying party). By convention, this is termed a "providerId". More
361 frequently, an entire federation will be viewed by an origin or target as a
362 single relying party to simplify management. An individual origin or target
363 with which this deployment exchanges information may sometimes be part of
364 multiple relying parties if there are multiple trust agreements
365 under which these transactions are performed. Care should be taken to avoid
366 conflicting or inconsistent configuration in such cases.</p>
368 <h4><a name="1.f."></a>1.f. Applications</h4>
370 <p>Shibboleth "applications" are the primary unit of target
371 configuration. Applications as viewed by the target implementation
372 are not necessarily defined by the same metrics as in other contexts. An
373 individual application represents a set of web resources that operates
374 using the same attribute handling and trust configuration and shares a common
375 <a href="#1.g.">session</a> with the browser user. As a user navigates between
376 resources on a server that cross an application boundary, a new session is
377 established, though user interaction may not be required. As a consequence of
378 the relationship between applications and sessions (which are tracked with
379 a cookie), an application usually does not span more than one virtual host.
380 Apart from cookie-based constraints, web resources can be aggregated into
381 applications in arbitrary ways.</p>
382 <p>A single target deployment may support a large number of applications,
383 but it need not register or publish information about each one with the
384 origins it accepts information from. Instead it can communicate using a
385 more limited set of distinct "providerId" values (often just a
386 single one). This allows targets with a complex internal configuration
387 to be treated as a single entity by origins for the purposes of attribute
390 <h4><a name="1.g."></a>1.g. Sessions</h4>
392 <p>Much of the target implementation is concerned with establishing, and
393 subsequently maintaining, sessions with the browser user on behalf of the
394 <a href="#1.f.">applications</a> at the target. A session consists of a
395 cookie passed between the browser and web server, associated with a
396 security context. The context contains the user's authentication information,
397 and generally a set of attributes that make up the user's identity. Each
398 application maintains distinct sessions with the browser by means of separate
399 cookies. It is important to note that all such sessions are independent and
400 distinct: any session can exist with or without any other session, and the
401 expiration of any one session does not imply the expiration of any other
402 session. Shibboleth also does not support any logout functionality beyond the
403 termination of individual application sessions by deletion of respective
404 cookies; also, there is no way for the target to cause origin-side sessions,
405 such as a user's SSO login, to expire.</p>
406 <p>A browser user accessing a Shibboleth-protected resource may have two
407 outcomes: standard session establishment, and lazy session
408 establishment. The standard session establishment mechanism in which
409 Shibboleth protects the resource in all circumstances results in the
410 establishment of a cookie-based browser session and a set of attributes
411 cached for that application. Shibboleth 1.2 also supports so-called lazy
412 session establishment, in which the resource may be accessed without prior
413 authentication. This means the application must be intelligent enough to
414 determine whether authentication is necessary, and then construct the proper URL
415 to initiate a browser redirect to request authentication; if the
416 application determines none is necessary or uses other authorization
417 mechanisms, then the request for authentication may not need to be triggered.
418 This complex functionality is mostly useful to protect a single URL with
419 different access mechanisms, or to require authenticated access only in
420 instances where the application deems it necessary.</p>
421 <p>Independently of this, a web-based application protected by Shibboleth
422 may have a need to establish its own session with the user. This session
423 may persist well beyond the Shibboleth session, and logouts from this
424 session, if supported, will not terminate a Shibboleth session initiated to
425 access the resource. Application administrators should carefully evaluate
426 the expiration of all sessions to limit vulnerability to attacks or user
427 negligence. Logging out of the entire desktop session is usually the
428 only (relatively) foolproof logout mechanism on the web.</p>
431 <h3><a name="2."></a>2. Planning</h3>
432 <p>There are several essential elements that must be present in the environment
433 to ensure Shibboleth functions well, both political and technical. Shibboleth
434 currently runs on a specific range of platforms and web server environments. The
435 SHAR and SHIRE are implemented entirely in C/C++. These are the recommendations
436 and requirements for a successful implementation of a Shibboleth target.</p>
437 <h4><a name="2.a."></a>2.a. Requirements</h4>
439 <p>Shibboleth currently supports Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, Linux, Solaris,
440 and Mac OS X. At present, Shibboleth consists of Apache/IIS plugins and a
441 separate SHAR process. The plugins use the Sun-RPC mechanism to communicate
442 with the SHAR over Unix domain or TCP sockets. The target's web servers must
443 be running <a href="http://http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache</a>
444 1.3+, 2.0+, or Microsoft IIS 4.0+ More precise technical
445 details are discussed in <a href="#3.a.">3.a</a>.</p>
447 <h4><a name="2.b."></a>2.b. Join a Federation</h4>
449 <p>While it is not necessary for a target or origin to join a federation,
450 doing so can facilitate the implementation of multilateral trust
451 relationships. Each federation will have a different application process.
452 For more information on federations, refer to <a href="#1.d.">1.d</a>.</p>
453 <p>For testing in a private environment, Shibboleth comes with a default
454 configuration that demonstrates how to implement a local peered agreement
455 and supports testing both origin and target on the same box using localhost
456 URLs. The sample key and certificate is for ease of testing only, and should
457 always be replaced for real world use.</p>
459 <h4><a name="2.c."></a>2.c. Security Considerations</h4>
461 <p>Shibboleth's protocols and software have been extensively engineered to
462 provide protection against many attacks. However, the most secure protocol
463 can be compromised if it is placed in an insecure environment. To ensure
464 Shibboleth is as secure as possible, there are several recommended security
465 precautions which should be in place at local sites.</p>
467 <li>While SSL use is optional for target sites,it should be used if at all
468 possible, at least in the processing of incoming sessions (called the
469 SHIRE URL or assertion consumer service). Federation guidelines should
470 be considered when determining whether to implement SSL, and, in
471 general, SSL should be used for interactions with client machines to
472 provide the necessary authentication and encryption to ensure protection
473 from man-in-the-middle attacks. It is strongly suggested that all
474 password traffic or similarly sensitive data should be SSL-protected.
475 Assessment of the risk tradeoff against possible performance degradation
476 should be performed for all applications.</li>
477 <li>Many other attacks can be made on the several redirection steps that
478 Shibboleth takes to complete attribute transfer. The best protection
479 against this is safeguarding the WAYF service and ensuring that rogue
480 targets and origins are not used, generally by development of the trust
481 model underneath Shibboleth. Shibboleth also leverages DNS for security,
482 which is not uncommon, but attacks concerning domain name lookups
483 should be considered.</li>
484 <li>Information regarding origin users is generally provided by the
485 authoritative enterprise directory, and the acceptance of requests from
486 target applications can be carefully restricted to ensure that all
487 requests the SHAR performs are authorized and all information the origin
488 provides is accurate. Proper security measures should also be in place
489 on directory access and population(see
490 <a href="http://www.georgetown.edu/giia/internet2/ldap-recipe/#AccessControl">
491 Access Control</a> in the
492 <a href="http://www.georgetown.edu/giia/internet2/ldap-recipe/">LDAP
493 recipe</a> for more information). Use of plaintext passwords is strongly
494 advised against.</li>
495 <li>Server platforms should be properly secured, commensurate with the
496 level that would be expected for an organization's other security
497 services, and cookie stores on client machines should be well protected.</li>
500 <h4><a name="2.d."></a>2.d. Server Certs</h4>
502 <p>In the Shibboleth architecture, the origin and target software must all have
503 various client and/or server certificates for use in signing assertions and
504 creating SSL connections These should be issued by a commonly accepted CA,
505 which may be stipulated by your federation. After understanding the CA's
506 acceptible to your federations, consult chapter <a href="#4.c.">4.c</a> for
507 information on certificate and key generation.</p>
509 <h4><a name="2.e."></a>2.e. Attribute Release Policies</h4>
511 <p>The Attribute Authority maintains a set of policies called Attribute
512 Release Policies (or ARP's) that govern the sharing of user attributes with
513 Shibboleth target sites. When a user attempts to access a
514 Shibboleth-protected resource, that resource's SHAR queries the user's AA
515 for all attributes to which it is entitled. The SHAR provides its own name
516 and the URI of the requesting application. The
517 AA finds the attributes associated with the browser user, determines an
518 "Effective ARP" for this user, and then sends to the SHAR only the
519 attribute-value pairs allowed in this policy.</p>
520 <p>An ARP may be thought of as a sort of filter for outbound attributes; it
521 cannot create attributes or data that aren't originally present, but it can
522 limit the attributes released and the values those attributes may have when
523 released. It does not change the information in the data sources in any way.</p>
524 <p>Each ARP is comprised of one or more rules that specify which attributes
525 and values may be released to a given application and that SHAR. The
526 assignment of rules to various targets is quite flexible and includes
527 mechanisms for specifying: that a rule should affect all targets (default
528 rule), exact SHAR names for which a rule is applicable, regular expressions
529 against which SHAR names should be matched to determine if a rule is
530 applicable, and individual applications that may span hosts and URL's as
532 <p>For each request, an Effective ARP is determined by locating all ARP's
533 applicable to the designated user and extracting each rule that matches the
534 querying SHAR and resource. Attributes and values that are specified for
535 release are included in the effective ARP, while those specified for denial
536 are blocked from release. See section <a href="#5.b.i.">5.b.i</a> for
537 details on how ARP's are processed.</p>
538 <p>Various ARP's may be combined in forming the Effective ARP. For instance,
539 the Site ARP is administratively maintained and applies to all users for
540 which the AA is answerable. User ARP's apply to a specific user only, and
541 can be maintained either administratively or by the users themselves. All
542 ARP's are specified using the same syntax and semantics.</p>
544 <h4><a name="2.f."></a>2.f. Attribute Acceptance Policies</h4>
546 <p>When a target receives a set of attributes, it must evaluate them in the
547 context of the Attribute Authority that is providing them, to assess their
548 "reasonableness". For example, if the value of an attribute is expected to
549 be from a small set of enumerated choices, the value should be compared
550 against that list. If a particular attribute or value is only trusted when
551 asserted by specific origins, that too should be checked.</p>
552 <p>Targets are configured to accept specific attributes that they understand
553 and care about, and are also configured with the rules to apply before
554 accepting the attributes for use by the RM or an application. Attributes and
555 values that don't meet the target's requirements are filtered out. The set
556 of configuration rules to make these decisions is called an Attribute
557 Acceptance Policy (AAP).</p>
559 <h4><a name="2.g."></a>2.g. Browser Requirements</h4>
561 <p>A primary Shibboleth design consideration was to require very little or
562 no modification to client machines. The only requirement is that a browser
563 is used which supports cookies, redirection and SSL. Browser users will have
564 to perform an additional click to submit the authentication assertion if
565 JavaScript is not functional.</p>
567 <h4><a name="2.h."></a>2.h. Clocks</h4>
569 <p><a href="http://www.ntp.org/">NTP</a> should be run on all
570 web servers. Shibboleth employs a short assertion acceptance window to protect
571 against replay attacks. Because of this, any significant degree of clock
572 skew can hinder the ability of users to access sites successfully.</p>
574 <h4><a name="2.h."></a>2.i. Other Considerations</h4>
576 <p>Especially for higher education, there are a handful of laws enacted
577 which may have important ramifications on the disclosure of personal
578 information and attributes. Since Shibboleth does not necessarily need to
579 transmit identity, it is an ideal solution for many higher education
580 situations. Nevertheless, all parties within the United States of America
581 are strongly advised to consult the
582 <a href="http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/ferpa/">Family Educational Rights
583 and Privacy Act of 1974(FERPA)</a>, and all other relevant state and federal
584 legislation before deploying Shibboleth.</p>
587 <h3><a name="3."></a>3. Installation</h3>
588 <h4><a name="3.a."></a>3.a. Software Requirements</h4>
589 <p>The Shibboleth project makes official binary packages available only for
590 Windows, precompiled against recent releases of various required libraries such
591 as OpenSSL. Binaries or RPMs for other platforms may be available on a limited or
592 ad hoc basis. It is highly advisable to build from source when using Shibboleth in
593 a production environment in order to permit patching or updating of packages as
594 security holes and bugs are fixed. Building from source is necessary to give you
595 complete control over your deployment platform. The binary packages represent a
596 snapshot in time only. To build from source, see the <span class="fixed">
597 INSTALL.txt</span> files in the doc folder of the OpenSAML and Shibboleth source
599 <p>The software requirements listed correspond to the binary distribution. In
600 general, source builds should work against all recent versions of the operating
601 systems and software dependencies listed below. For specific questions, inquire
602 or search the support mailing list, or give it a try. Note that OpenSSL releases
603 frequent security updates; the version listed may not be the most current, but
604 most minor "letter" updates should be usable.</p>
606 <p><b>General Requirements and Notes:</b></p>
608 <li><a href="http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache 1.3.x</a>
610 <p>Apache 1.3.x must be compiled with mod_so for DSO module support, and
611 should include SSL support (preferably using <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>),
612 and EAPI support (which <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span> requires and provides).</p>
613 <p><b>Portions of the <span class="fixed">libphp4</span> Apache
614 module are written in C++, as is Shibboleth. There is a known conflict on Unix
615 platforms between the PHP extensions <span class="fixed">libpspell.so</span>
616 and <span class="fixed">libsablot.so</span> which will manifest
617 itself as segmentation faults when starting Apache. If a site wants
618 to use <span class="fixed">libphp4.so</span> and Shibboleth at the same time,
619 then one of the following may be done:</b></p>
621 <li>Remove the options <span class="fixed">--with-pspell</span>
622 and <span class="fixed">--with-xslt-sablot</span> from PHP's
624 <li>Rebuild these two modules using the same version of GCC that
625 was used to compile Shibboleth.</li>
629 <li><a href="http://www.apache.org/dist/httpd/">Apache 2.0.x</a>
631 <p>Apache 2.0.x must be compiled with mod_so for DSO module support, and
632 should include SSL support which is available but not included by default.
633 See also the note about PHP above.</p>
638 <p>When installing under Windows 2003, if the server is not in a
639 domain before installing IIS 6, there may be issues surrounding
640 permissions on directories because of new restrictions on IIS
641 extensions accessing files.</p>
644 <li><a href="http://www.openssl.org">OpenSSL</a>
646 <p>Verions 0.9.6 and 0.9.7 are both supported, but 0.9.7 should be used
647 if possible, as support for 0.9.6 may be dropped in a future release.
648 Support for threads and shared libraries <b>must</b> be included during
649 configuration using the <i>threads</i> and <i>shared</i> options.</p>
653 <p>Most other required libraries are either easy to update or not found on
654 typical systems. See the <span class="fixed">INSTALL.txt</span> files in the
655 OpenSAML and Shibboleth source distributions for specific requirements of a
656 given release. The important requirements are for pthreads support and
657 shared libraries on Unix platforms. Without both, building will be hard and
658 stability unlikely.</p>
659 <p><b>Operating System Specific Notes:</b></p>
661 <li>Windows NT/2000/XP/2003
664 <p>Any Apache modules used, and Apache itself, must be compiled
665 with the Microsoft DLL-based runtime, selected by compiling with
666 the /MD switch. The binary distribution was built against Apache
667 versions 1.3.29 (with EAPI patches from mod_ssl 2.8.16) and 2.0.48.
668 Forward compatibility is likely, but errors will result if an
669 Apache implementation such as IBM's IHS product or any other
670 non-EAPI version of 1.3 is used. In such cases, you must build
671 the Shibboleth Apache modules from source.</p>
674 <p>The installer will prompt for an install path, change default
675 configuration files as appropriate for Windows, and set various
676 environment variables for you. A default SHAR service can also
677 be installed, or you can install it manually using the
678 instructions in this guide.</p>
679 <p>Note that debug versions of the libraries and software are
680 included, and may be used by appending "debug" to the
681 Shibboleth library path and using the corresponding modules and
682 binaries. If you do so, be aware that Apache and other modules
683 must also be compiled with Microsoft's debug runtime (via the /MDd
684 compiler option). In most cases, you can safely ignore or even
685 delete the debug versions.</p>
689 <li>RedHat Linux 7.2,7.3:
692 <p>The most recent Red Hat RPM for Apache (1.3.27-2 as of this writing) is sufficient for
693 use with Shibboleth. You can use the older version of OpenSSL included with the OS, for this
694 release, but be advised this may change in the future.</p>
697 <p>The version of GCC that comes with this system is too old to build Shibboleth.
698 Special update RPMs are available for GCC 3.04 that will work provided you
699 configure packages with CC and CXX set to gcc3 and g++3 respectively. Newer
700 GCC versions also work but may require a glibc upgrade and necessitate a lot
701 of unrelated package updates.</p>
705 <li>RedHat Linux 9 / Fedora / RH Enterprise
708 <p>Apache 2.0 is included as the default Apache version in this release.</p>
715 <p>Shibboleth requires that Apache and Apache-SSL be built with
716 <span class="fixed">libpthread</span>, or loading the
717 <span class="fixed">mod_shib_13</span> or <span class="fixed">mod_shib_20</span>
718 modules will cause Apache to fail. While RedHat's Apache is compatible,
719 Debian's Apache must be rebuilt with <span class="fixed">libpthread</span>:</p>
721 <p><span class="fixed">$ export LDFLAGS=-lpthread<br>
722 $ apt-build --rebuild --reinstall install \<br>
723 apache-common apache apache-ssl</span></p>
728 <li>Macintosh OS X 10.3
731 <p>Apache 1.3 is included as the default Apache version in this release.</p>
738 <p>The shared library version of OpenSSL is required by
739 Shibboleth. The static libraries may be installed as well if
740 necessary for other applications, but cannot be linked into
741 mod_ssl or any other Apache modules. If mod_ssl's libssl.so
742 module is linked against the static version, bus errors will
744 <p>To check how mod_ssl was built, run the <span class="fixed">
745 ldd</span> command against <span class="fixed">libssl.so</span>
746 in the Apache <span class="fixed">libexec/</span> folder and
747 check the output for references to <span class="fixed">
748 libssl.so.0.9.7</span>. If you see an earlier version
749 mentioned, or no mention of it at all, then OpenSSL 0.9.7 must be
750 built with shared libraries from source, and the Apache module rebuilt with it.</p>
751 <p>openssl-0.9.7d, the latest security fix release, has been tested,
752 but any 0.9.7 version should work.</p>
755 <p>Solaris does not come with GCC 3, but various versions can be obtained
756 from <a href="http://www.sunfreeware.com">http://www.sunfreeware.com</a>.
757 If building your own, GCC must be configured to use Sun's linker. Note that
758 you should use a consistent version of GCC across any other C++ libraries
759 in use within Apache, but other C++ code on your server can freely use a
760 different version as long as the necessary <span class="fixed">libstdc++.so</span>
761 for a given version is available</p>
764 <p>Use of GCC is recommended, but new releases of Sun's Forte compiler have
765 been used successfully with some tinkering with configuration scripts.</p>
771 <h4><a name="3.b."></a>3.b. Deploy the Shibboleth Package</h4>
773 <p>For the sake of clarity, this deployment guide assumes that standard
774 directories are used for all installations. These directories may be changed
775 for local implementations, but must be done so consistently.</p>
776 <p>On Unix, the build documentation suggests building into
777 <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth</span>. If you use a different layout or
778 location, most of the essential configuration files will be tweaked for you,
779 but watch for any exceptions.</p>
780 <p>On Windows, use of the installer is recommended. Visual Studio 6.0
781 project files are included with the OpenSAML and Shibboleth source
782 distributions for source builds if maximum flexibility to deal with
783 security issues or Apache variants is desired.</p>
785 <h4><a name="3.c."></a>3.c. Configure Apache</h4>
788 <li>Shibboleth includes configuration directives in the files
789 <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/apache.config</span>
790 and <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/apache2.config</span>
791 which must be added to the <span class="fixed">httpd.conf</span> file used
792 locally. It is recommended that these directives simply be added to the end of the
793 existing <span class="fixed">httpd.conf</span> file rather than trying
794 to merge it in-line; <a href="#3.c.2.">step 2</a> describes the
795 necessary modifications to the Apache startup script. The default
796 configuration will often work, but if customization is necessary, these
797 options may be modified:<dl>
798 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">LoadModule <module> <pathname></span></dd>
799 <dd class="value">Specifies the name and location of the module,
800 installed by default at <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/libexec/mod_shib_13.so</span>
801 or <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/libexec/mod_shib_20.so</span></dd>
803 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibConfig <pathname></span></dd>
804 <dd class="value">Specifies the <span class="fixed">pathname</span>
805 of the Shibboleth configuration file. Defaults to <span class="fixed">
806 /opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shibboleth.xml</span>.</dd>
808 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibSchemaDir <path></span></dd>
809 <dd class="value">Specifies the <span class="fixed">path</span>
810 of the Shibboleth schema folder. Defaults to <span class="fixed">
811 /opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth</span>.</dd>
813 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed"><Location <i>url</i>><br>
814 SetHandler <method><br>
815 </Location></span></dd>
816 <dd class="value"><p>(Apache 1.3 only) Specifies the relative <span class="fixed">path</span>
817 and the <span class="fixed">handler</span> the target uses to process
818 incoming sessions and lazy session startup for Shibboleth-protected
819 resources. This works in concert with the <span class="fixed">shireURL</span>
820 settings in the XML configuration file. Any virtual locations that are to be
821 used for this purpose should be defined to Apache here.</p>
822 <p>Another option for some sites is to configure Shibboleth globally in
823 "lazy" session mode for all content. This allows the module to
824 detect session requests and pass them to the handler without the need to
825 configure the handler itself.</p>
829 <li>If the OpenSSL libraries are not in the system's search path, they
830 should be added to the <span class="fixed">LD_LIBRARY_PATH</span> used by
831 Apache. You will also usually need to add <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/lib</span>
832 to <span class="fixed">LD_LIBRARY_PATH</span> as well. Note that on Mac OS X, the
833 environment variable used for this purpose is named
834 <span class="fixed">DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH</span></li>
835 <li>The SHAR must be started along with Apache. Among other methods on
836 Unix, this can be done either by creating a separate SHAR startup script
837 or by modifying Apache's RC script to start/stop the <span class="fixed">
838 SHAR</span> <b>before</b> <span class="fixed">httpd</span>. It is
839 suggested that Apache's script be modified by adding:<blockquote>
840 <p><span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/bin/shar -f &</span> </p>
842 <p>In most cases, the build process insures that the SHAR can locate
843 the configuration file and schemas, but the SHIBCONFIG and SHIBSCHEMAS
844 environment variables may be used as well. Command line options can also
845 be used to specify them.</p>
846 <p>On Windows, the SHAR is a service and is managed separately. Newer versions
847 of Windows support automatic restart of failed services. We suggest using this
848 feature to restart the SHAR when it fails. Although stability is good,
849 maximum reliability will be achieved by monitoring the process.</li>
850 <li>By default, the Shibboleth modules are configured to log information
851 on behalf of Apache to the file <span class="fixed">
852 /opt/shibboleth/var/log/shibboleth/shire.log</span>, though this can be
853 changed by modifying the <span class="fixed">.logger</span> files
854 pointed to by <a href="#4.a.">configuration elements</a>. For this log
855 to be created, Apache must have permission to write to this file, which
856 may require that the file be manually created and permissions assigned
857 to whatever user Apache is configured to run under. If the file does not
858 appear when Apache runs with the modules loaded, check for permission
859 problems or change the location used.</li>
860 <li>The options in <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> must be
861 configured as documented in <a href="#4.a.">4.a</a>. Apache content may
862 then need to be modified for Shibboleth authentication. This is
863 discussed in <a href="#4.d.">4.d</a>. It is recommended that the target
864 then be tested as detailed in section <a href="#5.a.">5.a</a>.</li>
867 <h4><a name="3.d."></a>3.d. Configure Microsoft IIS</h4>
870 <li>The package includes an ISAPI filter and bundled extension for
871 session startup in a single library, <span class="fixed">libexec\isapi_shib.dll</span>.
872 This filter is configured using commands in <span class="fixed">
873 C:\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth\shibboleth.xml</span> (or wherever you've
874 installed the software). Make sure you or the installer has added the lib
875 directory to the path as directed in <a href="#3.b.">section 3.b.</a>
876 You will generally need to restart the system after installation.
877 <p>Installing the extension into IIS is a two step process:
879 <li type="a">First, add the filter using the Internet Services
880 Manager MMC console. Right click on the machine icon on the left,
881 and edit the WWW Service master properties. On the "ISAPI Filters"
882 tab, add a new filter called Shibboleth and specify the DLL named
883 above. The priority should be High, and once the filter is loaded,
884 make sure it appears in the list <b>below</b> the "sspifilt" entry.
885 Restart IIS and make sure the filter shows up with a green arrow.
886 Check the Windows event log and/or shire.log if it fails to load.</li>
887 <li type="a">Secondly, map a special, distinct file extension, such as
888 <span class="fixed">.shire</span>, to the ISAPI library so that
889 virtual URLs can be specified to invoke the extension handler for each
890 web site. Right click on the machine icon on the left, and edit the
891 WWW Service master properties. On the "Home Directory" tab, add a
892 script mapping using the "Configuration" button. The "Executable"
893 box should point to <span class="fixed">isapi_shib.dll</span>, and the
894 "Extension" can be set to anything unlikely to conflict, but
895 <span class="fixed">.shire</span> is assumed (and the dot must be
896 included). You should NOT select the option to limit verbs, and
897 you MUST uncheck the "Check that file exists" box. On newer
898 versions of IIS, checking the "Script Engine" box is suggested,
899 as it will permit the extension to handle requests in directories with only
900 script permissions assigned.</li>
901 <li type="a"><font color="#444499">(IIS 6 Only)</font> A new Web
902 Service Extension must be defined for Shibboleth; without this, the
903 mapping from <span class="fixed">*.shire</span> to <span
904 class="fixed">isapi_shib.dll</span> won't occur and a file error
905 will appear. Add this extension with an arbitrary name and associate
906 it with <span class="fixed">isapi_shib.dll</span>.</li>
909 <li>All other aspects of configuration are handled via the
910 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> file and associated XML
911 files described in subsequent sections. Particular use is made of
912 the <span class="fixed">/SHIRE/Implementation/ISAPI</span> element
913 that allows IIS sites to be mapped to a hostname for proper request
914 mapping and generation of redirects.</li>
915 <li>Instance IDs are used in the IIS metabase to identify web sites. In older versions,
916 they are applied starting with 1(one) and number the web sites in order in the
917 Internet Services Manager from top to bottom. Newer versions appear to assign
918 some IID values with strange ASCII formulas applied to the site name. A simple
919 ASP or CGI script can be run within a site to dump the INSTANCE_ID header.
920 Newer versions actually list the site ID in the GUI console.</li>
921 <li>See the following section for information on running the SHAR
922 service on Windows.</li>
923 <li>The options in <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> must be
924 configured as documented in <a href="#4.a.">4.a</a>. It is recommended
925 that the target then be tested as detailed in section <a href="#5.a.">5.a</a>.</li>
928 <h4><a name="3.e."></a>3.e. Running the SHAR on Windows</h4>
930 <p>The SHAR is a console application that is primarily designed to be
931 installed as a Windows service. To run the process in console mode for
932 testing or to diagnose major problems, the <span class="fixed">-console</span>
933 parameter is used. Otherwise, parameters are used to install (or remove) the SHAR from the
934 service database and subsequent control is via the Service Control Manager
935 applet. The following command line parameters can be used:</p>
937 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-console</span></dd>
938 <dd class="value">Allows the process to be started from a command
939 prompt. Since the console will exit if the desktop user logs out, this
940 is not suitable for production use, but may be useful for testing.</dd>
941 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-check</span></dd>
942 <dd class="value">Validates the general correctness of the configuration.
943 Not all problems can be detected this way, but the chance of successful startup
944 is high if the checking process does not log any errors.</dd>
945 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-config <pathname></span> </dd>
946 <dd class="value">Specifies the pathname of the SHAR's configuration
947 file. Defaults to <span class="fixed">\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth\shibboleth.xml</span>
948 or the value of the <span class="fixed">SHIBCONFIG</span> environment
949 variable, if it is set.</dd>
950 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-schemadir <path></span> </dd>
951 <dd class="value">Specifies the path to the XML schema files. Defaults to
952 <span class="fixed">\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth</span> or the value of the
953 <span class="fixed">SHIBSCHEMAS</span> environment variable, if it is set.</dd>
954 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-install <servicename></span></dd>
955 <dd class="value">Installs the SHAR as a named service in the Windows
956 service database. A name should be provided if multiple instances of the
957 SHAR need to be run on different ports, and thus installed separately.
958 The <span class="fixed">-config</span> option can be provided to include
959 a specific configuration file on the service's command line.</dd>
960 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">-remove <servicename></span></dd>
961 <dd class="value">Removes the named service instance of the SHAR from
962 the Windows service database.</dd>
968 <h3><a name="4."></a>4. Getting Running</h3>
969 <h4><a name="4.a."></a>4.a. Configuring <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span></h4>
971 <p>The configuration for the target is mostly contained within <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span>,
972 located by default at <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shibboleth.xml</span>.
973 The target comes pre-configured with certificates and settings that will work against a test origin
974 running on the same server; however, there are several values that must later be changed to interoperate
975 with other sites securely and effectively.</p>
976 <p>The following is a hyperlinked version of a basic configuration file, followed by a list of elements
977 and attributes that must be modified. The actual example shipped with Shibboleth includes many more options
978 that are commented out and other elements necessary to support test functionality.
979 Click on any attribute or element for more information on its population and definition.</p>
982 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confShibbolethTargetConfig"><ShibbolethTargetConfig xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:target:config:1.0"
983 logger="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shibboleth.logger" clockSkew="180"></a>
985 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confExtensions"><Extensions></a>
986 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confLibrary"><Library path="/opt/shibboleth/libexec/xmlproviders.so" fatal="true"/></a>
987 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confExtensions"></Extensions></a>
989 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSHAR"><SHAR logger="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shar.logger"></a>
991 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confExtensions"><Extensions></a>
992 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confLibrary"><Library path="/opt/shibboleth/libexec/shib-mysql-ccache.so" fatal="false"/></a>
993 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confExtensions"></Extensions></a>
995 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confUnixListener"><UnixListener address="/tmp/shar-socket"/></a>
997 <!-- Primarily for Windows Deployments:
998 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confTCPListener"><TCPListener address="127.0.0.1" port="12345" acl="127.0.0.1"/></a>
1002 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confMemorySessionCache"><MemorySessionCache cleanupInterval="300" cacheTimeout="3600" AATimeout="30" AAConnectTimeout="15"
1003 defaultLifetime="1800" retryInterval="300" strictValidity="true" propagateErrors="true"/></a>
1006 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confMySQLSessionCache"><MySQLSessionCache cleanupInterval="300" cacheTimeout="3600" AATimeout="30" AAConnectTimeout="15"
1007 defaultLifetime="1800" retryInterval="300" strictValidity="true" propagateErrors="true"
1008 mysqlTimeout="14400"></a>
1009 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confArgument"><Argument>--language=/opt/shibboleth/share/english</Argument></a>
1010 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confArgument"><Argument>datadir=/opt/shibboleth/data</Argument></a>
1011 </MySQLSessionCache>
1013 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSHAR"></SHAR></a>
1015 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSHIRE"><SHIRE logger="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shire.logger"></a>
1017 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confRequestMapProvider"><RequestMapProvider type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.provider.XMLRequestMap"></a>
1018 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confRequestMap"><RequestMap applicationId="default"></a>
1019 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confHost"><Host name="localhost"></a>
1020 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confPath"><Path name="secure" requireSession="true" exportAssertion="true">
1021 <!-- Example shows a subfolder on the default ports assigned to a separate <Application> -->
1022 <Path name="admin" applicationId="foo-admin"/>
1024 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confHost"></Host></a>
1025 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confRequestMap"></RequestMap></a>
1026 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confRequestMapProvider"></RequestMapProvider></a>
1029 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confImplementation"><Implementation></a>
1030 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confISAPI"><ISAPI normalizeRequest="true"></a>
1031 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSite"><Site id="1" name="localhost" /></a>
1032 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confISAPI"></ISAPI></a>
1033 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confImplementation"></Implementation></a>
1035 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSHIRE"></SHIRE></a>
1037 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confApplications"><Applications xmlns:saml="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:assertion"
1038 applicationId="default" providerId="https://example.org/shibboleth/target"
1039 signRequest="false" signedResponse="false" signedAssertions="false"></a>
1041 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSessions"><Sessions lifetime="7200" timeout="3600" checkAddress="true"
1042 shireURL="/Shibboleth.shire" shireSSL="false" cookieName="_shibsession_default" cookieProps="; path=/"
1043 wayfURL="https://wayf.internet2.edu/InQueue/WAYF"></a>
1045 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confErrors"><Errors shire="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shireError.html"
1046 rm="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/rmError.html"
1047 access="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/accessError.html"
1048 supportContact="root@localhost"
1049 logoLocation="/shibtarget/logo.jpg"
1050 styleSheet="/shibtarget/main.css"/></a>
1052 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredentialUse"><CredentialUse TLS="defcreds" Signing="defcreds"></a>
1053 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confRelyingParty"><RelyingParty Name="urn:mace:inqueue" TLS="inqueuecreds" Signing="inqueuecreds"/></a>
1054 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredentialUse"></CredentialUse></a>
1057 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confAttributeDesignator"><AttributeDesignator AttributeName="urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonScopedAffiliation"
1058 AttributeNamespace="urn:mace:shibboleth:1.0:attributeNamespace:uri"/></a>
1061 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confAAPProvider"><AAPProvider type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.provider.XMLAAP"
1062 uri="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/AAP.xml"/></a>
1064 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confFederationProvider"><FederationProvider type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.provider.XMLMetadata"
1065 uri="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/sites.xml"/></a>
1067 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confTrustProvider"><TrustProvider type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.provider.XMLTrust"
1068 uri="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/trust.xml"/></a>
1071 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confRevocationProvider"><RevocationProvider type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.provider.XMLRevocation"
1072 uri="/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/trust.xml"/></a>
1075 <a class="fixedlink" href="confAudience"><saml:Audience>urn:mace:inqueue</saml:Audience></a>
1077 <!-- Override settings for this application.
1078 <a class="fixedlink" href="confApplication"><Application id="foo-admin"></a>
1079 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confSessions"><Sessions lifetime="7200" timeout="3600" checkAddress="true"
1080 shireURL="/secure/admin/Shibboleth.shire" shireSSL="true" cookieProps="; path=/secure/admin; secure"
1081 wayfURL="https://wayf.internet2.edu/InQueue/WAYF"/></a>
1082 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confAttributeDesignator"><saml:AttributeDesignator AttributeName="urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonPrincipalName"
1083 AttributeNamespace="urn:mace:shibboleth:1.0:attributeNamespace:uri"/></a>
1084 <a class="fixedlink" href="confApplication"></Application></a>
1087 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confApplications"></Applications></a>
1089 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredentialsProvider"><CredentialsProvider type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.Credentials"></a>
1090 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredentials"><Credentials xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:credentials:1.0"></a>
1091 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confFileResolver"><FileResolver Id="defcreds"></a>
1092 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confKey"><Key format="PEM" password="secret"></a>
1093 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredPath"><Path>/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shar.key</Path></a>
1094 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confKey"></Key></a>
1095 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCertificate"><Certificate format="PEM"></a>
1096 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredPath"><Path>/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/shar.crt</Path></a>
1097 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCAPath"><CAPath>/opt/shibboleth/etc/shibboleth/ca.crt</CAPath></a>
1098 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCertificate"></Certificate></a>
1099 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confFileResolver"></FileResolver></a>
1100 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredentials"></Credentials></a>
1101 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confCredentialsProvider"></CredentialsProvider></a>
1103 <a class="fixedlink" href="#confShibbolethTargetConfig"></ShibbolethTargetConfig></a>
1106 <p>The following changes must be made to the default configuration before the target will interoperate in a federation.</p>
1109 <p>The main <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> element's
1110 <span class="fixed">providerId</span> attribute must be changed to reflect the URI this target will
1111 use to identify itself to origins by default. This will often be submitted to a federation for
1112 approval, but is generally a URI chosen by the deployer to uniquely identify his/her service.
1113 For example, if Amazon.com were running Shibboleth (stop laughing), its identifier might be
1114 <span class="fixed">https://amazon.com/shibboleth</span></p>
1117 <p>The <span class="fixed">supportContact</span> and error templates for the target found in the
1118 <a href="#confErrors"><span class="fixed">Errors</span></a> element should be changed to ensure that
1119 users have a proper support mechanism.</p>
1122 <p>Proper credentials for this target signed by an authority that the federation recognizes must be
1123 referenced by the <a href="#confCredentials"><span class="fixed">Credentials</span></a> element.
1124 The default configuration points at files containing widely-available, insecure keys and certificates.
1125 Note that keys are supported in a variety of formats: DER, PEM, encrypted PEM, PKCS8, and encrypted PKCS8.</p>
1128 <p><a href="#confFederationProvider"><span class="fixed">FederationProvider</span></a> and
1129 <a href="#confTrustProvider"><span class="fixed">TrustProvider</span></a> elements must be added or
1130 changed as needed to reflect the arrangements required. This information is often provided by
1131 federations to their members.</p>
1135 <p>For Apache (but not IIS), there is also information that must be
1136 configured in <span class="fixed">/usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf</span>
1137 (or equivalent); for more information, refer to <a href="#3.c.2.">3.c</a>.</p>
1138 <p>Information in the logging configuration files referenced by
1139 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> may require additional changes to
1140 meet local needs. The logging level can be raised to <span class="fixed">
1141 DEBUG</span> if extremely detailed information is needed for testing.
1142 It is recommended that after initial installation is
1143 completed, the log level in both files be left at either <span class="fixed">
1144 INFO</span> or <span class="fixed">WARN</span>.</p>
1145 <p>All elements are optional unless otherwise specified. All attributes of an element are optional unless
1146 designated <span class="mandatory">mandatory</span> by a purple background.</p>
1148 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confAAPProvider"><span class="fixed"><AAPProvider <span class="mandatory">type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.provider.XMLAAP"</span> uri="<i>pathname</i>"/></span></a></dd>
1150 <p>This element is used to specify individual attribute acceptance policies that will apply to an application
1151 and may appear zero or more times within the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1152 or <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> element. For information about these
1153 policies and their format, refer to <a href="#4.e.">section 4.e</a>.</p>
1154 <p>The default set of AAP providers in the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1155 element can be replaced within individual <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements.</p>
1158 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confApplication"><span class="fixed"><Application <span class="mandatory">id="<i>identifier</i>"</span> providerId="<i>identifier</i>" signRequest="<i>true/false</i>" signedResponse="<i>true/false</i>" signedAssertions="<i>true/false</i>"></span></a></dd>
1160 <p>Individual applications that require different attributes, session settings, metadata, etc. can be differentiated
1161 from the default configuration as specified in the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1162 element. It must contain a <a href="#confSessions"><span class="fixed">Sessions</span></a> element, but overriding other
1163 elements is optional.</p>
1165 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">id</span>: This attribute defines an internal identifier allowing
1166 individual <span class="fixed">applicationId</span> attributes as part of
1167 <a href="#confHost"><span class="fixed">Host</span></a> and <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a>
1168 elements to point to this <span class="fixed">Application</span> to handle requests.</li>
1169 <li><span class="fixed">providerId</span>: Distinct from the internal identifier, this is the unique identifier
1170 that will be used when communicating with origin sites to request authentication or attributes.
1171 This value is referenced by origins when creating rules for the release of attributes to targets and will
1172 often be provided to federations to facilitate origin configuration. If none is specified, the default
1173 <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> element's
1174 <span class="fixed">providerId</span> applies.</li>
1175 <li><span class="fixed">signRequest</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the target will sign attribute
1176 requests that it sends to origins on behalf of this application. This is usually unnecessary, as the
1177 TLS/SSL transport can provide authentication more efficiently.</li>
1178 <li><span class="fixed">signedResponse</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the target will require that
1179 all SAML attribute responses it receives for this application be signed.</li>
1180 <li><span class="fixed">signedAssertions</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the target will require that
1181 individual SAML assertions it receives for this application be signed. This may be particularly useful if the
1182 application is forwarding the assertion, but requires a liberal (or no) AAP to avoid corrupting the signature.</li>
1186 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confApplications"><span class="fixed"><Applications <span class="mandatory">id="<i>default</i>" providerId="<i>identifier</i>"</span> signRequest="<i>true/false</i>" signedResponse="<i>true/false</i>" signedAssertions="<i>true/false</i>"></span></a></dd>
1188 <p>The <span class="fixed">Applications</span> element must appear once and contains default settings for requests
1189 handled by the target. It must contain at least one each of the <a href="#confSessions"><span class="fixed">Sessions</span></a>,
1190 and <a href="#confErrors"><span class="fixed">Errors</span></a> elements, and may contain
1191 <a href="#confCredentialUse"><span class="fixed">CredentialUse</span></a>,
1192 <a href="#confAttributeDesignator"><span class="fixed">saml:AttributeDesignator</span></a>,
1193 <a href="#confAudience"><span class="fixed">saml:Audience</span></a>,
1194 <a href="#confFederationProvider"><span class="fixed">FederationProvider</span></a>,
1195 <a href="#confTrustProvider"><span class="fixed">TrustProvider</span></a>,
1196 <a href="#confRevocationProvider"><span class="fixed">RevocationProvider</span></a>,
1197 and <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements.</p>
1199 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">id</span>: This attribute has a fixed value of "default" and should not be changed.</li>
1200 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">providerId</span>: Distinct from the internal identifier, the
1201 <span class="fixed">providerId</span> is the unique identifier that will be used when communicating
1202 with origin sites to request authentication or attributes. This value is referenced by origins when
1203 creating rules for the release of attributes to targets and will often be provided to federations to
1204 facilitate origin configuration.</li>
1205 <li><span class="fixed">signRequest</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the target will sign attribute
1206 requests that it sends to origins by default. This is usually unnecessary, as the TLS/SSL transport can provide
1207 authentication more efficiently.</li>
1208 <li><span class="fixed">signedResponse</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the target will require that
1209 all SAML attribute responses it receives are signed by default.</li>
1210 <li><span class="fixed">signedAssertions</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span>, the target will require that
1211 individual SAML assertions it receives are signed by default. This may be particularly useful if the
1212 application is forwarding the assertion, but requires a liberal (or no) AAP to avoid corrupting the signature.</li>
1214 <p>Default settings can be overridden by using the <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a> to
1215 assign a non-default <span class="fixed">applicationId</span> to particular content in
1216 <a href="#confHost"><span class="fixed">Host</span></a> and <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a>
1217 elements. An <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> element is then inserted containing
1218 a matching <span class="fixed">id</span> attribute, and finally specific elements that override the defaults are
1219 placed within it. A fully specified <a href="#confSessions"><span class="fixed">Sessions</span></a> element is
1220 always required for any new application created, because each application needs a distinct
1221 <span class="fixed">shireURL</span> so that new sessions can be unambiguously mapped to a particular application.</p>
1224 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confArgument"><span class="fixed"><Argument><i>value</i></Argument></span></a></dd>
1226 <p>The <span class="fixed">Argument</span> element is used in the
1227 <a href="#confMySQLSessionCache"><span class="fixed">MySQLSessionCache</span></a> element to specify one or more
1228 arguments to pass to the MySQL database engine.</p>
1231 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confAttributeDesignator"><span class="fixed"><saml:AttributeDesignator <span class="mandatory">AttributeName="<i>name</i>" AttributeNamespace="<i>namespace</i>"</span>></span></a></dd>
1233 <p>The <span class="fixed">AttributeDesignator</span> element is used in the
1234 <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> and
1235 <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements to name an attribute to specifically
1236 request from origins on behalf of an application. If none are specified, the application will be given anything
1237 the origin allows it to receive.</p>
1239 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">AttributeName</span>: Specifies the name of a SAML attribute, generally a URI.</li>
1240 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">AttributeNamespace</span>: Specifies the attribute's SAML namespace,
1241 which Shibboleth by convention sets to "urn:mace:shibboleth:1.0:attributeNamespace:uri".</li>
1243 <p>The default set of designators can be overridden within individual
1244 <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements, but if default elements are specified,
1245 it isn't possible to "remove" them and revert to none within a particular application.</p>
1248 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confAudience"><span class="fixed"><saml:Audience><i>value</i></saml:Audience></span></a></dd>
1250 <p>The <span class="fixed">Audience</span> element is used in the
1251 <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> and
1252 <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements element to specify one or more
1253 SAML audience URIs to designate while processing assertions. Audience values are used by origins to constrain the
1254 parties they issue assertions for. A target application always includes its own <span class="fixed">providerId</span>
1255 as an audience value.</p>
1256 <p>Within an <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> element, this setting is not
1257 inherited from the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> element. Any values
1258 desired must be specified. In most cases, this element can be omitted unless required for supporting legacy
1259 origins running older Shibboleth versions.</p>
1262 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confCAPath"><span class="fixed"><CAPath><i>pathname</i></CAPath></span></a></dd>
1264 <p>Paired with a <a href="#confCredPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> element within a
1265 <a href="#confFileResolver"><span class="fixed">FileResolver</span></a> element, it allows for the specification
1266 of additional certificates in a chain up to a trust anchor. As many <span class="fixed">CAPath</span> elements as
1267 necessary to complete the chain may be specified. May be needed if the relying party does not possess the entire CA
1271 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confCertificate"><span class="fixed"><Certificate format="<i>type</i>"></span></a></dd>
1273 <p>This specifies the certificate corresponding to this set of credentials. The certificate itself must be specified
1274 by a <a href="#confCredPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> element contained by this element. If the certificate
1275 isn't self-signed or signed by an authority familiar to the relying party, the files of certificates in the path to
1276 the root authority may be specified using one or more <a href="#confCAPath"><span class="fixed">CAPath</span></a> elements.
1277 Valid formats are <span class="fixed">PEM</span>, <span class="fixed">DER</span>, and <span class="fixed">PKCS12</span>.</p>
1278 <p>It's placed within the <a href="#confFileResolver"><span class="fixed">FileResolver</span></a> element and must be
1279 paired with the corresponding private key using the <a href="#confKey"><span class="fixed">Key</span></a> element.</p>
1282 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confCredentials"><span class="fixed"><Credentials xmlns="urn:mace:shibboleth:credentials:1.0"></span></a></dd>
1284 <p>This element is the container for credentials used by the XML-based credentials provider with type
1285 "edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.Credentials". These credentials are used by the target to
1286 authenticate itself in SSL sessions or sign attribute requests, depending on application configuration. It must contain
1287 one or more <a href="#confFileResolver"><span class="fixed">FileResolver</span></a> elements.</p>
1290 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confCredentialsProvider"><span class="fixed"><CredentialsProvider <span class="mandatory">type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.Credentials"</span>></span></a></dd>
1292 <p>This element is the container for providers of credentials used by the target and is placed inside the
1293 <a href="#confShibbolethTargetConfig"><span class="fixed">ShibbolethTargetConfig</span></a> element. The supplied
1294 provider of type "edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.Credentials" must contain one
1295 <a href="#confCredentials"><span class="fixed">Credentials</span></a> element detailing the credentials
1296 to be used by the target. Other provider types might require different content.</p>
1299 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confCredentialUse"><span class="fixed"><CredentialUse <span class="mandatory">TLS="<i>string</i>" Signing="<i>string</i>"</span>></span></a></dd>
1301 <p>Used in the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> or
1302 <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements to specify the credentials used by
1303 applications for signing and TLS/SSL. The <span class="fixed">TLS</span> and <span class="fixed">Signing</span>
1304 attribute values reference the identifiers of credential resolvers defined in the
1305 <a href="#confCredentialsProvider"><span class="fixed">CredentialsProvider</span></a> element. May also contain
1306 <a href="#confRelyingParty"><span class="fixed">RelyingParty</span></a> elements that specify the credentials
1307 to use for specific origins or federations.</p>
1310 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confErrors"><span class="fixed"><Errors <span class="mandatory">shire="<i>pathname</i>" rm="<i>pathname</i>" access="<i>pathname</i>"</span> supportContact="<i>e-mail</i>" logoLocation="<i>URL</i>"/></span></a></dd>
1312 <p>Shibboleth is capable of displaying customized error pages based on templates and information provided by
1313 additional attributes in this element. These should all be customized to fit the requirements of the target application.
1314 For more information on configuration of error page generation, please see <a href="#4.b.">section 4.b</a>.</p>
1316 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">shire</span>: Specifies the location of the template for the error page
1317 generated when there is an error re-directing the user to the WAYF or processing a new session sign-on.</li>
1318 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">rm</span>: Specifies the location of the template for the error page
1319 generated if internal errors occur when supplying attributes to the application.</li>
1320 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">accessError</span>: Specifies the location of the template for the page
1321 displayed to users when access to a protected resource is denied based on access control. This is distinct
1322 from when errors occur during the evaluation process itself, and indicates a denial of authorization.</li>
1323 <li><span class="fixed">supportContact</span>: Specifies a support e-mail address for the user to contact.</li>
1324 <li><span class="fixed">logoLocation</span>: Specifies the location of the logo used in the generation of error pages.
1325 This logo can be in any format that the web browser will understand, and should be a URL (absolute or relative) that
1326 will return a valid logo.</li>
1328 <p>The last two attributes are examples of tags that can be inserted at runtime into the templates. Arbitrary
1329 attributes may be specified in this element simply by adding them; no additional configuration is necessary.
1330 If there is a matching ShibMLP tag in the error page template as designed in <a href="#4.b.">4.b</a>, Shibboleth
1331 will insert the value of that attribute.</p>
1334 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confExtensions"><span class="fixed"><Extensions></span></a></dd>
1336 Extension libraries for one of the Shibboleth components or the entire target can be specified using this element
1337 depending on where it's present. It may be contained by any of the
1338 <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a>, <a href="#confSHIRE"><span class="fixed">SHIRE</span></a>,
1339 or <a href="#confShibbolethTargetConfig"><span class="fixed">ShibbolethTargetConfig</span></a> elements.
1340 It must contain one or more <a href="#confLibrary"><span class="fixed">Library</span></a> elements.
1343 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confFederationProvider"><span class="fixed"><FederationProvider <span class="mandatory">type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.provider.XMLMetadata"</span> uri="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1345 <p>This element, when specified within an <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1346 or <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> element, points to operational metadata either
1347 inline within the element or in a local XML file. Federations will often publish signed XML files for targets to download
1348 periodically. This should be refreshed regularly; see <a href="#4.g.">section 4.g</a> for further details.</p>
1349 <p>The default set of federation providers in the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1350 element can be replaced within individual <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements.</p>
1353 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confFileResolver"><span class="fixed"><FileResolver <span class="mandatory">Id="<i>string</i>"</span>></span></a></dd>
1355 <p>This element defines files used to store a private key, certificate, and certificate authorities and associates
1356 the set with an identifier. Placed inside the <a href="#confCredentials"><span class="fixed">Credentials</span></a>
1357 element. <a href="#confCredentialUse"><span class="fixed">CredentialUse</span></a> and
1358 <a href="#confRelyingParty"><span class="fixed">RelyingParty</span></a> elements will refer to these identifiers in
1359 their <span class="fixed">TLS</span> and <span class="fixed">Signing</span> attributes, allowing different credentials
1360 to be used for different applications and relying parties.</p>
1361 <p>Must contain one <a href="#confKey"><span class="fixed">Key</span></a> element and should contain one
1362 <a href="#confCertificate"><span class="fixed">Certificate</span></a> element.</p>
1365 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confHost"><span class="fixed"><Host scheme="<i>protocol</i>" <span class="mandatory">name="<i>fqdn</i>"</span> port="<i>integer</i>" applicationId="<i>id</i>" requireSession="<i>true/false</i>" exportAssertion="<i>true/false</i>"></span></a></dd>
1367 <p>Individual (real or virtual) hosts that this target protects are enumerated by <span class="fixed">Host</span> elements
1368 inside the <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a> element. If a request is processed by
1369 Shibboleth for a URL on this host, these parameters will be applied to it. If there are
1370 <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> elements within this element that match the URL and contain
1371 the <span class="fixed">applicationId</span>, <span class="fixed">requireSession</span>, or
1372 <span class="fixed">exportAssertion</span> attributes, they will override values in this element; similarly, values
1373 within this element will override those in the containing
1374 <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a> element.</p>
1376 <li><span class="fixed">scheme</span>: This specifies the protocol on which this host responds.
1377 Valid choices are <span class="fixed">http</span>, <span class="fixed">https</span>, <span class="fixed">ftp</span>,
1378 <span class="fixed">ldap</span>, and <span class="fixed">ldaps</span>. If omitted, both <span class="fixed">http</span>
1379 and <span class="fixed">https</span> are in effect.</li>
1380 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">name</span>: This is the fully-qualified domain name of the host.
1381 This appended to the <span class="fixed">scheme</span> must match what is contained in the URL for the element's
1382 settings to apply to the request.</li>
1383 <li><span class="fixed">port</span>: This is the port the host is listening on, if not the standard port for the scheme.</li>
1384 <li><span class="fixed">requireSession</span>: This attribute controls whether Shibboleth will forcibly establish
1385 an authenticated session with the user before handing off the request to the web server or application.
1386 If <span class="fixed">true</span>, Shibboleth will force session establishment. If <span class="fixed">false</span>
1387 (the default), applications are responsible for ensuring that a session exists if necessary, so-called
1388 <a href="#1.g.">lazy session establishment</a>. Most deployments should not specify <span class="fixed">false</span>
1389 for protected content without a full understanding of the implications.</li>
1390 <li><span class="fixed">exportAssertion</span>: When <span class="fixed">true</span>, the entire SAML attribute
1391 assertion received from the origin is exported to a CGI request header called
1392 <span class="fixed">Shib-Attributes</span>, encoded in <span class="fixed">base64</span>. This requires an
1393 application to be able to parse the raw XML. Defaults to <span class="fixed">false</span>, which most deployments
1398 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confImplementation"><span class="fixed"><Implementation></span></a></dd>
1400 <p>A container element placed inside the <a href="#confSHIRE"><span class="fixed">SHIRE</span></a> element,
1401 the contents of this element will vary depending on the web server or environment that this Shibboleth deployment serves.
1402 Multiple configurations may be specified, but only one per implementation type. This element may contain the
1403 <a href="#confISAPI"><span class="fixed">ISAPI</span></a> element.</p>
1406 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confISAPI"><span class="fixed"><ISAPI normalizeRequest="<i>true/false</i>"></span></a></dd>
1408 <p>The configuration information for Shibboleth targets deployed on Microsoft IIS is stored inside this container element.
1409 This element must contain one or more <a href="#confSite"><span class="fixed">Site</span></a> elements, each of which
1410 maps an INSTANCE ID value to a default hostname. If <span class="fixed">normalizeRequest</span> is
1411 <span class="fixed">true</span> (the default), all redirects and computed request URLs generated by Shibboleth will
1412 be created using the hostname assigned to the site instance handling the request. If <span class="fixed">false</span>,
1413 the browser's supplied URL is sometimes used to compute the information. Placed inside the
1414 <a href="#confImplementation"><span class="fixed">Implementation</span></a> element.</p>
1417 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confKey"><span class="fixed"><Key format="<i>type</i>"></span></a></dd>
1419 <p>Specifies a file containing a private key to be used within a set of credentials. Valid formats are
1420 <span class="fixed">PEM</span> (the default), <span class="fixed">DER</span>, and <span class="fixed">PKCS12</span>.
1421 Placed within a <a href="#confFileResolver"><span class="fixed">FileResolver</span></a> element, it should be paired
1422 with a <a href="#confCertificate"><span class="fixed">Certificate</span></a> element, and contain a
1423 <a href="#confCredPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> element.</p>
1426 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confLibrary"><span class="fixed"><Library <span class="mandatory">path="<i>pathname</i>"</span> fatal="<i>true/false</i>"/></span></a></dd>
1428 <p>This element defines an extension library for one of Shibboleth's components and is placed within an
1429 <a href="#confExtensions"><span class="fixed">Extensions</span></a> element.</p>
1431 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">path</span>: This designates the complete pathname of the library.</li>
1432 <li><span class="fixed">fatal</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span> and the library is not located or fails
1433 to load properly, the target will not successfully initialize. The default is false.</li>
1437 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confListener"><span class="fixed"><Listener <span class="mandatory">type="<i>string</i>"</span>></span></a></dd>
1439 <p>Specifies a pluggable implementation of a mechanism for communication between the web server and SHAR,
1440 specified in the <span class="fixed">type</span> attribute. This element is placed within the
1441 <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element and is mutually exclusive with the
1442 <a href="#confTCPListener"><span class="fixed">TCPListener</span></a> and
1443 <a href="#confUnixListener"><span class="fixed">UnixListener</span></a> elements.</p>
1446 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confMemorySessionCache"><span class="fixed"><MemorySessionCache AAConnectTimeout="<i>seconds</i>" AATimeout="<i>seconds</i>" cacheTimeout="<i>seconds</i>" cleanupInterval="<i>seconds</i>" defaultLifetime="<i>seconds</i>" propagateErrors="<i>true/false</i>" retryInterval="<i>seconds</i>" strictValidity="<i>true/false</i>"/></span></a></dd>
1448 <p>Shibboleth will cache sessions and received attributes in memory if this element is found in the
1449 <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element. This element is mutually exclusive with the
1450 <a href="#confMySQLSessionCache"><span class="fixed">MySQLSessionCache</span></a> and
1451 <a href="#confSessionCache"><span class="fixed">SessionCache</span></a> elements.</p>
1453 <li><span class="fixed">AAConnectTimeout</span>: Time in seconds the target will wait before timing out on the
1454 initial connection to an origin to request attributes. Defaults to <span class="fixed">15</span>.</li>
1455 <li><span class="fixed">AATimeout</span>: Time in seconds the target will wait before timing out while waiting
1456 for attributes from an origin once the initial connection is established. Defaults to <span class="fixed">30</span>.</li>
1457 <li><span class="fixed">cacheTimeout</span>: Time in seconds to permit a session to stay in the cache before
1458 being purged. Defaults to <span class="fixed">28800</span>.</li>
1459 <li><span class="fixed">cleanupInterval</span>: Seconds between runs of the background thread that purges
1460 expired sessions. Defaults to <span class="fixed">300</span>.</li>
1461 <li><span class="fixed">defaultLifetime</span>: If the attribute assertion doesn't carry an explicit
1462 expiration time, the assertion will expire after this time in <span class="fixed">seconds</span> has elapsed.
1463 Defaults to <span class="fixed">1800</span>.</li>
1464 <li><span class="fixed">propagateErrors</span>: If true, then any errors that occur during the attribute
1465 query stage are fatal and will be presented to the user as an error, terminating their session. If false,
1466 any errors that occur during the query are non-fatal, and the application will be given older, expired
1467 attributes based on the <span class="fixed">strictValidity</span> setting.
1468 <p>This should generally only be left to false (the default) by deployments that are using real principal
1469 names as subjects because attribute retrieval is treated as an optional process.</p></li>
1470 <li><span class="fixed">retryInterval</span>: Time in seconds between attempts to obtain fresh attributes. If a query fails, a timer is set, and once the interval elapses, the next user request causes another query. This prevents pointless repeated attempts to query a failed origin. Defaults to <span class="fixed">300</span>.</li>
1471 <li><span class="fixed">strictValidity</span>: If true, expired attributes will never be made available to the Shibboleth application; if no valid attributes can be obtained, then an empty set is provided. When false, if a fresh set of attributes cannot be retrieved due to failures, any cached, expired attributes are made available. Defaults to <span class="fixed">true</span>.</li>
1475 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confMySQLSessionCache"><span class="fixed"><MySQLSessionCache mysqlTimeout="<i>seconds</i>"/></span></a></dd>
1477 <p>Shibboleth will back the memory cache of sessions using an embedded MySQL database if this element is found
1478 in the <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element. Arguments may be passed directly to
1479 MySQL by populating this element with <span class="fixed"><a href="#confArgument">Argument</a></span> elements.
1480 The element may also specify any of the attributes defined for the <a href="#confMemorySessionCache">MemorySessionCache</a>
1481 element. Mutually exclusive with the <a href="#confMemorySessionCache"><span class="fixed">MemorySessionCache</span></a>
1482 and <a href="#confSessionCache"><span class="fixed">SessionCache</span></a> elements.</p>
1484 <li><span class="fixed">mysqlTimeout</span>: Time in seconds to permit a session to stay in the persistent
1485 cache before being purged. Defaults to <span class="fixed">28800</span>.</li>
1489 <dd class="attribute">(RequestMap) <a name="confPath"><span class="fixed"><Path <span class="mandatory">name="<i>pathname</i>"</span> applicationId="<i>id</i>" requireSession="<i>true/false</i>" exportAssertion="<i>true/false</i>"></span></a></dd>
1491 <p>This element allows for different application identifiers and session handling to be defined iteratively for
1492 subdirectories or documents within a host. Requests are processed on a best-match basis, with the innermost
1493 element taking precedence. Path elements may be contained by <a href="#confHost"><span class="fixed">Host</span></a>
1494 elements or other <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> elements.</p>
1496 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">name</span>: This is the name of the path component or filename to match
1497 against the request. Only exact matching is supported by the supplied request mapping provider.</li>
1498 <li><span class="fixed">requireSession</span>: This attribute controls whether Shibboleth will forcibly establish
1499 an authenticated session with the user before handing off the request to the web server or application.
1500 If <span class="fixed">true</span>, Shibboleth will force session establishment. If <span class="fixed">false</span>
1501 (the default), applications are responsible for ensuring that a session exists if necessary, so-called
1502 <a href="#1.g.">lazy session establishment</a>. Most deployments should not specify <span class="fixed">false</span>
1503 for protected content without a full understanding of the implications.</li>
1504 <li><span class="fixed">exportAssertion</span>: When <span class="fixed">true</span>, the entire SAML attribute
1505 assertion received from the origin is exported to a CGI request header called
1506 <span class="fixed">Shib-Attributes</span>, encoded in <span class="fixed">base64</span>. This requires an
1507 application to be able to parse the raw XML. Defaults to <span class="fixed">false</span>, which most deployments
1512 <dd class="attribute">(Credential) <a name="confCredPath"><span class="fixed"><Path><i>pathname</i></Path></span></a></dd>
1514 <p>Placed inside the <a href="#confKey"><span class="fixed">Key</span></a> and
1515 <a href="#confCertificate"><span class="fixed">Certificate</span></a> elements to specify the pathname of the file
1516 containing the credential.</p>
1519 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confRelyingParty"><span class="fixed"><RelyingParty <span class="mandatory">name="<i>string</i>" TLS="<i>string</i>" Signing="<i>string</i>"</span>></span></a></dd>
1520 <dd class="value"><p>One or more <span class="fixed">RelyingParty</span> elements may be contained by a <a href="#confCredentialUse"><span class="fixed">CredentialUse</span></a> element to enumerate relying parties for which a distinct set of credentials should be used. The <span class="fixed">TLS</span> and <span class="fixed">Signing</span> attribute values reference the identifiers of credential resolvers defined in <a href="#confCredentialsProvider"><span class="fixed">CredentialsProvider</span></a> elements.</p>
1522 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">name</span>: Identifies the origin site or group of sites to which the credentials specified in the element apply. This is used to match the providerId sent within attribute assertions from origin sites against a set of "groups" based on metadata.</li>
1526 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confRequestMap"><span class="fixed"><RequestMap <span class="mandatory">applicationId="<i>default</i>"</span> requireSession="<i>true/false</i>" exportAssertion="<i>true/false</i>"></span></a></dd>
1528 <p>The <span class="fixed">RequestMap</span> element is a container holding
1529 <a href="#confHost"><span class="fixed">Host</span></a> and <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a>
1530 elements. Request URLs processed by Shibboleth are parsed and matched against this set of elements in order to
1531 determine how to process the request. Attributes on the RequestMap, Host, and Path elements specify whether to
1532 require an authenticated session, and how to locate the associated Application element and settings.</p>
1534 <li><span class="fixed">applicationId</span>: Contains a fixed value of "default" to reference the default
1535 <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> element.</li>
1536 <li><span class="fixed">requireSession</span>: This attribute controls whether Shibboleth will forcibly establish
1537 an authenticated session with the user before handing off the request to the web server or application.
1538 If <span class="fixed">true</span>, Shibboleth will force session establishment. If <span class="fixed">false</span>
1539 (the default), web applications are responsible for ensuring that a session exists if necessary, so-called
1540 <a href="#1.g.">lazy session establishment</a>. Most deployments should not specify <span class="fixed">false</span>
1541 for protected content without a full understanding of the implications.</li>
1542 <li><span class="fixed">exportAssertion</span>: When <span class="fixed">true</span>, the entire SAML attribute
1543 assertion received from the origin is exported to a CGI request header called
1544 <span class="fixed">Shib-Attributes</span>, encoded in <span class="fixed">base64</span>. This requires an
1545 application to be able to parse the raw XML. Defaults to <span class="fixed">false</span>, which most deployments
1550 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confRequestMapProvider"><span class="fixed"><RequestMapProvider <span class="mandatory">type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.provider.XMLRequestMap"</span> uri="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1552 <p>This element specifies a request mapper that defines how Shibboleth will handle sessions and other behavior
1553 for a given request. For the built-in type "edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.target.provider.XMLRequestMap",
1554 there must be a <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a> element within this element, or
1555 the <span class="fixed">uri</span> attribute must contain the local pathname of an XML file containing one.</p>
1558 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confRevocationProvider"><span class="fixed"><RevocationProvider <span class="mandatory">type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.provider.XMLRevocation"</span> uri="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1560 <p>This element, when specified within an <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1561 or <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> element, points to revocation information either
1562 inline within the element or in a local XML file. Federations will often publish signed XML files for targets to download
1563 periodically. This should be refreshed regularly; see <a href="#4.g.">section 4.g</a> for further details.</p>
1564 <p>The default set of revocation providers in the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1565 element can be replaced within individual <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements.</p>
1568 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confSessionCache"><span class="fixed"><SessionCache <span class="mandatory">type="<i>string</i>"</span>></span></a></dd>
1570 <p>Specifies a pluggable session cache implementation of the specified <span class="fixed">type</span>. This element
1571 is placed within the <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element and is mutually exclusive with
1572 the <a href="#confMemorySessionCache"><span class="fixed">MemorySessionCache</span></a> and
1573 <a href="#confMySQLSessionCache"><span class="fixed">MySQLSessionCache</span></a> elements.</p>
1574 <p>Any plugin should support the basic attributes defined by the
1575 <a href="#confMemorySessionCache"><span class="fixed">MemorySessionCache</span></a> element.</p>
1578 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confSessions"><span class="fixed"><Sessions
1579 <span class="mandatory">wayfURL="<i>URL</i>"
1580 shireURL="<i>URL</i>"</span>
1581 shireSSL="<i>true/false</i>"
1582 lifetime="<i>seconds</i>"
1583 timeout="<i>seconds</i>"
1584 checkAddress="<i>true/false</i>"
1585 cookieName="<i>URL</i>"
1586 cookieProps="<i>URL</i>"></span></a></dd>
1588 <p>Configuration parameters that affect the way Shibboleth handles sessions for an individual application are bundled
1589 in this element, which must be included in each <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a>
1590 and the default <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> element. Note that these
1591 parameters only apply to Shibboleth sessions, and not any sessions applications manage on their own behalf.</p>
1593 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">wayfURL</span>: The URL of the <a href="#1.c.">WAYF service</a>
1594 responsible for redirecting users accessing this application to their identity provider (origin).</li>
1595 <li class="mandatory">
1596 <p><span class="fixed">shireURL</span>: Specifies the SHIRE URL, or assertion consumer service, at which
1597 new sessions are initiated or lazy sessions are triggered. This can be an absolute URL, or a relative path
1598 to be prefixed by the base URL of the virtual host. Using an absolute URL allows a virtual server to funnel
1599 requests to a fixed location, to force use of SSL, for example.</p>
1600 <p>Note that this URL issues the session cookie set on behalf of the application, and this cookie must be
1601 returned in subsequent requests, so the virtual host's domain name and port must be consistent with this
1602 domain name and port for some browsers to properly return the cookie. If default ports are used (and thus
1603 left unspecified), browsers will generally return cookies set via SSL to a non-SSL port. If non-default
1604 ports are used, it is recommended that this be a relative URL so that each virtual host handles its own
1605 cookie operations.</p>
1606 <p>For Shibboleth to function properly in IIS, the file extension at the end of this URL must match the
1607 value configured into IIS and mapped to the ISAPI extension. This causes the request to be serviced properly,
1608 even though no file by that name actually exists.</p>
1610 <li><span class="fixed">shireSSL</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span> (the default), the application will
1611 <b>only</b> accept new session requests over SSL, as is strongly recommended; see <a href="#2.c.">section 2.c</a>
1612 for more details.</li>
1613 <li><span class="fixed">cookieName</span>: Optionally specifies the name given to in-memory session cookies that
1614 are associated with this application. If omitted, Shibboleth will generate a cookie name for you of the form
1615 _shibsession_<Application ID></li>
1616 <li><span class="fixed">cookieProps</span>: A string of additional Set-Cookie properties can be specified using
1617 this element which give the browser further instructions about cookie processing and use. Always begin with a
1618 semicolon to delineate from the session ID value.</li>
1619 <li><span class="fixed">lifetime</span>: Duration in seconds of the Shibboleth session; this does not affect
1620 the lifetime of application sessions initiated independently of Shibboleth. Defaults to 3600. If 0 is specified,
1621 sessions are infinite, subject to purging by the cache.</li>
1622 <li><span class="fixed">timeout</span>: If the value in seconds elapses following the last request in a
1623 session, the session will be expired for inactivity and a new session must be initiated upon the next request.
1624 Defaults to 1800. If 0 is specified, there is no inactivity timeout</li>
1625 <li><span class="fixed">checkAddress</span>: If <span class="fixed">true</span> (the default), Shibboleth will
1626 check the browser's client address to insure that session cookies are issued and used by a consistent client address.
1627 In most circumstances, this should be enabled to help prevent attacks using stolen cookies, but this can cause
1628 problems for users behind proxies or NAT devices.</li>
1632 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confSHAR"><span class="fixed"><SHAR logger="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1634 <p>This is the container element for configuration information pertaining to the SHAR, the target component responsible
1635 for most attribute and session processing. Its single attribute, <span class="fixed">logger</span>, points to a
1636 Log4J-format property configuration file that controls SHAR logging behavior. It is placed within the
1637 <a href="#confShibbolethTargetConfig"><span class="fixed">ShibbolethTargetConfig</span></a> element and may contain an
1638 <a href="#confExtensions"><span class="fixed">Extensions</span></a> element specifying additional libraries.</p>
1639 <p>It must contain either a <a href="#confUnixListener"><span class="fixed">UnixListener</span></a> element to listen
1640 to the server module on a UNIX domain socket or a <a href="#confTCPListener"><span class="fixed">TCPListener</span></a>
1641 element to listen on a TCP port. Session caching must also be specified using a
1642 <a href="#confMemorySessionCache"><span class="fixed">MemorySessionCache</span></a> element to use in-memory session
1643 caching or a <a href="#confMySQLSessionCache"><span class="fixed">MySQLSessionCache</span></a> element to backup session
1644 information into a MySQL database.</p>
1647 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confShibbolethTargetConfig"><span class="fixed"><ShibbolethTargetConfig clockSkew="integer"></span></a></dd>
1649 <p>This is the root element for target configuration and must be present once and only once. It must always contain a
1650 <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element, a
1651 <a href="#confSHIRE"><span class="fixed">SHIRE</span></a> element, an
1652 <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a> element, one or more
1653 <a href="#confCredentialsProvider"><span class="fixed">CredentialsProvider</span></a> elements, and optionally an
1654 <a href="#confExtensions"><span class="fixed">Extensions</span></a> element.</p>
1656 <li><span class="fixed">clockSkew</span>: Controls allowed clock skew in seconds between target and origin servers
1657 when evaluating times sent in messages. Defaults to 180, and should be as small as practical.</li>
1661 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confSHIRE"><span class="fixed"><SHIRE logger="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1663 <p>This is the container element for configuration information pertaining to the SHIRE, the part of the target that
1664 integrates into the web server environment. Its single attribute, <span class="fixed">logger</span>, points to a
1665 Log4J-format property configuration file that controls SHIRE logging behavior. It is placed within the
1666 <a href="#confShibbolethTargetConfig"><span class="fixed">ShibbolethTargetConfig</span></a> element and may contain an
1667 <a href="#confExtensions"><span class="fixed">Extensions</span></a> element specifying additional libraries.</p>
1668 <p>It may contain an <a href="#confImplementation"><span class="fixed">Implementation</span></a> element, within which
1669 configuration for the SHIRE which varies by platform will be specified.</p>
1670 <p>It may contain a <a href="#confRequestMapProvider"><span class="fixed">RequestMapProvider</span></a> element,
1671 which provides fine-grained control over aspects of target behavior at a host, path, or document level.</p>
1674 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confSite"><span class="fixed"><Site <span class="mandatory">id="<i>INSTANCE_ID</i>" name="<i>fqdn</i>"</span> scheme="<i>http/https</i>" port="<i>integer</i>"></span></a></dd>
1676 <p>This element is placed in the <a href="#confISAPI"><span class="fixed">ISAPI</span></a> element to specify a
1677 mapping from individual instance ID's to a corresponding hostname. The port and scheme can also be specified, but
1678 should normally be left out, enabling them to be determined from the browser request. Note that while IIS permits
1679 multiple hostnames to be assigned to a web site, only one can be specified here. If you really need to allow for
1680 multiple names (unusual), you should set the <span class="fixed">>normalizeRequest</span> attribute to false.</p>
1683 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confTCPListener"><span class="fixed"><TCPListener <span class="mandatory">address="<i>pathname</i>" port="<i>integer</i>"</span> acl="<i>ip</i>"></span></a></dd>
1685 <p>This element is placed within the <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element and is mutually
1686 exclusive with the <a href="#confUnixListener"><span class="fixed">UnixListener</span></a> and
1687 <a href="#confListener"><span class="fixed">Listener</span></a> elements. It allows the SHAR to communicate with the
1688 web server component using TCP.</p>
1690 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">address</span>: Specifies the IP address of the listener.</li>
1691 <li class="mandatory"><span class="fixed">port</span>: Specifies the TCP port on which the SHAR will listen.</li>
1692 <li><span class="fixed">acl</span>: By default, the SHAR will only listen to requests from 127.0.0.1 (localhost).
1693 This should generally not be specified except in test environments.</li>
1697 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confTrustProvider"><span class="fixed"><TrustProvider <span class="mandatory">type="edu.internet2.middleware.shibboleth.common.provider.XMLTrust"</span> uri="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1699 <p>This element, when specified within an <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1700 or <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> element, points to trust metadata either
1701 inline within the element or in a local XML file. Federations will often publish signed XML files for targets to download
1702 periodically. This should be refreshed regularly; see <a href="#4.g.">section 4.g</a> for further details.</p>
1703 <p>The default set of trust providers in the <a href="#confApplications"><span class="fixed">Applications</span></a>
1704 element can be replaced within individual <a href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a> elements.</p>
1707 <dd class="attribute"><a name="confUnixListener"><span class="fixed"><UnixListener address="<i>pathname</i>"></span></a></dd>
1709 <p>Use this element to specify a UNIX domain socket located at the <span class="fixed">pathname</span> specified in
1710 the <span class="fixed">address</span> attribute at which the SHAR should listen for requests. This element must be
1711 contained by the <a href="#confSHAR"><span class="fixed">SHAR</span></a> element and is mutually exclusive with the
1712 <a href="#confTCPListener"><span class="fixed">TCPListener</span></a> and
1713 <a href="#confListener"><span class="fixed">Listener</span></a> elements.
1714 <span class="fixed">UnixListener</span> cannot be specified for Windows-based installations.</p>
1718 <h4><a name="4.b."></a>4.b. Dynamic Error Page Generation</h4>
1720 <p>Shibboleth supports the dynamic generation of information in error pages
1721 referenced by the <a href="#confErrors"><span class="fixed">Errors</span></a> element
1722 in <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span>. The target implementation
1723 employs a simply template language to insert special tags into the
1724 generated HTML. The parser will read the error template looking for any tag that
1727 <p><span class="fixed"><shibmlp tag-name /></span> </p>
1729 <p>Shibboleth will replace <span class="fixed">tag-name</span> with the
1730 appropriate markup tag either from the table below or by looking for a matching XML attribute
1731 in the <a href="#confErrors"><span class="fixed">Errors</span></a> element:</p>
1733 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">requestURL</span></dd>
1734 <dd class="value">The user's requested URL.</dd>
1735 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">errorType</span></dd>
1736 <dd class="value">The type of error.</dd>
1737 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">errorText</span></dd>
1738 <dd class="value">The actual error message.</dd>
1739 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">errorDesc</span></dd>
1740 <dd class="value">A textual description of the error intended for human
1742 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">originContactName</span></dd>
1743 <dd class="value">The contact name for the origin site provided by that
1744 site's metadata.</dd>
1745 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">originContactEmail</span></dd>
1746 <dd class="value">The contact email address for the origin site provided
1747 by that site's metadata.</dd>
1748 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">originErrorURL</span></dd>
1749 <dd class="value">The URL of an error handling page for the origin site
1750 provided by that site's metadata.</dd>
1752 <p>To improve the appearance of error messages, a simple, limited form of
1753 conditional checking is supported so that the presence of absence of data
1754 to substitute into a particular tag-name can trigger the inclusion or
1755 exclusion of markup. Conditionals look like:</p>
1757 <p><span class="fixed"><shibmlpif tag-name> arbitrary markup </shibmlpif></span><br>
1758 <span class="fixed"><shibmlpifnot tag-name> arbitrary markup </shibmlpifnot></span></p>
1760 <p>Respectively, these special tags include or skip the markup between the tags if the
1761 specified tag-name has an associated value available to be substituted for it. Note that
1762 you cannot nest these conditionals; a <span class="fixed">shibmlpif</span> tag cannot
1763 appear inside another <span class="fixed">shibmlpif</span> tag, due to the simplicity
1764 of the substitution engine.</p>
1765 <p>Sample error templates for different kinds of errors are included in the
1766 Shibboleth distribution, and can be triggered by anything that will cause
1767 Shibboleth to be unable to accept an incoming session, obtain attributes,
1768 make an authorization decision, etc., including bad configuration settings,
1769 signature verification or certificate validation failures, or a skewed clock
1771 <p><b>You should edit these templates, provide or remove style sheets and
1772 images, and otherwise customize these templates to suit the user experience
1773 you want your users to have when errors occur. The defaults are not likely
1774 to meet the needs of any site.</b></p>
1776 <h4><a name="4.c."></a>4.c. Key Generation and Certificate Installation</h4>
1778 <p>The only target component that must have a private key and certificate is
1779 the SHAR. While the target server itself should support SSL in most cases
1780 for users, it is mandatory for the SHAR to authenticate when contacting an
1781 AA, and it must therefore be given a key and an SSL client certificate. It
1782 is permissible for the SHAR to use the same keypair and certificate used by
1783 the target web server itself, provided the certificate is signed by a CA
1784 accepted by the origin sites that will be queried for attributes.</p>
1785 <p>On Unix, we require that OpenSSL be installed to use Shibboleth. On
1786 Windows, OpenSSL libraries and the command line tool are included in the
1787 package and can be used directly, if not otherwise available. Certain
1788 commands require the <span class="fixed">openssl.cnf</span> configuration
1789 file, an example of which is included with the Windows installation in
1790 <span class="fixed">C:\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth\openssl.cnf</span>.
1791 To locate this file for a command that requires it, add the
1792 <span class="fixed">-config C:\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth\openssl.cnf</span>
1793 parameter to the command.</p>
1794 <p>The certificate and key file location should be based on whether they
1795 will also be used for Apache. If they will be used as a server key pair
1796 as well, they should probably be in the Apache tree in the usual
1797 <span class="fixed">mod_ssl</span>-defined locations inside the Apache
1798 configuration folder, and the SHAR can read them from there. If the SHAR is
1799 not running as <span class="fixed">root</span>, permissions might need to be
1800 changed to allow this access. If the certificate and key will only be used
1801 for the SHAR, they can be put in the same folder with the
1802 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> file and protected appropriately.</p>
1803 <p>Other web servers like IIS do not use the file formats that Apache and
1804 Shibboleth can share, and therefore the components must generally use
1805 separate copies of the key and certificate if they are to be shared. Most
1806 other servers can export and/or import keys to and from PEM or DER format.
1807 Refer to your server's documentation or ask for assistance from others
1809 <p>The SHAR is assigned a key and a certificate using shibboleth.xml's
1810 <a href="#confFileResolver"><span class="fixed">FileResolver</span></a> element
1811 described in <a href="#4.a.">section 4.a.</a> Various formats are supported and
1812 OpenSSL can generate and convert among them. OpenSSL commands to generate a new
1813 keypair and a certificate request are shown here, assuming 2048 bit RSA keys are
1816 <p><span class="fixed">$ openssl genrsa -out ssl.key 2048<br>
1817 $ openssl req -new -key ssl.key -out ssl.csr</span> </p>
1819 <p>The signed certificate file returned by the CA should be usable directly.</p>
1820 <p>If the key is to be shared with Apache, the web server's child processes,
1821 often running as <span class="fixed">nobody</span> or a similar uid, must be
1822 able to read them while the server is running, which may require permission
1824 <p>This particularly applies when sharing the key and certificate used by
1825 mod_ssl, which are only readable by root by default. The password, if any,
1826 must be placed in the <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> file, since
1827 the Apache module cannot prompt for it during initial startup as mod_ssl
1828 can. The issues surrounding how to securely obtain a key while running as
1829 <span class="fixed">nobody</span> may be addressed in a later release. Since
1830 the password will be stored in clear text in a frequently examined file, it
1831 is suggested to use a password not used elsewhere, or preferably not to use
1832 a password at all.</p>
1835 <h4><a name="4.d."></a>4.d. Protecting Web Pages</h4>
1837 <p>Protection of web pages is primarily achieved through "mapping"
1838 attributes provided by an AA to a localized vocabulary for authorization
1839 rules. This is accomplished using features in the AAP syntax, described in
1840 <a href="#4.e.">section 4.e.</a> This applies to both Apache and IIS.</p>
1841 <p><b><u>IIS</u></b></p>
1842 <p>The IIS filter module supports the mapping of attributes into HTTP headers
1843 via AAP files, but it does not yet support rule-based access control and
1844 therefore cannot protect static content at this time. In addition, all of
1845 the configuration settings, such as control over whether to prompt for new
1846 sessions automatically, are managed via the
1847 <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a> element,
1848 so there are no additional commands to document at this time.<br>
1850 <p><b><u>Apache</u></b></p>
1851 <p>The Apache module provided can also interpret AAP settings to map
1852 attributes to HTTP request headers and to <span class="fixed">Require</span>
1853 rules, permitting protection of both static and dynamic content. Any of the
1854 typical ways of protecting content may be used (.htaccess, Directory,
1855 Location, Files, etc.). They define what content is to be protected and
1856 static access control rules.</p>
1857 <p>There are two ways to require Shibboleth authentication, but both also require
1858 enabling the module to activate by specifying an <span class="fixed">AuthType</span>
1859 of <span class="fixed">shibboleth</span> and supplying at least one
1860 <span class="fixed">Require</span> rule in <span class="fixed">httpd.conf</span>
1861 or <span class="fixed">.htaccess</span> files. The <span class="fixed">Require</span>
1862 rule can enforce a specific access control policy based on attributes, can specify
1863 <span class="fixed">valid-user</span> to require any authenticated session, or it can
1864 support so-called lazy sessions by using the place-holder rule name of
1865 <span class="fixed">Shibboleth</span>. In such cases, the module is activated, but
1866 in a passive mode that does not automatically force a session, but will process
1867 and validate a session if one exists, leaving the authorization decision to the
1868 application. Using a static access control rule that will fail in the absence of
1869 a session is only sensible if one of the two approaches below that force a session
1871 <p>To require a session, either the Apache command, <span class="fixed">ShibRequireSession On</span>,
1872 or the <span class="fixed">requireSession</span> boolean XML attribute on the
1873 <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a>,
1874 <a href="#confHost"><span class="fixed">Host</span></a>, or
1875 <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> elements in
1876 <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> can be used. Both approaches are equivalent, and
1877 using either one to require a session will supersede a false or absent setting of the other type.</p>
1878 <p>As an example, the following commands will require Shibboleth authentication for a resource:</p>
1880 <span class="fixed">AuthType shibboleth<br>
1881 ShibRequireSession On<br>
1882 Require valid-user</span>
1884 <p>A complete list of Apache directives and their values is below:</p>
1886 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibURLScheme <http/https></span></dd>
1887 <dd class="value">Used in advanced virtual hosting environments which need to generate
1888 SSL redirects from virtual servers that use only HTTP. Supplements the
1889 Apache <span class="fixed">ServerName</span> and <span class="fixed">Port</span>
1890 commands with this missing option. Defaults to a null value in which the scheme
1891 for redirects is based on the physical connection to the server. This is a server-level
1892 command, while the rest of the commands listed are content commands that can appear
1894 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">AuthType <string></span></dd>
1895 <dd class="value">Use <span class="fixed">shibboleth</span> for direct
1896 invocation, or <span class="fixed">Basic</span> plus the
1897 <span class="fixed">ShibBasicHijack</span> option described below.</dd>
1898 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibBasicHijack <on/off></span></dd>
1899 <dd class="value">Controls whether Shibboleth should or should not
1900 ignore requests with <span class="fixed">AuthType Basic</span>. Defaults
1901 to <span class="fixed">off</span>.</dd>
1902 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibRequireSession <on/off></span></dd>
1903 <dd class="value">Controls whether to require an authenticated session before passing
1904 control to the authorization phase or the actual resource. Defaults to
1905 <span class="fixed">off</span>.</dd>
1906 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibExportAssertion <on/off></span></dd>
1907 <dd class="value">Controls whether the SAML attribute assertion provided
1908 by the AA is exported in a base64-encoded HTTP header,
1909 <span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB_ATTRIBUTES</span>. Defaults to <span class="fixed">off</span>.</dd>
1910 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">ShibRequireAll <on/off></span></dd>
1911 <dd class="value">Controls whether all <span class="fixed">Require</span> rules
1912 specified must be satisfied before access to the resource is granted. Defaults to
1913 <span class="fixed">off</span>, which means any single rule can be satisfied, the
1914 usual Apache behavior.</dd>
1915 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">AuthGroupFile <pathname></span></dd>
1916 <dd class="value">Same as mod_auth; collects values found in REMOTE_USER
1917 into a named group for access control. An attribute must be mapped to
1918 REMOTE_USER for this to work. Note that mod_auth will not support group
1919 files when the Shibboleth module is loaded, since they share the same command.
1920 <p><a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/core.html#require">This is
1921 implemented</a> by placing a <span class="fixed">.htaccess</span> file
1922 that references a group file stored at <span class="fixed">/pathname</span>:</p>
1924 <p><span class="fixed">AuthGroupFile /pathname<br>
1925 require group workgroup</span></p>
1928 <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/mod_auth.html#authgroupfile">
1929 AuthGroupFile</a> used by Shibboleth might resemble:<br>
1930 <span class="fixed">workgroup: joe@example.edu, jane@demo.edu, jim@sample.edu</span>
1932 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">Require <string></span></dd>
1933 <dd class="value">Enforce authorization using one of the following methods.
1935 <li><span class="fixed">valid-user</span><blockquote>
1936 <p>Any Shibboleth user from a trusted origin site is accepted,
1937 even if no actual attributes are received. This is a very
1938 minimal kind of policy, but is useful for testing or for
1939 deferring real policy to an application.</p>
1942 <li><span class="fixed">user</span><blockquote>
1943 <p>A space-delimited list of values, such as from the
1944 <span class="fixed">urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonPrincipalName</span>
1945 attribute. Actually, any attribute can be mapped to REMOTE_USER,
1946 even if this doesn't always make sense.</p>
1949 <li><span class="fixed">group</span><blockquote>
1950 <p>A space-delimited list of group names defined within
1951 <span class="fixed">AuthGroupFile</span> files, again provided
1952 that a mapping to <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> exists.</p>
1955 <li><span class="fixed"><i>alias</i></span><blockquote>
1956 <p>An arbitrary rule name that matches an Alias defined in an
1957 AAP file. The rule value is a space-delimited list of attribute
1958 values, whose format depends on the attribute in question (e.g.
1959 an affiliation rule might look like:</p>
1960 <p><span class="fixed">require affiliation staff@osu.edu faculty@mit.edu</span></p>
1963 <li><span class="fixed">shibboleth</span><blockquote>
1964 <p>If a session cookie of the expected name exists, the corresponding
1965 session will be validated and any cached attributes exported as otherwise
1966 specified. Authorization will be controlled by the resource, unless
1967 additional rules are specified. If however a session does not already
1968 exist, or if the current session expires or times out, no session will
1969 be requested and control will pass to the resource.</p>
1973 <p>Additionally, for <span class="fixed">user</span> and
1974 <span class="fixed"><alias></span>-based rules, if a tilde character is
1975 placed immediately following <span class="fixed">user</span> or
1976 <span class="fixed"><alias></span>, the expressions that follow are
1977 treated as regular expressions. The syntax supported is generally based
1978 on the one defined by <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/#regexs">
1979 XML Schema</a>. This specification borders on unreadable, but the syntax
1980 is generally Perl-like. Expressions should generally be "anchored" with
1981 the ^ and $ symbols to insure mid-string matches don't cause false
1983 <p>For example, the rule:<br>
1984 <span class="fixed">require affiliation ~ ^member@.+\.edu$<br>
1985 </span>would evaluate to allowing anyone with an <span class="fixed">
1986 affiliation</span> of <span class="fixed">member</span> from a .edu
1990 <h4><a name="4.e."></a>4.e. Defining Attributes and Acceptance Policies</h4>
1992 <p>Shibboleth allows a user and a site to release a varying set of
1993 attributes to a destination site, and does not impose restrictions on the
1994 kinds of attribute information provided by an AA. Target implementations
1995 must be prepared to examine the attributes they receive and filter them
1996 based on policies about what information to permit an origin site to assert
1997 about its users.</p>
1998 <p>Attribute acceptance is the process of defining acceptable attributes and
1999 filtering attribute values before passing them on to a resource manager,
2000 such as the Shibboleth module or a web application. Data blocked by
2001 AAP filters will not be passed to the CGI environment or used when enforcing
2002 <span class="fixed">.htaccess</span> rules in Apache. Note that the attribute
2003 assertion exported to the <span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB_ATTRIBUTES</span> header
2004 is now also filtered. This is a change from previous versions. To compensate,
2005 either no AAP can be specified, or a rule can be applied to permit all
2006 attributes to pass through while also exporting specific attributes.</p>
2007 <p>The Shibboleth implementation supports Scoped and Simple attributes and
2008 filtering policies for different kinds of attributes, and is potentially
2009 extensible to more complex attributes in the future. An attribute is
2010 considered Scoped if the XML representation of its values contains a "Scope"
2011 attribute. As of 1.1+, this is detected at runtime and requires no
2012 configuration in advance.</p>
2013 <p><b>An essential part of the Shibboleth trust fabric is ensuring that
2014 sites only assert attributes for domains for which they are considered
2015 authoritative by the target. Typically, this means that Brown University
2016 will be trusted to assert attributes only scoped to <span class="fixed">
2017 brown.edu</span>. Unless there are very specific circumstances requiring
2018 this restriction be removed, it is strongly encouraged that such policies be
2019 left in place.</b></p>
2022 <p>Scoped attributes are a special kind of attribute whose values are a
2023 combination of a <span class="fixed">value</span> and a
2024 <span class="fixed">scope</span>, or <span class="fixed">context</span>
2025 for the value. An example is <span class="fixed">
2026 eduPersonScopedAffiliation</span>, which adds a scope to the defined set
2027 of <span class="fixed">eduPersonAffiliation</span> values, such as
2028 <span class="fixed">student</span>, <span class="fixed">member</span>,
2029 or <span class="fixed">faculty</span>. Scopes are expressed as DNS
2030 domains and subdomains as a convention.</p>
2031 <p>Any <span class="fixed">scoped</span> attribute can be scoped only to
2032 the origin site's permitted domains. These domains are listed in the
2033 operational metadata that provides policy information to the system and
2034 can be overridden or supplemented using the AAP. Domains can be explicit
2035 or regular expressions, and can be changed by a target to meet its needs.
2036 Thus, attribute acceptance processing for <span class="fixed">scoped</span>
2037 attributes is based on site metadata and target-specified overrides in
2038 addition to the mechanism described below for <span class="fixed">simple</span>
2040 <p>Scope rules specified in an AAP are additive with any domains
2041 permitted by site metadata, and the rules are applied by first looking
2042 for an applicable denial rule, and then looking at site metadata and any
2043 applicable site rules for an accept rule.</p>
2047 <p>Simple attributes are attributes whose value is expressed in XML as a
2048 Text node; that is, the value is just a string. Multiple values are
2049 permitted. <span class="fixed">eduPersonEntitlement</span>, in which the
2050 values are URIs, is one example of a simple attribute.</p>
2051 <p>Both Simple and Scoped attribute acceptance is controlled with an
2052 external (or in 1.2, optionally inline) policy file written in XML.
2053 The schema for the file is described by the <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xsd</span>
2054 schema, and an example file is included, <span class="fixed">AAP.xml</span>.
2055 It is now optional to supply such a policy, but in the absence of one, no
2056 attributes will be exported into request headers, and the option to export
2057 the assertion as a whole must be used instead.</p>
2058 <p>The policy is a default-deny algorithm that requires permissible
2059 attributes and values be listed explicitly. That is, an empty (as opposed to no)
2060 policy permits nothing. Each attribute to be supported must be listed in the
2061 policy by name in an <span class="fixed"><AttributeRule></span>. Each such
2062 rule is a collection of <span class="fixed"><SiteRule></span> elements
2063 along with an optional <span class="fixed"><AnySite></span> default
2064 rule. In turn each site rule is a set of <span class="fixed"><Value></span>
2065 rules that specify matches to permit, either literal or regular
2066 expressions, or a wildcarded <span class="fixed"><AnyValue></span>
2067 default rule, which is equivalent to a single regular expression rule
2068 allowing anything.</p>
2069 <p>With 1.2, a new <span class="fixed"><AnyAttribute></span> element
2070 can be used before or in place of the <span class="fixed"><AttributeRule></span>
2071 elements to allow all attributes and values to pass muster. The purpose of this
2072 is to then supply rules to specify the export of particular attributes, without
2073 using those rules to control acceptance.</p>
2075 <p>A syntax summary follows:</p>
2077 <p><span class="fixed"><AttributeAcceptancePolicy></span></p>
2079 <p>The top level element in the file.</p>
2081 <p><span class="fixed"><AnyAttribute></span></p>
2083 <p>Disables acceptance filtering and leaves the assertion intact.</p>
2085 <p><span class="fixed"><AttributeRule><br>
2086 Name="urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonScopedAffiliation"<br>
2087 Header="Shib-EP-Affiliation" Alias="affiliation"></span></p>
2089 <p>Specifies a rule for an attribute, named by its URI. The
2090 following XML attributes can be supplied:</p>
2091 <table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5">
2093 <td><span class="fixed">Name</span></td>
2094 <td>The name of the Shibboleth attribute, usually a URI.
2095 This is the only required XML attribute.</td>
2098 <td><span class="fixed">Namespace</span></td>
2099 <td>If the attribute's name includes a SAML namespace,
2100 supply it here. Normally this is unused.</td>
2103 <td><span class="fixed">Header</span></td>
2104 <td>The HTTP request header to map the attribute's values
2108 <td><span class="fixed">Alias</span></td>
2109 <td>A short name for the attribute, determines the name of
2110 the Apache <span class="fixed">Require</span> rule.</td>
2114 <p><span class="fixed"><AnySite></span></p>
2116 <p>Specifies a rule that always applies to the attribute, regardless
2117 of the asserting origin site.</p>
2119 <p><span class="fixed"><SiteRule Name="providerId"></span></p>
2121 <p>A rule that applies to the origin site corresponding to the supplied
2124 <p><span class="fixed"><Scope Accept="true|false" Type="type"></span></p>
2126 <p>Specifies a value to accept or deny, either directly using
2127 <span class="fixed">type</span> <span class="fixed">literal</span>,
2128 or using a set of matching expressions as <span class="fixed">type</span>
2129 <span class="fixed">regexp</span>. <span class="fixed">literal</span>
2130 is the default if <span class="fixed">Type</span> is not specified.
2131 Accept defaults to "true">.</p>
2133 <p><span class="fixed"><AnyValue></span></p>
2135 <p>Specifies a rule that always applies to the attribute and site,
2136 regardless of the value(s).</p>
2138 <p><span class="fixed"><Value Type="type"></span></p>
2140 <p>Specifies a value to permit, either directly using
2141 <span class="fixed">type</span> <span class="fixed">literal</span>,
2142 or using a set of matching expressions as <span class="fixed">type</span>
2143 <span class="fixed">regexp</span>. <span class="fixed">literal</span>
2144 is the default if <span class="fixed">Type</span> is not specified.</p>
2147 <p>The regular expression syntax is a subset of the usual Perl and Unix
2148 syntaxes that is described in the XML Schema specification by the W3C. Most
2149 typical expressions should work. Be sure to anchor them using
2150 <span class="fixed">^</span> and <span class="fixed">$</span> to avoid
2151 unintentional matches midstring.</p>
2153 <h4><a name="4.f."></a>4.f. Using Attributes and Session Data in Applications</h4>
2155 <p>Apart from the simple RM functionality provided, attribute information
2156 may be made available directly to applications via the standard practice of
2157 creating custom HTTP request headers before passing control to the
2158 resource. Web applications should make no assumption about the presence of
2159 specific attributes for their use unless they have intimate knowledge of the
2160 attribute release policies in place.</p>
2161 <p>The AAP rules control this interface, and map Shibboleth attributes
2162 to header names, such as <span class="fixed">Shib-EP-Affiliation</span>.
2163 Using that example, any values of the mapped attribute will be placed in
2164 that header, delimited by semicolons. An application that uses a CGI-like
2165 syntax to access the header will find the values in the <span class="fixed">
2166 HTTP_SHIB_EP_AFFILIATION</span> variable. Any attribute can be placed in any
2167 header, to drive legacy applications that expect information in a particular
2169 <p>The <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> variable is a special case
2170 that is generally populated automatically by the web server based on an
2171 internal piece of data that represents the current <span class="fixed">
2172 username</span>. Unlike many authentication modules, Shibboleth does not
2173 guarantee that <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> will have any value,
2174 because users may remain anonymous in many cases. If it does have a value,
2175 it is set solely because of an AAP file that maps an attribute to that
2176 header name. For many purposes, the <span class="fixed">
2177 urn:mace:dir:attribute-def:eduPersonPrincipalName</span> attribute should be
2178 mapped to <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span>. Even so, EPPN may not be
2179 provided by the AA, and <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span> might still
2181 <p>In addition to general attribute information, the following special
2182 HTTP headers are created for any authenticated request:</p>
2184 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB_ORIGIN_SITE</span></dd>
2185 <dd class="value">Contains the unique identifier (providerId) of the
2186 origin site of the user. Some applications may use this to lookup
2187 additional policy or application data. It normally takes the form of a
2188 URI but could be any string in some deployments.</dd>
2189 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB-AUTHENTICATION-METHOD</span></dd>
2190 <dd class="value">Contains the SAML AuthenticationMethod URI that
2191 documents some aspect of the user's authentication to the origin site's
2192 web authentication service.</dd>
2193 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB_APPLICATION_ID</span></dd>
2194 <dd class="value">Contains the XML <span class="fixed">applicationId</span>
2195 attribute in <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span> that corresponds to
2196 the request based on the <a href="#confRequestMap"><span class="fixed">RequestMap</span></a>
2197 and associated elements.</dd>
2198 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB_ATTRIBUTES</span></dd>
2199 <dd class="value">Contains the assertion in XML containing the
2200 SAML attribute information from the AA in base64-encoded format.
2201 This is a raw interface that provides an application with the entire
2202 assertion in, but is still a filtered view based on any attribute acceptance
2205 <p>Finally, special support exists to obtain the value of the SAML
2206 <span class="fixed"><NameIdentifier></span> element, which identifies the
2207 subject of the session, the user. Many Shibboleth deployments use opaque handles
2208 that have no application value, however newer deployments may choose to support
2209 alternative identifiers, including formats defined by SAML. Targets can use
2210 these origins and obtain the primary subject name by using a special AAP
2211 <span class="fixed"><AttributeRule></span> with a
2212 <span class="fixed">Name</span> corresponding to the SAML
2213 <span class="fixed">Format</span> identifier that describes the kind of
2214 identifier used to represent the subject. The rule specifies in what header
2215 to export the identifier value (such as <span class="fixed">REMOTE_USER</span>),
2216 while the <span class="fixed">Format</span> identifier will be placed in the
2217 <span class="fixed">HTTP_SHIB_NAMEIDENTIFIER_FORMAT</span> header.
2220 <h4><a name="4.g."></a>4.g. <span class="fixed">siterefresh</span></h4>
2222 <p>Shibboleth provides a simple tool called <span class="fixed">siterefresh</span>
2223 in the <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/bin</span> folder of the
2224 distribution to maintain metadata files referenced by <span class="fixed">
2225 shibboleth.xml</span>. It will return 0 only on success and a negative number on
2226 failure and log errors to <span class="fixed">stderr</span>. If the data in
2227 the new metadata file is unusable or schema invalid, or the signature is invalid,
2228 the existing copy is kept and not overwritten. The SHAR and SHIRE stat all
2229 metadata files each time the data is used, allowing them to detect and utilize
2230 updates in real-time during system operation.</p>
2231 <p><span class="fixed">siterefresh</span> takes the following command-line
2234 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">--url <URL></span></dd>
2235 <dd class="value">Specifies the <span class="fixed">URL</span> of the
2236 remote metadata file with which to update the local file. HTTPS is not
2237 supported at this time.</dd>
2238 <dd class="attribute"><span class="fixed">--out <pathname></span></dd>
2239 <dd class="value">Specifies the local file to which to write the new
2241 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--noverify</span></dd>
2242 <dd class="value">Explicitly disables the requirement for the file to be signed
2243 and allows the certificate parameter to be ommitted. If the file is signed,
2244 the signature will be verified using whatever key is supplied inside it,
2245 and an invalid signature will still result in an error, but if the file is
2246 unsigned or has a valid signature, only a warning will be logged, and the
2247 result will be success.</dd>
2248 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--cert <pathname></span></dd>
2249 <dd class="value">Specifies the location of a certificate stored in
2250 <span class="fixed">PEM</span> format used to validate the signature of
2251 the metadata file. Since much of Shibboleth's security flows from
2252 metadata files, this option is highly recommended, and the certificate
2253 used should be verified independently in some out of band fashion.</dd>
2254 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--schema <pathname></span></dd>
2255 <dd class="value">Optionally defines a base path for schemas to use
2256 when validating the file. Defaults to a location based on the installation
2257 path on Unix, or <span class="fixed">\opt\shibboleth\etc\shibboleth</span>
2259 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--rootns <XML namespace></span></dd>
2260 <dd class="value">Optionally defines the XML namespace of the root element
2261 expected in the new file. Normally unused, provided to support alternative
2262 metadata formats that may be backported to older releases.</dd>
2263 <dd class="attributeopt"><span class="fixed">--rootname <XML element name></span></dd>
2264 <dd class="value">Optionally defines the name of the root element
2265 expected in the new file. Normally unused, provided to support alternative
2266 metadata formats that may be backported to older releases.</dd>
2268 <p>If a zero is returned, the command will copy the retrieved file to the output
2269 location. Otherwise one of the following error values will be returned:</p>
2270 <table align="center" cellspacing="5">
2271 <tr><td>-100</td><td>an invalid combination of parameters was specified</td></tr>
2272 <tr><td>-10</td><td>the OpenSAML library failed to initialize</td></tr>
2273 <tr><td>-1</td><td>the file's XML digital signature was invalid</td></tr>
2274 <tr><td>-2</td><td>a SAML exception was trapped</td></tr>
2275 <tr><td>-3</td><td>an XML library exception was trapped</td></tr>
2276 <tr><td>-4</td><td>a general XML security library exception was trapped</td></tr>
2277 <tr><td>-5</td><td>an XML security library crypto exception was trapped</td></tr>
2278 <tr><td>-6</td><td>an unknown exception was trapped</td></tr>
2280 <p>A complete command issued to <span class="fixed">siterefresh</span> might
2283 <p><span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/bin/siterefresh --out IQ-sites.xml --cert inqueue.pem \<br>
2284 --url http://wayf.internet2.edu/InQueue/IQ-sites.xml </span></p>
2286 <p>It is recommended that such commands be added to a <span class="fixed">
2287 crontab</span> to keep the site and trust files refreshed. AAP files tend to
2288 be site-specific, but could be maintained and distributed centrally. If the
2289 command is invoked in a script that writes the file to a new location and
2290 compares it with the old contents before overwriting the original, the
2291 command could be run very often without impacting target operations,
2292 providing a high degree of currency in case sites become compromised.</p>
2294 <h4><a name="4.h."></a>4.h. MySQL Session Cache</h4>
2296 <p>Shibboleth includes a useful plugin that extends the default memory cache
2297 for storing session data in the SHAR with a backing cache using an embedded
2298 MySQL database. It is now disabled by default. The plugin can be found in the
2299 <span class="fixed">/opt/shibboleth/libexec</span> folder, and is loaded as an
2300 extension library using the <a href="#confExtensions"><span class="fixed">Extensions</span></a>
2301 element of <span class="fixed">shibboleth.xml</span>. The extension and the
2302 <a href="#confMySQLSessionCache"><span class="fixed">MySQLSessionCache</span></a>
2303 element are commented out by default.</p>
2304 <p>Important <a href="#confArgument"><span class="fixed">Argument</span></a>
2305 elements you'll find by default include:</p>
2306 <blockquote class="fixed">
2307 <p>--language=/opt/shibboleth/share/english<br>
2308 --datadir=/opt/shibboleth/data</p>
2310 <p>which set the message file path and the location of the cache's
2311 database files respectively. Make sure the data directory exists before
2312 starting the SHAR if you change this path.</p>
2314 <h4><a name="4.i."></a>4.i. Using Lazy Sessions</h4>
2316 <p><b>For a background on sessions in Shibboleth, and a description of what
2317 a lazy session is and why it would be useful, consult <a href="#1.g">section
2319 <p>This section describes how an application can trigger the establishment
2320 of a Shibboleth session and optionally receive attributes once its internal
2321 logic decides this is necessary. It assumes the application is protected
2322 using lazy sessions because the <span class="fixed">RequireSession</span>
2323 attribute of the <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Path</span></a> or
2324 <a href="#confPath"><span class="fixed">Host</span></a> element protecting
2325 it is set to <span class="fixed">false</span>. This application must be
2326 aware of two pieces of information:</p>
2328 <li>The URL that should be accessed after the session is established;
2329 frequently, this will be the application's own URL; and</li>
2330 <li>The URL of the SHIRE associated with the <a
2331 href="#confApplication"><span class="fixed">Application</span></a>
2332 containing the URL to be accessed(contained within the corresponding <a
2333 href="#confSessions"><span class="fixed">Sessions</span></a>
2336 <p>These two pieces of information must be combined by the application to an
2337 appropriately formed URL to trigger session initiation as follows. To
2338 request a session, the application returns an HTTP redirect that sends the
2339 browser to the SHIRE URL with a parameter, <span
2340 class="fixed">target</span>, containing the URL of the resource to return to
2341 with a session. This will often be the URL that's triggering the redirect.
2342 The SHIRE will generate the redirect to the WAYF and the rest proceeds as a
2343 standard Shibboleth flow. This combined URL takes the form: <span class="fixed">https://<i>shireURL</i>?target=<i>applicationURL</i></span>.</p>
2344 <p>For example, if an application located at <span
2345 class="fixed">https://foo.com/portal</span> presents a page with an option
2346 to login, it could respond to the login button by redirecting the browser to
2348 class="fixed">https://foo.com/Shibboleth.shire?target=https%3A%2F%2Ffoo.com%2Fportal</span>.</p>
2352 <h3><a name="5."></a>5. Troubleshooting</h3>
2353 <p>This section provides basic information about testing Shibboleth targets.
2354 This information is not intended to be comprehensive, but instead rudimentary
2355 guidelines for basic configuration tests and problems. For more detailed
2356 information or answers to specific problems not addressed in this section,
2357 please mail <a href="mailto:shibboleth-users@internet2.edu">shibboleth-users@internet2.edu</a>
2358 with a thorough description of errors and configurations used.</p>
2359 <h4><a name="5.a."></a>5.a. Basic Testing</h4>
2361 <p>The target may be tested by generating a folder with very basic access
2362 controls on it, and accessing it using a web browser. Place a simple webpage
2363 such as <span class="fixed">index.html</span> in <span class="fixed">
2364 /secure/</span>. Then, add the following lines to <span class="fixed">
2365 httpd.conf</span>, which should be removed when testing is over:</p>
2367 <p><span class="fixed"># Configure a test directory<br>
2368 <Location /secure><br>
2369 AuthType shibboleth<br>
2370 ShibRequireSession On<br>
2371 require valid-user<br>
2372 </Location><br>
2375 <p><b>For information regarding specific error messages that may be
2376 generated if the target does not work successfully, please refer to section
2377 <a href="#5.b.">5.b.</a>, or write
2378 <a href="mailto:shibboleth-users@internet2.edu">shibboleth-users@internet2.edu</a>.</b></p>
2380 <h4><a name="5.b."></a>5.b. Common Problems</h4>
2382 <p>A knowledge base is being developed in the
2383 <a href="https://umdrive.memphis.edu/wassa/public/shib.faq/shibboleth-faq.html">
2384 Shibboleth Deployer's FAQ</a>. Please mail
2385 <a href="mailto:shibboleth-users@internet2.edu">shibboleth-users@internet2.edu</a>
2386 with any additional questions or problems encountered that are not answered
2387 by this basic guide.</p>