IdP hosted metadata reference

This is a reference for the metadata file metadata/saml20-idp-hosted.php . The file has the following format: 

<?php
/* The index of the array is the entity ID of this IdP. */
$metadata['entity-id-1'] = [
    'host' => 'idp.example.org',
    /* Configuration options for the first IdP. */
];
$metadata['entity-id-2'] = [
    'host' => '__DEFAULT__',
    /* Configuration options for the default IdP. */
];
/* ... */

The entity ID must be a URI, that is unlikely to change for technical or political reasons. We recommend it to be a domain name you own. The URL does not have to resolve to actual content, it's just an identifier. If your organization's domain is example.org :

https://example.org/saml-idp

For guidance in picking an entityID, see InCommon's best practice on the matter.

The host option is the hostname of the IdP, and will be used to select the correct configuration. One entry in the metadata-list can have the host __DEFAULT__ . This entry will be used when no other entry matches.

Common options

auth
Which authentication module should be used to authenticate users on this IdP.
authproc
Used to manipulate attributes, and limit access for each SP. See the authentication processing filter manual .
certificate
Location of certificate data which should be used by this IdP, in PEM format.
contacts
Specify contacts in addition to the technical contact configured through config/config.php. For example, specifying a support contact: 
'contacts' => [
    [
        'ContactType'       => 'support',
        'EmailAddress'      => 'support@example.org',
        'GivenName'         => 'John',
        'surName'           => 'Doe',
        'TelephoneNumber'   => '+31(0)12345678',
        'Company'           => 'Example Inc.',
    ],
],

If you have support for a trust framework that requires extra attributes on the contact person element in your IdP metadata (for example, SIRTFI), you can specify an array of attributes on a contact. 

'contacts' => [
    [
        'ContactType'       => 'other',
        'EmailAddress'      => 'mailto:abuse@example.org',
        'GivenName'         => 'John',
        'SurName'           => 'Doe',
        'TelephoneNumber'   => '+31(0)12345678',
        'Company'           => 'Example Inc.',
        'attributes' => [
            [
                'namespaceURI' => 'http://refeds.org/metadata',
                'namespacePrefix' => 'remd',
                'attrName' => 'contactType',
                'attrValue' => 'http://refeds.org/metadata/contactType/security',
            ],
        ],
    ],
],
errorURL
Overrides the errorURL in the IDP's published metadata.
host
The hostname for this IdP. One IdP can also have the host -option set to __DEFAULT__ , and that IdP will be used when no other entries in the metadata matches.
logouttype
The logout handler to use. Either iframe or traditional . traditional is the default.
OrganizationName , OrganizationDisplayName , OrganizationURL
The name and URL of the organization responsible for this IdP. You need to either specify all three or none of these options.
The Name does not need to be suitable for display to end users, the DisplayName should be. The URL is a website the user can access for more information about the organization.
This option can be translated into multiple languages by specifying the value as an array of language-code to translated name: 
'OrganizationName' => [
    'en' => 'Voorbeeld Organisatie Foundation b.a.',
    'nl' => 'Stichting Voorbeeld Organisatie b.a.',
],
'OrganizationDisplayName' => [
    'en' => 'Example organization',
    'nl' => 'Voorbeeldorganisatie',
],
'OrganizationURL' => [
    'en' => 'https://example.com',
    'nl' => 'https://example.com/nl',
],
privatekey
Location of private key data for this IdP, in PEM format.
privatekey_pass
Passphrase for the private key. Leave this option out if the private key is unencrypted.
scope
An array with scopes for this IdP. The scopes will be added to the generated XML metadata. A scope can either be a domain name or a regular expression matching a number of domains.

SAML 2.0 options

The following SAML 2.0 options are available:

assertion.encryption
Whether assertions sent from this IdP should be encrypted. The default value is FALSE . When set to TRUE encryption will be enforced for all remote SP's and an exception is thrown if encryption fails.
Note that this option can be set for each SP in the SP-remote metadata.
Note that enforcement can be disabled by setting encryption.optional to TRUE .
attributeencodings
What encoding should be used for the different attributes. This is an array which maps attribute names to attribute encodings. There are three different encodings:
  • string : Will include the attribute as a normal string. This is the default.
  • base64 : Store the attribute as a base64 encoded string.
  • raw : Store the attribute without any modifications. This makes it possible to include raw XML in the response.

Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.

attributes.NameFormat
What value will be set in the Format field of attribute statements. This parameter can be configured multiple places, and the actual value used is fetched from metadata by the following priority:
  1. SP Remote Metadata
  1. IdP Hosted Metadata

The default value is: urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri

Some examples of values specified in the SAML 2.0 Core Specification:

  • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:unspecified
  • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri (The default in Shibboleth 2.0, mandatory as per SAML2INT)
  • urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic (The default in Sun Access Manager)

You can also define your own value.

Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.

encryption.optional
Whether or not we may continue to send an unencrypted assertion if the SP has no encryption certificate. The default value is FALSE .
encryption.blacklisted-algorithms
Blacklisted encryption algorithms. This is an array containing the algorithm identifiers.
Note that this option can be set for each SP in the SP-remote metadata .
The RSA encryption algorithm with PKCS#1 v1.5 padding is blacklisted by default for security reasons. Any assertions encrypted with this algorithm will therefore fail to decrypt. You can override this limitation by defining an empty array in this option (or blacklisting any other algorithms not including that one). However, it is strongly discouraged to do so. For your own safety, please include the string 'http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#rsa-1_5' if you make use of this option.
https.certificate
The certificate used by the webserver when handling connections. This certificate will be added to the generated metadata of the IdP, which is required by some SPs when using the HTTP-Artifact binding.
nameid.encryption
Whether NameIDs sent from this IdP should be encrypted. The default value is FALSE .
Note that this option can be set for each SP in the SP-remote metadata .
NameIDFormat
The format(s) of the NameID supported by this IdP, as either an array or a string. If an array is given, the first value is used as the default if the incoming request does not specify a preference. Defaults to the transient format if unspecified.
This parameter can be configured in multiple places, and the actual value used is fetched from metadata with the following priority:
  1. SP Remote Metadata
  1. IdP Hosted Metadata

The three most commonly used values are:

  1. urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient
  1. urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:persistent
  1. urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress

The transient format will generate a new unique ID every time the user logs in.

To properly support the persistent and emailAddress formats, you should configure NameID generation filters on your IdP.

Note that the value(s) set here will be added to the metadata generated for this IdP, in the NameIDFormat element.

RegistrationInfo
Allows to specify information about the registrar of this SP. Please refer to the MDRPI extension document for further information.
saml20.ecp
Set to true to enable the IdP to receive AuthnRequests and send responses according the Enhanced Client or Proxy (ECP) Profile. Note: authentication filters that require interaction with the user will not work with ECP. Defaults to false .
saml20.hok.assertion
Set to TRUE to enable the IdP to send responses according the Holder-of-Key Web Browser SSO Profile . Defaults to FALSE .
saml20.sendartifact
Set to TRUE to enable the IdP to send responses with the HTTP-Artifact binding. Defaults to FALSE .
Note that this requires a configured memcache server.
saml20.sign.assertion
Whether <saml:Assertion> elements should be signed. Defaults to TRUE .
Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.
saml20.sign.response
Whether <samlp:Response> messages should be signed. Defaults to TRUE .
Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.
signature.algorithm
The algorithm to use when signing any message generated by this identity provider. Defaults to RSA-SHA256.
Possible values:
sign.logout
Whether to sign logout messages sent from this IdP.
Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.
SingleSignOnService
Override the default URL for the SingleSignOnService for this IdP. This is an absolute URL. The default value is <SimpleSAMLphp-root>/module.php/saml/idp/singleSignOnService
Note that this only changes the values in the generated metadata and in the messages sent to others. You must also configure your webserver to deliver this URL to the correct PHP page.
SingleSignOnServiceBinding
List of SingleSignOnService bindings that the IdP will claim support for.
Possible values:
Defaults to HTTP-Redirect binding. Please note that the order specified will be kept in the metadata, making the first binding the default one.
SingleLogoutService
Override the default URL for the SingleLogoutService for this IdP. This is an absolute URL. The default value is <SimpleSAMLphp-root>/module.php/saml/idp/singleLogout
Note that this only changes the values in the generated metadata and in the messages sent to others. You must also configure your webserver to deliver this URL to the correct PHP page.
SingleLogoutServiceBinding
List of SingleLogoutService bindings the IdP will claim support for.
Possible values:
Defaults to HTTP-Redirect binding. Please note that the order specified will be kept in the metadata, making the first binding the default one.
validate.authnrequest
Whether we require signatures on authentication requests sent to this IdP. Set it to:
true: authnrequest must be signed (and signature will be validated)
null: authnrequest may be signed, if it is, signature will be validated
false: authnrequest signature is never checked
Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.
validate.logout
Whether we require signatures on logout messages sent to this IdP.
Note that this option also exists in the SP-remote metadata, and any value in the SP-remote metadata overrides the one configured in the IdP metadata.

Fields for signing and validating messages

SimpleSAMLphp only signs authentication responses by default. Signing of logout requests and logout responses can be enabled by setting the redirect.sign option. Validation of received messages can be enabled by the redirect.validate option.

These options set the default for this IdP, but options for each SP can be set in saml20-sp-remote . Note that you need to add a certificate for each SP to be able to validate signatures on messages from that SP.

redirect.sign
Whether logout requests and logout responses sent from this IdP should be signed. The default is FALSE .
redirect.validate
Whether authentication requests, logout requests and logout responses received sent from this IdP should be validated. The default is FALSE

Example: Configuration for signed messages : 

'redirect.sign' => true,

Metadata extensions

SimpleSAMLphp supports generating metadata with the MDUI, MDRPI and EntityAttributes metadata extensions. See the documentation for those extensions for more details:

For other metadata extensions, you can use the saml:Extensions option:

saml:Extensions
An array of \SAML2\XML\Chunk s to include in the IdP metadata extensions, at the same level as EntityAttributes .

Examples :

These are some examples of IdP metadata

Minimal SAML 2.0 IdP 

<?php

$metadata['https://example.org/saml-idp'] = [
    /*
     * We use '__DEFAULT__' as the hostname so we won't have to
     * enter a hostname.
     */
    'host' => '__DEFAULT__',

    /* The private key and certificate used by this IdP. */
    'certificate' => 'example.org.crt',
    'privatekey' => 'example.org.pem',

    /*
     * The authentication source for this IdP. Must be one
     * from config/authsources.php.
     */
    'auth' => 'example-userpass',
];

A custom metadata extension (eduGAIN republish request) 

<?php

$dom = \SAML2\DOMDocumentFactory::create();
$republishRequest = $dom->createElementNS('http://eduid.cz/schema/metadata/1.0', 'eduidmd:RepublishRequest');
$republishTarget = $dom->createElementNS('http://eduid.cz/schema/metadata/1.0', 'eduidmd:RepublishTarget', 'http://edugain.org/');
$republishRequest->appendChild($republishTarget);
$ext = [new \SAML2\XML\Chunk($republishRequest)];

$metadata['https://example.org/saml-idp'] = [
    'host' => '__DEFAULT__',
    'certificate' => 'example.org.crt',
    'privatekey' => 'example.org.pem',
    'auth' => 'example-userpass',

    /*
     * The custom metadata extensions.
     */
    'saml:Extensions' => $ext,
];

this generates the following metadata: 

<EntityDescriptor entityID="...">
  <Extensions xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata">
    <eduidmd:RepublishRequest xmlns:eduidmd="http://eduid.cz/schema/metadata/1.0">
      <eduidmd:RepublishTarget>http://edugain.org/</eduidmd:RepublishTarget>
    </eduidmd:RepublishRequest>
  </Extensions>
  <!-- rest of metadata -->
</EntityDescriptor>