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What are the prefixes like "md:" and "ds:" in SAML metadata?
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SAML service provider (and other types as well) metadata XMLs are full of prefixes like md: and ds:. What do these mean?
To illustrate my point, here's a sample metadata file from Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA 4.0):
<md:EntityDescriptor entityID="https://sso.example.com/portal" validUntil="2017-08-30T19:10:29Z"
xmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"
xmlns:saml="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion"
xmlns:mdrpi="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:rpi"
xmlns:mdattr="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:attribute"
xmlns:mdui="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:ui"
xmlns:idpdisc="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:profiles:SSO:idp-discovery-protocol"
xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#">
<!-- insert ds:Signature element (omitted) -->
<md:Extensions>
<mdrpi:RegistrationInfo registrationAuthority="https://registrar.example.net"/>
<mdrpi:PublicationInfo creationInstant="2017-08-16T19:10:29Z" publisher="https://registrar.example.net"/>
<mdattr:EntityAttributes>
<saml:Attribute Name="http://registrar.example.net/entity-category" NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri">
<saml:AttributeValue>https://registrar.example.net/category/self-certified</saml:AttributeValue>
</saml:Attribute>
</mdattr:EntityAttributes>
</md:Extensions>
<md:SPSSODescriptor WantAssertionsSigned="true" protocolSupportEnumeration="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol">
<md:Extensions>
<mdui:UIInfo>
<mdui:DisplayName xml:lang="en">Example.com Vendor Service</mdui:DisplayName>
<mdui:InformationURL xml:lang="en">https://service.example.com/about.html</mdui:InformationURL>
<mdui:PrivacyStatementURL xml:lang="en">https://service.example.com/privacy.html</mdui:PrivacyStatementURL>
<mdui:Logo height="32" width="32" xml:lang="en">https://service.example.com/myicon.png</mdui:Logo>
</mdui:UIInfo>
<idpdisc:DiscoveryResponse index="0" Binding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:profiles:SSO:idp-discovery-protocol" Location="https://service.example.com/SAML2/Login"/>
</md:Extensions>
<md:KeyDescriptor use="encryption">
<ds:KeyInfo>...</ds:KeyInfo>
</md:KeyDescriptor>
<md:NameIDFormat>urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:transient</md:NameIDFormat>
<md:AssertionConsumerService index="0" Binding="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST" Location="https://service.example.com/SAML2/SSO/POST"/>
<md:AttributeConsumingService index="0">
<md:ServiceName xml:lang="en">Example.com Employee Portal</md:ServiceName>
<md:RequestedAttribute isRequired="true"
NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri"
Name="urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.13" FriendlyName="eduPersonUniqueId"/>
<md:RequestedAttribute
NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:uri"
Name="urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.3" FriendlyName="mail"/>
</md:AttributeConsumingService>
</md:SPSSODescriptor>
<md:Organization>
<md:OrganizationName xml:lang="en">Example.com Inc.</md:OrganizationName>
<md:OrganizationDisplayName xml:lang="en">Example.com</md:OrganizationDisplayName>
<md:OrganizationURL xml:lang="en">https://www.example.com/</md:OrganizationURL>
</md:Organization>
<md:ContactPerson contactType="technical">
<md:SurName>SAML Technical Support</md:SurName>
<md:EmailAddress>mailto:technical-support@example.com</md:EmailAddress>
</md:ContactPerson>
</md:EntityDescriptor>
1 answer
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The prefixes are explained in saml-metadata-2.0-os spec in section 1.1: "Notation"
| Prefix | Explanation |
|---|---|
| saml: | This is the SAML V2.0 assertion namespace [SAMLCore]. The prefix is generally elided in mentions of SAML assertion-related elements in text. |
| samlp: | This is the SAML V2.0 protocol namespace [SAMLCore]. The prefix is generally elided in mentions of XML protocol-related elements in text. |
| md: | This is the SAML V2.0 metadata namespace, defined in a schema [SAMLMeta-xsd]. |
| ds: | This is the XML Signature namespace [XMLSig]. |
| xenc: | This is the XML Encryption namespace [XMLEnc]. |
| xs: | This namespace is defined in the W3C XML Schema specification [Schema1]. In schema listings, this is the default namespace and no prefix is shown. For clarity, the prefix is generally shown in specification text when XML Schema-related constructs are mentioned. |
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