Federation › Federation Security Services Guide › Use SAML 2.0 Provider Metadata To Simplify Configuration › SiteMinder SAML 2.0 Metadata Tools Overview

SiteMinder SAML 2.0 Metadata Tools Overview

Siteminder provides a metadata tool to programmatically import and export SAML2 metadata so you can efficiently exchange federation configurations between a site that uses SiteMinder and a partner that may or may not use SiteMinder. Programmatic use of SAML2 metadata should limit the amount of configuration that you perform.

The metadata tool is installed by the Policy Server and Policy Server Option Pack. There are two command-line utilities that make up the SiteMinder metadata tools: smfedexport and smfedimport

Exporting metadata involves the following types of input:

• User input
• Access to the SiteMinder smkeydatabase for including KeyInfo into the metadata
• Access to the smkeydatabase for signing
• Access to the policy store to reference similar metadata that may be used as a template.

Importing metadata involves:

• User input
• Access to the policy store
• Access to the smkeydatabase for verifying signatures, if certificates are configured
• Parsing the XML metadata in the metadata document
• Storing the relevant metadata in the policy store
• Storing the PKI information from the metadata in the smkeydatabase