1.1 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) Proxy Server: An AD FS 2.0 service that processes SAML Federation Protocol messages. AD FS proxy servers are clients for the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) Proxy Request Signing Protocol (SAMLPR).

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) Security Token Service (STS): An AD FS 2.0 service that holds configuration information about federated sites. AD FS STS servers are servers for the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) Proxy Request Signing Protocol (SAMLPR).

certificate: A certificate is a collection of attributes and extensions that can be stored persistently. The set of attributes in a certificate can vary depending on the intended usage of the certificate. A certificate securely binds a public key to the entity that holds the corresponding private key. A certificate is commonly used for authentication and secure exchange of information on open networks, such as the Internet, extranets, and intranets. Certificates are digitally signed by the issuing certification authority (CA) and can be issued for a user, a computer, or a service. The most widely accepted format for certificates is defined by the ITU-T X.509 version 3 international standards. For more information about attributes and extensions, see [RFC3280] and [X509] sections 7 and 8.

SAML Artifact Binding: A method of transmitting SAML messages via references in HTTP messages, as specified in [SamlBinding] section 3.6.

SAML Identity Provider (IdP): A provider of SAML assertions, as specified in [SAMLCore2] section 2.

SAML Message: A SAML protocol message, as specified in [SAMLCore2] and [SamlBinding].

SAML Post Binding: A method of transmitting SAML messages via HTTP POST actions, as specified in [SamlBinding] section 3.5.

SAML Redirect Binding: A method of transmitting SAML messages via HTTP redirects, as specified in [SamlBinding] section 3.4.

SAML Service Provider (SP): A consumer of SAML assertions, as specified in [SAMLCore2] section 2.

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML): The set of specifications that describe security assertions encoded in XML, profiles for attaching assertions to protocols and frameworks, request/response protocols used to obtain assertions, and the protocol bindings to transfer protocols, such as SOAP and HTTP.

security token service (STS): A web service that issues security tokens. That is, it makes assertions based on evidence that it trusts; these assertions are for consumption by whoever trusts it.

SHA-1 hash: A hashing algorithm as specified in [FIPS180-2] that was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Security Agency (NSA).

SOAP: A lightweight protocol for exchanging structured information in a decentralized, distributed environment. SOAP uses XML technologies to define an extensible messaging framework, which provides a message construct that can be exchanged over a variety of underlying protocols. The framework has been designed to be independent of any particular programming model and other implementation-specific semantics. SOAP 1.2 supersedes SOAP 1.1. See [SOAP1.2-1/2003].

SOAP body: A container for the payload data being delivered by a SOAP message to its recipient. See [SOAP1.2-1/2007] section 5.3 for more information.

SOAP message: An XML document consisting of a mandatory SOAP envelope, an optional SOAP header, and a mandatory SOAP body. See [SOAP1.2-1/2007] section 5 for more information.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL): A string of characters in a standardized format that identifies a document or resource on the World Wide Web. The format is as specified in [RFC1738].

Web Services Description Language (WSDL): An XML format for describing network services as a set of endpoints that operate on messages that contain either document-oriented or procedure-oriented information. The operations and messages are described abstractly and are bound to a concrete network protocol and message format in order to define an endpoint. Related concrete endpoints are combined into abstract endpoints, which describe a network service. WSDL is extensible, which allows the description of endpoints and their messages regardless of the message formats or network protocols that are used.

XML namespace: A collection of names that is used to identify elements, types, and attributes in XML documents identified in a URI reference [RFC3986]. A combination of XML namespace and local name allows XML documents to use elements, types, and attributes that have the same names but come from different sources. For more information, see [XMLNS-2ED].

XML Schema (XSD): A language that defines the elements, attributes, namespaces, and data types for XML documents as defined by [XMLSCHEMA1/2] and [XMLSCHEMA2/2] standards. An XML schema uses XML syntax for its language.

MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.