Blog

Those with many service providers in the InCommon Federation can now make a one-time bulk update to certain metadata elements that are currently blank. This feature was added with the November 5, 2018, Federation Manager update (version 3.11.0) specifically to help organizations meet the requirements of InCommon’s Baseline Expectations program.

Some organizations have dozens - or even hundreds - of service providers in the InCommon metadata and updating blank metadata elements one-by-one can be tedious. Site administrators can now do a one-time bulk update of these elements:

  •   Administrative contacts

  •   Security contacts

  •   Technical contacts

  •   Logo URL

  •   Privacy policy URL


Please note that Display Name cannot be updated from this page, because SPs and IdPs need different Display Names.

The new process will update these elements for all of an organization’s entities when the element is blank. Since this tool will set any blank elements to a new value, it is important that Site Administrators carefully check the updates they want to make before the updates are applied. Once the elements are set to a value, they can not be bulk updated a second time. Please also note that if any of these elements are blank on an organization’s IdP(s), they will also be updated by this process.

Below is a screen shot of the new interface. If you have any questions or concerns, please email admin@incommon.org






An InCommon Webinar
Thursday,
October 11, 2018
4 pm ET / 3 pm CT / 2 pm MT / 1 pm PT

Connect via Zoom:

Does your organization need help, or additional information, about meeting Baseline Expectations for Trust in Federation? InCommon will host this webinar to provide information and resources for those that have yet to meet Baseline Expectations. The Baseline Expectations deadline is December 14, 2018.

Here’s what you can expect:

  • A recap of Baseline Expectations, the purpose, and the December 14 deadline

  • A look at the metadata elements that seem to cause the most questions - logo URLs and privacy URLs

  • An overview of the Federation Manager, and why adding or changing contact information won’t break anything

  • Next steps for meeting Baseline Expectations


In addition, InCommon will host weekly office hours starting Thursday, October 25. Staff members will be available to answer specific answers or concerns. We will provide details during the webinar.

Need Some Background?

A series of three webinars produced earlier this year provides information about the Baseline Expectations Program. Links to the recordings and slides for all three are on the Baseline Expectations wiki:

  • Baseline Expectations for IdPs and SPs

  • Metadata Health Checks

  • The Baseline Expectations Business Value 


Speakers

  • Brett Bieber, University of Nebraska, chair of the InCommon Community Trust and Assurance Board

  • Nick Roy, InCommon Director of Technology and Strategy