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Purpose

This document describes the NameID formats and attributes that can be released by the UW Identity Provider (IdP) to  SAML relying parties (e.g. Shibboleth SPs).

Background

In addition to providing user authentication and single sign-on (SSO) for web applications, SAML provides the capability for an IdP to release additional user information to an SP at authentication time. The user information is presented as a nameID and assertion attributes. Attributes are useful for access control decisions and personalization within the SP application. When integrating an application with SAML, it is helpful to know which NameID formats and attributes are available, where they come from, and what they look like. This guide provides that information.

NameIDs

NameIDs are returned to an SP in the IdP's authentication response. They are enclosed within the <Subject></Subject> block of XML.

NameIDSAML FormatDescription Example Value1
default

urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:
nameid-format:transient

An identifier that is generated with a new value for each authentication. 
AAdzZWNyZXQxHXqU1u2h16PsI7AMqO
9JoRQANqwu4Dpe1fvRrjMlYoL3v/kR
H9QHUX7SqOomf2MyZhIbSReBUBnIiA
JwN3nVfyKPxYs88/GZ74FKvA7xlpOs
cvMFmQPz3U9zyvxcotResE+dYICFLX
mZImZW1NZSS6LQWQ==
nameIDPersistentID

urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:
nameid-format:persistent

An identifier that is computed and stored once for each user/SP
combination. The same value will be released each time a user
authenticates from the same SP but different values will be released
if the user also authenticates from other SPs.
0920ddf277bb2a06162e469631147f69
eppnNameID

urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:
nameid-format:unspecified

ePPN2 as a NameID jsmith@washington.edu
idNameID

urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:
nameid-format:unspecified

uwNetID3 as a NameID jsmith
uwEduEmailNameID

urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:
nameid-format:emailAddress

uwEduEmail4 as a NameIDjsmith@uw.edu

1 All NameID formats the UW IdP releases have three parts: IDP entityID|SP entityID|value. For example, an eppnNameID might look like urn:mace:incommon:washington.edu|https://dept.uw.edu/shibboleth|netid@washington.edu. Only the last part is shown in the "Example Value" column.
2 See ePPN description in table below.
3 See uwNetID description in table below.
4 See uwEduEmail description in table below.

Attributes

Attributes are returned to an SP in the IdP's authentication response. They are enclosed within the <AttributeStatement></AttributeStatement> block of XML.

Some attributes provided by the UW IdP are defined by the eduPerson specification

  • You request release of attributes via the UW Service Provider Registry. See instructions for requesting attributes for more information.
  • In the table below, "SP Registry Name" is how the attributes are labeled in the UW's SP registry.  "FriendlyName" and "Name" are how the attributes are labeled in the SAML response from the IdP.
  • The attribute "FriendlyName" from the IdP can be mapped to any Service Provider attribute "ID" by configuration in the attribute-map.xml file. The Service Provider attribute "ID" is what will be populated into web server environment variables. There is rarely a good reason to change the "ID" to anything different from the default "FriendlyName".
  • Multi-valued string attributes normally show up in the environment as a string of semi-colon separated values.
  • Several attributes are sourced from the Person Directory Service (PDS). See the PDS Attribute Reference for more information.

Table 1. The information in this table is specific to personal UW NetIDs. For shared UW NetIDs, the IdP can only release UW NetID-based, uwRegID, and displayName attributes. A bolded SP Registry Name value highlights cases where the attribute name used in the SP Registry interface differs from the "FriendlyName" released by the IdP.

SP Registry Name

FriendlyName

Name

Type

Source

Example Value

affiliation

eduPersonAffiliation

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.1

multi-value string

PDS: eduPersonAffiliation

member;staff;employee

attributePersistentID1

eduPersonTargetedID

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.10

string

computed

See nameIDPersistentID in table above.

awsnameRoleSessionNamehttps://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/RoleSessionNamestringcomputed as ePPNsmith@washington.edu
awsroleRolehttps://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/Rolestringcomputed from group memberships in the u_weblogin_aws stemarn:aws:iam::227741503957:role/sandbox-myteam
awssessionSessionDurationhttps://aws.amazon.com/SAML/Attributes/SessionDurationstringIdP43200

cn

cn

urn:oid:2.5.4.3

string

PDS: "uwPersonPreferredFirst uwPersonPreferredMiddle uwPersonPreferredSurname" will be used if available, otherwise PDS: cn.

John P. Smith

displayName

displayName

urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113730.3.1.241

string

PDS: displayName

John P. Smith

displayNameAndPronouns

displayNameAndPronounsurn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.52stringPDS: displayName (PDS: uwPersonPronoun)John P. Smith (he/him/his)

email

mail

urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.3

string

Returns first match from:
PDS: uwEWPEmail1 (employee)
PDS: uwSWPEmail (student)
Computed: uwNetID@uw.edu

smith@uw.edu
smith@u.washington.edu
smith@chem.washington.edu
smith@somedomain.com

(May contain alternate emails for employees self-managed inside Workday and https://identity.uw.edu)

employeeNumber

employeeNumber

urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113730.3.1.3

string

PDS: uwEmployeeID

880000000

entitlement_lib2

eduPersonEntitlement

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.7

multi-value string

computed

urn:mace:dir:entitlement:common-lib-terms

entitlement_sln

eduPersonEntitlement

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.7

multi-value string

computed

urn:mace:washington.edu:courses:win2012:17417

ePPN

eduPersonPrincipalName

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.6

string

computed

smith@washington.edu

ePTID3

eduPersonTargetedID

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.10

string

computed

0920ddf277bb2a06162e469631147f69@washington.edu

givenName

givenName

urn:oid:2.5.4.42

string

PDS: "uwPersonPreferredFirst uwPersonPreferredMiddle" will be used if set by user, otherwise PDS: uwPersonRegisteredFirstMiddle

John P.

gws_groups4

isMemberOf

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.5.1.1

multi-value string

GWS

urn:mace:washington.edu:groups:uw_employee

homedept5homeDepartmenturn:oid:2.5.4.11stringPDS: uwEmployeeHomeDepartmentOFFICE OF PROGRESS
mailstopmailstopurn:oid:2.5.4.18stringPDS: uwEmployeeMailstop359000

phone6

phone

urn:oid:2.5.4.20

stringPDS: uwEWPPhone1+1 206 221-5000
preferredFirst
preferredFirsturn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.47stringPDS: uwPersonPreferredFirstJohn
preferredMiddle
preferredMiddleurn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.48stringPDS: uwPersonPreferredMiddleP.
preferredSurname
preferredSurnameurn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.49stringPDS: uwPersonPreferredSurnameSmith
registeredGivenNameregisteredGivenNameurn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.32stringPDS: uwPersonRegisteredFirstMiddle
(does not incorporate preferred name)
John
registeredSurnameregisteredSurnameurn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.31string

PDS: uwPersonRegisteredSurname
(does not incorporate preferred name)

Smith-Jones

scopedAffiliation

eduPersonScopedAffiliation

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.9

multi-value string

PDS: eduPersonAffiliation

member@washington.edu

surname

surname

urn:oid:2.5.4.4

string

PDS: uwPersonPreferredSurname will be used if set by user, otherwise uwPersonRegisteredSurname

Smith

titletitleurn:oid:2.5.4.12stringPDS: uwEWPTitle1Technical Lead
uwEduEmailuwEduEmail

urn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.45

stringComputed: uwNetID@uw.edusmith@uw.edu

uwPronouns

uwPronounsurn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.51stringPDS: uwPersonPronounhe/him/his

uwNetID

uid

urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1

string

PDS: uwNetID

smith

uwRegID

uwRegID

urn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.24

string

PDS: uwRegID

B778D7CE539311D6B3850004AC494FFE

uwStudentID

uwStudentID

urn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.21

string

PDS: uwStudentID

1234567 

uwStudentSystemKeyuwStudentSystemKey

urn:oid:1.2.840.113994.200.20

stringPDS: uwStudentSystemKey000524591

Notes

1 attributePersistentID is the most common way to use the persistent id attribute. It replaces the SAML1 ePTID.  TargetedID and PersistentID vales are equivalent. PersistentID is constructed using the IdP entityID, the SP entityID,  and an opaque ID for the user.
2 The entitlement_lib always generates a value of "urn:mace:dir:entitlement:common-lib-terms"
3 ePTID is a SAML 1 construct that has been replaced with PersistentID in SAML 2. You probably want nameIDPersistentID or attributePersistentID instead.
4 The IdP doesn't normally release all groups to an SP. You will need to specify the particular group(s) or stem(s) that are of interest to your application.
5 Departmental affiliation based on an employee's supervisory org in Workday. 
6 Does not include student whitepages phone number data at this time.