Shibboleth FileBackedHTTPMetadataProvider

[Rod Widdowson]

> That's interesting. So the backing file is only used at startup?

Yes.

> If the backing file is used at startup, are all the configured filters
> run on the backing file?

Absolutely.

> Why not ALWAYS use the backing file at startup, to speed the startup
process?

1) it never occurred to me
2) The file could well be out of date.
3) Even if it had occurred to me it would be problematic to document and I
don't like writing code that is hard to document.

> I assume you mean "stops dead" in the sense that the refresh process
> terminates. In any case, I assume the SP keeps running and tries
> another refresh at a later time.

Yup.  But if you ask me what happens when the metadata becomes invalid
because a filter would have failed I don't know.  I rather suspect that it
will 'just keep on trucking' and that the correct solution would be drop
that metadata entirely.

 > If the backing file is used at startup, and the signature on the
> backing file can not be verified, startup fails, right?

Only if the Metadata Provider *and* the service are fail fast.