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<p class="MsoNormal">I am getting an error when testing my SP’s SSO: “Unable to decode base64 in POST binding message.” However, actual posts from users at the IdP are successful.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before I ask about the error, I ask for feedback on ways to test posting of an authenticated SAML Response to my SP. I have tested using www.testshib.org, but I want to test my actual shibboleth2.xml configuration, not a configuration staged
for testshib. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, I have shibd.log entries from a successful posts by a user at the IdP, but users are not available for additional testing when I need them. So, in lieu of available remote users I do the following:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Using a shibd.log entry of a decoded SAML message from a successful post<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">a.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>I copy and paste the decoded SML message into an editor<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in;text-indent:-1.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-9.0pt;mso-list:l0 level3 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>i.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><![endif]>the decoded SML message text starts at <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><samlp:Response Version="2.0">
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in;text-indent:-1.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-9.0pt;mso-list:l0 level3 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>ii.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><![endif]>and ends at </samlp:Response><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Now, whenever I need to test and the remote user is unavailable, I just:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">a.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Edit the decoded SAML message’s times to something current:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in;text-indent:-1.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-9.0pt;mso-list:l0 level3 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>i.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><![endif]>IssueInstant="2015-03-26T14:12:17Z" (3 places)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in;text-indent:-1.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-9.0pt;mso-list:l0 level3 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span>ii.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><![endif]>NotOnOrAfter="2015-03-26T14:22:17Z" (1 place)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">b.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Base64 encode the edited message. (I’ve tried base64 alone and I tried URL encoded plus Base64 encoded)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">c.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Paste the encoded message in the “raw” space in Chrome’s plugin called Postman. (If you don’t use Postman, what do you use?)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">d.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Set Postman’s URL to my SP’s ACS with a suffix of “?SAMLResponse” (example: https://test.mycompany.com/Shibboleth.sso/SAML2/POST?SAMLRequest)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">e.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Set the http method to POST<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">f.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Click Send button<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">g.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Expected results: a display of my site’s destination for authenticated SSO.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="mso-list:Ignore">h.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span><![endif]>Actual results: the error message “Unable to decode base64 in POST binding message.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This question may be better asked in a Postman forum. I’m asking here because I imagine that someone must use something to test their actual configurations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If someone knows how to trouble shoot the error, that is also appreciated.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mark<o:p></o:p></p>
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