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                                            align="left">SURFconext News
                                            SP-edition 2019 #1</td>
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                                                  <td valign="top"
                                                    align="left">This
                                                    newsletter will
                                                    bring you
                                                    information about
                                                    new developments
                                                    regarding
                                                    SURFconext, plans
                                                    for the future, tips
                                                    and tricks and will
                                                    appear on an
                                                    irregular basis.<br>
                                                    <br>
                                                    <span
                                                      style="font-weight:
                                                      bold;">Who receive
                                                      this newsletter?</span><br>
                                                    All technical and
                                                    administrative
                                                    contacts of a
                                                    service connected to
                                                    SURFconext will
                                                    receive this
                                                    newsletter.
                                                    Subscribe <a
                                                      href="https://list.surfnet.nl/mailman/listinfo/surfconext-sp-newsletter">here</a>
                                                    and unsubscribe <a
href="https://list.surfnet.nl/mailman/options/surfconext-sp-newsletter">
                                                      here</a>.<br>
                                                    <br>
                                                    For an overview of
                                                    all mailings by the
                                                    SURFconext team, <a
href="https://wiki.surfnet.nl/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=60701393">see
                                                      the following
                                                      page.</a><br>
                                                    <br>
                                                    In this edition:<br>
                                                    <ol>
                                                      <li>New release SP
                                                        Dashboard</li>
                                                      <li>SURFconext
                                                        staging
                                                        environment: end
                                                        of life</li>
                                                      <li>Blogs:
                                                        Attribute
                                                        Aggregation</li>
                                                      <li>Keep your
                                                        software up to
                                                        date!<br>
                                                      </li>
                                                      <li>Complete your
                                                        key rollover
                                                        before 1 May</li>
                                                    </ol>
                                                    <h1>New release SP
                                                      Dashboard</h1>
                                                    <p>Two weeks ago the
                                                      new version of the
                                                      SP Dashboard has
                                                      been released. The
                                                      SP Dashboard
                                                      allows vendors or
                                                      institutions to
                                                      independently
                                                      manage services on
                                                      the SURFconext
                                                      platform. The most
                                                      important new
                                                      features:</p>
                                                    <ul>
                                                      <li>It is now
                                                        possible to
                                                        configure
                                                        entities based
                                                        on OpenID
                                                        Connect.</li>
                                                      <li>Insight into
                                                        both entities
                                                        located on the
                                                        test environment
                                                        and the
                                                        production
                                                        environment of
                                                        SURFconext</li>
                                                      <li>The connection
                                                        process is
                                                        clearly
                                                        displayed with
                                                        the help of
                                                        donuts</li>
                                                    </ul>
                                                    <p>In addition, the
                                                      background
                                                      components have
                                                      also been
                                                      modified, making
                                                      support for the
                                                      SURFconext team
                                                      more efficient. An
                                                      example of this is
                                                      the link between
                                                      SP Dashboard and
                                                      our ticketing
                                                      system.<br>
                                                      <br>
                                                      <a
                                                        moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://wiki.surfnet.nl/display/surfconextdev/New+features"> For
                                                        an overview of
                                                        all new features
                                                        see the
                                                        following page.</a><span
class="confluence-link"><br>
                                                      </span></p>
                                                    <h1>SURFconext
                                                      staging
                                                      environment: end
                                                      of life</h1>
                                                    <p>SURFconext
                                                      currently has
                                                      three
                                                      environments: (1)
                                                      test, (2) staging
                                                      (also called
                                                      pre-production or
                                                      acceptance) and
                                                      (3) production.
                                                      From <b>1 May
                                                        2019</b> the
                                                      staging
                                                      environment will
                                                      disappear. SPs and
                                                      IdPs connected to
                                                      this environment
                                                      will not be
                                                      available after
                                                      this date. All
                                                      institutions
                                                      already have been
                                                      notified.<br>
                                                    </p>
                                                    <p>For more
                                                      information, <a
                                                        moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://wiki.surfnet.nl/display/surfconextdev/Uitfaseren+staging+omgeving">read
                                                        the following
                                                        wiki page
                                                        including
                                                        frequently asked
                                                        questions.</a> <br>
                                                    </p>
                                                    <p>Please let us
                                                      know via
                                                      support@surfconext
                                                      if certain
                                                      scenarios your
                                                      service depends on
                                                      are no longer
                                                      supported. We're
                                                      happy to help to
                                                      find a solution.<br>
                                                    </p>
                                                    <h1>Blog: Attribute
                                                      Aggregation<br>
                                                    </h1>
                                                    <p><span>Attribute
                                                        Aggregation is a
                                                        powerful tool
                                                        that enables a
                                                        user’s identity
                                                        to be enriched
                                                        with information
                                                        from sources
                                                        other than the
                                                        institution
                                                        itself. Group
                                                        information or a
                                                        researcher ID
                                                        can, for
                                                        example, be made
                                                        available to a
                                                        service when
                                                        logging in.<br>
                                                      </span></p>
                                                    <p><span>In her
                                                        blogs, Femke
                                                        Morsch explains
                                                        in detail <a
                                                          moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://blog.surf.nl/en/enrich-your-identity-attribute-aggregation-in-surfconext/">how
                                                          Attribute
                                                          Aggregation
                                                          works</a>, and
                                                        <a
                                                          moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://blog.surf.nl/en/ordering-and-reading-with-estudybooks-is-easy-and-safe-with-surfconext/">how
                                                          SURFconext
                                                          helps to
                                                          provide safe
                                                          and fast
                                                          access to the
                                                          eStudybooks
                                                          portal</a>.</span></p>
                                                    <h1>Keep your
                                                      software up to
                                                      date!<br>
                                                    </h1>
                                                    <p dir="ltr"
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                                                      normal;
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                                                      normal;
                                                      letter-spacing:
                                                      normal;
                                                      text-align: start;
                                                      text-indent: 0px;
                                                      text-transform:
                                                      none; white-space:
                                                      normal;
                                                      word-spacing: 0px;
-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
                                                      background-color:
                                                      rgb(255, 255,
                                                      255);
                                                      text-decoration:
                                                      none; line-height:
                                                      1.38; margin-top:
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                                                      margin-bottom:
                                                      0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SURFconext keeps evolving and we upgrade our platform continuously. Last year we enforced SHA256 as a signing algorithm and as of May 2019 we will update our keys. Service Providers and Identity Providers have been informed about this.</span></p>
                                                    <br>
                                                    <b>Safety, tools and
                                                      upgrades</b><br
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                                                      normal;
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                                                      normal;
                                                      letter-spacing:
                                                      normal;
                                                      text-align: start;
                                                      text-indent: 0px;
                                                      text-transform:
                                                      none; white-space:
                                                      normal;
                                                      word-spacing: 0px;
-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
                                                      background-color:
                                                      rgb(255, 255,
                                                      255);
                                                      text-decoration:
                                                      none;">
                                                    <p dir="ltr"
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                                                      normal;
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                                                      normal;
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                                                      normal;
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                                                      normal;
                                                      text-align: start;
                                                      text-indent: 0px;
                                                      text-transform:
                                                      none; white-space:
                                                      normal;
                                                      word-spacing: 0px;
-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
                                                      background-color:
                                                      rgb(255, 255,
                                                      255);
                                                      text-decoration:
                                                      none; line-height:
                                                      1.38; margin-top:
                                                      0pt;
                                                      margin-bottom:
                                                      0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During transitions like these we answer all kinds of questions and we assist in testing services as well as identity providers. With all the interaction we have, we notice that everyone works hard to stay compatible with SURFconext. This doesn't necessarily mean the software running services or identity providers is up to scratch. Have you checked the software recently? Now is a good time as any to do some checks. To start, SURFconext policy mandates the use HTTPS URL's on all protocol endpoints. This means the use of TLS for protecting the communication between clients (a user's browser) and your server. <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://edu.nl/pmrw6">Our wiki contains a checklist for the TLS-configuration of your service</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://edu.nl/pmrw6">.</a> SURF offers tools to automate such checks with <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://dashboard.surfnet.nl/details.php?id=15">SURFopzichter</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Another thing you can and probably must do is keep the installation of your SAML or OIDC based software up-to-date. A problem you might run into is that browser support for TLS v1.0 and v1.1 will be dropped in 2020. How such an upgrade should be performed depends on your installation. </span></p>
                                                    <br>
                                                    <b>More information</b><br
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                                                    <a
                                                      moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://edu.nl/ht88r"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; word-spacing: 0px; -moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Visit our wiki for the basics of SimpleSAMLphp, Shibboleth, Wordpress, etc</span></a><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; word-spacing: 0px; -moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://edu.nl/ht88r">.</a> Happy upgrading! </span>
                                                    <h1>Complete your
                                                      key rollover
                                                      before 1 May</h1>
                                                    The <a
                                                      href="https://edu.nl/keyrollover"
data-mce-href="https://edu.nl/keyrollover">SURFconext metadata migration
                                                      and key rollover </a>is
                                                    well underway. We
                                                    have sent several
                                                    emails about this
                                                    process to SPs
                                                    already and are glad
                                                    to see that a large
                                                    percentage has
                                                    already migrated.
                                                    Still, there remains
                                                    a significant number
                                                    that still has to
                                                    complete the
                                                    migration before 1
                                                    May. Service
                                                    providers that have
                                                    not migrated will
                                                    cease to function
                                                    after this date. If
                                                    you encounter any
                                                    trouble or blockages
                                                    in this process, do
                                                    not hesitate to
                                                    contact us! We are
                                                    here to help.<br>
                                                    <br>
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