In order to support its work and operations, REFEDS is seeking quotations for an upgrade to the REFEDS MET tool. This is expected to be a one-off piece of work to bring MET features back into full operation once more but further work for MET will be advertised to ensure ongoing maintenance and support. The successful bidder will work closely with the REFEDS Coordinator to ensure that the MET service runs efficiently, and that bugs and issues reported by the community are addressed in a timely manner. A timetable for the work can be proposed by the bidder but it is expected that this work should be delivered before 01 September 2021.
The overall purpose of the REFEDS MET is to consume identity federation metadata and display this in a human readable format so that users can discover information published within federation metadata in an easy to use and easy to understand format.
MET in its current format currently only aims to display information to users that already exists in metadata. It does not intend to validate or assess the data – instead aims to be a directory of what is available. At this point in time, there is no ambition to add many additional new features to MET as the goal is to do something simple well.
MET currently supports the following requirements:
- You can find information about an entity or a federation.
- You can find how many and which services belong to a federation.
- You can find to which federations an entity belongs to.
- You can find which federations or entities are part of an interfederation.
- MET can be distinguished from other tools such as the eduGAIN entities database as it attempts to include any and all metadata streams published by federations so that users can compare information only published in local streams with other local federation streams.
MET is currently provided at: https://met.refeds.org. The current codebase is at: https://github.com/GEANT/met. The service is currently hosted by GARR on behalf of REFEDS. MET has not been actively maintained for a number of years, meaning that several features are no longer working properly.
The aim of this Call for Proposals is to return all current features of MET to full operation. This could be via a refresh of the current code OR via a proposal to re-code MET from scratch. It is envisaged that there will be future calls to address new functionality, including features in the issue log: https://github.com/GEANT/met/issues.
Interested parties should read the attached RFQ, which contains the full details, terms, technical requirements and how to submit. We look forward to hearing from you!