Does Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) supports STS'es based on WS-Trust

Question

Our partner is trying to setup a PicketLink STS which according to spec is based on WS-Trust. I can't find any information whether or not WIF is supporting this. I know it supports WS-Federation which is an extension on WS-Trust. Most of the time both terms are used in conjunction so I don't know if WS-Trust alone is supported as well.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, WIF supports WS-Trust. The docs: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee748475.aspx

It'd help if you explained the scenario a little bit more. Are you building a website? Are you trying to authenticate users on "PicketLink".

WS-Trust is generally used for "rich clients" (used for "active federation"). WS-Federation (and SAML 2.0) are typically used for web sites (used for "passive federation").

WIF can do WS-Trust and WS-Federation. It can't do SAML (the protocol). Confusion is often augmented by the fact that people use the word SAML to refer both to the protocol and the token format. WS-Federation uses SAML tokens. WIF understands SAML Tokens.