<serviceMetadata>

Specifies the publication of service metadata and associated information.

Schema Hierarchy

<system.serviceModel>
  <behaviors>
    <serviceBehaviors>
      <behavior> of <serviceBehaviors>
        <serviceMetadata>

Syntax

<serviceMetadata 
    externalMetadataLocation="String"
    httpGetBinding=”String”    httpGetBindingConfiguration=”String”
    httpGetEnabled="Boolean" 
    httpGetUrl="String"
    httpsGetBinding=”String”    httpsGetBindingConfiguration=”String”
    httpsGetEnabled="Boolean" 
    httpsGetUrl="String"
    policyVersion="Policy12/Policy15"/>

Attributes and Elements

The following sections describe attributes, child elements, and parent elements.

Attributes

Attribute	Description
externalMetadataLocation	A Uri that contains the location of a WSDL file, which is returned to the user in response to WSDL and MEX requests instead of the auto-generated WSDL. When this attribute is not set, the default WSDL is returned. The default is an empty string.
httpGetBinding	A string that specifies the type of the binding that will be used for metadata retrieval via HTTP GET. This setting is optional. If it is not specified, the default bindings will be used. Only bindings with inner binding elements that support T:System.ServiceModel.Channels.IReplyChannel will be supported. Additionally, the P:System.ServiceModel.Channels.MessageVersion property of the binding must be P:System.ServiceModel.Channels.MessageVersion.None.
httpGetBindingConfiguration	A string that sets the name of the binding that is specified in the httpGetBinding attribute, which references to the additional configuration information of this binding. The same name must be defined in the <bindings> section.
httpGetEnabled	A Boolean value that specifies whether to publish service metadata for retrieval using an HTTP/Get request. The default is false. If the httpGetUrl attribute is not specified, the address at which the metadata is published is the service address plus a "?wsdl". For example, if the service address is "https://localhost:8080/CalculatorService", the HTTP/Get metadata address is "https://localhost:8080/CalculatorService?wsdl". If this property is false, or the address of the service is not based on HTTP or HTTPS, “?wsdl” is ignored.
httpGetUrl	A Uri that specifies the address at which the metadata is published for retrieval using an HTTP/Get request.
httpsGetBinding	A string that specifies the type of the binding that will be used for metadata retrieval via HTTPS GET. This setting is optional. If it is not specified, the default bindings will be used. Only bindings with inner binding elements that support T:System.ServiceModel.Channels.IReplyChannel will be supported. Additionally, the P:System.ServiceModel.Channels.MessageVersion property of the binding must be P:System.ServiceModel.Channels.MessageVersion.None.
httpsGetBindingConfiguration	A string that sets the name of the binding that is specified in the httpsGetBinding attribute, which references to the additional configuration information of this binding. The same name must be defined in the <bindings> section.
httpsGetEnabled	A Boolean value that specifies whether to publish service metadata for retrieval using an HTTPS/Get request. The default is false. If the httpsGetUrl attribute is not specified, the address at which the metadata is published is the service address plus a "?wsdl". For example, if the service address is "https://localhost:8080/CalculatorService", the HTTP/Get metadata address is "https://localhost:8080/CalculatorService?wsdl". If this property is false, or the address of the service is not based on HTTP or HTTPS, “?wsdl” is ignored.
httpsGetUrl	A Uri that specifies the address at which the metadata is published for retrieval using an HTTPS/Get request.
policyVersion	A string that specifies the version of the WS-Policy specification being used. This attribute is of type PolicyVersion.

Child Elements

None

Parent Elements

Element	Description
<behavior> of <endpointBehaviors>	Specifies a behavior element.

Remarks

This configuration element allows you to control the metadata publishing features of a service. To prevent unintentional disclosure of potentially sensitive service metadata, the default configuration for Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services disables metadata publishing. This behavior is secure by default, but also means that you cannot use a metadata import tool (such as Svcutil.exe) to generate the client code required to call the service unless the service’s metadata publishing behavior is explicitly enabled in configuration. Using this configuration element, you can enable this publishing behavior for your service.

For a detailed code example of configuring this behavior, see Metadata Publishing Behavior.

The optional httpGetBinding and httpsGetBinding attributes allow you to configure the bindings used for metadata retrieval via HTTP GET (or HTTPS GET). If they are not specified, the default bindings (HttpTransportBindingElement, in the case of HTTP and HttpsTransportBindingElement, in the case of HTTPS) are used for metadata retrieval as appropriate. Notice that you cannot use these attributes with the built-in WCF bindings. Only bindings with inner binding elements that support IReplyChannel will be supported. Additionally, the MessageVersion property of the binding must be None.

To reduce the exposure of a service to malicious users, it is possible to secure the transfer using the SSL over HTTP (HTTPS) mechanism. To do so, you must first bind a suitable X.509 certificate to a specific port on the computer that is hosting the service. (For more information, see Working with Certificates.) Second, add this element to the service configuration and set the httpsGetEnabled attribute to true. Finally, set the httpsGetUrl attribute to the URL of the service metadata endpoint, as shown in the following example.

<behaviors>
 <serviceBehaviors>
  <behavior name="NewBehavior">
    <serviceMetadata httpsGetEnabled="true" 
     httpsGetUrl="https://myComputerName/myEndpoint" />
  </behavior>
 </serviceBehaviors>
</behaviors>

Example

The following example configure a service to expose metadata by using the <serviceMetadata> element. It also configures an endpoint to expose the IMetadataExchange contract as an implementation of a WS-MetadataExchange (MEX) protocol. The example uses the mexHttpBinding, which is a convenience standard binding that is equivalent to the wsHttpBinding with the security mode set to None. A relative address of "mex" is used in the endpoint, which when resolved against the services base address results in an endpoint address of https://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc/mex.

<configuration>
<system.serviceModel>
  <services>
    <service 
        name="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
        behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
      <!-- This endpoint is exposed at the base address provided by the host: https://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc  -->
      <endpoint address=""
                binding="wsHttpBinding"
                contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
      <!-- the mex endpoint is exposed at https://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc/mex 
           To expose the IMetadataExchange contract, you 
           must enable the serviceMetadata behavior as demonstrated below -->
      <endpoint address="mex"
                binding="mexHttpBinding"
                contract="IMetadataExchange" />
    </service>
  </services>

  <!--For debugging purposes set the includeExceptionDetailInFaults attribute to true-->
  <behaviors>
    <serviceBehaviors>
      <behavior name="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
        <!-- The serviceMetadata behavior publishes metadata through 
             the IMetadataExchange contract. When this behavior is 
             present, you can expose this contract through an endpoint 
             as shown above. Setting httpGetEnabled to true publishes 
             the service's WSDL at the <baseaddress>?wsdl
             eg. https://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc?wsdl -->
        <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="True"/>
        <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="False" />
      </behavior>
    </serviceBehaviors>
  </behaviors>

</system.serviceModel>

</configuration>

See Also

Reference

ServiceMetadataPublishingElement
ServiceMetadataBehavior

Other Resources

Security Behaviors in WCF
Metadata Publishing Behavior