diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 54f6609e..bf44cc5f 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -414,8 +414,9 @@
                     </fileset>
                 </classpath>
                 <jvmarg value="-Djava.endorsed.dirs=${tools.mda}/lib/endorsed"/>
-            	<jvmarg value="-Dlogback.configurationFile=${tools.dir}/ukf-mda/logback.xml"/>
             	<jvmarg value="-Dbasedir=${basedir}"/>
+            	<jvmarg value="-enableassertions"/>
+            	<arg value="--quiet"/>
             	<arg value="@{config}"/>
             	<arg value="@{pipeline}"/>
             </java>
diff --git a/build/check_aggregate.xsl b/build/check_aggregate.xsl
index 19262e65..23c058b7 100644
--- a/build/check_aggregate.xsl
+++ b/build/check_aggregate.xsl
@@ -24,16 +24,8 @@
 
 	<!--
 		Checks across the whole of the document are defined here.
-		
-		The match expression here works with version 0.6 of the metadata aggregator.
-		Once MDA-45 is fixed, it should be replaced with "/":
-		
-		https://issues.shibboleth.net/jira/browse/MDA-45
-		
-		This will make the transform more robust in the presence of nested
-		EntitiesDescriptor elements.
 	-->
-	<xsl:template match="md:EntitiesDescriptor">
+	<xsl:template match="/">
 		
 		<!-- check for duplicate entityID values -->
 		<xsl:variable name="distinct.entityIDs" select="set:distinct($entities/@entityID)"/>
diff --git a/mdx/at_aconet/beans.xml b/mdx/at_aconet/beans.xml
index 187c0ed0..485d63bc 100644
--- a/mdx/at_aconet/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/at_aconet/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="at_aconet_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="at_aconet_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="at_aconet_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="at_aconet_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://wayf.aco.net/aconet-aai-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="at_aconet_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="at_aconet_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/at_aconet/aconet-aai-metadata-signing.crt"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="at_aconet_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="at_aconet_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="at_aconet_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="at_aconet_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="at_aconet_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="at_aconet_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="at_aconet_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="at_aconet_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="at_aconet_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/at_aconet/verbs.xml b/mdx/at_aconet/verbs.xml
index 1b7d7019..cad99a7e 100644
--- a/mdx/at_aconet/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/at_aconet/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/at_aconet/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="at_aconet_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="at_aconet_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml b/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml
index e7ac661c..e01ad2dc 100644
--- a/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/au_aaf/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
-        Fetch the AAF production aggregate.
+        Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="au_aaf_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="au_aaf_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="au_aaf_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://manager.aaf.edu.au/metadata/metadata.aaf.signed.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -21,10 +25,9 @@
     </bean>
     
     <!--
-        AAF signing certificate.
+        Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="au_aaf_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="au_aaf_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/au_aaf/aaf-metadata-cert.pem"/>
@@ -33,20 +36,19 @@
     </bean>
     
     <!--
-        Check AAF signing signature.
+        Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="au_aaf_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="au_aaf_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="au_aaf_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="au_aaf_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="au_aaf_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="au_aaf_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="au_aaf_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="au_aaf_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml b/mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml
index fc4b753d..7bfa7bf2 100644
--- a/mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/au_aaf/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/au_aaf/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="au_aaf_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="au_aaf_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/br_cafe/beans.xml b/mdx/br_cafe/beans.xml
index 3e607298..deaed12f 100644
--- a/mdx/br_cafe/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/br_cafe/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="br_cafe_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="br_cafe_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="br_cafe_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="br_cafe_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://ds.cafe.rnp.br/metadata/cafe-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,9 +27,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="br_cafe_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="br_cafe_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="br_cafe_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="br_cafe_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/br_cafe/verbs.xml b/mdx/br_cafe/verbs.xml
index b9c99269..7a87f74d 100644
--- a/mdx/br_cafe/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/br_cafe/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/br_cafe/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="br_cafe_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="br_cafe_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml b/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml
index 59a184c2..ab283c16 100644
--- a/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/ca_caf/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the CAF production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ca_caf_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="ca_caf_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="ca_caf_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://caf-shibops.ca/CoreServices/cafshib_metadata_signed.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         CAF signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ca_caf_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="ca_caf_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ca_caf/cafshib_metadata_verify.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check CAF signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="ca_caf_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="ca_caf_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="ca_caf_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="ca_caf_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="ca_caf_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ca_caf_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="ca_caf_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="ca_caf_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml b/mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml
index 0f459f9a..cd9021e1 100644
--- a/mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/ca_caf/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ca_caf/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ca_caf_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ca_caf_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml b/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml
index 562ee118..b4b5bc29 100644
--- a/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/ch_switchaai/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the SWITCH production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://switch.ch/aai/federation/SWITCHaai/metadata.switchaai_signed.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         SWITCH federation signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ch_switchaai_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ch_switchaai/metadata.crt"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check against SWITCH signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="ch_switchaai_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="ch_switchaai_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="ch_switchaai_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml b/mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml
index 3e377869..f2fa15ce 100644
--- a/mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/ch_switchaai/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ch_switchaai/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ch_switchaai_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ch_switchaai_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/common-beans.xml b/mdx/common-beans.xml
index 06393465..e872eb01 100644
--- a/mdx/common-beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/common-beans.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     Common bean definitions.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
     xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
@@ -18,21 +19,114 @@
         ***********************************
     -->
     
+    <!--
+        component_parent
+        
+        Parent for anything based on the component system.
+        These all require initialization before use.
+    -->
+    <bean id="component_parent" abstract="true" init-method="initialize"/>
+    
+    <!--
+        file_parent
+        
+        Parent for all file system resource beans.
+    -->
+    <bean id="file_parent" abstract="true" parent="component_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.resource.FilesystemResource"/>
+
+    <!--
+        pipeline_parent
+        
+        Parent for pipelines.
+    -->
+    <bean id="pipeline_parent" abstract="true" parent="component_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"/>
+    
     <!--
         stage_parent
         
-        Parent (template) for all stages.
+        Parent for all stages.
     -->
-    <bean id="stage_parent" lazy-init="true" init-method="initialize" abstract="true"/>
+    <bean id="stage_parent" abstract="true" parent="component_parent"/>
     
     <!--
         composite_parent
         
-        Parent (template) for composite stages.
+        Parent for composite stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="composite_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"/>
+
+    <!--
+        xslt_parent
+        
+        Parent for XSLT-based checking stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="xslt_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"/>
+    
+    <!--
+        check_xslt_parent
+        
+        Parent for XSLT-based checking stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="check_xslt_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"/>
+    
+    <!--
+        stripContainer_parent
+        
+        Parent for container stripping stages.
     -->
-    <bean id="composite_parent" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        parent="stage_parent" abstract="true"/>
+    <bean id="stripContainer_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.EmptyContainerStrippingStage"/>
     
+    <!--
+        stripElement_parent
+        
+        Parent for element stripping stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="stripElement_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.ElementStrippingStage"/>
+    
+    <!--
+        stripNamespace_parent
+        
+        Parent for namespace stripping stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="stripNamespace_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.NamespaceStrippingStage"/>
+
+    <!--
+        domFileStage_parent
+        
+        Parent for DOM filesystem source stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="domFileStage_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomFilesystemSourceStage">
+        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    </bean>
+
+    <!--
+        domResourceStage_parent
+        
+        Parent for DOM resource source stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="domResourceStage_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage">
+        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    </bean>
+
+    <!--
+        serialize_parent
+        
+        Parent for serialization stages.
+    -->
+    <bean id="serialize_parent" abstract="true" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage">
+        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    </bean>
     
     <!--
         ***********************************************
@@ -48,7 +142,7 @@
         A NamespaceContext that assigns the usual prefix for each of the commonly used XML namespaces.
         This is used in the evaluation of XPath expressions.
     -->
-    <bean id="commonNamespaces" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.SimpleNamespaceContext">
+    <bean id="commonNamespaces" class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.xml.SimpleNamespaceContext">
         <constructor-arg>
             <util:map map-class="java.util.HashMap">
                 <entry key="alg"        value="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:algsupport"/>
@@ -73,57 +167,50 @@
         </constructor-arg>
     </bean>
     
-    <!--
-        Parent (template) for namespace stripping stages.
-    -->
-    <bean id="stripNamespace_parent" abstract="true"
-        class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.NamespaceStrippingStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true"/>
-    
     <!--
         stripElabNamespace
         
         Remove the Eduserv label namespace.
     -->
-    <bean id="stripElabNamespace" p:id="stripElabNamespace"
-        p:namespace="http://eduserv.org.uk/labels"
-        parent="stripNamespace_parent"/>
+    <bean id="stripElabNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
+        p:id="stripElabNamespace"
+        p:namespace="http://eduserv.org.uk/labels"/>
 
     <!--
         stripMdattrNamespace
         
         Remove the namespace used by the entity attributes extension.
     -->
-    <bean id="stripMdattrNamespace" p:id="stripMdattrNamespace"
-        p:namespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:attribute"
-        parent="stripNamespace_parent"/>
+    <bean id="stripMdattrNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
+        p:id="stripMdattrNamespace"
+        p:namespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:attribute"/>
     
     <!--
         stripMdrpiNamespace
         
         Remove the namespace used by the registration and publication metdata extension.
     -->
-    <bean id="stripMdrpiNamespace" p:id="stripMdrpiNamespace"
-        p:namespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:rpi"
-        parent="stripNamespace_parent"/>
+    <bean id="stripMdrpiNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
+        p:id="stripMdrpiNamespace"
+        p:namespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:metadata:rpi"/>
     
     <!--
         stripUkfedlabelNamespace
         
         Remove the UK federation label namespace.
     -->
-    <bean id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace" p:id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace"
-        p:namespace="http://ukfederation.org.uk/2006/11/label"
-        parent="stripNamespace_parent"/>
+    <bean id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
+        p:id="stripUkfedlabelNamespace"
+        p:namespace="http://ukfederation.org.uk/2006/11/label"/>
     
     <!--
         stripWayfNamespace
         
         Remove the UK federation WAYF namespace.
     -->
-    <bean id="stripWayfNamespace" p:id="stripWayfNamespace"
-        p:namespace="http://sdss.ac.uk/2006/06/WAYF"
-        parent="stripNamespace_parent"/>
+    <bean id="stripWayfNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
+        p:id="stripWayfNamespace"
+        p:namespace="http://sdss.ac.uk/2006/06/WAYF"/>
     
     <!--
         normaliseNamespaces
@@ -131,11 +218,10 @@
         A pipeline stage that can be used before serialisation to normalise the namespaces
         used in an XML document.
     -->
-    <bean id="normaliseNamespaces" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="normaliseNamespaces"/>
+    <bean id="normaliseNamespaces" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="normaliseNamespaces">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/ns_norm.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -167,9 +253,9 @@
         A pipeline stage that logs any errors and warnings present,
         but takes no action on them.
     -->
-    <bean id="errorAnnouncer" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.StatusMetadataLoggingStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="errorAnnouncer"/>
+    <bean id="errorAnnouncer" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.StatusMetadataLoggingStage"
+        p:id="errorAnnouncer">
         <property name="identifierStrategy" ref="identifierStrategy"/>
         <property name="selectionRequirements">
             <list>
@@ -184,9 +270,9 @@
         
         This pipeline stage removes any items marked with an error status.
     -->
-    <bean id="errorRemover" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.ItemMetadataFilterStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="errorRemover"/>
+    <bean id="errorRemover" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.ItemMetadataFilterStage"
+        p:id="errorRemover">
         <property name="identifierStrategy" ref="identifierStrategy"/>
         <property name="selectionRequirements">
             <list>
@@ -200,9 +286,9 @@
         
         This pipeline stage causes CLI termination if any item is marked with an error status.
     -->
-    <bean id="errorTerminator" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.ItemMetadataTerminationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="errorTerminator"/>
+    <bean id="errorTerminator" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.ItemMetadataTerminationStage"
+        p:id="errorTerminator">
         <property name="identifierStrategy" ref="identifierStrategy"/>
         <property name="selectionRequirements">
             <list>
@@ -217,9 +303,8 @@
         Announce any errors or warnings encountered, then remove
         any items that had errors.  Items with warnings are retained.
     -->
-    <bean id="errorAnnouncingFilter" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="errorAnnouncingFilter"/>
+    <bean id="errorAnnouncingFilter" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="errorAnnouncingFilter">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="errorAnnouncer"/>
@@ -234,9 +319,8 @@
         A pipeline stage that checks for any errors, and then announces
         and filters any encountered.
     -->
-    <bean id="errorTerminatingFilter" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="errorTerminatingFilter"/>
+    <bean id="errorTerminatingFilter" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="errorTerminatingFilter">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="errorAnnouncer"/>
@@ -261,10 +345,9 @@
         Any registrationAuthority already present on an entity in this
         channel must match the known registration authority value.
     -->
-    <bean id="default_regauth_parent" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true" abstract="true">
+    <bean id="default_regauth_parent" abstract="true" parent="xslt_parent">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/default_regauth.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -290,11 +373,10 @@
         
         A pre-configured parser pool for use by source stages.
     -->
-    <bean id="parserPool" class="org.opensaml.util.xml.BasicParserPool"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="ignoreComments" value="false"/>
-        <property name="ignoreElementContentWhitespace" value="false"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="parserPool" parent="component_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.xml.BasicParserPool"
+        p:ignoreComments="false"
+        p:ignoreElementContentWhitespace="false"/>
     
     <!--
         schemaResources
@@ -302,67 +384,67 @@
         A list of all schema documents that we make common use of.
     -->
     <util:list id="schemaResources">
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/MetadataExchange.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-secext-1.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/saml-metadata-rpi-v1.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/saml-schema-assertion-2.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/saml-schema-metadata-2.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/shibboleth-metadata-1.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/sstc-metadata-attr.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/sstc-request-initiation.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/sstc-saml-idp-discovery.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/sstc-saml-metadata-algsupport-v1.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/sstc-saml-metadata-ui-v1.0.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/uk-fed-label.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ukfederation-members.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ws-addr.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ws-authorization.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ws-federation.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ws-securitypolicy-1.2.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/xenc-schema.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/xml.xsd"/>
         </bean>
-        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+        <bean parent="file_parent">
             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/xmldsig-core-schema.xsd"/>
         </bean>
     </util:list>
@@ -372,9 +454,9 @@
         
         A pipeline stage that checks against all the common schemas, as above.
     -->
-    <bean id="checkSchemas" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSchemaValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="checkSchemas"/>
+    <bean id="checkSchemas" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSchemaValidationStage"
+        p:id="checkSchemas">
         <property name="schemaResources" ref="schemaResources"/>
     </bean>
 
@@ -385,11 +467,10 @@
         presented, for example by removing redundant attributes or elements which only have
         meaning when added by the UK federation registrar.
     -->
-    <bean id="cleanImport" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cleanImport"/>
+    <bean id="cleanImport" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="cleanImport">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/clean-import.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -398,38 +479,34 @@
     <!--
         Basic EntitiesDescriptor disassembler pipeline stage.
     -->
-    <bean id="disassemble" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorDisassemblerStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="disassemble"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="disassemble" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorDisassemblerStage"
+        p:id="disassemble"/>
     
     <!--
         Populate ItemId values from entities.
     -->
-    <bean id="populateItemIds" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntityDescriptorItemIdPopulationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="populateItemIds"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="populateItemIds" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntityDescriptorItemIdPopulationStage"
+        p:id="populateItemIds"/>
     
     <!--
         stripKeyNames
         
         Remove all ds:KeyName elements.
     -->
-    <bean id="stripKeyNames" class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.ElementStrippingStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="stripKeyNames"/>
-        <property name="elementName" value="KeyName"/>
-        <property name="elementNamespace" value="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="stripKeyNames" parent="stripElement_parent"
+        p:id="stripKeyNames"
+        p:elementName="KeyName"
+        p:elementNamespace="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#"/>
     
     <!--
         Remove any empty Extensions elements.
     -->
-    <bean id="removeEmptyExtensions" class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.RemoveEmptyExtensionsStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="removeEmptyExtensions"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="removeEmptyExtensions" parent="stripContainer_parent"
+        p:id="removeEmptyExtensions"
+        p:elementName="Extensions"
+        p:elementNamespace="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"/>
     
     <!--
         standardImportActions
@@ -438,9 +515,8 @@
         collection has been acquired, had its signature validated, and disassembled into
         individual entities.
     -->
-    <bean id="standardImportActions" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="standardImportActions"/>
+    <bean id="standardImportActions" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="standardImportActions">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="populateItemIds"/>
@@ -477,10 +553,9 @@
     <!--
         Basic EntitiesDescriptor assembler pipeline stage.
     -->
-    <bean id="assemble" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorAssemblerStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="assemble"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="assemble" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorAssemblerStage"
+        p:id="assemble"/>
     
     <!--
         standardImportTail
@@ -489,9 +564,8 @@
         are currently ending up in files, build an EntitiesDescriptor and normalise the
         namespaces in the document ready for serialisation.
     -->
-    <bean id="standardImportTail" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="standardImportTail"/>
+    <bean id="standardImportTail" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="standardImportTail">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="assemble"/>
@@ -505,7 +579,8 @@
         
         An item selection strategy that selects all items.
     -->
-    <bean id="everythingSelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.AlwaysItemSelectionStrategy"/>
+    <bean id="everythingSelector" class="com.google.common.base.Predicates"
+        factory-method="alwaysTrue"/>
     
     <!--
         Standard serializer.
diff --git a/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml b/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml
index 675db4bf..d8e2462e 100644
--- a/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/cz_eduid/beans.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Metadata locations:
         
@@ -18,12 +24,10 @@
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="cz_eduid_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="cz_eduid_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://metadata.eduid.cz/entities/eduid"/>
             </bean>
@@ -33,8 +37,7 @@
     <!--
         Metadata signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="cz_eduid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/cz_eduid/metadata.eduid.cz.crt.pem"/>
@@ -45,18 +48,17 @@
     <!--
         Check the signature on a document.
     -->
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="cz_eduid_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="cz_eduid_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="cz_eduid_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="cz_eduid_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="cz_eduid_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="cz_eduid_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="cz_eduid_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml b/mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml
index 379411e4..6c4f3e69 100644
--- a/mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/cz_eduid/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/cz_eduid/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>                
                 <ref bean="cz_eduid_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="cz_eduid_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/de_dfnaai/beans.xml b/mdx/de_dfnaai/beans.xml
index 73a5141c..f12c54ba 100644
--- a/mdx/de_dfnaai/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/de_dfnaai/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="de_dfnaai_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="de_dfnaai_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="de_dfnaai_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="de_dfnaai_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://www.aai.dfn.de/fileadmin/metadata/DFN-AAI-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="de_dfnaai_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="de_dfnaai_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/de_dfnaai/dfn-aai.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="de_dfnaai_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="de_dfnaai_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="de_dfnaai_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="de_dfnaai_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="de_dfnaai_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="de_dfnaai_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="de_dfnaai_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="de_dfnaai_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="de_dfnaai_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/de_dfnaai/verbs.xml b/mdx/de_dfnaai/verbs.xml
index f957cd65..792494a8 100644
--- a/mdx/de_dfnaai/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/de_dfnaai/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/de_dfnaai/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="de_dfnaai_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="de_dfnaai_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/dk_wayf/beans.xml b/mdx/dk_wayf/beans.xml
index 3f8466aa..316eb336 100644
--- a/mdx/dk_wayf/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/dk_wayf/beans.xml
@@ -2,19 +2,23 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
 
     <!--
         Fetch the IdP metadata.
     -->
-    <bean id="dk_wayf_idpMetadata" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="dk_wayf_idpMetadata"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="dk_wayf_idpMetadata" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="dk_wayf_idpMetadata">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://wayf.wayf.dk/saml2/idp/metadata.php"/>
             </bean>
@@ -24,9 +28,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="dk_wayf_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="dk_wayf_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="dk_wayf_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="dk_wayf_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="dk_wayf_idpMetadata"/>
diff --git a/mdx/dk_wayf/verbs.xml b/mdx/dk_wayf/verbs.xml
index 715c9937..44879995 100644
--- a/mdx/dk_wayf/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/dk_wayf/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/dk_wayf/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="dk_wayf_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -44,9 +47,8 @@
         Fetch the separate IdP and SP aggregates, disassemble them into individual entities
         and then build up a single aggregate from all combined.
     -->
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="dk_wayf_idpMetadata"/>
diff --git a/mdx/es_sir/beans.xml b/mdx/es_sir/beans.xml
index a627c347..1361de65 100644
--- a/mdx/es_sir/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/es_sir/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="es_sir_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="es_sir_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="es_sir_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="es_sir_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://www.rediris.es/sir/shib1metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing key.
     -->
-    <bean id="es_sir_signingKey" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.PublicKeyFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="es_sir_signingKey" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.PublicKeyFactoryBean">
         <property name="publicKeyFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/es_sir/sirpubkey.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="es_sir_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="es_sir_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="es_sir_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="es_sir_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationKey" ref="es_sir_signingKey"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="es_sir_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="es_sir_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="es_sir_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="es_sir_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/es_sir/verbs.xml b/mdx/es_sir/verbs.xml
index 50b7109d..52757fb9 100644
--- a/mdx/es_sir/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/es_sir/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/es_sir/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="es_sir_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="es_sir_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/eu_clarin/beans.xml b/mdx/eu_clarin/beans.xml
index 4325b8e0..ad1ecdd6 100644
--- a/mdx/eu_clarin/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/eu_clarin/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the export aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="eu_clarin_exportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="eu_clarin_exportAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="eu_clarin_exportAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="eu_clarin_exportAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://www.clarin.eu/aai/clarin-sp-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,9 +27,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="eu_clarin_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="eu_clarin_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="eu_clarin_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="eu_clarin_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="eu_clarin_exportAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/eu_clarin/verbs.xml b/mdx/eu_clarin/verbs.xml
index 7328889b..aab4e118 100644
--- a/mdx/eu_clarin/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/eu_clarin/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/eu_clarin/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="eu_clarin_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="eu_clarin_exportAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/fi_haka/beans.xml b/mdx/fi_haka/beans.xml
index 00cf5976..b3107b5c 100644
--- a/mdx/fi_haka/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/fi_haka/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fi_haka_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fi_haka_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="fi_haka_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="fi_haka_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://haka.funet.fi/metadata/haka-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fi_haka_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="fi_haka_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/fi_haka/haka-sign.csc.fi.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="fi_haka_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fi_haka_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="fi_haka_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="fi_haka_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="fi_haka_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="fi_haka_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fi_haka_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="fi_haka_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="fi_haka_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/fi_haka/verbs.xml b/mdx/fi_haka/verbs.xml
index 6c723ade..10fb507a 100644
--- a/mdx/fi_haka/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/fi_haka/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/fi_haka/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="fi_haka_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="fi_haka_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/fr_renater/beans.xml b/mdx/fr_renater/beans.xml
index 4a55c8d7..98ba93f1 100644
--- a/mdx/fr_renater/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/fr_renater/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fr_renater_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fr_renater_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="fr_renater_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="fr_renater_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://services-federation.renater.fr/metadata/renater-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,12 +27,10 @@
     <!--
         Fetch the test aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fr_renater_testAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fr_renater_testAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="fr_renater_testAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="fr_renater_testAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://services-federation.renater.fr/metadata/renater-test-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -38,8 +40,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="fr_renater_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="fr_renater_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/fr_renater/metadata-federation-renater.crt"/>
@@ -50,18 +51,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="fr_renater_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fr_renater_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="fr_renater_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="fr_renater_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="fr_renater_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="fr_renater_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="fr_renater_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="fr_renater_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="fr_renater_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/fr_renater/verbs.xml b/mdx/fr_renater/verbs.xml
index eb86d923..70b24369 100644
--- a/mdx/fr_renater/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/fr_renater/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/fr_renater/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="fr_renater_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="fr_renater_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/gr_grnet/beans.xml b/mdx/gr_grnet/beans.xml
index 8cf94baf..637b46c6 100644
--- a/mdx/gr_grnet/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/gr_grnet/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="gr_grnet_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="gr_grnet_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="gr_grnet_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="gr_grnet_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://aai.grnet.gr/metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="gr_grnet_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="gr_grnet_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/gr_grnet/wayf.grnet.gr.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="gr_grnet_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="gr_grnet_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="gr_grnet_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="gr_grnet_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="gr_grnet_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="gr_grnet_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="gr_grnet_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="gr_grnet_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="gr_grnet_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/gr_grnet/verbs.xml b/mdx/gr_grnet/verbs.xml
index b10de8ee..27e31a62 100644
--- a/mdx/gr_grnet/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/gr_grnet/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/gr_grnet/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="gr_grnet_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="gr_grnet_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/hu_eduid/beans.xml b/mdx/hu_eduid/beans.xml
index a1bbee5d..16403f30 100644
--- a/mdx/hu_eduid/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/hu_eduid/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="hu_eduid_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="hu_eduid_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="hu_eduid_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="hu_eduid_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://metadata.eduid.hu/metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Metadata signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="hu_eduid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="hu_eduid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/hu_eduid/href-metadata-signer-2011.crt"/>
@@ -35,20 +38,18 @@
     <!--
         Check the signature on a document.
     -->
-    <bean id="hu_eduid_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="hu_eduid_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="hu_eduid_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="hu_eduid_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="hu_eduid_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Remove the eduID.hu custom metadata tagging namespace.
     -->
-    <bean id="hu_eduid_stripEntityAttributesNamespace" class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.NamespaceStrippingStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="hu_eduid_stripEntityAttributesNamespace"/>
-        <property name="namespace" value="urn:geant:niif.hu:eduid.hu:entity-attributes:processing-info"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="hu_eduid_stripEntityAttributesNamespace" parent="stripNamespace_parent"
+        p:id="hu_eduid_stripEntityAttributesNamespace"
+        p:namespace="urn:geant:niif.hu:eduid.hu:entity-attributes:processing-info"/>
 
     <!--
         hu_eduid_registrar
@@ -65,8 +66,8 @@
         Any registrationAuthority already present on an entity in this
         channel must match the known registration authority value.
     -->
-    <bean id="hu_eduid_check_regauth" parent="check_regauth_parent">
-        <property name="id" value="hu_eduid_check_regauth"/>
+    <bean id="hu_eduid_check_regauth" parent="check_regauth_parent"
+        p:id="hu_eduid_check_regauth">
         <property name="transformParameters">
             <map>
                 <entry key="expectedAuthority" value-ref="hu_eduid_registrar"/>
@@ -77,9 +78,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="hu_eduid_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="hu_eduid_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="hu_eduid_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="hu_eduid_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/hu_eduid/verbs.xml b/mdx/hu_eduid/verbs.xml
index 078c95ec..20006a6b 100644
--- a/mdx/hu_eduid/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/hu_eduid/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/hu_eduid/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>                
                 <ref bean="hu_eduid_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="hu_eduid_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml b/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml
index dc402b16..234a34ee 100644
--- a/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/ie_edugate/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the export aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_exportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_exportAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_exportAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_exportAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://edugate.heanet.ie/edugate-ukfed-signed.xml"/>        
             </bean>
@@ -23,12 +27,10 @@
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://edugate.heanet.ie/edugate-metadata-signed.xml"/>        
             </bean>
@@ -49,9 +51,9 @@
     <!--
         Check the signature on a document.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="ie_edugate_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
@@ -62,9 +64,9 @@
         yet expired.  Sets a bound of 14 days on the validity interval; 9 days is the
         expected value.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_validUntil" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.ValidateValidUntilStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_validUntil"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_validUntil" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.ValidateValidUntilStage"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_validUntil">
         <!--
             The validUntil attribute must be present.
         -->
@@ -90,8 +92,8 @@
         Any registrationAuthority already present on an entity in this
         channel must match the known registration authority value.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_check_regauth"  parent="check_regauth_parent">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_check_regauth"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_check_regauth" parent="check_regauth_parent"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_check_regauth">
         <property name="transformParameters">
             <map>
                 <entry key="expectedAuthority" value-ref="ie_edugate_registrar"/>
@@ -105,8 +107,8 @@
         Provide a default registrationAuthority appropriate to
         this channel.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_default_regauth"  parent="default_regauth_parent">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_default_regauth"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_default_regauth" parent="default_regauth_parent"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_default_regauth">
         <property name="transformParameters">
             <map>
                 <entry key="defaultAuthority" value-ref="ie_edugate_registrar"/>
@@ -117,9 +119,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process all entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_allEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_allEntities"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_allEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_allEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_productionAggregate"/>
@@ -144,9 +145,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="ie_edugate_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="ie_edugate_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="ie_edugate_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="ie_edugate_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_exportAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml b/mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml
index 37c3fb8f..8710ade2 100644
--- a/mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/ie_edugate/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/ie_edugate/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="importAll" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importAll"/>
+    <bean id="importAll" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importAll">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_allEntities"/>
@@ -50,9 +52,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml b/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml
index f15cb913..e891aec4 100644
--- a/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/int_edugain/beans.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="
@@ -17,12 +19,10 @@
     <!--
         Fetch the eduGAIN test aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_edugain_testAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_testAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_testAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="int_edugain_testAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://mds-test.edugain.org"/>
             </bean>
@@ -32,12 +32,10 @@
     <!--
         Fetches the eduGAIN production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_edugain_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="int_edugain_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://mds.edugain.org"/>
             </bean>
@@ -47,8 +45,7 @@
     <!--
         eduGAIN signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_edugain_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="int_edugain_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/int_edugain/edugain-signer.crt"/>
@@ -59,18 +56,17 @@
     <!--
         Check a signature against the eduGAIN signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_edugain_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="int_edugain_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="int_edugain_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_edugain_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="int_edugain_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_edugain_productionAggregate"/>
@@ -104,9 +100,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the test entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_edugain_testEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_edugain_testEntities"/>
+    <bean id="int_edugain_testEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="int_edugain_testEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_edugain_testAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml b/mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml
index ef3cc5b8..e555130c 100644
--- a/mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/int_edugain/verbs.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="
@@ -19,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/int_edugain/imported.xml"/>
@@ -30,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_edugain_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -42,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_edugain_productionAggregate"/>
@@ -53,9 +51,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="testImport" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="testImport"/>
+    <bean id="testImport" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="testImport">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_edugain_testEntities"/>
diff --git a/mdx/int_testshib/beans.xml b/mdx/int_testshib/beans.xml
index e0031c31..0374395a 100644
--- a/mdx/int_testshib/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/int_testshib/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_testshib_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_testshib_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="int_testshib_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="int_testshib_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://www.testshib.org/metadata/testshib-two-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,9 +27,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="int_testshib_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="int_testshib_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="int_testshib_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="int_testshib_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/int_testshib/verbs.xml b/mdx/int_testshib/verbs.xml
index 59d399aa..6ae23964 100644
--- a/mdx/int_testshib/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/int_testshib/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/int_testshib/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_testshib_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="int_testshib_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/it_idem/beans.xml b/mdx/it_idem/beans.xml
index e57d2d13..9f64385f 100644
--- a/mdx/it_idem/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/it_idem/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="it_idem_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="it_idem_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="it_idem_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="it_idem_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://www.idem.garr.it/docs/conf/signed-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="it_idem_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="it_idem_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/it_idem/signer-bundle.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="it_idem_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="it_idem_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="it_idem_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="it_idem_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="it_idem_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="it_idem_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="it_idem_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="it_idem_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="it_idem_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/it_idem/verbs.xml b/mdx/it_idem/verbs.xml
index c5657611..068657a8 100644
--- a/mdx/it_idem/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/it_idem/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/it_idem/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="it_idem_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="it_idem_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/jp_gakunin/beans.xml b/mdx/jp_gakunin/beans.xml
index e055dda2..a3daf24c 100644
--- a/mdx/jp_gakunin/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/jp_gakunin/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="jp_gakunin_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="jp_gakunin_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="jp_gakunin_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="jp_gakunin_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://metadata.gakunin.nii.ac.jp/gakunin-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="jp_gakunin_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="jp_gakunin_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/jp_gakunin/gakunin-signer-2010.cer"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="jp_gakunin_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="jp_gakunin_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="jp_gakunin_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="jp_gakunin_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="jp_gakunin_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="jp_gakunin_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="jp_gakunin_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="jp_gakunin_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="jp_gakunin_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/jp_gakunin/verbs.xml b/mdx/jp_gakunin/verbs.xml
index e46e2d19..f1132b7c 100644
--- a/mdx/jp_gakunin/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/jp_gakunin/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/jp_gakunin/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="jp_gakunin_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="jp_gakunin_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/lv_laife/beans.xml b/mdx/lv_laife/beans.xml
index 4b4deb1d..87f083a3 100644
--- a/mdx/lv_laife/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/lv_laife/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="lv_laife_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="lv_laife_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="lv_laife_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="lv_laife_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://laife.lanet.lv/metadata/laife-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,9 +27,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="lv_laife_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="lv_laife_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="lv_laife_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="lv_laife_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/lv_laife/verbs.xml b/mdx/lv_laife/verbs.xml
index 59aafd9d..ad7c4c44 100644
--- a/mdx/lv_laife/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/lv_laife/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/lv_laife/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="lv_laife_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="lv_laife_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/nl_surfnet/beans.xml b/mdx/nl_surfnet/beans.xml
index cd2ba98b..ad9af249 100644
--- a/mdx/nl_surfnet/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/nl_surfnet/beans.xml
@@ -2,14 +2,19 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Metadata signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="nl_surfnet_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="nl_surfnet_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/nl_surfnet/metadata-signer.crt"/>
@@ -20,21 +25,19 @@
     <!--
         Check the signature on a document.
     -->
-    <bean id="nl_surfnet_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nl_surfnet_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="nl_surfnet_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="nl_surfnet_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="nl_surfnet_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch the IdP aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="nl_surfnet_idpAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nl_surfnet_idpAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="nl_surfnet_idpAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="nl_surfnet_idpAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://wayf.surfnet.nl/federate/metadata"/>
             </bean>
@@ -44,12 +47,10 @@
     <!--
         Fetch the SP aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="nl_surfnet_spAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nl_surfnet_spAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="nl_surfnet_spAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="nl_surfnet_spAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://federatie.surfnet.nl/metadata-sfs-sp-saml20-signed.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -59,9 +60,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="nl_surfnet_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nl_surfnet_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="nl_surfnet_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="nl_surfnet_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production ones instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/nl_surfnet/verbs.xml b/mdx/nl_surfnet/verbs.xml
index 5946ae61..8c6ac634 100644
--- a/mdx/nl_surfnet/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/nl_surfnet/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/nl_surfnet/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="nl_surfnet_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -44,9 +47,8 @@
         Fetch the separate IdP and SP aggregates, disassemble them into individual entities
         and then build up a single aggregate from all combined.
     -->
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="nl_surfnet_idpAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/no_feide/beans.xml b/mdx/no_feide/beans.xml
index a61e4516..3e06fd99 100644
--- a/mdx/no_feide/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/no_feide/beans.xml
@@ -2,19 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the IdP metadata.
     -->
-    <bean id="no_feide_idpMetadata" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="no_feide_idpMetadata"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="no_feide_idpMetadata" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="no_feide_idpMetadata">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://idp.feide.no/simplesaml/saml2/idp/metadata.php"/>
             </bean>
@@ -24,9 +27,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="no_feide_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="no_feide_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="no_feide_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="no_feide_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="no_feide_idpMetadata"/>
diff --git a/mdx/no_feide/verbs.xml b/mdx/no_feide/verbs.xml
index 0a74e2c4..8321edbe 100644
--- a/mdx/no_feide/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/no_feide/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/no_feide/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="no_feide_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -44,9 +47,8 @@
         Fetch the separate IdP and SP aggregates, disassemble them into individual entities
         and then build up a single aggregate from all combined.
     -->
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="no_feide_idpMetadata"/>
diff --git a/mdx/nz_tuakiri/beans.xml b/mdx/nz_tuakiri/beans.xml
index a0a6c27b..0bd9309f 100644
--- a/mdx/nz_tuakiri/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/nz_tuakiri/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nz_tuakiri_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="nz_tuakiri_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://directory.test.tuakiri.ac.nz/metadata/tuakiri-test-metadata-signed.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         Signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/nz_tuakiri/tuakiri-test-metadata-cert.pem"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nz_tuakiri_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="nz_tuakiri_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="nz_tuakiri_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="nz_tuakiri_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="nz_tuakiri_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="nz_tuakiri_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/nz_tuakiri/verbs.xml b/mdx/nz_tuakiri/verbs.xml
index a355555e..9fd27675 100644
--- a/mdx/nz_tuakiri/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/nz_tuakiri/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/nz_tuakiri/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="nz_tuakiri_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="nz_tuakiri_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml b/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml
index 20b61474..74300e0b 100644
--- a/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/se_swamid/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the SWAMID production.
     -->
-    <bean id="se_swamid_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="se_swamid_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="se_swamid_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://md.swamid.se/md/swamid-1.0.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         SWAMID federation signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="se_swamid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="se_swamid_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/se_swamid/md-signer.crt"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check SWAMID signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="se_swamid_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="se_swamid_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="se_swamid_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="se_swamid_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="se_swamid_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="se_swamid_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="se_swamid_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="se_swamid_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml b/mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml
index 5fa47fe0..bdc6b2dc 100644
--- a/mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/se_swamid/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/se_swamid/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="se_swamid_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="se_swamid_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml b/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml
index 34d5d31f..d4674991 100644
--- a/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/si_arnes/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the ARNES production aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="si_arnes_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="si_arnes_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="si_arnes_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://ds.aai.arnes.si/metadata/aai.arnes.si.signed.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -23,8 +27,7 @@
     <!--
         ARNES signing certificate.
     -->
-    <bean id="si_arnes_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="si_arnes_signingCertificate" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.X509CertificateFactoryBean">
         <property name="certificateFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/si_arnes/aai.arnes.si.crt"/>
@@ -35,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check ARNES signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="si_arnes_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="si_arnes_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="si_arnes_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="si_arnes_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="si_arnes_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="si_arnes_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="si_arnes_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="si_arnes_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml b/mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml
index 2c6330ae..5de6e070 100644
--- a/mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/si_arnes/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/si_arnes/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="si_arnes_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="si_arnes_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/test/beans.xml b/mdx/test/beans.xml
index 24b526d4..87f9b3d8 100644
--- a/mdx/test/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/test/beans.xml
@@ -2,15 +2,21 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the aggregate aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="test_aggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomFilesystemSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="test_aggregate"/>
+    <bean id="test_aggregate" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomFilesystemSourceStage"
+        p:id="test_aggregate">
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="source">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -22,9 +28,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="test_entities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="test_entities"/>
+    <bean id="test_entities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="test_entities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="test_aggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/test/verbs.xml b/mdx/test/verbs.xml
index a3c52ffb..783755de 100644
--- a/mdx/test/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/test/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/test/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="test_entities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="test_aggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/beans.xml b/mdx/uk/beans.xml
index cd1e6276..6042bf67 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk/beans.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
     xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
@@ -18,9 +19,9 @@
         Each fragment file contains a single EntityDescriptor.  The name of each
         eligible file matches a particular regular expression.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_fetchFragmentFiles" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomFilesystemSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_fetchFragmentFiles"/>
+    <bean id="uk_fetchFragmentFiles" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomFilesystemSourceStage"
+        p:id="uk_fetchFragmentFiles">
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="source">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -49,11 +50,10 @@
         This transform can be run on individual EntityDescriptors or on an
         aggregate EntitiesDescriptor.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_processScopes" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_processScopes"/>
+    <bean id="uk_processScopes" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_processScopes">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/scopes.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
         
         A Resource referencing the members.xml document.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_membersResource" class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource" lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_membersResource" parent="file_parent">
         <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/members.xml"/>
     </bean>
     
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
         
         This bean contains the contents of the members.xml file as a DOM Document.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_membersDocument" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.DomDocumentFactoryBean" lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_membersDocument" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.DomDocumentFactoryBean">
         <property name="documentResource" ref="uk_membersResource"/>
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
     </bean>
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
         
         This bean implements an API for access to the contents of the members.xml document.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_members" class="uk.org.ukfederation.members.Members" lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_members" class="uk.org.ukfederation.members.Members">
         <constructor-arg>
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/members.xml"/>
@@ -105,10 +105,10 @@
         
         Adds "mailto:" to md:EmailAddress elements which don't already have it.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_fix_mailto" p:id="uk_fix_mailto" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_fix_mailto" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_fix_mailto">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/fix_mailto.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -120,11 +120,10 @@
         
         Checks specific to the UK registrar function.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_ukreg" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_ukreg"/>
+    <bean id="check_ukreg" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_ukreg">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/check_ukreg.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -144,9 +143,8 @@
         export flows, for which we desire the closest possible correspondence to
         the registered metadata.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_checkPublishable" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_checkPublishable"/>
+    <bean id="uk_checkPublishable" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="uk_checkPublishable">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="checkSchemas"/>
@@ -163,11 +161,10 @@
         
         This bean contains the contents of the master.xml file as a DOM Document.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_trustRootsDocument" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.DomDocumentFactoryBean"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_trustRootsDocument" class="net.shibboleth.ext.spring.factory.DomDocumentFactoryBean">
         <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
         <property name="documentResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/master.xml"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -179,11 +176,10 @@
         
         This stage adds the UK federation trust roots to an EntitiesDescriptor.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_addTrustRoots" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_addTrustRoots"/>
+    <bean id="uk_addTrustRoots" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_addTrustRoots">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/trust-roots.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -200,11 +196,10 @@
         
         This stage performs any standard cleanup required for UK federation fragment files.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_processFragment" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_processFragment"/>
+    <bean id="uk_processFragment" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_processFragment">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/fragment.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -216,14 +211,15 @@
         
         Remove any md:ContactPerson elements with contactType of "administrative".
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_stripAdminContacts" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_stripAdminContacts"/>
-        <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
-                <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/strip_admin.xsl"/>
-            </bean>
+    <bean id="uk_stripAdminContacts" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.ContactPersonFilterStage"
+        p:id="uk_stripAdminContacts">
+        <property name="designatedTypes">
+            <list>
+                <value>administrative</value>
+            </list>
         </property>
+        <property name="whitelistingTypes" value="false"/>
     </bean>
     
     
@@ -232,11 +228,10 @@
         
         This stage performs any fixup actions required before publication to UK federation members.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_performFixups" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_performFixups"/>
+    <bean id="uk_performFixups" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_performFixups">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/fixups.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -246,10 +241,9 @@
     <!--
         Populate UKId values from entities.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_populateIds" class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.EntityDescriptorUKIdPopulationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_populateIds"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="uk_populateIds" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.EntityDescriptorUKIdPopulationStage"
+        p:id="uk_populateIds"/>
     
 
     <!--
@@ -257,10 +251,10 @@
         
         Name attribute is set to the federation URI.  UK ordering is applied.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_assemble" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorAssemblerStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_assemble"/>
-        <property name="descriptorName" value="http://ukfederation.org.uk"/>
+    <bean id="uk_assemble" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorAssemblerStage"
+        p:id="uk_assemble"
+        p:descriptorName="http://ukfederation.org.uk">
         <property name="itemOrderingStrategy">
             <bean class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.UKEntityOrderingStrategy"/>
         </property>
@@ -272,9 +266,9 @@
         
         Name attribute is not set.  UK ordering is applied.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_assembleUnnamed" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorAssemblerStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_assembleUnnamed"/>
+    <bean id="uk_assembleUnnamed" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.EntitiesDescriptorAssemblerStage"
+        p:id="uk_assembleUnnamed">
         <property name="itemOrderingStrategy">
             <bean class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.UKEntityOrderingStrategy"/>
         </property>
@@ -284,9 +278,8 @@
     <!--
         Fetch and process the registered entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_registeredEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_registeredEntities"/>
+    <bean id="uk_registeredEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="uk_registeredEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_fetchFragmentFiles"/>
@@ -310,11 +303,10 @@
         
         Strip those UK federation extensions which we never publish.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_stripExtensions" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_stripExtensions"/>
+    <bean id="uk_stripExtensions" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_stripExtensions">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/strip_extensions.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -336,11 +328,10 @@
         used in an XML document.  This one is UK-specific, as it makes specific choices
         in order to limit the number of prefixes used.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_normaliseNamespaces" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_normaliseNamespaces"/>
+    <bean id="uk_normaliseNamespaces" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_normaliseNamespaces">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/ns_norm_uk.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -369,8 +360,8 @@
         Any registrationAuthority already present on an entity in this
         channel must match the known registration authority value.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_check_regauth"  parent="check_regauth_parent">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_check_regauth"/>
+    <bean id="uk_check_regauth"  parent="check_regauth_parent"
+        p:id="uk_check_regauth">
         <property name="transformParameters">
             <map>
                 <entry key="expectedAuthority" value-ref="uk_registrar"/>
@@ -384,8 +375,8 @@
         Provide a default registrationAuthority appropriate to
         this channel.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_default_regauth"  parent="default_regauth_parent">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_default_regauth"/>
+    <bean id="uk_default_regauth" parent="default_regauth_parent"
+        p:id="uk_default_regauth">
         <property name="transformParameters">
             <map>
                 <entry key="defaultAuthority" value-ref="uk_registrar"/>
@@ -407,9 +398,9 @@
         Serialise the (assumed HTML) DomDocumentItem into the UK federation statistics
         output file in the production XML directory.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_serializeStatistics" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_serializeStatistics"/>
+    <bean id="uk_serializeStatistics" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
+        p:id="uk_serializeStatistics">
         <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
@@ -423,11 +414,10 @@
         
         Input is an aggregate of all registered entities, output is the HTML statistics.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_generateStatistics" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_generateStatistics"/>
+    <bean id="uk_generateStatistics" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_generateStatistics">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/statistics.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -446,9 +436,8 @@
         resulting HTML output is written into the appropriate file in the production
         XML directory.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_statisticsPipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_statisticsPipeline"/>
+    <bean id="uk_statisticsPipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="uk_statisticsPipeline">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="assemble"/>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/collect.xml b/mdx/uk/collect.xml
index 6e4ae6c0..bafb443e 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/collect.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk/collect.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
     Verb to collect UK-registered entities.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="
@@ -19,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
 
-    <bean id="serializeCollected" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeCollected"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeCollected" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeCollected">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/collected.xml"/>
@@ -30,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="collect" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="collect"/>
+    <bean id="collect" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="collect">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_registeredEntities"/>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/generate.xml b/mdx/uk/generate.xml
index abd9f713..a9a74d01 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/generate.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk/generate.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
     Verb to generate all UK aggregates.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="
@@ -33,9 +35,8 @@
         *******************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="uk_ie_edugate_importPipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_ie_edugate_importPipeline"/>
+    <bean id="uk_ie_edugate_importPipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="uk_ie_edugate_importPipeline">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="ie_edugate_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -61,8 +62,7 @@
         Selection strategy which is true for entities owned by UK federation
         members.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_memberEntitySelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XPathItemSelectionStrategy"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_memberEntitySelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XPathItemSelectionStrategy">
         <constructor-arg value="/md:EntityDescriptor[md:Extensions/ukfedlabel:UKFederationMember]"/>
         <constructor-arg ref="commonNamespaces"/>
     </bean>
@@ -71,24 +71,22 @@
         Assemble a nested EntitiesDescriptor structure with the
         UK federation entities inside an inner element.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_assembleHierarchicalAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_assembleHierarchicalAggregate"/>
+    <bean id="uk_assembleHierarchicalAggregate" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="uk_assembleHierarchicalAggregate">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!--
                     Step 1: put all UK entities inside a UK-named EntitiesDescriptor
                 -->
-                <bean id="uk_buildNestedEntitiesDescriptor" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SplitMergeStage"
-                    init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                    <property name="id" value="uk_buildNestedEntitiesDescriptor"/>
+                <bean id="uk_buildNestedEntitiesDescriptor" parent="stage_parent"
+                    class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SplitMergeStage"
+                    p:id="uk_buildNestedEntitiesDescriptor">
                     <property name="selectionStrategy">
                         <ref bean="uk_memberEntitySelector"/>
                     </property>
                     <property name="selectedItemPipeline">
-                        <bean name="uk_assemblePipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-                            init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                            <property name="id" value="uk_assemblePipeline"/>
+                        <bean name="uk_assemblePipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+                            p:id="uk_assemblePipeline">
                             <property name="stages">
                                 <list>
                                     <ref bean="uk_assemble"/>
@@ -116,20 +114,17 @@
         ***************************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="uk_finaliseProduction" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_finaliseProduction"/>
+    <bean id="uk_finaliseProduction" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_finaliseProduction">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/final_tweak.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="serializeUnsignedProductionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeUnsignedProductionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeUnsignedProductionAggregate" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeUnsignedProductionAggregate">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ukfederation-metadata-unsigned.xml"/>
@@ -137,9 +132,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="uk_productionPipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_productionPipeline"/>
+    <bean id="uk_productionPipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="uk_productionPipeline">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_assemble"/>
@@ -165,16 +159,13 @@
         ***************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="uk_wayfSelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XPathItemSelectionStrategy"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_wayfSelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XPathItemSelectionStrategy">
         <constructor-arg value="/md:EntityDescriptor[not(md:Extensions/wayf:HideFromWAYF)]"/>
         <constructor-arg ref="commonNamespaces"/>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="serializeUnsignedWayfAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeUnsignedWayfAggregate"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeUnsignedWayfAggregate" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeUnsignedWayfAggregate">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ukfederation-wayf-unsigned.xml"/>
@@ -182,9 +173,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="uk_wayfPipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_wayfPipeline"/>
+    <bean id="uk_wayfPipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="uk_wayfPipeline">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_assemble"/>
@@ -209,11 +199,10 @@
         ***********************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="uk_finaliseFallback" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_finaliseFallback"/>
+    <bean id="uk_finaliseFallback" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_finaliseFallback">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/final_tweak.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -224,10 +213,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="serializeUnsignedFallbackAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeUnsignedFallbackAggregate"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeUnsignedFallbackAggregate" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeUnsignedFallbackAggregate">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ukfederation-back-unsigned.xml"/>
@@ -235,9 +222,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="uk_fallbackPipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_fallbackPipeline"/>
+    <bean id="uk_fallbackPipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="uk_fallbackPipeline">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_assemble"/>
@@ -263,11 +249,10 @@
         ***************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="uk_finaliseTest" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_finaliseTest"/>
+    <bean id="uk_finaliseTest" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_finaliseTest">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/final_tweak.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -278,10 +263,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="serializeUnsignedTestAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeUnsignedTestAggregate"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeUnsignedTestAggregate" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeUnsignedTestAggregate">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ukfederation-test-unsigned.xml"/>
@@ -297,21 +280,19 @@
         *******************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="uk_normaliseExport" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_normaliseExport"/>
+    <bean id="uk_normaliseExport" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_normaliseExport">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/ns_norm_export.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="uk_finaliseExport" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_finaliseExport"/>
+    <bean id="uk_finaliseExport" parent="xslt_parent"
+        p:id="uk_finaliseExport">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/final_tweak.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -322,16 +303,13 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="uk_exportSelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XPathItemSelectionStrategy"
-        lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="uk_exportSelector" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XPathItemSelectionStrategy">
         <constructor-arg value="/md:EntityDescriptor[md:Extensions/ukfedlabel:ExportOptIn]"/>
         <constructor-arg ref="commonNamespaces"/>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="serializeUnsignedExportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeUnsignedExportAggregate"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeUnsignedExportAggregate" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeUnsignedExportAggregate">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/xml/ukfederation-export-unsigned.xml"/>
@@ -339,9 +317,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="uk_exportPipeline" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_exportPipeline"/>
+    <bean id="uk_exportPipeline" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="uk_exportPipeline">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_default_regauth"/>
@@ -369,9 +346,8 @@
         *************************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="generate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="generate"/>
+    <bean id="generate" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="generate">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <!--
@@ -395,16 +371,16 @@
                     metadata as closely as possible, so the fork must happen before
                     too many UK-specific transformations are performed.
                 -->
-                <bean id="registrarDemux" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.PipelineDemultiplexerStage"
-                    init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                    <property name="id" value="registrarDemux"/>
+                <bean id="registrarDemux" parent="stage_parent"
+                    class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.PipelineDemultiplexerStage"
+                    p:id="registrarDemux">
                     <property name="pipelineAndSelectionStrategies">
                         <list>
-                            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.Pair">
+                            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.collection.Pair">
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_exportPipeline"/>
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_exportSelector"/>
                             </bean>
-                            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.Pair">
+                            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.collection.Pair">
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_statisticsPipeline"/>
                                 <constructor-arg ref="everythingSelector"/>
                             </bean>
@@ -432,20 +408,20 @@
                 <!--
                     Fork into new pipelines for the production, fallback and WAYF aggregates.
                 -->
-                <bean id="otherDemux" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.PipelineDemultiplexerStage"
-                    init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                    <property name="id" value="otherDemux"/>
+                <bean id="otherDemux" parent="stage_parent"
+                    class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.PipelineDemultiplexerStage"
+                    p:id="otherDemux">
                     <property name="pipelineAndSelectionStrategies">
                         <list>
-                            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.Pair">
+                            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.collection.Pair">
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_productionPipeline"/>
                                 <constructor-arg ref="everythingSelector"/>
                             </bean>
-                            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.Pair">
+                            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.collection.Pair">
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_fallbackPipeline"/>
                                 <constructor-arg ref="everythingSelector"/>
                             </bean>
-                            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.Pair">
+                            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.collection.Pair">
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_wayfPipeline"/>
                                 <constructor-arg ref="uk_wayfSelector"/>
                             </bean>
@@ -457,9 +433,9 @@
                 <!--
                     Merge in entities from other metadata sources.
                 -->
-                <bean id="mergeImportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.PipelineMergeStage"
-                    init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                    <property name="id" value="mergeImportedEntities"/>
+                <bean id="mergeImportedEntities" parent="stage_parent"
+                    class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.PipelineMergeStage"
+                    p:id="mergeImportedEntities">
                     <property name="collectionMergeStrategy">
                         <bean id="deduplicateMergeStrategy" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.DeduplicatingItemIdMergeStrategy"
                             lazy-init="true"/>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/strip_admin.xsl b/mdx/uk/strip_admin.xsl
deleted file mode 100644
index afc295bb..00000000
--- a/mdx/uk/strip_admin.xsl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<!--
-
-	strip_admin.xsl
-	
-	Remove any "administrative" ContactPerson elements from metadata.
-	
--->
-<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
-	xmlns:md="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"
-	
-	xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:metadata"
-    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
-	exclude-result-prefixes="xsi xsl">
-
-	<!--Force UTF-8 encoding for the output.-->
-	<xsl:output omit-xml-declaration="no" method="xml" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes"/>
-
-
-	<!--
-		Remove administrative contacts.
-	-->
-	<xsl:template match="md:ContactPerson[@contactType='administrative']"/>
-	
-
-	<!--
-        *********************************************
-        ***                                       ***
-        ***   D E F A U L T   T E M P L A T E S   ***
-        ***                                       ***
-        *********************************************
-    -->
-    
-
-	<!--By default, copy text blocks, comments and attributes unchanged.-->
-	<xsl:template match="text()|comment()|@*">
-		<xsl:copy/>
-	</xsl:template>
-	
-	<!--By default, copy all elements from the input to the output, along with their attributes and contents.-->
-	<xsl:template match="*">
-		<xsl:copy>
-			<xsl:apply-templates select="node()|@*"/>
-		</xsl:copy>
-	</xsl:template>
-	
-</xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/mdx/uk/verbs.xml b/mdx/uk/verbs.xml
index 908532d6..a6ad3bc7 100644
--- a/mdx/uk/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk/verbs.xml
@@ -33,9 +33,8 @@
         
         Stand-alone statistics generation.
     -->
-    <bean id="statistics" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="statistics"/>
+    <bean id="statistics" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="statistics">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_registeredEntities"/>
@@ -52,26 +51,22 @@
         Generates a page of links to discovery services, for each SP that
         has mdui:uiinfo metadata.
     -->
-    <bean id="sp_mdui_test" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="sp_mdui_test"/>
+    <bean id="sp_mdui_test" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="sp_mdui_test">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_registeredEntities"/>
                 <ref bean="assemble"/>
-                <bean id="process" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLTransformationStage"
-                    init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                    <property name="id" value="process"/>
+                <bean id="process" parent="xslt_parent"
+                    p:id="process">
                     <property name="xslResource">
-                        <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+                        <bean parent="file_parent">
                             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/sp_mdui_test.xsl"/>
                         </bean>
                     </property>
                 </bean>
-                <bean id="serialize" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-                    init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-                    <property name="id" value="serialize"/>
-                    <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+                <bean id="serialize" parent="serialize_parent"
+                    p:id="serialize">
                     <property name="outputFile">
                         <bean class="java.io.File">
                             <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk/temp.html"/>
@@ -90,8 +85,8 @@
         *********************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="checkPorts" p:id="checkPorts" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="checkPorts" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="checkPorts">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_registeredEntities"/>
@@ -122,8 +117,8 @@
         ***********************************
     -->
     
-    <bean id="checkFuture" p:id="checkFuture" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
+    <bean id="checkFuture" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="checkFuture">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_registeredEntities"/>
@@ -160,10 +155,8 @@
         Fetches the contents of the file used to hold metadata just imported
         by the federation's import transform.
     -->
-    <bean id="importedMetadata" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomFilesystemSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importedMetadata"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="importedMetadata" parent="domFileStage_parent"
+        p:id="importedMetadata">
         <property name="source">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/entities/imported.xml"/>
@@ -177,9 +170,8 @@
         Perform custom validation on metadata just imported by the
         federation's import transform.
     -->
-    <bean id="validateImportedMetadata" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="validateImportedMetadata"/>
+    <bean id="validateImportedMetadata" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="validateImportedMetadata">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="importedMetadata"/>
diff --git a/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml b/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml
index 9ed6c934..8bbd013b 100644
--- a/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk_eduserv/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the export metadata aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="https://auth.athensams.net/saml/metadata?name=ukfederation"/>
             </bean>
@@ -34,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check the signature on a document.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_eduserv_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="uk_eduserv_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="uk_eduserv_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="uk_eduserv_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
     
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml b/mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml
index 0620ee40..b3f4d277 100644
--- a/mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/uk_eduserv/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -15,10 +21,8 @@
     -->
     <import resource="beans.xml"/>
     
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/uk_eduserv/imported.xml"/>
@@ -26,9 +30,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_eduserv_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -38,9 +41,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="uk_eduserv_exportAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml b/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml
index 75d815cd..da6aa7cf 100644
--- a/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/us_incommon/beans.xml
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@
 <!--
     Common beans for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Fetch the InCommon production metadata aggregate.
     -->
-    <bean id="us_incommon_productionAggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.DomResourceSourceStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_productionAggregate"/>
-        <property name="parserPool" ref="parserPool"/>
+    <bean id="us_incommon_productionAggregate" parent="domResourceStage_parent"
+        p:id="us_incommon_productionAggregate">
         <property name="domResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.net.HttpResource">
+            <bean class="net.shibboleth.utilities.java.support.httpclient.HttpResource">
                 <constructor-arg name="client" ref="httpClient"/>
                 <constructor-arg name="url" value="http://wayf.incommonfederation.org/InCommon/InCommon-metadata.xml"/>
             </bean>
@@ -34,18 +38,17 @@
     <!--
         Check InCommon signing signature.
     -->
-    <bean id="us_incommon_checkSignature" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_checkSignature"/>
+    <bean id="us_incommon_checkSignature" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XMLSignatureValidationStage"
+        p:id="us_incommon_checkSignature">
         <property name="verificationCertificate" ref="us_incommon_signingCertificate"/>
     </bean>
 
     <!--
         Fetch and process the exported entities as a collection.
     -->
-    <bean id="us_incommon_exportedEntities" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="us_incommon_exportedEntities"/>
+    <bean id="us_incommon_exportedEntities" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="us_incommon_exportedEntities">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <!-- no export aggregate; use the production one instead -->
diff --git a/mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml b/mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml
index 6beb217f..5ec670e3 100644
--- a/mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml
+++ b/mdx/us_incommon/verbs.xml
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 <!--
     Verb definitions for this channel.
 -->
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> 
-
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
+    xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
+    xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
+    
     <!--
         Import commonly used beans.
     -->
@@ -18,10 +24,8 @@
     <!--
         Serialise into this channel's "imported" aggregate file.
     -->
-    <bean id="serializeImported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SerializationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="serializeImported"/>
-        <property name="serializer" ref="serializer"/>
+    <bean id="serializeImported" parent="serialize_parent"
+        p:id="serializeImported">
         <property name="outputFile">
             <bean class="java.io.File">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/us_incommon/imported.xml"/>
@@ -29,9 +33,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
     
-    <bean id="import" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="import"/>
+    <bean id="import" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="import">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="us_incommon_exportedEntities"/>
@@ -41,9 +44,8 @@
         </property>
     </bean>
 
-    <bean id="importRaw" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.SimplePipeline"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="importRaw"/>
+    <bean id="importRaw" parent="pipeline_parent"
+        p:id="importRaw">
         <property name="stages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="us_incommon_productionAggregate"/>
diff --git a/mdx/validation-beans.xml b/mdx/validation-beans.xml
index d0255f3b..d7e0632d 100644
--- a/mdx/validation-beans.xml
+++ b/mdx/validation-beans.xml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     Common validation bean definitions.
 -->
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+    default-lazy-init="true"
     xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
     xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
@@ -10,23 +11,6 @@
         http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
         http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd">
 
-    <!--
-        ***********************************
-        ***                             ***
-        ***   P A R E N T   B E A N S   ***
-        ***                             ***
-        ***********************************
-    -->
-    
-    <!--
-        check_xslt_parent
-        
-        Parent (template) for XSLT-based checking stages.
-    -->
-    <bean id="check_xslt_parent" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        parent="stage_parent" abstract="true"/>
-    
-    
     <!--
         ***********************************
         ***                             ***
@@ -50,9 +34,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_0
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_0" p:id="check_future_0" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_0" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_0">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_0.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -61,9 +46,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_1
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_1" p:id="check_future_1" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_1" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_1">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_1.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -72,9 +58,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_2
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_2" p:id="check_future_2" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_2" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_2">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_2.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -83,9 +70,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_3
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_3" p:id="check_future_3" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_3" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_3">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_3.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -94,9 +82,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_4
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_4" p:id="check_future_4" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_4" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_4">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_4.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -105,9 +94,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_5
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_5" p:id="check_future_5" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_5" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_5">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_5.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -116,9 +106,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_6
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_6" p:id="check_future_6" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_6" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_6">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_6.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -127,9 +118,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_7
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_7" p:id="check_future_7" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_7" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_7">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_7.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -138,9 +130,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_8
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_8" p:id="check_future_8" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_8" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_8">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_8.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -149,9 +142,10 @@
     <!--
         check_future_9
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future_9" p:id="check_future_9" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future_9" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_future_9">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_future_9.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -162,7 +156,8 @@
         
         Combines all check_future_N stages.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_future" p:id="check_future" parent="composite_parent">
+    <bean id="check_future" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="check_future">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="check_future_0"/>
@@ -192,11 +187,10 @@
     <!--
         check_adfs
     -->
-    <bean id="check_adfs" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        lazy-init="true" init-method="initialize">
-        <property name="id" value="check_adfs"/>
+    <bean id="check_adfs" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_adfs">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_adfs.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -205,11 +199,10 @@
     <!--
         check_aggregate
     -->
-    <bean id="check_aggregate" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        lazy-init="true" init-method="initialize">
-        <property name="id" value="check_aggregate"/>
+    <bean id="check_aggregate" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_aggregate">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_aggregate.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -218,9 +211,10 @@
     <!--
         check_bindings
     -->
-    <bean id="check_bindings" p:id="check_bindings" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_bindings" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_bindings">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_bindings.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -229,11 +223,10 @@
     <!--
         check_filtered
     -->
-    <bean id="check_filtered" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_filtered"/>
+    <bean id="check_filtered" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_filtered">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_filtered.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -242,11 +235,10 @@
     <!--
         check_fixups
     -->
-    <bean id="check_fixups" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_fixups"/>
+    <bean id="check_fixups" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_fixups">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_fixups.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -255,11 +247,10 @@
     <!--
         check_idpdisc
     -->
-    <bean id="check_idpdisc" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_idpdisc"/>
+    <bean id="check_idpdisc" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_idpdisc">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_idpdisc.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -268,11 +259,10 @@
     <!--
         check_imported
     -->
-    <bean id="check_imported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_imported"/>
+    <bean id="check_imported" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_imported">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_imported.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -281,11 +271,10 @@
     <!--
         check_init
     -->
-    <bean id="check_init" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_init"/>
+    <bean id="check_init" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_init">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_init.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -294,11 +283,10 @@
     <!--
         check_mdiop
     -->
-    <bean id="check_mdiop" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_mdiop"/>
+    <bean id="check_mdiop" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_mdiop">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_mdiop.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -317,11 +305,10 @@
         
         Miscellaneous MDRPI tests, in XSLT.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_mdrpi_xslt" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_mdrpi_xslt"/>
+    <bean id="check_mdrpi_xslt" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_mdrpi_xslt">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_mdrpi.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -332,9 +319,8 @@
         
         Composite check for the MDRPI specification.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_mdrpi" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_mdrpi"/>
+    <bean id="check_mdrpi" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="check_mdrpi">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="check_mdrpi_xslt"/>
@@ -350,10 +336,9 @@
         Any registrationAuthority already present on an entity in this
         channel must match the known registration authority value.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_regauth_parent" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true" abstract="true">
+    <bean id="check_regauth_parent" abstract="true" parent="check_xslt_parent">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_regauth.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -372,22 +357,20 @@
         
         Checks for the mdui:IPHint element.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_mdui_iphint" class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.validate.mdui.IPHintValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_mdui_iphint"/>
-        <property name="checkingNetworks" value="true"/>
-    </bean>
+    <bean id="check_mdui_iphint" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="uk.org.ukfederation.mda.validate.mdui.IPHintValidationStage"
+        p:id="check_mdui_iphint"
+        p:checkingNetworks="true"/>
     
     <!--
         check_mdui_xslt
         
         Miscellaneous MDUI tests, in XSLT.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_mdui_xslt" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_mdui_xslt"/>
+    <bean id="check_mdui_xslt" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_mdui_xslt">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_mdui.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -398,9 +381,8 @@
         
         Composite check for the MDUI specification.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_mdui" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_mdui"/>
+    <bean id="check_mdui" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="check_mdui">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="check_mdui_iphint"/>
@@ -420,11 +402,10 @@
     <!--
         check_misc
     -->
-    <bean id="check_misc" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_misc"/>
+    <bean id="check_misc" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_misc">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_misc.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -433,11 +414,10 @@
     <!--
         check_namespaces
     -->
-    <bean id="check_namespaces" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_namespaces"/>
+    <bean id="check_namespaces" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_namespaces">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_namespaces.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -446,11 +426,10 @@
     <!--
         check_nokeyname
     -->
-    <bean id="check_nokeyname" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_nokeyname"/>
+    <bean id="check_nokeyname" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_nokeyname">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_nokeyname.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -461,11 +440,10 @@
         
         Check for regular expressions in Shibboleth Scope elements.  Applied very selectively.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_regscope" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_regscope"/>
+    <bean id="check_regscope" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_regscope">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/mdx/check_regscope.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -474,11 +452,10 @@
     <!--
         check_reqattr
     -->
-    <bean id="check_reqattr" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_reqattr"/>
+    <bean id="check_reqattr" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_reqattr">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_reqattr.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -487,11 +464,10 @@
     <!--
         check_saml2int
     -->
-    <bean id="check_saml2int" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_saml2int"/>
+    <bean id="check_saml2int" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_saml2int">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_saml2int.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -500,9 +476,10 @@
     <!--
         check_saml1
     -->
-    <bean id="check_saml1" p:id="check_saml1" parent="check_xslt_parent">
+    <bean id="check_saml1" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_saml1">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_saml1.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -511,11 +488,10 @@
     <!--
         check_saml2
     -->
-    <bean id="check_saml2" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_saml2"/>
+    <bean id="check_saml2" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_saml2">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_saml2.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -524,11 +500,10 @@
     <!--
         check_saml2meta
     -->
-    <bean id="check_saml2meta" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_saml2meta"/>
+    <bean id="check_saml2meta" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_saml2meta">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_saml2meta.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -537,11 +512,10 @@
     <!--
         check_shibboleth
     -->
-    <bean id="check_shibboleth" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_shibboleth"/>
+    <bean id="check_shibboleth" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_shibboleth">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_shibboleth.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -553,9 +527,9 @@
         Check that an aggregate has a validUntil instant specified, and that it has not
         yet expired.  Does not put an upper bound on validUntil intervals.
     -->
-    <bean id="check_validUntil" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.ValidateValidUntilStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_validUntil"/>
+    <bean id="check_validUntil" parent="stage_parent"
+        class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.saml.ValidateValidUntilStage"
+        p:id="check_validUntil">
         <!--
             The validUntil attribute must be present.
         -->
@@ -570,11 +544,10 @@
     <!--
         check_vhosts
     -->
-    <bean id="check_vhosts" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.dom.XSLValidationStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="check_vhosts"/>
+    <bean id="check_vhosts" parent="check_xslt_parent"
+        p:id="check_vhosts">
         <property name="xslResource">
-            <bean class="org.opensaml.util.resource.FilesystemResource">
+            <bean parent="file_parent">
                 <constructor-arg value="#{ systemProperties['basedir'] }/build/check_vhosts.xsl"/>
             </bean>
         </property>
@@ -583,9 +556,8 @@
     <!--
         CHECK_std
     -->
-    <bean id="CHECK_std" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="CHECK_std"/>
+    <bean id="CHECK_std" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="CHECK_std">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="check_adfs"/>
@@ -610,9 +582,8 @@
     <!--
         CHECK_imported
     -->
-    <bean id="CHECK_imported" class="net.shibboleth.metadata.pipeline.CompositeStage"
-        init-method="initialize" lazy-init="true">
-        <property name="id" value="CHECK_imported"/>
+    <bean id="CHECK_imported" parent="composite_parent"
+        p:id="CHECK_imported">
         <property name="composedStages">
             <list>
                 <ref bean="CHECK_std"/>
diff --git a/tools/ukf-mda/logback.xml b/tools/ukf-mda/logback.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index a4eb864d..00000000
--- a/tools/ukf-mda/logback.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-
-<configuration>
-
-    <appender name="CONSOLE" class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
-        <encoder class="ch.qos.logback.classic.encoder.PatternLayoutEncoder">
-            <charset>UTF-8</charset>
-            <Pattern>%level - %msg%n</Pattern>
-        </encoder>
-    </appender>
-
-    <root level="WARN">
-        <appender-ref ref="CONSOLE" />
-    </root>
-    
-</configuration>
diff --git a/tools/ukf-mda/ukf-mda-0.6.5.jar b/tools/ukf-mda/ukf-mda-0.6.5.jar
deleted file mode 100644
index 2f36df24..00000000
Binary files a/tools/ukf-mda/ukf-mda-0.6.5.jar and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/tools/ukf-mda/ukf-mda-0.7.0.jar b/tools/ukf-mda/ukf-mda-0.7.0.jar
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..79c9e55d
Binary files /dev/null and b/tools/ukf-mda/ukf-mda-0.7.0.jar differ