diff --git a/ChangeLog.txt b/ChangeLog.txt
index 56d218a..db778eb 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.txt
+++ b/ChangeLog.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,38 @@
 Portions of this report were generated using the ReleaseNotes facility
 in Jira.
 
+Release 1.5.5
+=============
+
+** Bug
+    * [WSS-42] - java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/apache/xml/security/encryption/XMLEncryptionException
+    * [WSS-94] - Security Breach : The client certificate signature is not verified if the serial number is known in the keystore
+    * [WSS-121] - Bug in default value for SAML issuer class property
+    * [WSS-126] - SignatureProcessor:verifyXMLSignature method - Crypto object can have null values in the following scenario but it throws an Exception if the Crypto object is null
+    * [WSS-129] - Couple places where "cause" of WSSecurityException not set
+    * [WSS-133] - Method and variable misspellings fixed
+    * [WSS-140] - WSSecEncryptedKey produces EncryptedKey element with invalid Id attribute
+    * [WSS-141] - handleUsernameToken gives too much information. Can be used to deternine if a username exists or not
+    * [WSS-142] - We ship opensaml 1.0.1 even though we use opensaml 1.1 in maven
+    * [WSS-149] - AbstractCrypto requires org.apache.ws.security.crypto.merlin.file to be set and point to an existing file
+** Improvement
+    * [WSS-85] - Better exception handling in the crypto (e.g. no e.printStackTrace())
+    * [WSS-122] - Some fixes for the website
+    * [WSS-123] - 1.5.4 requires opensaml jar, older versions did not
+    * [WSS-125] - Upgrade BouncyCastle version
+    * [WSS-128] - Use xml-sec 1.4.1 version
+    * [WSS-135] - Fix for minor checkstyle issues
+    * [WSS-137] - "Unexpected number of X509Data: for Signature" error doesn't make sense.
+    * [WSS-138] - Add Nabble to site mailing list page
+    * [WSS-145] - Problem in upgrading to xml-sec 1.4.2
+    * [WSS-150] - Upgrade to XALAN 2.7.1
+* New Feature
+    * [WSS-23] - no way to programmatically set crypto.properties
+* Task
+    * [WSS-124] - Get maven dependencies pushed to central
+    * [WSS-132] - TestWSSecurityX509v1 failing
+    * [WSS-144] - Remove tab characters from WSS4J files
+
 Release 1.5.4
 =============
 
diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index 2ac8486..1f42886 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -191,6 +191,11 @@
     
     See: http://www.opensaml.org/
 
+serializer-2.7.1.jar
+    The Apache Xalan XML serializer library.
+    
+    See: http://xml.apache.org/xalan-j/
+
 wsdl4j-1.5.1.jar
     The WSDL parsing functions, required by Axis tools to read and
     parse WSDL.
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 8f5e901..f62c574 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
 
         <property name='product.version.major' value='1'/>
         <property name='product.version.minor' value='5'/>
-        <property name='product.version.level' value='4'/>
-        <property name='product.version' value='SNAPSHOT'/>
+        <property name='product.version.level' value='5'/>
+        <property name='product.version' value='1.5.5-RC1'/>
         <!-- <property name='product.version' value='${product.version.major}.${product.version.minor}.${product.version.level}'/> -->
         <property name="year" value="2008"/>
         <property name="copyright" value="Copyright &#169; ${year} Apache WSS4J Project. All Rights Reserved."/>
@@ -289,6 +289,11 @@
         description="This target copies the Java sources and brands the version information">
         <!-- create directories -->
         <mkdir dir="${build.classes}"/>
+        <copy todir="${build.classes}">
+            <fileset dir="${dir.src}">
+                <include name="META-INF/*"/>
+            </fileset>
+        </copy>
     </target>
 
     <target name="javadoc"
@@ -720,18 +725,18 @@
      <mkdir dir="${dir.dist}"/>
      <jar jarfile="${dir.dist}/${jar.library}"
        basedir="${build.classes}"
-       includes="**/apache/**/security/**"  />
+       includes="**/apache/**/security/**, META-INF/**"  />
      <zip destfile=
         "${dir.dist}/${product.shortname}-bin-${product.version}.zip">
         <zipfileset prefix="wss4j" dir="."
-          includes="keys/**, interop/**, interop2/**, test/**, samples/**,
-          LICENSE.txt, README.txt, NOTICE, legal/**, webapps/**"/>
+            includes="keys/**, interop/**, interop2/**, test/**, samples/**,
+                ChangeLog.txt, LICENSE.txt, README.txt, NOTICE, legal/**, webapps/**"/>
         <zipfileset prefix="wss4j/classes" dir="${build.classes}"
-          includes=
-     "*.properties, interop/**, wssec/**, org/**/oasis/**, org/**/samples/**"/>
+            includes=
+                "*.properties, interop/**, wssec/**, org/**/oasis/**, org/**/samples/**"/>
         <zipfileset prefix="wss4j/doc/api" dir="${build.javadoc}"/>
         <zipfileset fullpath="wss4j/${jar.library}" dir="${dir.dist}" 
-          includes="${jar.library}"/>
+            includes="${jar.library}"/>
       </zip>
     </target>
 
@@ -751,7 +756,7 @@
         <zip destfile=
                  "${dir.dist}/${product.shortname}-src-${product.version}.zip">
             <zipfileset prefix="wss4j" dir="."
-                includes="src/** LICENSE.txt README.txt NOTICE legal/** build.xml "/>
+                includes="src/** ChangeLog.txt LICENSE.txt README.txt NOTICE legal/** build.xml "/>
         </zip>
     </target>
 
diff --git a/contrib/wss4j-release.sh b/contrib/wss4j-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..724c25c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/wss4j-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright (c) The Apache Software Foundation.
+#
+#  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+#  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+#  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+#  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+#  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+#  limitations under the License.
+#
+if [ -z "${WSS4J_SRC_ROOT}" ]
+then
+    echo "Assuming WSS4J source tree is the CWD..."
+    WSS4J_SRC_ROOT=.
+fi
+if [ -z "${WSS4J_VERSION}" ]
+then
+    WSS4J_VERSION=SNAPSHOT
+    echo "Setting WSS4J_VERSION to ${WSS4J_VERSION}"
+fi
+if [ -z "${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}" ]
+then
+    WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT=/tmp/$(id -u -nr)/stage_wss4j/${WSS4J_VERSION}
+    echo "Setting WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT to ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}"
+fi
+if [ -z "${M2_REPO}" ]
+then
+    M2_REPO=$HOME/.m2/repository
+    echo "Setting M2_REPO to ${M2_REPO}"
+fi
+#
+# set up the staging area
+#
+rm -rf ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}
+mkdir -p ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/dist
+mkdir -p ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/maven/org/apache/ws/security/wss4j/${WSS4J_VERSION}
+#
+# Build and stage the distribution using ant
+#
+cd ${WSS4J_SRC_ROOT}
+ant clean
+ant dist || exit 1
+cp -r dist/* ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/dist
+#
+# Build and stage through maven; copy the Jartifact built by Maven to the dist
+# Since we build and test with ant, we use the ant-built JAR as the version of
+# the artifact we'll use in maven.
+#
+# All this will get fixed when we move to maven throughout.
+#
+mvn clean || exit 1
+mvn -Prelease install || exit 1
+mkdir -p ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/maven/org/apache/ws/security/wss4j/
+cp -r ${M2_REPO}/org/apache/ws/security/wss4j/${WSS4J_VERSION} ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/maven/org/apache/ws/security/wss4j
+cp -f ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/build/wss4j-${WSS4J_VERSION}.jar ${M2_REPO}/org/apache/ws/security/wss4j/${WSS4J_VERSION}
+#
+# Sign and hash the release bits
+#
+cd ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/dist
+for i in *
+do
+    gpg --detach-sign --armor $i
+    gpg --verify $i.asc
+done
+cd ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/maven/org/apache/ws/security/wss4j/${WSS4J_VERSION}
+for i in *
+do
+    gpg --detach-sign --armor $i
+    gpg --verify $i.asc
+done
+for i in *.jar *.pom
+do
+    md5 -q $i > $i.md5
+done
+#
+# Build the web site
+#
+cd ${WSS4J_SRC_ROOT}
+mvn site || exit 1
+cp -r target/site ${WSS4J_STAGE_ROOT}/site
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index abb4d2e..90b3285 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@
     <groupId>org.apache.ws.security</groupId>
     <artifactId>wss4j</artifactId>
     <name>WSS4J</name>
-    <!-- <version>1.5.4</version> -->
-    <version>SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>1.5.5-RC1</version>
     <description>
         Apache WSS4J is an implementation of the Web Services Security
         (WS-Security) being developed at OASIS Web Services Security TC.
@@ -95,7 +94,7 @@
         <url>http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/webservices/wss4j/trunk</url>
     </scm>
     <organization>
-        <name>Apache Software Foundation</name>
+        <name>The Apache Software Foundation</name>
         <url>http://www.apache.org/</url>
     </organization>
     
@@ -244,6 +243,7 @@
                     <groupId>bouncycastle</groupId>
                     <artifactId>bcprov-jdk14</artifactId>
                     <version>${bcprov.jdk14.version}</version>
+                    <scope>runtime</scope>
                 </dependency>
             </dependencies>
         </profile>
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@
                     <groupId>bouncycastle</groupId>
                     <artifactId>bcprov-jdk15</artifactId>
                     <version>${bcprov.jdk15.version}</version>
+                    <scope>runtime</scope>
                 </dependency>
             </dependencies>
         </profile>
@@ -298,16 +299,19 @@
             <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
             <version>${commons.logging.version}</version>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.santuario</groupId>
             <artifactId>xmlsec</artifactId>
             <version>${xmlsec.version}</version>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>opensaml</groupId>
             <artifactId>opensaml</artifactId>
             <version>${opensaml.version}</version>
+            <scope>compile</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.axis</groupId>
@@ -337,21 +341,25 @@
             <groupId>xalan</groupId>
             <artifactId>xalan</artifactId>
             <version>${xalan.version}</version>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>xerces</groupId>
             <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
             <version>${xerces.version}</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>xml-apis</groupId>
             <artifactId>xml-apis</artifactId>
             <version>${xml.apis.version}</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>junit</groupId>
             <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
             <version>${junit.version}</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
@@ -384,7 +392,10 @@
                 <artifactId>maven-changes-plugin</artifactId>
                 <version>2.0</version>
                 <configuration>
+                    <!--
                     <onlyCurrentVersion>true</onlyCurrentVersion>
+                    -->
+                    <fixVersionIds>12313215</fixVersionIds>
                     <resolutionIds>Any</resolutionIds>
                     <statusIds>Resolved, Closed</statusIds>
                     <sortColumnNames>Key</sortColumnNames>
diff --git a/src/META-INF/LICENSE.txt b/src/META-INF/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d645695
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/META-INF/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+
+                                 Apache License
+                           Version 2.0, January 2004
+                        http://www.apache.org/licenses/
+
+   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
+
+   1. Definitions.
+
+      "License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
+      and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
+
+      "Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
+      the copyright owner that is granting the License.
+
+      "Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
+      other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
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+      "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
+      direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
+      otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
+      outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
+
+      "You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
+      exercising permissions granted by this License.
+
+      "Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
+      including but not limited to software source code, documentation
+      source, and configuration files.
+
+      "Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
+      transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
+      not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
+      and conversions to other media types.
+
+      "Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
+      Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
+      copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
+      (an example is provided in the Appendix below).
+
+      "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
+      form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
+      editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
+      represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
+      of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
+      separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
+      the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
+
+      "Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
+      the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
+      to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
+      submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
+      or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
+      the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
+      means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
+      to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
+      communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
+      and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
+      Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
+      excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
+      designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."
+
+      "Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
+      on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
+      subsequently incorporated within the Work.
+
+   2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
+      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
+      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
+      copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
+      publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
+      Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
+
+   3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
+      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
+      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
+      (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
+      use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
+      where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
+      by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
+      Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
+      with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
+      institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
+      cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
+      or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
+      or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
+      granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
+      as of the date such litigation is filed.
+
+   4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
+      Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
+      modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
+      meet the following conditions:
+
+      (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
+          Derivative Works a copy of this License; and
+
+      (b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
+          stating that You changed the files; and
+
+      (c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
+          that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
+          attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
+          excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
+          the Derivative Works; and
+
+      (d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
+          distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
+          include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
+          within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
+          pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
+          of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
+          as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
+          documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
+          within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
+          wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
+          of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
+          do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
+          notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
+          or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
+          that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
+          as modifying the License.
+
+      You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
+      may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
+      for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
+      for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
+      reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
+      the conditions stated in this License.
+
+   5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
+      any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
+      by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
+      this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
+      Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
+      the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
+      with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
+
+   6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
+      names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
+      except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
+      origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
+
+   7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
+      agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
+      Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+      implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
+      of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
+      PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
+      appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
+      risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
+
+   8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
+      whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
+      unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
+      negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
+      liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
+      incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
+      result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
+      Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
+      work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
+      other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
+      has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
+
+   9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
+      the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
+      and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
+      or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
+      License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
+      on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
+      of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
+      defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
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+      of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
+
+   END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+   APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.
+
+      To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
+      boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
+      replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
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+      file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
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+   Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
diff --git a/src/META-INF/NOTICE b/src/META-INF/NOTICE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8abdd02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/META-INF/NOTICE
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Apache WSS4J
+Copyright 2004-2008 The Apache Software Foundation
+
+This product includes software developed by
+The Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).
+
+This product includes software Copyright University of Southampton IT
+Innovation Centre, 2006 (http://www.it-innovation.soton.ac.uk).
diff --git a/xdocs/index.xml b/xdocs/index.xml
index 4e79910..f99d5f3 100644
--- a/xdocs/index.xml
+++ b/xdocs/index.xml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
                 <p style="margin-left: 40px;">You can download the latest version of WSS4J at the following URL:<br/>
                     <a href="http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi/ws/wss4j/">http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi/ws/wss4j/</a>
                 </p>
-                <p style="margin-left: 40px;">The latest release of WSS4J is version 1.5.4.
+                <p style="margin-left: 40px;">The latest release of WSS4J is version 1.5.5.
                 </p>
             </subsection>
             <subsection name="WS-Security Features">