A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The $JAVA_HOME/conf/security/java.security file sets the security properties, fips.provider.1, fips.provider.2, ..., fips.provider.7. For example:

fips.provider.2=SUN

Are these properties described anywhere in the public documentation?

If not, is it possible to provide an overview of how they are used by the Java SE runtime? In particular, do they effect the selection of security providers configured using the security.provider.* properties?