Blockchain with Hyperledger Fabric

Cover
Copyright
Packt Page
Contributors
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Blockchain – An Enterprise and Industry Perspective
	Our focus for the new edition
	Defining the terms – what is blockchain?
	Design considerations for blockchain solutions
		Four core building blocks
		Additional capabilities to consider
	Fundamentals of the secure transaction processing protocol
	Where blockchain technology has been and where it's going
		The great divide
		An economic model for blockchain delivery
		Learning as we go
		The promise of trust and accountability
	Blockchain in the enterprise
		What applications are a good fit?
		Enterprise blockchain business evaluation considerations
			A few thoughts on blockchain business models
			Business growth and innovation
			How do growth and innovation relate to a blockchain-powered network?
			Considerations for evaluating the economic value of blockchain entities
			Blockchain investment rubric
		How does the enterprise view blockchain?
		Integrating a blockchain infrastructure for the whole enterprise
	Enterprise design principles
		Business drivers and evolution
		Ensuring the sustainability of blockchain-based business networks
		Design principles that drive blockchain adoption
	Business considerations for choosing a blockchain framework
	Technology considerations for choosing a blockchain framework
		Identity management
		Scalability
		Enterprise security
		Development tooling
		Crypto-economic models
		Decentralization with systemic governance
		Enterprise support
		Use case-driven pluggability choices
			Shared ledger technology
			Consensus
			Crypto algorithms and encryption technology
	Enterprise integration and designing for extensibility
	Other considerations
		Consensus, ACID properties, and CAP
		Attestation – SSCs are signed and encrypted
		Use of HSMs
	Summary
	References
Chapter 2: Exploring Hyperledger Fabric
	Building on the foundations of open computing
	Fundamentals of the Hyperledger project
		The Linux Foundation
		Hyperledger
		Open source and open standards
	Hyperledger frameworks, tools, and building blocks
		Hyperledger distributed ledger frameworks
		Hyperledger libraries
		Hyperledger tools
		The building blocks of blockchain solutions
	Hyperledger Fabric component design
		Principles of Hyperledger design
		Hyperledger Fabric reference architecture
		Hyperledger Fabric runtime architecture
		Strengths and advantages of a componentized design
	Hyperledger Fabric: the journey of a sample transaction
	Actors and components in a Hyperledger Fabric network
		Actors in a blockchain network
		Components in a blockchain network
		Developer interaction
	CAP theorem
	New features covered in this book
	Summary
Chapter 3: Business Networks
	A busy world of purposeful activity
	Why a language for business networks?
	Defining a business network
	Introducing participants
		Types of participant
			Individual participants
			Organizational participants
			System or device participants
		A participant is an agent
		Participant identity
	Introducing assets
		Assets flow between participants
		Tangible and intangible assets
		The structure of assets
		Ownership
			A special kind of relationship
			Ownership and asset tokenization
		Asset life cycles
		Describing a life cycle with transactions
	Introducing transactions
		Change and transactions
		Transaction definition and instance
		Implicit and explicit transactions
		The importance of contracts
		Signatures
		Smart contract multi-party transactions
		Digital transaction processing
		Initiating transactions
		Transaction history
		Transaction streams
		A network of networks
		Current value and transaction history
		A business network as a history of transactions
		Regulators
	Introducing events
		A universal concept
		Event notifications
		An event example
		Events and transactions
		External and explicit events
		Loosely coupled design
		Events are useful!
	Business network technology
		More dematerialization
		The blockchain benefit
		Interacting with a blockchain
			Organizational structure
			Technical componentry
			Participants
			APIs
			Application tier
			Smart contract
			Ledger
			Peer
			Ordering service
			Network channel
			Identity
	Summary
Chapter 4: Setting the Stage with a Business Scenario
	Trading and letters of credit
		The importance of trust in facilitating trade
		The letter of credit process today
	Business scenario and use case
		Overview
		Real-world processes
		Simplified and modified processes
		Terms used in trade finance and logistics
		Shared process workflow
		Shared assets and data
		Participants' roles and capabilities
		Advantages of blockchain applications over current real-world processes
	Designing and configuring a Hyperledger Fabric trade network
		Designing a network
		Installing prerequisites
		Setting up the development/test environment
			Testing the IBP extension
		Forking and cloning the trade-network repository
		Creating and running a network configuration
			Preparing the network
			Generating network cryptographic material
			Generating channel artifacts
			Composing a sample trade network
			Network components' configuration files
			Configuring peer databases
	Launching a sample trade network
	Configuring our development environment for network operations
		Creating Fabric identity wallets
		Creating a Fabric environment
			Creating a node file
			Creating and connecting to a Fabric environment in VS Code
	Summary
Chapter 5: Designing Smart Contract Transactions and Ledger Data Structures
	Architecture of the trade solution
	Starting the contract development
		Opening and packaging a contract
		Deploying a contract in the testing environment
			Invoking and debugging a contract
	Creating a contract
		The contract interface
		Implementing the contract
	Access control
		ABAC
			Registering a user
			Enrolling a user
			Access control in the contract
	Implementing contract functions
		Scenario contracts' functions
		Defining contract assets
		Coding contract functions
			Creating an asset
			Reading and modifying an asset
	Testing a contract
		Creating a test suite file
		Defining a test suite
		Unit tests
		Running tests in the terminal
		Running tests in VS Code
	Advanced contract design topics
		Cross-contract and cross-ledger invocation
		Composite keys
		Range and composite key queries
		State queries and CouchDB
		Indexes
		History queries
	Transaction mechanisms
		The ReadSet and WriteSet
		Multiversion concurrency control
	Logging output
		Configuration
		Logging API
		Standard output and error
		Additional API functions
	Summary
Chapter 6: Developing Smart Contracts
	Business networks
	Solution application components
		The transaction ledger and multi-party transactions
		Smart contracts
		Applications
		Network channels
	The multi-party transaction
		Transaction type
		Transaction identifier
		Proposal
		Response
			Valid and invalid transactions
	The ledger
		State database
			State
			State collections
		Blockchain
			Immutable blocks and transactions
			Immutability
		Primacy of the blockchain
	Smart contracts
		A central role in the network
		Smart contracts and consensus
		Writing a smart contract
			Smart contract structure
			Contract class and transaction methods
			Elaborating a smart contract
			Writing smart contract transaction methods
			Marshalling the transaction proposal input
			Accessing the ledger to generate a transaction response
			Accessing the state database
			Returning a signed transaction response
			Checking that business objects exist
			Transaction handlers
			Other functionality available in fabric-contract-api
			Annotations
		Packaging smart contracts
			A word on terminology
			Smart contract package definition agreement
	Programming language
		Choice of programming language
			Using a type system
			Modularity – a big idea in Hyperledger Fabric
	Endorsement policy
		The structure of an endorsement policy
			Network agreement
			Why endorsement?
			Endorsement policy – a separate concern
			State-based endorsement
			Collection endorsement policy
	Summary
Chapter 7: Developing Applications
	Applications
		The three basic application operations
		The application SDK
			Declarative APIs and the fabric-network package
			Separating the physical from the logical
		Querying the ledger
		Submitting a new transaction
			The process
			How the SDK makes consensus easy
		Requesting ledger notification
	Wallets and identity
		Using an identity
		Using a wallet
	Gateways
		Why gateways are useful
		Discovery
		A network view for an application
	Accessing networks and smart contracts
		Single network gateway
		Multi-network gateway
	Querying the ledger
		Smart contract packaging and namespaces
		Using EvaluateTransaction to query the ledger
		Separating the logical from the physical
		Synchronous and asynchronous queries
		Query in a more complex topology
	Submitting a new transaction
		The other organizations in the network
		What it means to evaluate and submit a transaction
		The network topology doesn't matter!
		Atomic transactions within and across networks
		Combining transactions in a single unit of work
	Events and notifications
		Transactions, events, and smart contracts
			Transactions and events
			Smart contracts and events
		Event listening and notification
			Listening – how it works
			Asynchronous responses
	Summary
Chapter 8: Advanced Topics for Developing Smart Contracts and Applications
	Customizing SDK behavior
		Connection options to the rescue
		Event handler functions
			Checkpoint handler
	Transient data
		Explicitly recording transaction input
		Hiding the transaction input
	Private data
		Using private data collections
			Smart contract exploitation
			Private data with transient data
		Understanding private data collections
		Private data consensus and off-chain data
		Private data collections and verifiability
		Recapping on styles
			The verify-style transaction
			Applications, organizations, and private data
		Private data consensus
		The insert-style transaction
			The most important trade
			Insert-style smart contract
			Insert-style application transaction submission
		Read your own writes
	Collection and state endorsements policy
		Levels of endorsement policy
		A note on collection policies
		The transfer-style transaction
		The createInfo transaction
			The transferInfo transaction
			The updateInfo transaction
		The transfer-style application transaction submission
		Summarizing smart contracts, transactions, and applications
	Advanced smart contract packaging
		Multi-definition packages
		Functional packaging
	Summary
Chapter 9: Network Operation and Distributed Application Building
	Stages in a Fabric network's life cycle
	Fabric application model and architecture
		Fabric application development overview
		Architecture of a Fabric application for trade
	Operations – network setup and bootstrap
		Operations overview – channel and contract setup
		Prerequisites – creating all channel artifacts
			Creating all channel artifacts
			Launching the network
		Overview of Fabric tools and commands
		Creating channels
			Using the trade.sh script as a shortcut
			Verifying block creation
		Joining organization peers to channels
		Setting organization anchor peers on channels
		Running all channel operations in one go
		Installing and initializing contracts
			Using CLI tools to install and initialize contracts
			Installing contracts using the VS Code IBP extension
	Developing service-layer applications
		Application runtime life cycle
		An application for the importer’s organization
			Importer application structure
			Project dependencies
			Setting application properties and generating a connection profile
			Designing a service API for the importer application
			User registration, login, and session management
			User roles and access control
			Fabric registration, enrolment, and identity wallets
			Contract invocations through gateways
			Launching and testing the application
			Event management
	Exercising the application through a presentation layer
		Launching applications
		An end-to-end scenario – trade request to final payment
			Users and their credentials
			Registering users
			Logging in users
			Requesting a trade as an importer
			Accepting a trade as an exporter
			Requesting a letter of credit as an importer
			Issuing a letter of credit as an importer’s bank
			Accepting a letter of credit as an exporter’s bank
			Requesting an export license as an exporter
			Issuing an export license as a regulator
			Preparing a shipment as an exporter
			Accepting a shipment and issuing a bill of lading as a carrier
			Requesting a partial payment as an exporter’s bank
			Making a partial payment as an importer’s bank
			Delivering a shipment as a carrier
			Requesting the balance payment as an exporter’s bank
			Making the balance payment as an importer’s bank
			Viewing the list of active or processed trades as an importer
	Using a production-grade ordering service
	Summary of key steps
	Summary
Chapter 10: Enterprise Design Patterns and Considerations
	Design considerations
		Managing heterogeneity
		Process alignment
		Message affinity
		Service discovery
		Identity mapping
	Integration design patterns
		Integrating with an existing system of record
		Integrating with an operational data store for blockchain analytics
		Microservice and event-driven architecture
	Resiliency and fault tolerance
		Reliability and availability
		Serviceability
	Summary
Chapter 11: Agility in a Blockchain Network
	Defining the promotion process
		Aligning the promotion process to components
		Smart contract considerations
		Integration layer considerations
	Continuous integration
		Promotion process overview
		Configuring a CI pipeline
			Customizing the pipeline process
			Publishing our smart contract package
		Configuring your GitHub repository
			Setting the code owners of our smart contract
			Protecting the master branch
			Configuring Git for commit signing and validation
			Configuring GPG on your local workstation
	Testing considerations for the trade network
		Unit testing
			Defining our user story and business scenarios
			Test fixture
			Mapping scenarios to Mocha
			Implementing unit tests
		Integration testing
			Setting up the integration tests
			Testing the trade business process
			Running the integration tests
		Exercising the end-to-end process
			Creating a new transaction
			Adding the mergeTrade unit test
			Submitting a pull request with a signed commit
			Releasing the new version
	Continuous delivery
		Kubernetes as a platform for Hyperledger Fabric
		Infrastructure as Code and Ansible
		Deployment process overview
			Centralization versus decentralization
			Notifying the consortium
		Applying these concepts to our network
			Setting up Ansible
			Starting the network using Ansible
			Pulling a new chaincode release
			Upgrading the network
	Summary
Chapter 12: Governance – A Necessary Evil of Regulated Industries
	Decentralization and governance
	Exploring business models
		Blockchain benefits
			Supply chain management
			Healthcare
			Letters of credit
		From benefits to profits
		B2B and B2C considerations
		Network business models
			Founder-led networks
			Consortium-based networks
			Community-based networks
			Hybrid models
	Funding models
		Token-based models
		Traditional models
		Membership considerations
	Governance of a business network
	Mapping business roles to blockchain roles
	Governance structure
		Centralized governance
			Exploring the levels of governance
			Mapping governance to organizational structure
		Decentralized governance
	Business domains and processes
		Membership life cycle
		Funding and fees
		Regulation
		Education
		Service life cycle
		Disputes
	Blockchain as a governance tool
		Managing network policies
		Types of policies
			Organization level versus network level
			Consortiums
			Channels
			Endorsements
	Summary
Chapter 13: Life in a Blockchain Network
	Modifying or upgrading a Hyperledger Fabric application
		Changing requirements and update modes
		Fabric blockchain and application life cycle
		Network organization resource updates
			Adding a peer to an organization
			Installing a smart contract on a new peer
			Removing a peer from an organization
		Channel configuration updates
			Adding a new organization to a live network
			Prerequisites for adding a new organization to the network
			Generating cryptographic material for the new organization
			Generating channel artifacts for the new organization
			Generating the cryptographic and channel artifacts in one operation
			Docker containers for the new organization
			Launching network components for the new organization
			Updating the channel configuration
			Joining the new organization's peer to the channels
			Setting the anchor peer for the new organization's peer on the channels
			Installing contracts on peers in the new organization
		Smart contract and policy updates
			Overview of contract update procedures
			Modification in contract business logic
			Endorsement policy updates
			Upgrading contract code and endorsement policies on the channels
			Augmenting the distributed application
		Platform upgrades
			Upgrading a live four-organization trade network
	System monitoring and performance
		Measurement and analytics
		Fabric system measurement considerations
		Metrics for performance analysis
		Fabric application performance measurement and data collection
			Measuring system health indicators
			Fabric support for component monitoring
			Profiling containers and applications
			Measuring application performance
		Fabric engineering guidelines for performance
			Platform performance characteristics
			System bottlenecks
			Configuration and tuning
			Ledger data availability and caching
			Fabric performance measurement and benchmarking
	Summary
Chapter 14: Hyperledger Fabric Security
	Hyperledger Fabric design goals impacting security
	Hyperledger Fabric architecture
		Fabric CA or membership service provider
		Peer
		Smart contracts
		Ledger
		Private data
		Ordering node
			History of the ordering service in Hyperledger Fabric
	Network bootstrap and data governance: the first step toward security
		Bootstrapping the network with known members
		Defining the process for sharing data
		Defining the data model of the shared data
		Mapping data sharing needs Hyperledger-based mechanisms for operational agility
		Adding new members to the network (or channel)
		Deploying, instantiating, and upgrading smart contracts on peers in the network
	Strong identities: the key to the security of the Hyperledger Fabric network
		Bootstrapping Fabric CA
			Register
			Enroll
		Revoking identities
		Practical considerations in managing users in Fabric CA
	Smart contract security
		How is a smart contract shared with other endorsing peers?
		Who can install smart contracts?
		Smart contract encryption
		Attribute-based access control
	Common threats and how Hyperledger Fabric mitigates them
	Hyperledger Fabric and quantum computing
	GDPR considerations
	Summary
Chapter 15: Blockchain's Future, Protocol Commercialization, and Challenges Ahead
	Summary of key Hyperledger projects
		Hyperledger frameworks: business blockchain technology
		Distributed ledger frameworks
		Hyperledger libraries
		Hyperledger tools
	Blockchain's future and the challenges ahead
		Addressing the divide: the enterprise blockchain and cryptoasset-driven ecosystem
		Interoperability: understanding business service integration
		Blockchain protocol commercialization: a "BizTech" agenda
			Layer 1: Foundational trust and transaction layer
			Layer 2: Protocol optimization layer
			Layer 3: Blockchain business service layer
			Layer 4: Industry/business application layer
			Adjunct business layer
			Devising modularity to avoid lock-in linkages
		Scalability and economic viability of blockchain solutions
	How can you help and stay engaged?
	Summary
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Index