Configuration file specification: Hyperledger Besu¶
A network.yaml file is the base configuration file designed in the Blockchain Automation Framework for setting up a Hyperledger Besu DLT/Blockchain network. This file contains all the configurations related to the network that has to be deployed. Below shows its structure.
Before setting up a Hyperledger Besu DLT/Blockchain network, this file needs to be updated with the required specifications.A sample configuration file is provided in the repo path:platforms/hyperledger-besu/configuration/samples/network-besu.yaml
The configurations are grouped in the following sections for better understanding.
- type
- version
- env
- docker
- config
- organizations
Here is the snapshot from the sample configuration file
The sections in the sample configuration file are
type defines the platform choice like corda/fabric/indy/quorum/besu, here in the example its besu.
version defines the version of platform being used. The current Hyperledger Besu version support is only for 1.4.4.
env section contains the environment type and additional (other than 8443) Ambassador port configuration. Vaule for proxy field under this section can be ‘ambassador’ as ‘haproxy’ has not been implemented for Besu.
The snapshot of the env section with example value is below
env:
type: "env-type" # tag for the environment. Important to run multiple flux on single cluster
proxy: ambassador # value has to be 'ambassador' as 'haproxy' has not been implemented for Hyperledger Besu
## Any additional Ambassador ports can be given below, must be comma-separated without spaces, this is valid only if proxy='ambassador'
# These ports are enabled per cluster, so if you have multiple clusters you do not need so many ports
# This sample uses a single cluster, so we have to open 4 ports for each Node. These ports are again specified for each organization below
ambassadorPorts: 15010,15011,15012,15013,15020,15021,15022,15023,15030,15031,15032,15033,15040,15041,15042,15043
retry_count: 50 # Retry count for the checks
external_dns: enabled # Should be enabled if using external-dns for automatic route configuration
The fields under env section are
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| type | Environment type. Can be like dev/test/prod. |
| proxy | Choice of the Cluster Ingress controller. Currently supports 'ambassador' only as 'haproxy' has not been implemented for Hyperledger Besu |
| ambassadorPorts | Any additional Ambassador ports can be given here; must be comma-separated without spaces like 10010,10020. This is only valid if proxy: ambassador. These ports are enabled per cluster, so if you have multiple clusters you do not need so many ports to be opened on Ambassador. Our sample uses a single cluster, so we have to open 4 ports for each Node. These ports are again specified in the organization section. |
| retry_count | Retry count for the checks. Use a high number if your cluster is slow. |
| external_dns | If the cluster has the external DNS service, this has to be set enabled so that the hosted zone is automatically updated. |
docker section contains the credentials of the repository where all the required images are built and stored.
The snapshot of the docker section with example values is below
# Docker registry details where images are stored. This will be used to create k8s secrets
# Please ensure all required images are built and stored in this registry.
# Do not check-in docker_password.
docker:
url: "docker_url"
username: "docker_username"
password: "docker_password"
The fields under docker section are
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| url | Docker registry url |
| username | Username required for login to docker registry |
| password | Password required for login to docker registry |
config section contains the common configurations for the Hyperledger Besu network.
The snapshot of the config section with example values is below
config:
consensus: "ibft" # Options is "ibft" only
## Certificate subject for the root CA of the network.
# This is for development usage only where we create self-signed certificates and the truststores are generated automatically.
# Production systems should generate proper certificates and configure truststores accordingly.
subject: "CN=DLT Root CA,OU=DLT,O=DLT,L=London,C=GB"
transaction_manager: "orion" # Option is orion only
# This is the version of "orion" docker image that will be deployed
# Supported versions #
# orion: 1.5.2 (for besu 1.4.4)
tm_version: "1.5.2" # This is the version of "orion" docker image that will be deployed
# TLS can be True or False for the orion tm
tm_tls: True
# Tls trust value
tm_trust: "ca-or-tofu" # Options are: "whitelist", "ca-or-tofu", "ca", "tofu"
## File location for saving the genesis file should be provided.
genesis: "/home/user/blockchain-automation-framework/build/besu_genesis" # Location where genesis file will be saved
The fields under config are
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| consensus | Currently supports ibft. |
| subject | This is the subject of the root CA which will be created for the Hyperledger Besu network. The root CA is for development purposes only, production networks should already have the root certificates. |
| transaction_manager | Currently supports orion. Please update the remaining items according to the transaction_manager chosen as not all values are valid for the transaction_manager. |
| tm_version | This is the version of orion docker image that will be deployed. Supported versions: 1.5.2 for orion. |
| tm_tls | Options are True and False. This enables TLS for the transaction manager and Besu node. False is not recommended for production. |
| tm_trust | Options are: whitelist, ca-or-tofu, ca, tofu. This is the trust relationships for the transaction managers. More details for orion. |
| genesis | This is the path where genesis.json will be stored for a new network; for adding new node, the existing network's genesis.json should be available in json format in this file. |
The organizations section contains the specifications of each organization.In the sample configuration example, we have four organization under the organizations section.
The snapshot of an organization field with sample values is below
organizations:
# Specification for the 1st organization. Each organization maps to a VPC and a separate k8s cluster
- organization:
name: carrier
type: member
# Provide the url suffix that will be added in DNS recordset. Must be different for different clusters
external_url_suffix: test.besu.blockchaincloudpoc.com
# List of all public IP addresses of each availability zone from all organizations in the same k8s cluster
# The Ambassador will be set up using these static IPs. The child services will be assigned the first IP in this list.
publicIps: ["3.221.78.194","21.23.74.154"] # List of all public IP addresses of each availability zone from all organizations in the same k8s cluster
cloud_provider: aws # Options: aws, azure, gcp, minikube
Each organization under the organizations section has the following fields.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| name | Name of the organization |
| type | Can be member for peer/member organization and validator for Validator organization. |
| external_url_suffix | Public url suffix for the cluster. This is used to discover Orion nodes between different clusters. |
| publicIps | List of all public IP addresses of each availability zone from all organizations in the same k8s cluster. The Ambassador will be set up using these static IPs. The child services will be assigned the first IP in this list. |
| cloud_provider | Cloud provider of the Kubernetes cluster for this organization. This field can be aws, azure, gcp or minikube |
| aws | Contains the AWS CLI credentials when the organization cluster is on AWS |
| k8s | Kubernetes cluster deployment variables. |
| vault | Contains Hashicorp Vault server address and root-token |
| gitops | Git Repo details which will be used by GitOps/Flux. |
| services | Contains list of services which could be validator/peer based on the type of organization |
For the aws and k8s field the snapshot with sample values is below
aws:
access_key: "<aws_access_key>" # AWS Access key, only used when cloud_provider=aws
secret_key: "<aws_secret>" # AWS Secret key, only used when cloud_provider=aws
region: "<aws_region>" # AWS Region where cluster and EIPs are created
# Kubernetes cluster deployment variables.
k8s:
context: "<cluster_context>"
config_file: "<path_to_k8s_config_file>"
The aws field under each organization contains: (This will be ignored if cloud_provider is not aws)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| access_key | AWS Access key |
| secret_key | AWS Secret key |
| region | The AWS region where K8s cluster and the EIPs reside |
The k8s field under each organization contains
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| context | Context/Name of the cluster where the organization entities should be deployed |
| config_file | Path to the kubernetes cluster configuration file |
For gitops fields the snapshot from the sample configuration file with the example values is below
# Git Repo details which will be used by GitOps/Flux.
gitops:
git_ssh: "git@github.com/<username>/blockchain-automation-framework.git" # Gitops ssh url for flux value files
branch: "<branch_name>" # Git branch where release is being made
release_dir: "platforms/hyperledger-besu/releases/dev" # Relative Path in the Git repo for flux sync per environment.
chart_source: "platforms/hyperledger-besu/charts" # Relative Path where the Helm charts are stored in Git repo
git_push_url: "github.com/<username>/blockchain-automation-framework.git" # without https://
username: "<username>" # Git Service user who has rights to check-in in all branches
password: "<password>" # Git Server user password/personal token
email: "<git_email>" # Email to use in git config
private_key: "<path to gitops private key>"
The gitops field under each organization contains
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| git_ssh | SSH url of the repository where flux should be synced |
| branch | Branch of the repository where the Helm Charts and value files are stored |
| release_dir | Relative path where flux should sync files |
| chart_source | Relative path where the helm charts are stored |
| git_push_url | Gitops https URL for git push like "github.com/hyperledger-labs/blockchain-automation-framework.git" |
| username | Username which has access rights to read/write on repository |
| password | Password of the user which has access rights to read/write on repository |
| Email of the user to be used in git config | |
| private_key | Path to the private key file which has write-access to the git repo |
The services field for each organization under organizations section of Hyperledger Besu contains list of services which could be peers or validators.
Each organization with type as member will have a peers service. The snapshot of peers service with example values is below
peers:
- peer:
name: carrier
subject: "O=Carrier,OU=Carrier,L=51.50/-0.13/London,C=GB" # This is the node subject. L=lat/long is mandatory for supplychain sample app
geth_passphrase: 12345 # Passphrase to be used to generate geth account
p2p:
port: 30303
ambassador: 15010 #Port exposed on ambassador service (use one port per org if using single cluster)
rpc:
port: 8545
ambassador: 15011 #Port exposed on ambassador service (use one port per org if using single cluster)
ws:
port: 8546
tm_nodeport:
port: 8888
ambassador: 15013 # Port exposed on ambassador service (Transaction manager node port)
tm_clientport:
port: 8080
The fields under peer service are
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| name | Name of the peer |
| subject | This is the alternative identity of the peer node |
| geth_passphrase | This is the passphrase used to generate the geth account. |
| p2p.port | P2P port for Besu |
| p2p.ambassador | The P2P Port when exposed on ambassador service |
| rpc.port | RPC port for Besu |
| rpc.ambassador | The RPC Port when exposed on ambassador service |
| ws.port | Webservice port for Besu |
| tm_nodeport.port | Port used by Transaction manager orion. |
| tm_nodeport.ambassador | The tm port when exposed on ambassador service. |
| tm_clientport.port | Client Port used by Transaction manager orion. |
Each organization with type as validator will have a validator service. The snapshot of validator service with example values is below
validators:
- validator:
name: validator1
bootnode: true # true if the validator node is used also a bootnode for the network
p2p:
port: 30303
ambassador: 15010 #Port exposed on ambassador service (use one port per org if using single cluster)
rpc:
port: 8545
ambassador: 15011 #Port exposed on ambassador service (use one port per org if using single cluster)
ws:
port: 8546
The fields under validator service are
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| name | Name of the validator |
| bootnode | true if the validator node is used also a bootnode for the network *** |
| p2p.port | P2P port for Besu |
| p2p.ambassador | The P2P Port when exposed on ambassador service |
| rpc.port | RPC port for Besu |
| rpc.ambassador | The RPC Port when exposed on ambassador service |
| ws.port | Webservice port for Besu |
*** feature is in future scope