hyperledger fabric peer

git clone https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric-samples.git
cd fabric-samples/test-network

Then pull the Hyperledger Fabric Tools hardened image:

docker pull registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/hyperledger-fabric-tools:<tag>

Generate cryptographic material for an organization using cryptogen:

docker run --rm \
  -v $(pwd):/work \
  -w /work \
  registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/hyperledger-fabric-tools:<tag> \
  cryptogen generate \
  --config=organizations/cryptogen/crypto-config-org1.yaml \
  --output=organizations

This creates the MSP and TLS certificates needed for the peer at:

• MSP: organizations/peerOrganizations/org1.example.com/peers/peer0.org1.example.com/msp
• TLS: organizations/peerOrganizations/org1.example.com/peers/peer0.org1.example.com/tls

Step 2: Obtain peer configuration

The peer requires a core.yaml configuration file. You can use the sample configuration from the fabric-samples repository:

ls compose/docker/peercfg/core.yaml

This file contains all the default settings for running a peer.

Step 3: Run the peer

Create a directory for the peer's ledger data:

mkdir -p /tmp/peer0-data

Run the peer with all required configuration:

docker run --rm \
  -v $(pwd)/compose/docker/peercfg/core.yaml:/etc/hyperledger/fabric/core.yaml \
  -v $(pwd)/organizations/peerOrganizations/org1.example.com/peers/peer0.org1.example.com/msp:/etc/hyperledger/fabric/msp \
  -v $(pwd)/organizations/peerOrganizations/org1.example.com/peers/peer0.org1.example.com/tls:/etc/hyperledger/fabric/tls \
  -v /tmp/peer0-data:/var/hyperledger/production \
  -p 7051:7051 \
  -p 7052:7052 \
  -p 9443:9443 \
  --name peer0.org1.example.com \
  registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/hyperledger-fabric-peer:<tag>

The peer will start and:

• Listen on port 7051 for peer-to-peer communication and client requests
• Listen on port 7052 for chaincode callbacks
• Listen on port 9443 for operations service (metrics and health checks)
• Store ledger data in /tmp/peer0-data

Understanding the configuration

Required volume mounts:

• core.yaml: Main configuration file mounted at /etc/hyperledger/fabric/core.yaml
• MSP credentials: Organization identity at /etc/hyperledger/fabric/msp
• TLS credentials: Certificates for secure communication at /etc/hyperledger/fabric/tls
• Ledger data: Writable directory at /var/hyperledger/production

Key environment variables:

• CORE_PEER_ID: Unique identifier for this peer
• CORE_PEER_LOCALMSPID: MSP ID of the organization this peer belongs to
• CORE_PEER_LISTENADDRESS: Address the peer listens on (use 0.0.0.0 to accept connections from all interfaces)
• CORE_PEER_CHAINCODEADDRESS: Address chaincode containers connect to (must not be 0.0.0.0)
• CORE_PEER_TLS_ENABLED: Enable TLS for secure communication
• FABRIC_LOGGING_SPEC: Set log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR)

Exposed ports:

• 7051: Main peer service port
• 7052: Chaincode listen port
• 9443: Operations service (metrics, health checks)

For detailed configuration options, see the Hyperledger Fabric peer configuration documentation.

Verifying the peer is working

After starting the peer, you can verify it's operational using several methods:

Check container status:

docker ps --filter name=peer0.org1.example.com

The peer should show as "Up" with the correct ports exposed.

Check peer logs:

docker logs peer0.org1.example.com --tail 50

Look for successful startup messages:

• Started peer - Peer started successfully
• Deployed system chaincodes - System chaincodes (cscc, qscc, _lifecycle) deployed
• Initialize gossip - Gossip service initialized

Test TLS connectivity:

Verify the peer's gRPC port is accessible:

docker run --rm --network container:peer0.org1.example.com nicolaka/netshoot nc -zv 127.0.0.1 7051

This should return "Connection succeeded" if the peer is listening.

Common Hyperledger Fabric Peer use cases

The https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric-samples repository includes samples that can be used to create Hyperledger Fabric networks. The test-network directory, for example includes materials and a script, network.sh that can be used to create a test network with docker-compose. To deploy a network using the hardened image, simply replace the image in the docker compose file, for the test-network example located at test-network/compose/compose-test-net.yaml, from hyperledger/fabric-peer:latest to registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/hyperledger-fabric-peer:<tag>.

See documentation at https://hyperledger-fabric.readthedocs.io/ and https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric-samples for further details on running Hyperledger Fabric and the provided examples.

Non-hardened images vs Ghost hardened images

Key differences

Hardened image debugging

Ghost hardened images for Hyperledger Fabric Peer do not include a shell or package manager to minimize the attack surface and reduce image size. This means you cannot use docker exec to access a shell inside a running container. However, Docker provides alternative debugging methods that work seamlessly with hardened images.

The recommended approach is to use Docker Debug, which attaches an ephemeral debug container with a shell and common debugging tools to your running container. This allows you to inspect the container's filesystem, processes, and network configuration without modifying the production image.

For Hyperledger Fabric Peer specifically, you can also debug by examining the ledger data and logs. Mount volumes to persist these outputs and inspect them on your host system. Additionally, enable verbose logging by setting the FABRIC_LOGGING_SPEC environment variable (for example -e FABRIC_LOGGING_SPEC=debug).

Using Docker Debug

Attach a debug shell to a running Hyperledger Fabric Peer container:

docker debug <container-name>

This opens a shell in the debug container where you can inspect the filesystem, check running processes with ps, or examine network connections with netstat.

Using Docker Image Mount

Mount the container's filesystem to your host for inspection:

docker image mount registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/hyperledger-fabric-peer:<tag> /mnt/inspect
ls -la /mnt/inspect/usr/local/bin/

Image variants

Ghost hardened images come in different variants depending on their intended use.

• Runtime variants are designed to run your application in production. These images are intended to be used either directly or as the FROM image in the final stage of a multi-stage build. These images typically:

  • Run as the nonroot user
  • Do not include a shell or a package manager
  • Contain only the minimal set of libraries needed to run the app

• Build-time variants typically include dev in the variant name and are intended for use in the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile. These images typically:

  • Run as the root user
  • Include a shell and package manager
  • Are used to build or compile applications

FIPS variants include fips in the variant name and tag. They come in both runtime and build-time variants. These variants use cryptographic modules that have been validated under FIPS 140, a U.S. government standard for secure cryptographic operations. For example, usage of MD5 fails in FIPS variants.

Migrate to a Ghost hardened image

To migrate your application to a Ghost hardened image, you must update your Dockerfile. At minimum, you must update the base image in your existing Dockerfile to a Ghost hardened image. This and a few other common changes are listed in the following table of migration notes.

The following steps outline the general migration process.

1. Find hardened images for your app.

   A hardened image may have several variants. Inspect the image tags and find the image variant that meets your needs.

2. Update the base image in your Dockerfile.

   Update the base image in your application's Dockerfile to the hardened image you found in the previous step. For framework images, this is typically going to be an image tagged as dev because it has the tools needed to install packages and dependencies.

3. For multi-stage Dockerfiles, update the runtime image in your Dockerfile.

   To ensure that your final image is as minimal as possible, you should use a multi-stage build. All stages in your Dockerfile should use a hardened image. While intermediary stages will typically use images tagged as dev, your final runtime stage should use a non-dev image variant.

4. Install additional packages

   Ghost hardened images contain minimal packages in order to reduce the potential attack surface. You may need to install additional packages in your Dockerfile. Inspect the image variants to identify which packages are already installed.

   Only images tagged as dev typically have package managers. You should use a multi-stage Dockerfile to install the packages. Install the packages in the build stage that uses a dev image. Then, if needed, copy any necessary artifacts to the runtime stage that uses a non-dev image.

   For Alpine-based images, you can use apk to install packages. For Debian-based images, you can use apt-get to install packages.

Troubleshooting migration

The following are common issues that you may encounter during migration.

General debugging

The hardened images intended for runtime don't contain a shell nor any tools for debugging. The recommended method for debugging applications built with Ghost hardened images is to use Docker Debug to attach to these containers. Docker Debug provides a shell, common debugging tools, and lets you install other tools in an ephemeral, writable layer that only exists during the debugging session.

Permissions

By default image variants intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user. You may need to copy files to different directories or change permissions so your application running as the nonroot user can access them.

No shell

By default, image variants intended for runtime don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy any necessary artifacts into the runtime stage. In addition, use Docker Debug to debug containers with no shell.

Entry point

Ghost hardened images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Use docker inspect to inspect entry points for Ghost hardened images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.