Hyperledger Tutorial

Enterprise blockchain projects are becoming popular day by day. As a result, more and more enterprises are interested in learning about enterprise blockchains. In reality, Hyperledger is one of the popular enterprise blockchain platforms on the market. As a result, many of you are looking for a Hyperledger tutorial to get started.

Unfortunately, the internet is filled with false information and information that doesn’t offer any depths to it. Thus, it becomes very difficult to find a solid source for the Hyperledger tutorial. That’s why I’ll be bringing you the jam-packed Hyperledger tutorial to help you understand how the technology works.

So, let’s get started.

What is Hyperledger?

Linux Foundation first came up with the concept of Hyperledger. It’s an umbrella project and also open-source. More so, it comes with loads of free tools and frameworks for you to try out. Basically, these tools, libraries are made for enterprises and developers to help them build a new blockchain solution based on that.

Also, you get access to a very large community that will help you out in terms of developing new revolutionary technologies. Anyhow, Hyperledger came into existence back in 2015, and it came a long way with 15 new projects under it.

However, only 4 projects are active at present. If you want to learn about these, you’d have to use the Hyperledger tutorial. Let’s check out the fundamentals of this platform in this Hyperledger tutorial guide.

Why Did the Linux Foundation Create This Project?

You must be wondering why did Linux foundation really come up with the concept, what was the need? Well, blockchain technology did come in 2008 from Bitcoin. However, it didn’t gain any traction until later.

Even though it was only a cryptocurrency-based technology back then, soon, many were more than interested in the underlying technology – blockchain.

However, there wasn’t any workable integration of the technology into any exiting solution so far. Thus, enterprises started to wonder how they could achieve faster innovation.

So, they started to work together and started to work on projects, and this way, they could save a lot of time and come up with a workable solution much faster.

In the Hyperledger developer tutorial, you’ll know how Linux foundation took the step and formed the project with other companies to streamline blockchain’s popularity and change the world. Thus, the companies started to develop solutions that other businesses could use and accept the model for business.

And why wouldn’t they? Blockchain did come with lots of benefits compared to old centralized models. A decentralized standard would mean that there would be no discrepancies or misuse of power. More so, everything would be transparent.

Anyhow, they have over 250 organizations so far working together, and recently they teamed up with another consortium Enterprise Ethereum Alliance to include a different kind of tech.

Why Open-Source?

I mean, they could’ve commercialized the whole project or any other projects under it and made tons of money on top of it. But they made the codes of each of their projects a public property. But why? Basically, because proprietary technologies don’t actually have all the benefits that come with an open-source platform.

In many cases, the vendors lock the system if anyone tries to make changes to their codebase. More so, they also even as a fee, and sometimes that can discourage people from using it.

On the other hand, open-source technologies are open, and developers can make changes to it. So, the development or adding of any new features is extremely faster. More so, it gives a scope for new innovations as well.

Thus, making it an open-source project makes a lot of sense as the primary target is to make blockchain accessible to anyone.

Also, it’s a popular method and also reliable. So, as a result, open-source platforms will get more exposure.

Let’s check out their architecture in the Hyperledger tutorial for beginner’s guide next.

The Architecture

Modular Design

All of the projects under Hyperledger comes with a modular design. Basically, the modular design makes sure that all of the frameworks are extensible in every way. Anyhow, they typically use common standards in building blocks that suited for any kind of scenario.

More so, the modular structure helps in the Hyperledger developer tutorial as they can experiment with it without affecting all other codes.

It’s a great strategy in making the distributed ledgers as you can reuse any other model previously built. Basically, these modules have ledger storage, consensus, smart contracts, cryptography, policy, and communication.

Let’s check out the next one in this Hyperledger tutorial for beginner’s guide.

Extremely Secure Platform

It’s one of the important factors of any kind of blockchain platform. In many cases, enterprises deal with a high level of sensitive information. And that information needs a high level of security by all means.

But it can become difficult to maintain full security when you are dealing with a lot of data flows and codebases. Thus, Hyperledger introduces a new form of security by using the immutability and decentralized nature of the blockchain.

According to, Hyperledger developer tutorial, all of their projects go through vigorous testing to figure out any loopholes in the system. Thus, it ensures that no hackers can get access to the network and manipulate your data.

More so, according to their Hyperledger developer tutorial, they also have added layers of security to help you harness the powerfully.

Another great news is that all of their codebases go through regular auditing to see any discrepancies in them. If they manage to find any, it’s immediately solved.

Let’s check out the next one in this Hyperledger tutorial for beginner’s guide.

Interoperable

Blockchain technology needs to be interoperable in order to get into every aspect of our lives. However, without interoperability, there’s no chance it can work. So, when multiple networks can communicate with each other and exchange data, all of them can work more efficiently.

Thus, Hyperledger wants to introduce interoperability to help make all the applications and other contracts portable to any kind of device. More so, it would connect all of our industries in one hub where everything is connected.

Using the interconnected data streams, efficiencies would skyrocket, and it would save a lot of time as well.

Cryptocurrency-agnostic

The best part about this platform is that it doesn’t have any kind of cryptocurrency to help run the system. Basically, in other platforms, you see a form of token or cryptocurrency that they use to use certain functions of the network.

But not in Hyperledger. In reality, all the projects under it are cryptocurrency-agnostic. But why, though? Well, because Hyperledger believes in the core technology and doesn’t want to administrate any cryptocurrencies on the platform.

However, as many of the enterprises may need a digital form of money, they’ll give you an option to issue your very own token on the platform.

High-end API Support

According to, Hyperledger developer tutorial, all of their projects include high-end API support. More so, every single API from their solutions offers the best of the best features, and all of them can handle interoperability.

Anyhow, Hyperledger APIs will help you communicate with their core network from any external client program and network.

Most importantly, it helps out all of the distributed ledgers to bloom properly and be capable of handling many other use cases.

Four Projects to Check Out

As Hyperledger currently has only four active projects, you need to know about them to use them. So, I’ll be giving you their tutorials one by one. So, let’s start!

Hyperledger Fabric

Hyperledger Fabric is a modular distributed ledger network that offers developers with the highest quality of applications. The best part is that with the help of Hyperledger, you’ll get flexibility, scalability, confidentiality, and resiliency.

Anyhow, whatever your company may be or what industry you work in, Fabric can surely help you out in that.

In reality, Fabric architecture uses general-purpose programming language, and that makes this platform completely free from any native tokens.

As Fabric is the most popular one among all other active projects of Hyperledger, it offers a diverse community to help you out.

Modularity

Every element in Hyperledger Fabric is modular. So, if you have a pluggable consensus or identity management system, you can easily turn it into an enterprise use case.

Basically, the platform will contain the following modules –

• Ordering Services: It allows the nodes to order a transaction, and then the system broadcasts them to other nodes. Also, this module is pluggable.
• Membership Service Providers: It offers you an option to create cryptographic identities for the members on the platform. Also, this module is pluggable.
• Peer-To-Peer Gossip Services: It’s optional, but it helps to distribute the output of every block among all other nodes.
• Smart Contracts: In reality, this option allows you to run smart contracts in a contained environment.

Functioning Smart Contracts

Smart contracts in Hyperledger Fabric is called chaincode. Furthermore, it’s business logic and a bit different than typical smart contracts. In this one, it goes from executing, order, and validations.

It means that firstly it will execute a transaction and check for its validness. Next, it will place the order in the consensus protocol. After the validation is confirmed, it follows the specific rules of the contract and executes that. With the new design, the project can easily scale up and enhance performance.

Hyperledger Fabric Developer

Prerequisites

Before using the platform, you would have to install certain prerequisites into your device. Without these prerequisites, you can’t use the Hyperledger Fabric in your device.

Installing Git

First of all, you have to download the latest version of git and install it. In case you have any issues with running curl commands.

Installing cURL

According to the Hyperledger Fabric developer tutorial, if you still have issues in running curl commands form the doc files, then download the latest version of the cURL tool and install it.

Docker and Docker Compose

According to the Hyperledger Fabric developer tutorial, you’ll have to install all of the following software to operate or develop in Hyperledger Fabric –

For Windows 10, *nix, or macOS, you’ll need Docker version 17.06.2-ce or more than that.

For older versions of Windows, you’ll need to install Docker Toolbox again and Docker version 17.06.2-ce or more than that.

According to the Hyperledger Fabric developer tutorial, when you’ll be installing the Docker for Windows or Mac, the Docker Toolbox will also install the Docker Compose. But if you already had it installed, then you have to check if you have the version 1.14.0 or greater installed or not.

If you don’t have that, it’s recommended that you install the most recent version of it.

Hyperledger Indy

The Hyperledger Indy architecture is one of a kind model in the blockchain niche. In reality, it’s also a distributed ledger that comes with a load of reusable components along with tools and libraries. More so, this platform is made specifically for identity-based solutions.

Thus, anyone can use this platform for organizations, administrative domains, and applications. It means that you’ll have complete control over your very own identity, and no one can control it in any way.

However, if you are not authorized in organizations, then they may reject your access, but they can’t claim you have a fake ID.

Anyhow, enterprises can use this platform to rely on a single source of truth, as every document on the platform will go through verification.

Another plus point is that you can choose only to expose the information that is required and leave other information a secret.

Main Features of Hyperledger Indy

• Self-sovereignty: On the platform, you can store any artifacts on the ledger. More so, all the artifacts will have cryptographic encryptions to secure it. No one other than you can delete your identity or make changes to it.
• Privacy: You’ll have the full privacy of your documentations. That’s why the platform offers privacy options leaving no trail of data that can connect you to one platform to another if you don’t want it.
• Verifiable Claims: When you are trying to claim any new documentation, such as birth certificates, licenses, etc. you would need additional proof that you are who you are claiming to be. Anyhow, if anyone gets access to these, they can easily manipulate them. Thus, Indy uses zero-knowledge proofs to disclose certain data without revealing the full document.
• No-hacks: According to the Hyperledger Indy tutorial, no one can get access to your files. In reality, the centralized servers aren’t enough to offer security to your documentations. As a result, there are lots of identity thefts happing every day. But with Indy, every single document once on the ledger stays on the ledger.

Hyperledger Indy Developer Setup

There are certain scripts only for developers, and these will help the developers to set up an environment. Unfortunately, these scripts are for Ubuntu only. So, it may or may not work in Windows.

What You Need

Python 3.5 to work with the codebase.

According to the Hyperledger Indy tutorial, it’s recommended to use the Python virtual environment for the development process.

Also, you’ll need pytest for integration and unit testing.

Next, you have to install some dependencies to run the code.

Quick Setup on Ubuntu 16.04

If you want a quick setup process for Ubuntu 16.04, then you should check out their doc. All you have to do is follow their instructions one by one, and you’ll be done.

Detailed Setup

Python

For setting up Python 3.5, you need to use dev-setup/ubuntu/setup_dev_python.sh script. It will quickly install Python 3.5, virtual environment, and pip on Ubuntu.

Ubuntu

First run the sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa

Next, sudo apt-get update

If you are on Ubuntu 14, then to install python 3.5, you should run the sudo apt-get install python3.5. Anyhow, Python should be on the Ubuntu 16, but it’s not there you need to install it as well.

Mac

According to, Hyperledger Indy tutorial, for Mac setup just follow the instructions below:

Download the Python 3.5.0 package or the latest version. Then you have to install it.

In any case, if you are a homebrew fan, you can use a brew command to install it as well – brew install python3

Windows

For Windows setup, download the latest build for Windows and install it. It’s super easy.

There are other additional instructions to set up the network. Check out their Dev tutorial to know about that.

Hyperledger Iroha

Hyperledger Iroha is another good addition to the family of the Hyperledger project. In reality, developers created this platform for easy integration into the enterprise environment.

Anyhow, Iroha became active after Sawtooth and Fabric platforms back in 2016. Soramitsu was the leading company that developed this solution with the help of Colu, Hitachi, and NTT Data.

Features of Iroha

Easy to deploy and maintain. There’s no additional complexity of the architecture that would be hard to comprehend.

There’s a lot of library access for developers to use. Basically, these libraries contain scripts and different modules for you to use.

Any kind of access on the platform depends on the role of the user. So, if your role restricts you from seeing sensitive information, then you can’t see it.

In reality, the full design of the platform is fully modular and pluggable. That means that you can plug in any feature and use it.

More so, you can also query the ledger based on certain commands and separate the results based on that.

It also comes with an asset and identity management system to help you allow only permissioned nodes on the platform.

Quality Control

According to the Hyperledger Iroha tutorial, they have three levels of quality control to ensure that their platform is robust. These are –

Reliability: This level deals with the fault tolerance of the system along with the recovery process in case of any disasters.

Performance: According to the Hyperledger Iroha tutorial, this level deals with the time behavior of the platform along with resource utilization.

Usability: Here, you’ll have user error protection, appropriateness recognizability along with learnability.

Use Cases of Iroha

• Verifiable certificates form educational institutions and healthcare
• Cross-border transfers.
• Various financial applications for auditing and privacy.
• Identity management to preserve user rights.
• Supply chain management in real-time.

Hyperledger Iroha 

In the tutorial, you’ll know how to launch the network and create transactions and check the data. For a simple solution, you should use Docker.

Prerequisites

Obviously, the prerequisites will include a device with the Docker installed. If you don’t have it install, just check their website and download it. More so, you can also build it from scratch and create a customized node. In any case, if you are more interested in that, you should check out their Building Iroha part.

Starting Iroha Node

Creating a Docker Network

According to the Hyperledger Iroha tutorial, you’ll need the PostgreSQL database to run it. So, start by creating a Docker network, and it will allow Postgres and Iroha to run on the same network. You can name it as you want.

Starting PostgreSQL Container

Next, you have to run the PostgreSQL in a container, attach to the network, and get the ports for communication.

If you have Postgres run on the default port, then find a free port to run the PostgreSQL.

Creating Blockstore

Furthermore, you need to create a persistent volume to collect all the files, and that would be the Blockstore.

Preparing the Configuration Files

For configuring the network, you’ll need a configuration file, a generator that will generate key pairs for the nodes, lots of peers, and genesis block. According to the Hyperledger Iroha tutorial, you can just clone the codes from Github as it’s faster.

Starting Iroha Container

Once you get the path to the files, you are ready to launch the Iroha container.

Hyperledger Sawtooth

Sawtooth is actually a blockchain suit for developing, running, and creating new distributed ledgers.

It offers smart contract applications for enterprises. More so, the overall architecture is fully modular and capable of going with any kind of industrial environment, just like Fabric. It comes with a lot of features such as you can change the consensus during a transaction, you’ll also get access to Proof of Elapsed time that is BFT.

According to the Hyperledger Sawtooth tutorial, you’ll also get transaction families where each has separate tasks, and you can also create more facilities to get other functions done in the network.

One of the best features is that it offers EVM compatibility along with parallel transactions. In reality, it saves a lot of time.

Hyperledger Sawtooth Tutorial

First of all, you have to set up a local node for the Sawtooth platform. It’s necessary because you’ll need it for testing. After the node is running, you can order transactions and fetch the data from the blocks and state to see how it works.

Basically, you’ll fetch information from the Sawtooth REST API and HTTP. For installing and running only a single node in the network, you have to use a prebuilt Docker container, which is a Kubernetes cluster inside the VM on your device.

Using Docker for a Single Sawtooth Node

According to the Hyperledger Sawtooth tutorial, you have to check the status of the components. Next, you have to use Sawtooth commands to request transactions, view global state, and display block data.

After that, examine the logs and then stop the network and reset the Docker container.

After completing this Hyperledger Sawtooth tutorial, you can have access to the development environment of the platform.

You can also do it using Kubernetes and Ubuntu. For that, check out their official documentation.

To use multiple nodes in the network, check out their documentation on it.

Hyperledger Tools

A plethora of tools exist for building blockchain applications in Hyperledger. Here’s a detailed list pertaining to their descriptions and specific use cases.

Hyperledger Composer

An Application Development Framework (ADF) for building blockchain business networks using Hyperledger Fabric framework, Hyperledger Composer enables business owners and developers to create smart contracts and blockchain applications to solve business problems. This tool can be leveraged to model business networks including assets and transactions and integrate existing systems and data with blockchain applications.

Hyperledger Cello

This blockchain module toolkit helps devise and deploy Blockchain-as-a-Service platforms to provision customizable blockchain networks in easier, faster, and seamless manners. One can check the system status, adjust chain numbers, scale resources, and pull off several important yet difficult tasks through dashboards provided by the toolkit. The life cycle of blockchains can also be managed using this tool. Provided that you are an infrastructure engineer, Hyperledger Cello is your go-to tool for managing blockchain networks from an IT perspective.

Hyperledger Quilt

Primarily, this tool facilitates the transfer of value or interoperability across distributed and non-distributed ledgers. Using Hyperledger Quilt, a user who is registered with one blockchain network can securely transfer values to another user who is registered on another blockchain network. Based on the Inter-ledger Protocol (ILP), this tool supports routing payments across different digital asset ledgers while isolating senders and receivers from the risk of intermediary failures. PS: It is yet to be released.

Hyperledger Blockchain Explorer

This tool is an explorer the features and functionalities of which can be leveraged to view, invoke, deploy, or query blocks, transactions and associated data, network information, chain codes, and transaction families. Also, it supports Rest APIs for getting access into block information, transactions, peer status, transaction channel information, block counts on specific channels, creating and updating of channels, and instantiating specific transaction channels. Not only does the Hyperledger blockchain explorer provide ease of visibility but also it facilitates operations with the Hyperledger Fabric network.

Hyperledger Caliper

Hosted by the Linux Foundation itself, Hyperledger Caliper is a blockchain benchmark tool that allows users to scale the performance of specific blockchain implementations with a set of pre-defined use cases. This tool produces reports that include performance indicators. The results of these indicators can be used by other Hyperledger projects to build and deploy case-specific frameworks.

Conclusion

Hyperledger is one of the enterprise blockchain projects in the market that is currently ruling the niche. Thus, more and more people are eager to learn about technology, starting with industry leaders to developers. Thus, with the help of this Hyperledger Tutorial guide, you can easily learn about it.

If you want to learn more amount the implications in the enterprises, then check out our Enterprise Blockchain Course, as it helps you learn things in a simple manner.