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Hyperledger Fabric Installation Guide!

by ShubhamJune 5th, 2019

Too Long; Didn't Read

When I started learning Hyperledger Fabric, installing it is really a pain in a neck and it turned miserable as I was using Windows.

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featured image - Hyperledger Fabric Installation Guide!

In this guide, we will install Hyperledger Fabric v1.4 on Linux machine and on Windows machine.

When I started learning Hyperledger Fabric, installing it is really a pain in a neck and it turned miserable as I was using Windows.

The purpose of this article to put all the instructions at one place to set up the Hyperledger Fabric network irrespective of the fact if you’re using Windows or Linux.

My apologies for macOS readers, instructions for macOS is not included as I don’t have one.

Prerequisites

cURL — latest version
Docker — version 17.06.2-ce or greater
Docker Compose — version 1.14.0 or greater
Golang — version 1.11.x
Nodejs — version 8.x (other versions are not in support yet)
NPM — version 5.x
Python 2.7

These prerequisites’ versions are according to the fabric v1.4 documentation.

Linux Installation

Linux installation is pretty straight forward compared to windows. Few commands and Fabric is ready.

I have provisioned a Linux 16.04 VM from AWS for this article. All the instructions will run in the terminal. I haven’t found any system requirement information in Hyperledger documentation. Please comment if you have a reference for the system requirement.

Step 1: Create a new sudo user

It is recommended that Hyperledger Fabric shouldn’t be installed as a root user. Open the terminal.

Add the new user “fabric”

sudo adduser fabric
Add the user “fabric” to the Sudo groups

sudo usermod -aG sudo newuser
Login to “fabric” user

su fabric
Test the sudo access

sudo ls

If you get any error then the user is not added to the sudo group. Follow this link for more information.

Step 2: cURL

Check if your Linux has curl install or not. curl --version

If not follow the below instructions to install:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install curl
curl --version

Step 3: Docker and Docker Compose

Install the latest version of Docker from the official Docker repository.

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
Add the Docker repository to APT sources

sudo add-apt-repository “deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable”
Update the package database

sudo apt-get update
Install Docker

sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce
To use docker commands it requires root privileges. Instead of using sudo for all the docker commands, add the user to docker group

sudo usermod -aG docker fabric
Logout using exit command and log in again. Check the groups' user is part of, using id -nG command.

Output fabric sudo docker

Test the Installation

Check the docker and docker-compose version

docker --version docker-compose --version
Pull the hello-world image from Docker Hub and run a container:

docker run hello-world

docker hello world

If you get this message then your is successfully installed.

For more information, please follow this link.

Step 3: Golang

Install the golang package

curl -O https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.11.linux-amd64.tar.gz
Extract the package

tar xvf go1.11.linux-amd64.tar.gz
Check the go version

go version
Set the GOPATH

export GOPATH=$HOME/go export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin

For more installation information follow this link and for GOPATH follow this link.

Step 4: Nodejs and npm

Download the installation script using curl

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x -o nodesource_setup.sh
Run the script under sudo

sudo bash nodesource_setup.sh
Install the nodejs

sudo apt-get install nodejs

With nodejs, npm also get installed. Check their version

node -v
Output
v8.16.0

npm -v
v6.4.1

Step 5: Python 2.7

By default ubuntu 16.04 comes with Python 3.5.1 installed as python3 binary.

To install python 2.7

sudo apt-get install python
Check the python version:

python --version Python 2.7.12

All the prerequisites are installed. Now, let's install the Hyperledger Fabric v1.4.

Step 6: Install Samples, Binaries and Docker Images

Determine the directory where you want to download the fabric samples. Open the directory in terminal and run the below command.

curl -sSL http://bit.ly/2ysbOFE | bash -s

It will download the latest production release.

If you want a specific release for ex. v1.4.1, follow the below command.

curl -sSL http://bit.ly/2ysbOFE | bash -s -- <fabric_version> <fabric-ca_version> <thirdparty_version>

curl -sSL http://bit.ly/2ysbOFE | bash -s -- 1.4.1 1.4.1 0.4.15

It’ll take some time, once it is finished you can see a new directory “fabric-samples”.

“fabric-samples” come with sample examples to start with Hyperledger Fabric. There are many good examples to play within the fabric samples.

fabric-samples

Step 7: Test the fabric network

As we have successfully completed the setting up the Fabric environment, let’s test it. To test it we’ll use first-network sample in the fabric-samples.

Open the fabric-samples and go to first-network.

cd fabric-samples/first-network

first-network

To test it, run the byfn.sh . It is a test script, it first setup the network with 2 organizations org1 and org2 with 2 peers each and an orderer .

./byfn.sh up

first-network start

On successful execution, you’ll see the below message.

first-network end

If you reach till this point it means you have successfully setup the fabric network.

Now, we have completed the testing of first-network, clean the network.

./byfn down

Congratulations, we have completed the Hyperledger Fabric installation in Linux machine.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/844c93b0773672b9b56411a8792a9e96/href">https://medium.com/media/844c93b0773672b9b56411a8792a9e96/href</a>

Windows Installation

For Windows installation, you should be prepared for some obstacles as installation on windows is not easy peasy.

Let's begin the windows installation.

I am using Windows 10 Pro for the Fabric v1.4 installation.

Step 1: cURL

Please check if cURL is already installed in your PC.

curl --help

If you don’t get any error it means cURL is installed in your PC and you can go to the next step. For others please follow the below steps.

To install cURL, download the package according to your Windows 32/64 bit from this link. Extract the package and run the curl.exe present in the bin folder.
Add the curl in the environment variable.
Open the cmd and check the curl --help .

If you don’t get any error it means you curl is installed successfully.

Follow this link for troubleshooting.

Step 2: Docker and Docker Compose

Before installing the docker, check if virtualization is Enabled in your PC or not. To check it, openTask Manager >> Performance Tab >> CPU

virtualization

From the BIOS settings, virtualization can be turned to Enabled. Instructions to enter BIOS settings vary from pc manufacturer to manufacturer. Please check this link for the instructions.

Once the virtualization is Enabled we can move to download the docker.

Please be sure which Windows you’re using before installing Docker. There are 2 versions of Docker for Windows.

Docker Toolbox — Windows 8, Windows 10 Home

Docker Desktop — Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise — 64 bit

You first need to have an account in DockerHub to download the docker desktop. Please signup if you don’t have one.

Download the docker from this link.

Note: While installing keep the settings default don’t change anything.

Test the Installation

Open the cmd window
Run docker --version and docker-compose --version

docker --version Docker version 18.09.2, build 6247962

docker-compose --version docker-compose version 1.23.2, build 1110ad01
Pull the hello-world image from Docker Hub and run a container:

docker run hello-world

docker hello-world

If you get this message then the Docker installed successfully in your machine.

For more information on Docker check the official documentation.

Step 3: Golang

Download the Golang package from the official site.

Once it is installed open the command prompt and run

go version

Output
go version go1.11.5 windows/amd64

Step 4: Nodejs and npm

Download the node v8.x from this link and install it.

Check if it is installed correctly.

node -v
v8.16.0

npm -v 
6.4.1

Step 5: Python 2.7

Download the python 2.7 from its official site.

While installing add python to the system Path variable. This allows you to type ‘python’ into a command prompt without needing the full path.

Change Add python.exe to Path to Will be installed on the local hard drive

python-path

Check the python installed correctly or not.

python --version
Python 2.7.16

The Hyperledger Fabric prerequisites are installed. Now, it is time to install the extra windows dependencies.

Windows Extras

Step 6: Install windows-build-tools and grpc

Install the windows-build-tools globally using npm .

Open the command prompt and run the below command.

npm install --global windows-build-tools

It will take some time around 15 minutes or more. Once it will complete you will get the below message.

windows-build-tools

Once this is done, you should also install the NPM GRPC module with the following command:

npm install --global grpc

Step 7: Install git to run the bash commands

To run the bash commands we have to install git .

Git is a set of command line utility programs that are designed to execute on a Unix style command-line environment. — atlassian

Git Bash is an application for Microsoft Windows environments which provides an emulation layer for a Git command line experience. — atlassian

Download the git from this link.

Hang on, for a while we are done with prerequisites and now we are on the final step to install the Hyperledger Fabric.

Step 8: Install Samples, Binaries and Docker Images

Go to the directory where you want to download the fabric samples.

Once you’re in the directory open git bash . Right-click and select Git Bash Here .

git bash

Run the below command to install Samples, Binaries and Docker Images

curl -sSL http://bit.ly/2ysbOFE | bash -s

It will download the latest production release.

If you want a specific release for ex. v1.4.1, follow the below command.

curl -sSL http://bit.ly/2ysbOFE | bash -s -- <fabric_version> <fabric-ca_version> <thirdparty_version>

curl -sSL http://bit.ly/2ysbOFE | bash -s -- 1.4.1 1.4.1 0.4.15

It’ll take some time, once it is finished you can see a new directory “fabric-samples”.

fabric-samples

“fabric-samples” come with sample examples to start with Hyperledger Fabric. There are many good examples to play within the fabric samples.

Step 7: Test the fabric network

As we have successfully completed the setting up the Fabric environment, it’s time to test it. We are going to use the first-network sample from the fabric-samples.

Open the fabric-samples and go to first-network.