github.com/kaituanwang/hyperledger@v2.0.1+incompatible/docs/source/hsm.md (about) 1 # Using a Hardware Security Module (HSM) 2 3 You can use a Hardware Security Module (HSM) to generate and store the private 4 keys used by your Fabric nodes. An HSM protects your private keys and handles 5 cryptographic operations, which allows your peers and ordering nodes to sign and 6 endorse transactions without exposing their private keys. Currently, Fabric only 7 supports the PKCS11 standard to communicate with an HSM. 8 9 ## Configuring an HSM 10 11 To use an HSM with your Fabric node, you need to update the BCCSP (Crypto Service 12 Provider) section of the node configuration file such as core.yaml or 13 orderer.yaml. In BCCSP section, you need to select PKCS11 as the provider and 14 provide the path to the PKCS11 library that you would like to use. You also need 15 to provide the label and pin of the token that you created for your cryptographic 16 operations. You can use one token to generate and store multiple keys. 17 18 The prebuilt Hyperledger Fabric Docker images are not enabled to use PKCS11. If 19 you are deploying Fabric using docker, you need to build your own images and 20 enable PKCS11 using the following command: 21 ``` 22 make docker GO_TAGS=pkcs11 23 ``` 24 You also need to ensure that the PKCS11 library is available to be used by the 25 node by installing it or mounting it inside the container. 26 27 ### Example 28 29 The following example demonstrates how to configure a Fabric node to use an HSM. 30 31 First, you will need to install an implementation of the PKCS11 interface. This 32 example uses the [softhsm](https://github.com/opendnssec/SoftHSMv2) open source 33 implementation. After downloading and configuring softhsm, you will need to set 34 the SOFTHSM2_CONF environment variable to point to the softhsm2 configuration 35 file. 36 37 You can then use softhsm to create the token that will handle the cryptographic 38 operations of your Fabric node inside an HSM slot. In this example, we create a 39 token labelled "fabric" and set the pin to "71811222". After you have created 40 the token, update the configuration file to use PKCS11 and your token as the 41 crypto service provider. You can find an example BCCSP section below: 42 43 ``` 44 ############################################################################# 45 # BCCSP (BlockChain Crypto Service Provider) section is used to select which 46 # crypto library implementation to use 47 ############################################################################# 48 bccsp: 49 default: PKCS11 50 pkcs11: 51 Library: /etc/hyperledger/fabric/libsofthsm2.so 52 Pin: 71811222 53 Label: fabric 54 hash: SHA2 55 security: 256 56 ``` 57 58 You can also use environment variables to override the relevant fields of the 59 configuration file. If you are connecting to an HSM using the Fabric CA server, 60 you need to set the following environment variables: 61 62 ``` 63 FABRIC_CA_SERVER_BCCSP_DEFAULT=PKCS11 64 FABRIC_CA_SERVER_BCCSP_PKCS11_LIBRARY=/etc/hyperledger/fabric/libsofthsm2.so 65 FABRIC_CA_SERVER_BCCSP_PKCS11_PIN=71811222 66 FABRIC_CA_SERVER_BCCSP_PKCS11_LABEL=fabric 67 ``` 68 69 If you are deploying your nodes using docker compose, after building your own 70 images, you can update your docker compose files to mount the softhsm library 71 and configuration file inside the container using volumes. As an example, you 72 would add the following environment and volumes variables to your docker compose 73 file: 74 ``` 75 environment: 76 - SOFTHSM2_CONF=/etc/hyperledger/fabric/config.file 77 volumes: 78 - /home/softhsm/config.file:/etc/hyperledger/fabric/config.file 79 - /usr/local/Cellar/softhsm/2.1.0/lib/softhsm/libsofthsm2.so:/etc/hyperledger/fabric/libsofthsm2.so 80 ``` 81 82 ## Setting up a network using HSM 83 84 If you are deploying Fabric nodes using an HSM, your private keys need to be 85 generated inside the HSM rather than inside the `keystore` folder of the node's 86 local MSP folder. The `keystore` folder of the MSP will remain empty. Instead, 87 the Fabric node will use the subject key identifier of the signing certificate 88 in the `signcerts` folder to retrieve the private key from inside the HSM. 89 The process for creating the MSP folders will be different depending on if you 90 are using a Fabric Certificate Authority (CA) your own CA. 91 92 ### Using a Fabric CA 93 94 You can set up a Fabric CA to use an HSM by making the same edits to the 95 configuration file as you would make to a peer or ordering node. Because you can 96 use Fabric CA to generate keys inside an HSM, the process of creating the local 97 MSP folders is straightforward. Use the following steps: 98 99 1. Create an HSM token and point to it in the Fabric CA server configuration 100 file. When the Fabric CA server starts, it will generate the CA signing 101 certificate inside your HSM. If you are not concerned about exposing your CA 102 signing certificate, you can skip this step. 103 104 2. Use the Fabric CA client to register the peer or ordering node identities 105 with your CA. 106 107 3. Edit the Fabric CA client config file or environment variables to use your 108 HSM as the crypto service provider. Then for each node, use the Fabric CA client 109 to generate the component MSP folder by enrolling against the node identity. The 110 enroll command will generate the private key inside your HSM. 111 112 3. Update the BCCSP section of the peer or orderer configuration file to use 113 PKCS11 and your token as the crypto service provider. Point to the MSP that was 114 generated using the Fabric CA client. Once it is deployed, the peer or orderer 115 node will be able sign and endorse transactions with the private key protected by 116 the HSM. 117 118 ### Using an HSM with your own CA 119 120 If you are using your own Certificate Authority to deploy Fabric components, you 121 can use an HSM using the following steps: 122 123 1. Configure your CA to communicate with an HSM using PKCS11 and create a token. 124 Then use your CA to generate the private key and signing certificate for each 125 node, with the private key generated inside the HSM. 126 127 2. Use your CA to build the node MSP folder. Place the signing certificate that 128 you generated in step 1 inside the `signcerts` folder. You can leave the 129 `keystore` folder empty. 130 131 3. Update the peer or orderer configuration file to use PKCS11 and your token as 132 the crypto service provider. Point to the MSP folder that you created with the 133 signing certificate inside. Once it has deployed, the peer or ordering node will 134 be able to sign and endorse transactions using the HSM. 135 136 <!--- Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License 137 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ -->