MSP and Partners

What is an MSP?

While every entity on the network can have a digital certificate and a valid identity, they must have specific roles and permissions. The Membership Service Provider (MSP) provides information used for authenticating users in a particular network by mapping their identities to their roles.

An organization in an MSP is the collection of members grouped under the same identity. The MSP establishes the relationship between the member and the organization by linking the member's identity to the organization.

It is a standard naming convention to name the MSP after the organization.

You can read more about the MSP in the official Hyperledger Fabric documentation.

How to Create an Organization's MSP?

Go to the "Your MSP" tab and click the Create organization button.

A side window will appear asking for parameters in five sections:

1

Provide the MSP name and MSP ID

2

Add CA certificates

Add root CA certificates and intermediate CA certificates — these CAs will be accepted by the network for registering and enrolling signing identities. You can upload a CA certificate from your computer or select among the CAs in Catalyst Blockchain Manager.

3

Add TLS CA certificates

Add root TLS CA certificates and intermediate TLS CA certificates — these CAs are accepted by the network for registering and enrolling TLS certificates for identities.

4

Set admin identity

Set your MSP's admin identity. You can select an existing identity or generate a new one by providing its name and password. You can add other admins' certificates by uploading them.

5

Create TLS identity

The platform needs this identity to function within the network under your MSP. You can select an existing identity or create a new one.

After clicking Next in step 4, you can preview the details. If all details are correct, click Submit.

• You must add all certificates of the full chain of trust for each intermediate CA you want to use for registering/enrolling identities.

• If you add intermediate CAs, use only intermediate CAs for registering/enrolling identities, not root CAs.

• You must add at least one root CA certificate to both the Root CA and TLS Root CA sections.

You can add only one MSP per organization.

The MSP will be visible under the "Your MSPs" tab. You can click the number of certificates to see full certificate details.

Available actions:

• Export — Download the JSON file of the MSP (needed to add your organization to other organizations' partner lists)

• Delete the MSP

If the MSP is deleted, you cannot use ordering and peer nodes created within this MSP. To restore it, create a new MSP with the same name, ID, and certificates.

How to Add Organization as a Partner?

For Organization 2 to join your network and become a partner:

1

Organization 2 creates its MSP and exports the JSON file

The JSON file is available through the Export button in the Actions column of the "Your MSPs" table.

2

Organization 2 shares the JSON file with Organization 1

3

Organization 1 adds Organization 2 as a partner

Click the Add partner button under the "MSPs and Partners" tab and provide the JSON file of Organization 2's MSP.

Partners can be added one at a time.