Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

About Oracle Blockchain Platform

Oracle Blockchain Platform gives you a pre-assembled platform for building and running smart contracts and maintaining a tamper-proof distributed ledger.

Oracle Blockchain Platform is a network consisting of validating nodes (peers) that update the ledger and respond to queries by executing smart contract code—the business logic that runs on the blockchain. External applications invoke transactions or run queries through client SDKs or REST API calls, which prompts selected peers to run the smart contracts. Multiple peers endorse (digitally sign) the results, which are then verified and sent to the ordering service. After consensus is reached on the transaction order, transaction results are grouped into cryptographically secured, tamper-proof data blocks and sent to peer nodes to be validated and appended to the ledger. Service administrators can use the Oracle Blockchain Platform web console to configure the blockchain and monitor its operation.

With Oracle Blockchain Platform, you complete some simple instance creation steps, and then Oracle takes care of service management, patching, backup and restore, and other service lifecycle tasks.

For information about available features, see Using Oracle Blockchain Platform.

About Application and Network Security in Oracle Blockchain Platform

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Identity and Access Management (IAM) helps you secure your blockchain platform through the use of compartments, users, roles, and policies.

When you set up your tenancy, you'll create compartments for your instance. Policies are used to control access to these compartments. See:

You'll use IAM security policies to grant Blockchain Platform administrative permissions. You can set up security policies that give other users permission to set up and manage Oracle Blockchain Platform instances. See Using Permissions and Policies to Administer Oracle Blockchain Platform.

New Oracle Cloud accounts in regions that have been updated to use identity domains manage users, groups, and roles through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Identity and Access Management (IAM) identity domains.

Existing Oracle Cloud accounts and new accounts in regions that haven't migrated to IAM identity domains still include access to Oracle Identity Cloud Service (IDCS). You use IDCS to add users and groups and assign roles for Oracle Blockchain Platform.

In addition, Oracle Cloud provides a reliable and flexible network security infrastructure to further control how clients, administrators, and other cloud services access your service instance and its applications. By default, your service instances can only be accessed over secure protocols like HTTPS and SSH.

What's a Platform Version?

Oracle Blockchain Platform is based on the Hyperledger Fabric open source project from the Linux Foundation. Starting with version 23.3.3, a new underlying version, or platform version, of Hyperledger Fabric is available. Oracle Blockchain Platform now supports Hyperledger Fabric v2.5.3 as well as existing instances of Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4 and Hyperledger Fabric v1.4.7.

Typically, for new instances, you'll run the latest platform version available.

Oracle Blockchain Platform supports and enhances the following functions of the Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4 platform:

  • Decentralized governance of chaincodes. A new life cycle for installing chaincode on peers and starting it on a channel enables new decentralized modes of collaboration and consensus. Multiple organizations can agree on chaincode parameters, including the chaincode endorsement policy, before a chaincode is deployed on the channel. These functions are implemented in the new quick deployment and advanced deployment wizards, as well as in the REST API. To learn more about deploying chaincodes on Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4, see Deploy and Manage Chaincodes on Hyperledger Fabric 2.x. For more information about the new life cycle, see Fabric chaincode lifecycle in the Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4 documentation.
  • Private data collection enhancements. You can specify an endorsement policy to control access to a private data collection. Also, every chaincode has an implicit private data collection specific to the organization. For more information, see Implicit private data collections in the Private data section of the Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4 documentation.

You can upgrade existing instances that are running on Hyperledger Fabric v1.4.7 to use Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4. For more information, see Upgrade an Instance.

Upgrading instances from Hyperledger Fabric v2.2.4 to Hyperledger Fabric v2.5.3 is not yet supported.

For more information about Hyperledger Fabric v2.5.3, see What’s new in Hyperledger Fabric v2.x.