Pre-flight check

If you haven't subscribed to Sextant for Sawtooth and installed it then go to Subscribing to Sextant for Sawtooth

Step 1: Login to Sextant for Sawtooth

Use a browser to login to your Sextant for Sawtooth instance. Assuming that you using a persistent connection following these instructions, you can use the hostname and initial credentials obtained during the installation process.

Step 2: Add a Kubernetes cluster to Sextant

NOTE that if you've already added a Kubernetes cluster to Sextant you can skip this step and go straight to Step 3.

In order to get started you need to add your first cluster to Sextant. When you login you are directed to the Clusters page. Click Add+ and you will be presented with the following form.

There are comprehensive instructions that take you through the two step process to obtain the three key parameters needed to add your cluster to Sextant. * API Server URL * Access Token * Certificate Authority

NOTE that these instructions assume that you are familiar with the Kubernetes CLI kubectl.

Once you have obtained these parameters all you need to do is name your cluster - in this example we have chosen the name sfs-test-cluster - then click Submit and it will be available for deployments.

The four symbols to the right are Delete, Edit, View and Deployments.

Step 3: Deploy a Sawtooth network

NOTE these instructions assume you are using the cluster sfs-test-cluster added above.

Click on the Deployments symbol and you will be directed to the Deployments page for this cluster.

Click Add+ and you are prompted to select your preferred version of Sawtooth. In this case there is only one option - BTP's Sawtooth distribution based on Hyperledger Sawtooth v1.1.

When you select this you will be presented with the following form. In this example the network name and Kubernetes namespace are both named sfs-test-deployment and the defaults accepted with the exception of Peering Type which we recommend you set to Static.

Click Submit and Sextant will deploy your Sawtooth network.

Select View and you can drill down on your deployment.

Once you have deployed your network you have the option to expose various Sawtooth services by following these instructions.

Step 4: Add a Custom Transaction Processor

One of the benefits of using Kubernetes as the runtime container orchestration platform is that you can edit a deployment and then apply these changes.

Sextant supports this feature. If you return to the Deployments page and select Edit you can edit your live deployment.

You can use the Access Control panel to grant Read or Write access to other users but if you scroll down to the Deployment Details panel here you can modify the deployment itself.

In particular in the Custom Transaction Processors section you can click Add+ and complete a popup that lets you specify the details of your custom transaction processor which will then be rolled out across your Sawtooth network when you hit Submit.

The key fields are -

  1. Name (alphanumeric)
  2. Image
  3. Command
  4. Arguments

Image is the location of the docker image for your transaction processor and Command is the command needed to launch it, if any, and optionally Arguments.

To try this out add the following custom transaction processor -

  1. Name: xo-tp
  2. Image: blockchaintp/sawtooth-xo-tp-python:BTP2.0
  3. Command: xo-tp-python
  4. Arguments: -v --connect tcp://localhost:4004

In order to run the interactive tic-tac-toe demo you should also add -

  1. Name: xo-demo
  2. Image: blockchaintp/xo-demo:BTP2.0

That's the end of our Sextant for Sawtooth getting started guide. For further information or to speak to someone at BTP please contact us here.

Subscribing to Sextant for Sawtooth

To subscribe to Sextant for Sawtooth make sure you are logged in to your preferred AWS account then click on this link which will take you to the Sextant for Sawtooth listing in the AWS Marketplace.

Once there you can step through the standard AWS Marketplace subscription process which primarily consists of reviewing and accepting our terms then installing an instance of Sextant for Sawtooth by following our detailed instructions.

Note that these instructions assume that you are familiar with Kubernetes and that you have AWS sufficient privileges on your account.