central-ledger

The central ledger is a series of services that facilitate clearing and settlement of transfers between DFSPs, including the following functions:

Brokering real-time messaging for funds clearing
Maintaining net positions for a deferred net settlement
Propagating scheme-level and off-transfer fees

The following documentation represents the services, APIs and endpoints responsible for various ledger functions.

central-ledger

Docker Image

Official Packaged Release

This package is available as a pre-built docker image on Docker Hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/mojaloop/central-ledger

Build from Source

You can also build it directly from source: https://github.com/mojaloop/central-ledger

However, take note of the default argument in the Dockerfile for NODE_VERSION:

ARG NODE_VERSION=lts-alpine

It is recommend that you set the NODE_VERSION argument against the version set in the local .nvmrc.

This can be done using the following command: npm run docker:build

Or via docker build directly:

docker build \
  --build-arg NODE_VERSION="$(cat .nvmrc)-alpine" \
  -t mojaloop/ml-api-adapter:local \
  .

Running Locally

Please follow the instruction in Onboarding Document to setup and run the service locally.

Configuration

Environment variables

The Central Ledger has many options that can be configured through environment variables.

Environment variable	Description	Example values
CLEDG_DATABASE_URI	The connection string for the database the central ledger will use. Postgres is currently the only supported database.	postgres://<username>:<password>@localhost:5432/central_ledger
CLEDG_PORT	The port the API server will run on.	3000
CLEDG_ADMIN_PORT	The port the Admin server will run on.	3001
CLEDG_HOSTNAME	The URI that will be used to create and validate links to resources on the central ledger.	http://central-ledger
CLEDG_ENABLE_BASIC_AUTH	Flag to enable basic auth protection on endpoints that require authorization. Username and password would be the account name and password.	false
CLEDG_ENABLE_TOKEN_AUTH	Flag to enable token protection on endpoints that require authorization. To create a token, reference the API documentation.	false
CLEDG_LEDGER_ACCOUNT_NAME	Name of the account setup to receive fees owed to the central ledger. If the account doesn't exist, it will be created on start up.	LedgerName
CLEDG_LEDGER_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD	Password of the account setup to receive fees owed to the central ledger.	LedgerPassword
CLEDG_ADMIN_KEY	Key used for admin access to endpoints that require validation.	AdminKey
CLEDG_ADMIN_SECRET	Secret used for admin access to endpoints that require validation. Secret also used to sign JWTs used for Admin API.	AdminSecret
CLEDG_TOKEN_EXPIRATION	Time in milliseconds for Admin API tokens to expire.	3600000
CLEDG_EXPIRES_TIMEOUT	Time in milliseconds to determine how often transfer expiration process runs.	5000
CLEDG_AMOUNT__PRECISION	Numeric value used to determine precision recorded for transfer amounts on this ledger.	10
CLEDG_AMOUNT__SCALE	Numeric value used to determine scale recorded for transfer amounts on this ledger.	2

Kafka Position Event Type Action Topic Map

In some cases, you might want to publish position type messages onto a customized topic name that diverges from the defaults.

You can configure the customized topic names in the config. Each position action key refers to position messages with associated actions.

NOTE: Only POSITION.PREPARE and POSITION.COMMIT is supported at this time, with additional event-type-actions being added later when required.

  "KAFKA": {
    "EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP" : {
      "POSITION":{
        "PREPARE": "topic-transfer-position-batch",
        "COMMIT": "topic-transfer-position-batch"
      }
    }
  }

Batch Processing Configuration Guide

Batch processing can be enabled in the transfer execution flow. Follow the steps below to enable batch processing for a more efficient transfer execution:

Step 1: Create a New Kafka Topic

Create a new Kafka topic named topic-transfer-position-batch to handle batch processing events.
Step 2: Configure Action Type Mapping

Point the prepare handler to the newly created topic for the action type prepare using the KAFKA.EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP configuration as shown below:
```
  "KAFKA": {
    "EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP" : {
      "POSITION":{
        "PREPARE": "topic-transfer-position-batch",
        "BULK_PREPARE": "topic-transfer-position",
        "COMMIT": "topic-transfer-position-batch",
        "BULK_COMMIT": "topic-transfer-position",
        "RESERVE": "topic-transfer-position",
      }
    }
  }
```
NOTE: BULK_PREPARE configuration property is added to aid routing of bulk-prepare events to non-batch handler since the batch handler does not support bulk-prepare events.
Step 3: Run Batch Processing Handlers

Run the position batch handler along with the existing position handler using the following configuration options:
- Configure Event Type Action Topic Map for Batch Handler:
  
  Configure the EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP parameter for the position batch handler to consume events from the new topic (topic-transfer-position-batch).
- Set Batch Size:
  
  Adjust the batch size using the parameter KAFKA.CONSUMER.TRANSFER.POSITION_BATCH.config.options.batchSize. This parameter determines the number of messages fetched in each batch.
- Set Consume Timeout:
  
  Configure the consume timeout using the parameter KAFKA.CONSUMER.TRANSFER.POSITION_BATCH.config.options.consumeTimeout. This parameter specifies the number of milliseconds to wait for a batch of messages to be fetched if the specified batch size of messages is not immediately available.

Example Command to Run Handlers:

node src/handlers/index.js handler --positionbatch

API

For endpoint documentation, see the API documentation.

For help preparing and executing transfers, see the Transfer Guide

Logging

Logs are sent to standard output by default.

Tests

Tests include unit, functional, and integration.

Running the tests:

    npm run test:all

Tests include code coverage via istanbul. See the test/ folder for testing scripts.

Running Integration Tests interactively

If you want to run integration tests in a repetitive manner, you can startup the test containers using docker-compose via one of the following methods:

Running locally

Start containers required for Integration Tests
```
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d mysql kafka init-kafka kafka-debug-console
```
Run wait script which will report once all required containers are up and running
```
npm run wait-4-docker
```
Start the Central-Ledger Service in the background, capturing the Process ID, so we can kill it when we are done. Alternatively you could also start the process in a separate terminal. This is a temporary work-around until the following issue can be addressed: mojaloop/project#3112.
```
npm start > cl-service.log &
echo $! > /tmp/int-test-service.pid
```
You can access the Central-Ledger Service log in another terminal with tail -f cl-service.log.

Run the Integration Tests
```
npm run test:int
```
Kill the background Central-Ledger Service
```
kill $(cat /tmp/int-test-service.pid)
```
Running inside docker

Start containers required for Integration Tests, including a central-ledger container which will be used as a proxy shell.
```
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.integration.yml up -d kafka mysql central-ledger
```
Run the Integration Tests from the central-ledger container
```
docker exec -it cl_central-ledger sh
export CL_DATABASE_HOST=mysql
npm run test:int
```

If you want to run override position topic tests you can repeat the above and use npm run test:int-override after configuring settings found here

For running integration tests for batch processing interactively

Run dependecies

docker-compose up -d mysql kafka init-kafka kafka-debug-console
npm run wait-4-docker

Run central-ledger services

nvm use
npm run migrate
env "CLEDG_KAFKA__EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP__POSITION__PREPARE=topic-transfer-position-batch" npm start

Additionally, run position batch handler in a new terminal

export CLEDG_KAFKA__EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP__POSITION__PREPARE=topic-transfer-position-batch
export CLEDG_KAFKA__EVENT_TYPE_ACTION_TOPIC_MAP__POSITION__COMMIT=topic-transfer-position-batch
export CLEDG_HANDLERS__API__DISABLED=true
node src/handlers/index.js handler --positionbatch

Run tests using npx tape 'test/integration-override/**/handlerBatch.test.js'

If you want to just run all of the integration suite non-interactively then use npm run test:integration. It will handle docker start up, migration, service starting and testing. Be sure to exit any previously ran handlers or docker commands.

Running Functional Tests

If you want to run functional tests locally utilizing the ml-core-test-harness, you can run the following commands:

docker build -t mojaloop/central-ledger:local .

npm run test:functional

By default this will clone the ml-core-test-harness into $ML_CORE_TEST_HARNESS_DIR.

See default values as specified in the test-functional.sh script.

Check test container logs for test results into $ML_CORE_TEST_HARNESS_DIR directory.

If you want to not have the ml-core-test-harness shutdown automatically by the script, make sure you set the following env var export ML_CORE_TEST_SKIP_SHUTDOWN=true.

By doing so, you are then able access TTK UI using the following URI: http://localhost:9660.

Or alternatively, you can monitor the ttk-func-ttk-tests-1 (See ML_CORE_TEST_HARNESS_TEST_FUNC_CONT_NAME in the test-functional.sh script) container for test results with the following command:

docker logs -f ttk-func-ttk-tests-1

TTK Test files:

Test Collection: $ML_CORE_TEST_HARNESS_DIR/docker/ml-testing-toolkit/test-cases/collections/tests/p2p.json
Env Config: $ML_CORE_TEST_HARNESS_DIR//docker/ml-testing-toolkit/test-cases/environments/default-env.json

Configuration modifiers:

central-ledger: ./docker/config-modifier/configs/central-ledger.js

Development environment

Start Docker dependant Services

docker compose -f ./docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

Start local Central-Ledger Service

npm start

Populate Test Data

sh ./test/util/scripts/populateTestData.sh

View Logs for Mockserver (i.e. Payee Receiver) and ML-API-Adapter:

docker logs -f mockserver
docker logs -f cl_ml-api-adapter

Postman Test Collection: ./test/util/postman/CL-Local Docker Test.postman_collection.json

Auditing Dependencies

We use audit-ci along with npm audit to check dependencies for node vulnerabilities, and keep track of resolved dependencies with an audit-ci.jsonc file.

To start a new resolution process, run:

npm run audit:fix

You can then check to see if the CI will pass based on the current dependencies with:

npm run audit:check

The audit-ci.jsonc contains any audit-exceptions that cannot be fixed to ensure that CircleCI will build correctly.

Container Scans

As part of our CI/CD process, we use anchore-cli to scan our built docker container for vulnerabilities upon release.

If you find your release builds are failing, refer to the container scanning in our shared Mojaloop CI config repo. There is a good chance you simply need to update the mojaloop-policy-generator.js file and re-run the circleci workflow.

For more information on anchore and anchore-cli, refer to: - Anchore CLI - Circle Orb Registry

Automated Releases

As part of our CI/CD process, we use a combination of CircleCI, standard-version npm package and github-release CircleCI orb to automatically trigger our releases and image builds. This process essentially mimics a manual tag and release.

On a merge to main, CircleCI is configured to use the mojaloopci github account to push the latest generated CHANGELOG and package version number.

Once those changes are pushed, CircleCI will pull the updated main, tag and push a release triggering another subsequent build that also publishes a docker image.

Potential problems

There is a case where the merge to main workflow will resolve successfully, triggering a release. Then that tagged release workflow subsequently failing due to the image scan, audit check, vulnerability check or other "live" checks.

This will leave main without an associated published build. Fixes that require a new merge will essentially cause a skip in version number or require a clean up of the main branch to the commit before the CHANGELOG and bump.

This may be resolved by relying solely on the previous checks of the merge to main workflow to assume that our tagged release is of sound quality. We are still mulling over this solution since catching bugs/vulnerabilities/etc earlier is a boon.
It is unknown if a race condition might occur with multiple merges with main in quick succession, but this is a suspected edge case.

mojaloop/central-ledger