!!! warning "Change from Blackbox v0.10.2+"
The keys.keyData.passwords field is no longer supported as of Blackbox v0.10.2.
Instead, use `keys.keyData.passwordFile` or utilise the [CLI password prompt](#providing-key-passwords-at-runtime) when starting the node.
Blackbox uses cryptographic keys to provide transaction privacy.
You can use existing private/public key pairs as well as use Blackbox to generate new key pairs for you. See Generating & securing keys for more info.
" extra-class">"keys": {
"passwordFile": "Path",
"keyVaultConfig": [
{
"keyVaultType": "Enumeration: AZURE, HASHICORP, AWS",
"properties": "Map[string]string"
}
],
"keyData": [
{
// The data for a private/public key pair
}
]
}
"keys": {
"passwordFile": "Path",
"azureKeyVaultConfig": {
"url": "Url"
},
"hashicorpKeyVaultConfig": {
"url": "Url",
"approlePath": "String",
"tlsKeyStorePath": "Path",
"tlsTrustStorePath": "Path"
},
"keyData": [
{
// The data for a private/public key pair
}
]
}
"keys": {
"passwords": [],
"passwordFile": "Path",
"azureKeyVaultConfig": {
"url": "Url"
},
"hashicorpKeyVaultConfig": {
"url": "Url",
"approlePath": "String",
"tlsKeyStorePath": "Path",
"tlsTrustStorePath": "Path"
},
"keyVaultConfig": {
"keyVaultConfigType": "AWS",
"properties": {
"endpoint": "Url"
}
},
"keyData": [
{
// The data for a private/public key pair
}
]
}
KeyData
Key pairs can be provided in several ways:
Direct key pairs
!!! warning Direct key pairs and unprotected inline key pairs are convenient but are the least secure configuration options available as the private key is exposed in the configuration file. The other options available are more secure and recommended for production environments.
The key pair data is provided in plain text in the configfile.
"keys": {
"keyData": [
{
"privateKey": "yAWAJjwPqUtNVlqGjSrBmr1/iIkghuOh1803Yzx9jLM=",
"publicKey": "/+UuD63zItL1EbjxkKUljMgG8Z1w0AJ8pNOR4iq2yQc="
}
]
}
Inline key pairs
Unprotected
!!! warning Direct key pairs and unprotected inline key pairs are convenient but are the least secure configuration options available as the private key is exposed in the configuration file. The other options available are more secure and recommended for production environments.
The key pair data is provided in plain text in the configfile. The plain text private key is provided in a config json object:
"keys": {
"keyData": [
{
"config": {
"data": {
"bytes": "yAWAJjwPqUtNVlqGjSrBmr1/iIkghuOh1803Yzx9jLM="
},
"type": "unlocked"
},
"publicKey": "/+UuD63zItL1EbjxkKUljMgG8Z1w0AJ8pNOR4iq2yQc="
}
]
}
Protected
The public key is provided in plain text. The private key must be password-protected using Argon2. The corresponding encrypted data is provided in the config json object.
"keys": {
"passwordFile": "/path/to/pwds.txt",
"keyData": [
{
"config": {
"data": {
"aopts": {
"variant": "id",
"memory": 1048576,
"iterations": 10,
"parallelism": 4,
},
"snonce": "x3HUNXH6LQldKtEv3q0h0hR4S12Ur9pC",
"asalt": "7Sem2tc6fjEfW3yYUDN/kSslKEW0e1zqKnBCWbZu2Zw=",
"sbox": "d0CmRus0rP0bdc7P7d/wnOyEW14pwFJmcLbdu2W3HmDNRWVJtoNpHrauA/Sr5Vxc"
},
"type": "argon2sbox"
},
"publicKey": "/+UuD63zItL1EbjxkKUljMgG8Z1w0AJ8pNOR4iq2yQc="
}
]
}
"keys": {
"passwords": ["password"],
"passwordFile": "/path/to/pwds.txt",
"keyData": [
{
"config": {
"data": {
"aopts": {
"variant": "id",
"memory": 1048576,
"iterations": 10,
"parallelism": 4,
},
"snonce": "x3HUNXH6LQldKtEv3q0h0hR4S12Ur9pC",
"asalt": "7Sem2tc6fjEfW3yYUDN/kSslKEW0e1zqKnBCWbZu2Zw=",
"sbox": "d0CmRus0rP0bdc7P7d/wnOyEW14pwFJmcLbdu2W3HmDNRWVJtoNpHrauA/Sr5Vxc"
},
"type": "argon2sbox"
},
"publicKey": "/+UuD63zItL1EbjxkKUljMgG8Z1w0AJ8pNOR4iq2yQc="
}
]
}
Passwords must be provided so that Blackbox can decrypt and use the private keys. Passwords can be provided in multiple ways:
| Description | |
|---|---|
| File | "passwordFile": "/path/to/pwds.txt"Must contain only one password per line. Empty lines should be used for unlocked keys. Passwords must be provided in the order that key pairs are defined in the config. |
| Direct | "passwords": ["pwd1", "pwd2", ...]Empty strings should be used for unlocked keys. Passwords must be provided in the order that key pairs are defined in the config. Not recommended for production use. |
| CLI | Blackbox will prompt on the CLI for the passwords of any encrypted keys that have not had passwords provided in the config. This process only needs to be performed once, when starting the node. |
Filesystem key pairs
The keys in the pair are stored in files:
" extra-class">"keys": {
"passwordFile": "/path/to/pwds.txt",
"keyData": [
{
"privateKeyPath": "/path/to/privateKey.key",
"publicKeyPath": "/path/to/publicKey.pub"
}
]
}
"keys": {
"passwords": ["password"],
"passwordFile": "/path/to/pwds.txt",
"keyData": [
{
"privateKeyPath": "/path/to/privateKey.key",
"publicKeyPath": "/path/to/publicKey.pub"
}
]
}
The contents of the public key file must contain the public key only, e.g.:
/+UuD63zItL1EbjxkKUljMgG8Z1w0AJ8pNOR4iq2yQc=
The contents of the private key file must contain the private key in the Inline key pair format, e.g.:
{
"type" : "unlocked",
"data" : {
"bytes" : "DK0HDgMWJKtZVaP31mPhk6TJNACfVzz7VZv2PsQZeKM="
}
}
or
{
"data": {
"aopts": {
"variant": "id",
"memory": 1048576,
"iterations": 10,
"parallelism": 4,
},
"snonce": "x3HUNXH6LQldKtEv3q0h0hR4S12Ur9pC",
"asalt": "7Sem2tc6fjEfW3yYUDN/kSslKEW0e1zqKnBCWbZu2Zw=",
"sbox": "d0CmRus0rP0bdc7P7d/wnOyEW14pwFJmcLbdu2W3HmDNRWVJtoNpHrauA/Sr5Vxc"
},
"type": "argon2sbox"
}
Passwords must be provided so that Blackbox can decrypt and use the private keys. Passwords can be provided in multiple ways:
| Description | |
|---|---|
| File | "passwordFile": "/path/to/pwds.txt"Must contain only one password per line. Empty lines should be used for unlocked keys. Passwords must be provided in the order that key pairs are defined in the config. |
| Direct | "passwords": ["pwd1", "pwd2", ...]Empty strings should be used for unlocked keys. Passwords must be provided in the order that key pairs are defined in the config. Not recommended for production use. |
| CLI | Blackbox will prompt on the CLI for the passwords of any encrypted keys that have not had passwords provided in the config. This process only needs to be performed once, when starting the node. |
Azure Key Vault key pairs
The keys in the pair are stored as secrets in an Azure Key Vault. This requires providing the vault url and the secret IDs for both keys:
" extra-class">"keys": {
"keyVaultConfig": {
"keyVaultType": "AZURE",
"properties": {
"url": "https://my-vault.vault.azure.net"
}
},
"keyData": [
{
"azureVaultPrivateKeyId": "Key",
"azureVaultPublicKeyId": "Pub",
"azureVaultPublicKeyVersion": "bvfw05z4cbu11ra2g94e43v9xxewqdq7",
"azureVaultPrivateKeyVersion": "0my1ora2dciijx5jq9gv07sauzs5wjo2"
}
]
}
"keys": {
"azureKeyVaultConfig": {
"url": "https://my-vault.vault.azure.net"
},
"keyData": [
{
"azureVaultPrivateKeyId": "Key",
"azureVaultPublicKeyId": "Pub",
"azureVaultPublicKeyVersion": "bvfw05z4cbu11ra2g94e43v9xxewqdq7",
"azureVaultPrivateKeyVersion": "0my1ora2dciijx5jq9gv07sauzs5wjo2"
}
]
}
This example configuration will retrieve the specified versions of the secrets Key and Pub from the key vault with DNS name https://my-vault.vault.azure.net. If no version is specified then the latest version of the secret is retrieved.
!!! info Environment variables must be set if using an Azure Key Vault, for more information see Setting up an Azure Key Vault
Hashicorp Vault key pairs
The keys in the pair are stored as a secret in a Hashicorp Vault. Additional configuration can also be provided if the Vault is configured to use TLS and if the AppRole auth method is being used at a different path to the default (approle):
"keyVaultConfig": {
"keyVaultType": "HASHICORP",
"properties": {
"url": "https://localhost:8200",
"tlsKeyStorePath": "/path/to/keystore.jks",
"tlsTrustStorePath": "/path/to/truststore.jks",
"approlePath": "not-default"
}
},
"keyData": [
{
"hashicorpVaultSecretEngineName": "engine",
"hashicorpVaultSecretName": "secret",
"hashicorpVaultSecretVersion": 1,
"hashicorpVaultPrivateKeyId": "privateKey",
"hashicorpVaultPublicKeyId": "publicKey",
}
]
"hashicorpKeyVaultConfig": {
"url": "https://localhost:8200",
"tlsKeyStorePath": "/path/to/keystore.jks",
"tlsTrustStorePath": "/path/to/truststore.jks",
"approlePath": "not-default",
},
"keyData": [
{
"hashicorpVaultSecretEngineName": "engine",
"hashicorpVaultSecretName": "secret",
"hashicorpVaultSecretVersion": 1,
"hashicorpVaultPrivateKeyId": "privateKey",
"hashicorpVaultPublicKeyId": "publicKey",
}
]
This example configuration will retrieve version 1 of the secret engine/secret from Vault and its corresponding values for privateKey and publicKey.
If no hashicorpVaultSecretVersion is provided then the latest version for the secret will be retrieved by default.
Blackbox requires TLS certificates and keys to be stored in .jks Java keystore format. If the .jks files are password protected then the following environment variables must be set:
HASHICORP_CLIENT_KEYSTORE_PWDHASHICORP_CLIENT_TRUSTSTORE_PWD
!!! info If using a Hashicorp Vault additional environment variables must be set and a version 2 K/V secret engine must be enabled. For more information see Setting up a Hashicorp Vault.
AWS Secrets Manager key pairs
The keys in the pair are stored as secrets in the AWS Secrets Manager. This requires providing the secret IDs for both keys. The endpoint is optional as the AWS SDK can fallback to its inbuilt property retrieval chain (e.g. using the environment variable AWS_REGION or ~/.aws/config file - see the AWS docs for similar behaviour explained in the context of credentials):
"keys": {
"keyVaultConfig": {
"keyVaultConfigType": "AWS",
"properties": {
"endpoint": "https://secretsmanager.us-west-2.amazonaws.com"
}
},
"keyData": [
{
"awsSecretsManagerPublicKeyId": "secretIdPub",
"awsSecretsManagerPrivateKeyId": "secretIdKey"
}
]
}
This example configuration will retrieve the secrets secretIdPub and secretIdKey from the AWS Secrets Manager using the endpoint https://secretsmanager.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.
!!! info
A Credential should be scoped to a valid region error when starting means that the region specified in the endpoint differs from the region the AWS SDK has retrieved from its property retrieval chain. This can be resolved by setting the AWS_REGION environment variable to the same region as defined in the endpoint.
!!! info Environment variables must be set if using an AWS Secrets Manager, for more information see Setting up an AWS Secrets Manager
Providing key passwords at runtime
Blackbox will start a CLI password prompt if it has incomplete password data for its locked keys. This prompt can be used to provide the required passwords for each key without having to provide them in the configfile itself.
For example:
Blackbox -configfile path/to/config.json
Password for key[0] missing or invalid.
Attempt 1 of 2. Enter a password for the key
2019-12-09 13:48:16.159 [main] INFO c.q.t.config.keys.KeyEncryptorImpl - Decrypting private key
2019-12-09 13:48:19.364 [main] INFO c.q.t.config.keys.KeyEncryptorImpl - Decrypted private key
# Blackbox startup continues as normal
Multiple Keys
If wished, multiple key pairs can be specified for a Blackbox node. In this case, any one of the public keys can be used to address a private transaction to that node. Blackbox will sequentially try each key to find one that can decrypt the payload. This can be used, for example, to simplify key rotation.
Note that multiple key pairs can only be set up within the configuration file, not via separate filesystem key files.
Viewing the keys registered for a node
For Blackbox v0.10.2 onwards the ThirdParty API /keys endpoint can be used to view the public keys of the key pairs currently in use by your Blackbox node.
For Blackbox v0.10.1 and earlier, an ADMIN API endpoint /config/keypairs exists to allow you to view the public keys of the key pairs currently in use by your Blackbox node.
A sample response for the request adminhost:port/config/keypairs is:
request: thirdpartyhost:port/keys
{
"keys" : [
{
"key" : "oNspPPgszVUFw0qmGFfWwh1uxVUXgvBxleXORHj07g8="
},
{
"key" : "ABn6zhBth2qpdrJXp98IvjExV212ALl3j4U//nj4FAI="
}
]
}
request: adminhost:port/config/keypairs
[
{
"publicKey" : "oNspPPgszVUFw0qmGFfWwh1uxVUXgvBxleXORHj07g8="
},
{
"publicKey" : "ABn6zhBth2qpdrJXp98IvjExV212ALl3j4U//nj4FAI="
}
]
The corresponding server must be configured in the node's configuration file, as described in Configuration Overview.