title: Messenger Service component description: Detailed explanation of the messaging service components of the Radish34 implementation

Messenger Service component

What is here?

This service sends and receives messages using Whisper. The messenger service connects to a running, Whisper-enabled geth client via websocket. A Whisper network must be created by peering each Radish system for message delivery

How does this fit in to Radish?

The messenger service fulfills the requirement of decentralized private messaging between Radish network participants. Each party that runs a Radish system (and the Baseline protocol) needs to send private data to each other. In the supply chain use case this private data is in the form of requests for proposals (RFPs), Service Contracts (MSAs), Purchase Orders, and secret keys/hashes used in the ZKP generation or verification processes. Also, this service adds message delivery receipts and durability to the messages by storing them locally.

How can I run it?

Requirements

NodeJS v12

Running the service

The service comes up along with all the other services needed to run Radish from the docker-compose file. For the Radish POC app there are two instances that spin up, one for the buyer and one for the supplier. To run the service on it's own, you need the following supporting services:

• mongo
• redis
• geth client
• ethereum network with Whisper-enabled nodes

API, Unit Testing

1. Make sure you have all of the necessary npm packages in ./node_modules

npm install

2. Build/run the ancillary services needed to run unit tests and test the REST API.

npm run deploy:up

3. Start the messenger service in the test env

npm run start:test

4. Run the tests

npm test

Troubleshooting

If you get errors when running steps 1 or 3 above, please ensure that you are running node version 12.16. The nvm (node version manager) tool allows you to easily switch between versions:

nvm install 12.16
nvm use 12.16

What is the architecture?

How can this be improved?