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Creating a channel

In order to create and transfer assets on a Hyperledger Fabric network, an organization needs to join a channel. Channels are a private layer of communication between specific organizations and are invisible to other members of the network. Each channel consists of a separate ledger that can only be read and written to by channel members, who are allowed to join their peers to the channel and receive new blocks of transactions from the ordering service. While the peers, nodes, and Certificate Authorities form the physical infrastructure of the network, channels are the process by which organizations connect with each other and interact.

Because of the fundamental role that channels play in the operation and governance of Fabric, we provide a series of tutorials that will cover different aspects of how channels are created. The Creating a new channel tutorial describes the operational steps that need to be taken by a network administrator. The Using configtx.yaml to build a channel configuration tutorial introduces the conceptual aspects of creating a channel, followed by a separate discussion of Channel policies.