LibEuFin How-To ############### .. contents:: Table of Contents The LibEuFin Nexus is a Web service that provides a JSON abstraction layer to access bank accounts. It does **not** itself offer banking services, but is a translator between JSON requests and other banking protocols (such as EBICS), that are offered by banks. This document explains how to set up Nexus to access a bank account via the EBICS protocol. In order to follow all the steps below, the reader should either have access to a bank account with EBICS support or follow the steps in "Setting up the Sandbox". Installing LibEuFin =================== LibEuFin has the following run-time dependencies: * OpenJDK 11 * Python 3.8 * python3-click (can be installed via ``pip3 install click``) * python3-requests (can be installed via ``pip3 install requests``) Downloading prebuilt binaries ----------------------------- Pre-built packages can be obtained from the `taler.net website `__. Unpack the ``libeufin-$version.zip`` file to your desired location (typically ``/opt`` or ``~/opt``) and make sure that your ``$PATH`` variable contains the ``bin/`` directory of the unpacked archive. Building from source -------------------- Nexus belongs to the LibEuFin project, and can be downloaded via Git: .. code-block:: console $ git clone git://git.taler.net/libeufin Note that Kotlin+Gradle should already work on the host system. Navigate into the *libeufin* local repository, and from top-level run: .. code-block:: console $ ./bootstrap $ ./configure --prefix=$PREFIX $ make install Verifying your installation --------------------------- In case of success, the three following commands should be found: .. code-block:: console $ which libeufin-nexus $ which libeufin-sandbox $ which libeufin-cli (Optional) Configuring the Sandbox ================================== If you don't have access to a real bank account with an EBICS API, you can set up the sandbox. The sandbox is a simplistic and incomplete implementation of a core banking system with EBICS access to bank accounts. For the following commands, the sandbox service must be running. The sandbox service is started with the following command: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-sandbox serve --port 5000 To reset the state of the sandbox, delete the database. By default, the database is a SQLite3 file in ``/tmp/libeufin-sandbox.sqlite3``. For invocations of the LibEuFin command line interface tool (``libeufin-cli``), the following environment variable must be set to the URL of the sandbox service: .. code-block:: console export LIBEUFIN_SANDBOX_URL=http://localhost:5000/ Verify that the sandbox is running: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli sandbox check Now an EBICS host can be created: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli sandbox ebicshost create --host-id testhost Note that most ``libeufin-cli`` subcommands will ask for input interactively if the respective value is not specified as a command line option. Next, create an EBICS subscriber (identified by the partner ID and user ID) for the host: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli sandbox ebicssubscriber create \ --host-id testhost --partner-id partner01 --user-id user01 Create a bank account for the subscriber and add a sample transaction: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli sandbox ebicsbankaccount create \ --currency EUR \ --iban DE18500105172929531888 \ --bic INGDDEFFXXX \ --person-name "Jane Normal" \ --account-name "testacct01" \ --ebics-host-id testhost \ --ebics-user-id user01 \ --ebics-partner-id partner01 The account name "testacct01" is the unique identifier of the account within the sandbox. The EBICS parameters identify the subscriber that should have access to the bank account via EBICS. To populate the account with some test transactions, run the following command (note that we use the *bankaccount* subcommand, because there is no need to rely on EBICS): .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli sandbox bankaccount generate-transactions testacct01 Payments to a sandbox bank account can be listed as follows: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli sandbox bankaccount transactions testacct01 .. note:: The sandbox is intended as a testing tool and thus not stable. For more information on the available commands, use the built-in ``--help`` flag. The full functionality of the sandbox is available via the API. (FIXME(TTN): specify which API) Connect Nexus with an EBICS account =================================== Use the following command to run the nexus service: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-nexus serve --port 5001 By default, the SQLite3 database ``/tmp/libeufin-nexus.sqlite3`` will be used. We recommend using the ``--db-conn-string=$DBCONN`` option. It instructs Nexus to reach the database addressed by the JDBC connection URI. Only *SQLite* and *PostgreSQL (only via TCP)* are supported right now. For example: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-nexus serve --db-conn-string=jdbc:postgresql://127.0.0.1:5433/libeufindb?user=foo&password=secret At this point a superuser account needs to be created: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-nexus superuser --db-conn-string=jdbc:postgresql://127.0.0.1:5433/libeufindb?user=foo&password=secret foo # Will interactively ask for password For simplicity, a superuser can as well act as a normal user, but an API to create less privileged users is offered. .. note:: Privilege separation is not fully implemented yet. The command line interface needs the following three values to be defined in the environment: ``LIBEUFIN_NEXUS_URL``, ``LIBEUFIN_NEXUS_USERNAME``, and ``LIBEUFIN_NEXUS_PASSWORD``. In this example, ``LIBEUFIN_NEXUS_USERNAME`` should be set to ``foo``, and ``LIBEUFIN_NEXUS_PASSWORD`` to the value given for its password in step (2). Next, we create a EBICS *bank connection* that nexus can use to communicate with the bank. .. note:: For the sandbox setup in this guide, the EBICS base URL is ``http://localhost:5000/ebicsweb``. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ connections \ new-ebics-connection \ --ebics-url $EBICS_BASE_URL \ --host-id $EBICS_HOST_ID \ --partner-id $EBICS_PARTNER_ID \ --ebics-user-id $EBICS_USER_ID \ $CONNECTION_NAME If the step above executed correctly, Nexus created all the cryptographic material that is needed on the client side; in this EBICS example, it created the signature and identification keys. It is therefore advisable to *(4) make a backup copy* of such keys. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ connections \ export-backup \ --passphrase $SECRET \ --output-file $BACKUP_FILE \ $CONNECTION_NAME At this point, Nexus needs to both communicate its keys to the bank, and download the bank's. This syncronization happens through the INI, HIA, and finally HPB message types. After the electronic synchronization, the subscriber must confirm their keys by sending a physical mail to the bank. The following command helps generating such letter: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli connections get-key-letter $CONNECTION_NAME out.pdf .. note:: When using the LibEuFin sandbox, subscribers are automatically activated after keys are received electronically. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ connections \ sync \ $CONNECTION_NAME Once the connection is synchronized, Nexus needs to import locally the data corresponding to the bank accounts offered by the bank connection just made. The command below downloads the list of the bank accounts offered by ``$CONNECTION_NAME``. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ connections \ download-bank-accounts \ $CONNECTION_NAME It is now possible to list the accounts offered by the connection. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ connections \ list-offered-bank-accounts \ $CONNECTION_NAME Nexus now needs an explicit import of the accounts it should manage. This step is needed to let the user pick a custom name for such accounts. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli connections \ import-bank-account \ --offered-account-id testacct01 \ --nexus-bank-account-id $CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT \ $CONNECTION_NAME Once a Nexus user imported a bank account (``$CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT``) under a certain connection (``$CONNECTION_NAME``), it is possible to accomplish the usual operations for any bank account: asking for the list of transactions, and making a payment. Request history of transactions =============================== .. FIXME: explain why requesting the history goes through these two-phases. It is first needed to tell Nexus to download the latest news from the bank, and then ask it again to return the results. This command asks Nexus to *download the latest bank statements*: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ accounts \ fetch-transactions \ $CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT .. note:: By default, the latest available transactions are fetched. It is also possible to specify a custom date range (or even all available transactions) and the type of transactions to fetch (inter-day statements or intra-day reports). Once Nexus stored all the information in the database, the client can ask to actually **see** the transactions: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli accounts \ transactions \ $CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT Make a payment ============== .. FIXME: explain why payments go through these two-phases. Payments pass through two phases: preparation and submission. The following command prepares a payment: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ accounts \ prepare-payment \ --creditor-iban $IBAN_TO_SEND_MONEY_TO \ --creditor-bic $BIC_TO_SEND_MONEY_TO \ --creditor-name $CREDITOR_NAME \ --payment-amount $AMOUNT \ --payment-subject $SUBJECT \ $CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT Note: the ``$AMOUNT`` value needs the format ``X.Y:CURRENCY``; for example ``10:EUR``, or ``1.01:EUR``. The previous command should return a value (``$UUID``) that uniquely identifies the prepared payment in the Nexus system. That is needed in the next step, to **send the payment instructions to the bank**: .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ accounts \ submit-payment \ --payment-uuid $UUID \ $CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT Automatic scheduling ==================== With an EBICS bank connection, the LibEuFin nexus needs to regularly query for new transactions and (re-)submit prepared payments. It is possible to schedule these tasks via an external task scheduler such as cron. However, the nexus also has an internal task scheduling mechanism for accounts. The following three commands create a schedule for submitting payments hourly, fetching transactions (intra-day reports) every 5 minutes, and (inter-day statements) once at 11pm every day : .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli accounts task-schedule myacct \ --task-type="submit" --task-name='submit-payments-hourly' --task-cronspec='0 0 *' $ libeufin-cli accounts task-schedule myacct \ --task-type="fetch" \ --task-name='fetch-5min' \ --task-cronspec='0 */5 *' \ --task-param-level=report \ --task-param-range-type=latest $ libeufin-cli accounts task-schedule myacct \ --task-type="fetch" \ --task-name='fetch-daily' \ --task-cronspec='0 0 23' \ --task-param-level=statement \ --task-param-range-type=latest The cronspec has the following format, which is slightly non-standard due to the ``SECONDS`` field .. code-block:: none SECONDS MINUTES HOURS DAY-OF-MONTH[optional] MONTH[optional] DAY-OF-WEEK[optional] Restore the backup ================== The following command restores all the details associated with one bank connection subscription. For EBICS, this means that the INI and HIA secret keys will be restored for the requesting user. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ connection \ restore-backup \ --passphrase $SECRET \ --backup-file $BACKUP_FILE \ $CONNECTION_NAME Creating a Taler facade ======================= Facades are additional abstraction layers that can serve specific purposes. For example, one application might need a filtered version of the transaction history, or it might want to refuse payments that do not conform to certain rules. At this moment, only the *Taler facade type* is implemented in the Nexus, and the command below instantiates one under a existing bank account / connection pair. .. code-block:: console $ libeufin-cli \ facades \ new-facade \ --facade-name $FACADE_NAME \ $CONNECTION_NAME \ $CUSTOM_RENAMING_FOR_ACCOUNT At this point, the additional *taler-wire-gateway* (FIXME: link here to API here) API becomes offered by the Nexus. The purpose is to let a Taler exchange to rely on Nexus to manage its bank account.