Maintaining and augmenting a blockchain application is possibly even more challenging than creating and bootstrapping it, as one needs to be skilled in monitoring and analytics and also in assessing the impact of changes.

In this chapter, we described the various ways in which a Hyperledger Fabric application can and will inevitably change over its lifetime. We described in detail, using our canonical trade application as an example, how organizations and peers can be added to a running network, how channel configurations can be augmented, how platforms can be upgraded, and how the smart contract (chaincode) itself can be modified without adversely affecting the application state.

In a later part of the chapter, we gave an overview of the tools a developer of system administrator can use to measure, analyze, and improve the performance of a Fabric blockchain application. We also provided guidelines to engineering the system for better performance.

With further research and development, the Hyperledger suite will no doubt be augmented with more and better mechanisms for system changes and monitoring. This chapter should serve as a handy guide for the typical Fabric developer or administrator to maintaining their production application.