This section describes how to configure FIX Engine and FIX session.

Configuring FIX Engine

The FIX Engine is based on the FIX Antenna Java library. 

FIX Engine's basic settings are stored in the fixengine.properties file, located in the conf directory. Refer to the B2BITS FIX Antenna Java Programmer’s Guide for a complete list of FIX Antenna settings.

The fixengine.properties file contains global B2BITS FIX Antenna settings. A user can specify FIX session default parameters here as well. 

The fixedge.properties file contains settings of the default FIX server port by which the FIX Antenna listens to incoming data.

The currently used default: server.port=8911

Additional listening ports could be defined within FIX session configurations (see the port property). In this case, the FIX Engine automatically manages their opening and closing according to started sessions.

Custom FIX dictionaries setup

The custom FIX dictionaries setup in the FIXEdge Java (FEJ) product is based on the FIX Antenna custom FIX dictionaries setup (see How to set up custom FIX dictionaries), but there is FIXEdge Java configuration specific.

Follow these steps to set up FIX dictionaries:

1. Place the customFIXVersions section into the default fixengine.properties file (located in the conf directory) to set up custom FIX version info for all FIX sessions.

   fixengine.properties

   # comma separated list of custom FIX dictionary aliases
   customFixVersions=FIX44Custom,FIX50Custom
   
   # pair of 'fixVersion' and 'fileName' for each FIX dictionary alias with pattern:
   # customFixVersion.<custom FIX version alias>.fixVersion=<base standard FIX version>
   # customFixVersion.<custom FIX version alias>.fileName=<custom FIX dictionary file name>
   
   # example of custom FIX dictionary based on FIX.4.4
   customFixVersion.FIX44Custom.fixVersion=FIX.4.4
   customFixVersion.FIX44Custom.fileName=classpath:fixdic44-custom.xml
   
   # examples of custom FIX dictionary based on FIX.5.0
   customFixVersion.FIX50Custom.fixVersion=FIX.5.0
   customFixVersion.FIX50Custom.fileName=classpath:fixdic50-custom.xml
   
   

2. Set the defined dictionary aliases as session's fixVersion or appVersion in the appropriate FIXEdge Java session configuration file 's_fix_[SESSION_ID].properties':

   s_fix_session1.properties

   # FIXEdge Java session configuration properties
   
   fixVersion=FIX44Custom
   

   s_fix_session2.properties

   # FIXEdge Java session configuration properties
   
   fixVersion=FIX50Custom
   

   NOTE: Changes, which are made in the fixengine.properties file, will be applied only after FIXEdge server restart.

Configuring FIX Session

For establishing and managing FIX sessions, the FIX Antenna Java library is used. FEJ also introduces a per-file base configuration for each FIX session. All such configuration files are placed into subdirectories of the conf/session directory and should follow the s_fix_[SESSION_ID].properties mask (this behavior can be changed with the sessionConfigManager bean into sysconf/fej-server.xml). Additionally, each subdirectory may have the s_fixDefault.properties configuration file which defines a common option for all groups of the FIX session.

To add a new FIX session, the s_fix_[SESSION_ID].properties file is used with new session settings. 

To modify the FIX session, the changes to the s_fix_[SESSION_ID].properties file should be done.

To apply changes to the FIX session, the following options are available:

• Restart the FIXEdge Java server by using the administrative instruments (all sessions will be initialized in this case)
• Load or reload the session configuration from the FIXICC app (refer to the FIXICC & FEJ Integration User Guide)

NOTE: Changes, which are made in fixengine.properties will be applied to the FIX Engine and sessions only after the FIXEdge server restart.

For monitoring available sessions and their states, use the administrative tools (SSH, JMX), or FIXICC.

FIX session configuration options

(You can find the advanced options for the FIX session on the FIX Antenna Java configuration page).

NOTE:

1. The FIX session can be started or stopped only if the startOnload option is enabled or if any scheduling is applied. Otherwise, the session will be inactive. Please also refer to the Scheduler configuration section for more complex scheduling definitions.
2. It is possible to use environment variables in the configuration.
   Example: password = ${ENV_PASSWORD}, where ENV_PASSWORD is the name of the environment variable.

Timestamps in storages

FIX Antenna Java library provides the ability to mark storages and messages inside them with timestamps. This feature is supported only for storages with human-readable formats

• Filesystem Storage - persistent storage, all messages will be saved on disk;
• Sliced File Storage - persistent storage with a defined maximum of file size;
• MMF Storage - persistent file storage that uses the technology of the memory-mapped file.

Incoming and outgoing message storages could contain the timestamp of the FIX sessions start in their names. The following session properties are responsible for such a configuration:

Configuration options

Secure connection configuration

FIXEdge Java supports configuring secure transport separately for each session. 

FIX Sessions can use a mutual store of private keys (KeyStores) and a mutual store of trusted keys (TrustStore).

In some cases (for security reasons, administrative convenience, or flexibility), each session must use independent KeyStore and TrustStore.

Default session settings can be configured in the s_fixDefault.properties file (see details here) located in the same directory with the s_fix<session id>.properties session configuration file.

Secure connection parameters

The full list of configuration parameters can be found here: B2BITS FIX Antenna Java Programmer’s Guide.

Example configuration for default acceptor session parameters 

# FIXEdge Java SSL default session configuration properties
fixVersion=FIX.4.4
startOnload = true

# Define options for secure connection
port=5555
enableSSL=true
sslProtocol = TLS
acceptedSslServerProtocols = TLSv1.2

# SSL Properties
keyStorePath=conf/ssl/FIXEdge_Server_Keystore1.jks
keyStorePassword=FIXEdgeServer
trustStorePath=conf/ssl/FIX_Client_Truststore1.jks
trustStorePassword=FIXClient

Example configuration for a secure acceptor session using default secure properties

# FIXEdge Java session configuration properties with default SSL settings
sessionType=acceptor
senderCompID=FIXEdgeJ
targetCompID=FIXClient1
fixVersion=FIX.4.4

Example configuration for a secure acceptor session using custom secure properties

# FIXEdge Java session configuration properties with custom SSL settings
sessionType=acceptor
senderCompID=FIXEdgeJ
targetCompID=FIXClient2
fixVersion=FIX.4.4

# Specifing custom port because secure configuration is changed
port=6666
enableSSL=true
sslProtocol = TLS
acceptedSslServerProtocols = TLSv1.2
# SSL Properties
keyStorePath=conf/ssl/FIXEdge_Server_Keystore2.jks
keyStorePassword=FIXEdgeServer
trustStorePath=conf/ssl/FIX_Client_Truststore2.jks
trustStorePassword=FIXClient

Example configuration for a secure initiator session using custom secure properties

host=localhost
port=3000
senderCompID=FIXEdgeJ
targetCompID=FIXClient3
fixVersion=FIX.4.4
        
# Define options for secure connection
enableSSL=true
keyStorePath=conf/ssl/FIXEdge_Server_Keystore3.jks
keyStorePassword=FIXEdgeServer
trustStorePath=conf/ssl/FIX_Client_Truststore3.jks
trustStorePassword=FIXClient