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FIX Onboarding

Set Up a Paxos Account, configure connection then certify.

Set up and test a FIX connection in both the Sandbox and Production environments. Connect to the Sandbox environment first for testing purposes. Once the connection is working in Sandbox, follow a similar procedure for the Production connection.

tip

Learn more about FIX Best Practices, including how to use multiple connections and managing sequence number resets.

1. Set Up Paxos Account​

To gain access, create a Paxos Account and Support will guide you through the process.

Go to https://dashboard.sandbox.paxos.com and create an Institution Account in the Sandbox environment.

Use an active email address when signing up: Paxos will send a verification email to the address on file. Once the email is verified, complete the registration process.

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When creating the Sandbox Account:

  • Do not submit documents.
  • Use placeholder (dummy) text for all text fields except for the email address.

2. Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)​

Generate the certificate signing request (CSR) following your internal key management best practices. Make sure to use the RSA key algorithm. Paxos recommends a key length of 4096 bits.

As a secondary security measure, a Paxos Support will contact you to verify its content. Please include the following technical contact information:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Phone

Send the CSR and technical contact information to support@paxos.com.

Paxos will follow up with next steps.

3. Set Up SSL​

Paxos will configure the connection and reply back with the client certificate used for session connection. Bundle exchange_{comp_id}_certificate.crt (the certificate Paxos sent to you) with the key on your side:

cat private.key exchange_{comp_id}_certificate.crt > sandbox.itbitprod.pem

Most FIX users can use stunnel to add encryption functionality to the client. stunnel is suitable for large deployments and does not require client code changes.

Sandbox stunnel.conf
client = yes
foreground = yes
pid = /home/src/itbit.stunnel.pid
socket =l:TCP_NODELAY=1
socket =r:TCP_NODELAY=1

[itbit-sandbox]
client = yes
accept = 127.0.0.1:1234
cert = /{PATH-TO-CERT}/sandbox.itbitprod.pem
connect = {comp_id}.exchange.gfix.sandbox.itbitprod.com:4198
CAfile = /{PATH-TO-CERT}/ca.crt
verifyChain = yes
checkHost = gfix-service.gfix-exchange.sandbox.itbitprod.com

Once complete, test your connection to our servers. Contact support@paxos.com with test results of for help with an alternative to stunnel.

Next Steps​