Community Update 226

Owned by Rao Bhamidipati
Jun 01, 2022
6 min read

General

  • Status of the networks and Releases
    • Main net is running RNode version 0.12.8 ( https://github.com/rchain/rchain/releases/tag/v0.12.8). This version resolves a bug around hashing of the blocks. The code will choose between the previous hashing scheme or the new hashing scheme based on the version of the node.
    • Testnet 0.13.0 had been running Since about March the 10th. All block merge code is now on the testnet, but finalization needs to be worked on and that is the current focus of the team. Current version on this LLBM test net is 0.13.0-alpha3. This version enables testing the sharding related behavior. Dappy (fabcoTech) and other community members are currently testing this version.
    • There were two planned hard forks: Hard Fork 2 for block merge (release versioning will be 0.13.x) and Hard Fork 3 for PoS changes (release versioning will be either 0.14.x or 1.x.x) to eventually enable a fully decentralized node with external validators.  Most of the Hard fork 3 changes are now likely to be included in Hard Fork 2.  We will do a Hard Fork 3 only if needed. 
    • There is a separate test net running the 0.12.8 version, to support those using the current main net. To access, point to  node{0-4}.bm.testnet.rchain.coop, observer.bm.testnet.rchain.coop, faucet is available at https://status.bm.testnet.rchain.coop/testnet/faucet/ and Tomislav's (TypeScript) test page with block merge network support is available at https://tgrospic.github.io/rnode-client-js-dev-test/ 
    • Both *.bm.testnet.rchain.coop and *.llbm.testnet.rchain.coop are part of hard fork 2. the llbm version has the latest code.

Sprint 115 in progress

Main Focus is to prepare the leaderless block merge Hard fork (hf2), specifically (a) complete the finalization feature for multi-parent block merge for release to Test net (b) a lot of testing + bug fixing and (c) performance improvements (d) Completed - Adding shardId inside the signatures, to enable multi-shard operation and prevent reusing of deploys from one shard in another shard (e) sdk project to make the code more modular and serve as a base for RNode domain logic with corresponding data types (f) Prepare for trusted external validators in order to decentralize the network.

Other work includes resolving any identified bugs, hardening the network and working with external customers. 

As part of his finalization work, Tomislav realized the need to fix block retriever. He nearly completed that task and is finishing up block processing, so that he can get back to the main work on finalization using the simple protocol. Code for finalization is mostly ready, he has to integrate all these pieces and complete writing the tests. Nutzipper has done preparatory work for merging of state when Tomislav is ready.  When all these changes are completed, finalization code will be ready for deployment to test net.

Current full PR list is at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/pulls?q=is%3Apr+sort%3Aupdated-desc+is%3Aopen .  Project progress is at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/projects/4  Latest updates to the issues list are at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc

Will's work on calculation for random seed is nearly complete. He and Max have been writing tests for it. In addition, Max has been writing the tests for 'registry update as a soft fork' .  This issue is described here https://github.com/rchain/rchain/issues/3691.

After the above work is completed, Will will start on the preparatory work needed for bonding of external validators.  https://github.com/rchain/rchain/issues/3714 . This will be used as a test case to test the registry update process.

We are making good progress on external validators. Gurinder is setting up a test net where >51% of the nodes and stake will be run by non-coop validators. So far there have been informal commitments by approximately 8 external parties to run nodes. They are gaining experience reading logs, using the monitoring tools, will go through version updates, epoch changes and other steps, so that they are equipped to run a validator node smoothly and be prepared to resolve any issues as they arise. Meanwhile, the coop will be doing the necessary business preparation like creating the Service Level Agreements and readying the necessary IOBs for external validators to be voted on by the membership. 

Nutzipper has been working on generating rholang deploys in Scala based on RabbitMQ topics for integration with external systems.  He will be demonstrating the round trip process today.

Stas has been working on enhancing 'property based testing' so that testing can be quick and granular. This will help developers quickly write tests based on laws /  properties / constraints that provide greater coverage as well as identify the smallest cases that are failing, which is useful in faster debugging. We need faster debugging response time when the network is decentralized and we have to respond to issues quickly. Here are a couple of links if you are interested in learning more https://livebook.manning.com/book/functional-programming-in-scala/chapter-8/13  and https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/property-based-testing-scalatest-scalacheck-52261a2b5c2c

Denis continues his work on implementing the BigInt type in Rholang, which is a multi-PR task.  https://github.com/rchain/rchip-proposals/issues/51  His initial description is at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/issues/3699  As part of this task, he took a deep dive into cost accounting to list what we are charging for the various operations.  He has documented the findings in the rchain-secure repository. Any computational resources we give away for free can be potential attack vectors. So Denis's work documenting these is useful. 

External customer/market engagement continues.

Note:

  1. Reminder: It's important for all Wallet makers to update their code to match the new implementation where minimum phlo price is a parameter. Please communicate this to any wallets you are using.  Wallets will have to call /api/status to get min phlo price accepted by the validator and put that value in deploy data instead of the currently used constant 1.Tomislav has updated the wiki at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/wiki/Cost-accounting-in-RChain#phloprice We will start communications with exchanges also for HF2.
  2. Status of various Block merge tasks is at
    1. https://github.com/rchain/rchain/projects/4
    2. Current status of updated HF2 task list is at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/issues/3315

Development Plans for the rest of the year and beyond - for reference

Near term plans and releases are as below:

  1. Block merge release hard fork 2 plus any configuration changes that do not need extensive work - Leaderful and Leaderless block merge
  2. Potentially one or more releases for Configuration changes and/or performance improvements,
  3. Hard Fork 3 with PoS changes and other items,
  4. External validators process validation with trusted community validators (aka Friends & Family) on the test net
  5. Friends & Family + trusted third parties validation on the main net
  6. External validators among extended ecosystem (e.g. exchanges, if they're willing)
  7. External validators in the wild
  8. Feature releases driven by external market engagement


Explanation of the different Hard Forks (for reference)

Proceeding further with block merge requires changes to the per validator vault to make it a per deploy vault/purse etc. We are currently finalizing the design for this. Actual code and test will take some time. We are potentially looking at this scenario:
1. First hard fork for balances and removing the slashed validator
2. Second hard fork for block merge - This is the fastest way to get block merge on the main net without holding it until the third hard fork. This includes REV balance merging (aka per deploy vault), attestation messages and the Tree depth being increased to four.
3. Third hard fork with all other changes.  Third hard fork includes implementation of a lot of changes including the PoS contract changes, Soft fork process etc.  Design for soft fork process is complete and is being reviewed by the team.

(Hard Fork) TEST NET 2 ADVISORY: (for reference)

To test the version of block merge with data changes that need a hard fork, we are creating a separate feature branch and a TEST NET 2 as the testbed for this feature branch. This content will be left here until we are close to Hard Fork 2 implementation on the main net. TestNet 2 is now available for the community to test their contracts on.

  1. There will be no guarantees of data storage format compatibility on Test Net 2, as the data storage format changes are incrementally implemented. The anticipated changes are mostly storage level format changes visible only to node operators. We encourage the community to start using Test Net 2 in addition to the current test net, so that we can quickly identify and resolve any issues with the upcoming hard forks. All new development should be targeted to TEST NET 2 and all current code MUST BE tested against TEST NET 2 to ensure future compatibility. 

On all the hard forks on the main net, we will be starting from an empty state, with REV balances only. On Test Net 2, this 'loosing the state' will be repeated multiple times.

Tech-Governance meetings on Fridays 9:30 AM Eastern, 6:30 Am Pacific 

Mercury requirements and acceptance criteria

Details on the acceptance criteria: Mercury acceptance criteria

Please see the documentation at https://github.com/rchain/rchain/blob/dev/docs/features.md. 

Developer website

https://developer.rchain.coop 

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