nimbus-eth2/CHANGELOG.md

2021-01-10 v1.0.6
=================

A release that brings reproducible precompiled binaries for ARM devices and
significant performance improvements.

-----

**New additions:**

* Reproducible build recipe for creating Nimbus Linux binaries intended for
  ARM devices.

* Improved attestation subnet walking logic: this brings significant reductions
  in bandwidth usage and CPU load.

* Better usage of the Sqlite3 checkpointing API  (minor performance
  improvement).

* Larger window for the candidate attestations included in blocks: this can lead
  to higher block rewards.

**We've fixed:**

* Incorrect `attnets` value announced in ENR records.


2021-01-09 v1.0.5
=================

The 1.0.5 release was retracted because it included a potential optimization
to the reproducible build scripts that turned out to create a buggy binary for
AMD64 systems. Manually built binaries through the Makefiles were not affected.
After fixing the problem, the release was re-published as 1.0.6 with the same
release notes.


2020-12-16 v1.0.4
=================

A release bringing further stability improvements and minor performance
optimisations.

-----

**New additions:**

* Nimbus can now be safely shut down with the SIGTERM signal on POSIX systems.

* New discovery IP limits making theoretic eclipse attack much more costly.

* A new `make benchmarks` target for obtaining a performance score for your system.

* Upgrade of the BLST library bringing minor performance improvement.

**We've fixed:**

* Gossipsub resource leaks that may reduce the quality of the gossipsub mesh and
  reduce the attestation effectiveness of the client.

* Incomplete validation of the forwarded attestations that may affect negatively
  the peer score of Nimbus.

* An issue halting the activity of the Eth1 monitor.

* The incorrect zero validator balance displayed while the node is syncing.

* A regression preventing Nimbus to be used with custom testnet metadata files.


2020-12-09 v1.0.3
=================

A release fixing issues that have contributed to Nimbus's lower peer scores
on the network.

-----

**New additions:**

* New metrics tracking the syncing progress of the Eth1 deposit contract
  monitor.

* A new `web3 test` command for testing the compatibility of a web3 provider
  before using it.

**We've fixed:**

* Incorrect timing when sending aggregated attestations.

* Stale ENR records not taking into account the dynamic attestation subnet
  hopping.

* An invalid error message produced by the `deposits exit` command (validator
  state unknown).


2020-12-03 v1.0.2
=================

A release that fixes an issue regarding the occasional missed block proposal.

Proposing a block is arguably the most important duty you have as a validator.
So it's important you update at your earliest convenience.

-----

**New additions:**

* 8 new JSON-RPC calls that bring us to feature parity with the official
  beacon node API.

**We've fixed:**

* A deposit merkle proofs generation issue occasionally resulting in missed
  block proposals shortly after a new Eth1 head was selected.

* Slow status bar updates in the absense of logging messages.


2020-12-02 v1.0.1
=================

A release with a number of important fixes and optimisations.

**Please update** at your earliest convenience.

In order to minimise downtime, we recommend updating and rebuilding
the beacon node **before restarting.**

-----

**New additions:**

* More conservative Eth1 syncing requests to reduce the likelihood of
  going over the maximum allowed burst rates under the Infura free plan
  (predominantly aimed at those running Nimbus on resource-restricted
   device like Raspberry Pi's) + more resiliency in case of errors.

**We've fixed:**

* A "Only one concurrent read allowed" crash reported by multiple users.

* An error in the default configuration preventing the node from discovering
  peers on mainnet unless the `--network=mainnet` flag was passed. Please note
  that this not affect users starting their node with the `./run-mainnet-beacon-node`
  command.

* The fractional part of the ETH balance in the Nimbus status bar
  (the value displayed should now be correct).

* An issue that occasionally caused the Eth1 syncing process to get stuck
  before reaching the head of the chain.

* Unnecessary network traffic related to GossipSub `IHAVE`.

* Incorrect gossipsub pruning which occasionally resulted in messages
  getting lost.

* An issue where an excessively long graffiti string could cause a crash on
  startup.

* A Linux-only issue that resulted in the `deposits import` command ignoring
  its supplied arguments.


2020-11-29 v1.0.0-stateofus
===========================

As promised, a slightly more polished release before Mainnet launch ✨

Please make sure you update to this release before Eth2 genesis this
Tuesday (December 1 12:00:23 UTC), as it contains some important improvements.

-----------------

**New additions:**

* Updated list of bootstrap nodes for Mainnet.

* Prometheus metrics for validator balances. The beacon node will also
  display the total balance of all attached validators in the status
  footer by default.

* `deposits import` now automagically finds the `validator_keys` directory
  produced by the `eth2.0-deposit-cli` if it is located in the same working
  directory.

* A `deposits exit` command for submitting a voluntary validator exit.

* A `record` CLI command for inspecting and creating ENR records.

* An `--agent-string` option for specifying how Nimbus will present itself
  in LibP2P messages. The default value is now `nimbus`.

* New RPC calls to track node and config status. Specifically, a JSON-RCP
  call for inspecting the active config preset (`get_v1_config_spec`).

**We've fixed:**

* Inaccurate peer counts (an occasional mismatch between the number of
  syncing peers and GossipSub peers) -- the default peer limit has been
  increased to maintain a healthy gossip mesh.

* High bandwidth usage of GossipSub (due to sub-optimal caching and lack
  of limits in the IWANT/IHAVE exchange messages) -- we're now using the
  latest spec GossipSub parameters.

* High sync memory footprint -- we've reduced the number of sync workers
  from 20 to 10 (note, this should not affect sync speed).


2020-11-25 v1.0.0-rc1
=====================

We're happy to join the other client teams in announcing our `v1.0.0` release
candidate with support for Mainnet ✨

You can use this release/binary to set up your rig and monitoring for Eth2
genesis next Tuesday (*December 1 12:00:23 UTC*).

> **N.B.** There will be at least one more release, before December 1st.
> In particular, **we are planning a more polished release for Sunday** which
> will act as a drop-in replacement for this release candidate.

Don't worry if your peer count appears low at first -- It should increase as
more validators connect to Mainnet.

-----------------

**Highlights include:**

* The addition of a deposit contract "state snapshot"  to network metadata.
  This allows the client to skip syncing deposits made prior to the snapshot.

* A much faster startup time. We've removed the deposits table from the database,
  which means the client no longer needs to process all deposits on start-up.

* The Eth1 monitor no longer starts if the beacon node has zero validators attached to it.

* The genesis detection code is now optional and disabled by default.

* An RPC call to get Chronos futures at runtime.

* Eth2 spec gossip parameters.

**We've fixed:**

* A database corruption issue affecting Pyrmont nodes.

* Unnecessary copy/memory alloc when loading DbSeq entries.

* A block production issue affecting clients that hadn't finished downloading the latest deposits.


2020-11-20 v0.6.6
=================

New additions:

* New RPC APIs for inspecting the internal state of the Eth1 monitor.

We've fixed:

* A fork-choice issue causing Nimbus to get stuck on a particular slot.

* A logic error causing Nimbus to vote for an incorrect Eth1 block.

* A crash during initialization when the web3 provider is refusing
  to serve data (e.g. due to exceeded request quota).


2020-11-17 v0.6.4
=================

New additions:

* Support for the Pyrmont testnet.

* The PCRE library is no longer necessary for building Nimbus.

* Sensitive files such as keystores are now accessible only to the
  user of the beacon node on POSIX systems (the group rights have
  been dropped).

We've fixed:

* An issue preventing blocks to be downloaded when the client goes
  out of sync.

* Resource leaks that may lead to reduction of network activity due
  to a build-up of malfunctioning peer connections.


2020-11-12 v0.6.2
=================

A bugfix release addressing issues discovered in the Toledo network.

New features include:

* GossipSub 1.1

* The beacon node status bar (footer) now contains a
  time-left-until-synced estimate.

* A JSON-RPC method `setLogLevel` for dynamically changing the
  log level of selected components at run-time.

* The ability to launch Nimbus with a partially-synced Geth node.

We've fixed:

* A bug preventing the node from proposing blocks when connected
  to a web3 provider

* An invalid "corrupted database" error message appearing on start-up

* Incorrectly set message-ids in gossip message causing other clients
  to penalise and potentially disconnect our nodes from the network.

* An issue occuring when Nimbus is paired with a Geth node
  that is not fully synced.


2020-11-09 Hope (v0.6.0)
========================

`Nimbus eth2` 0.6.0 was the first externally audited and stable release
of our beacon node software. When compared to the 0.5x series, it features
significant reductions in storage and memory requirements, a faster sync
speed, and a plethora of usability and security enhancements across the
board. Under normal network conditions, the delivery rate of attestations
and block proposals is expected to be above 99%. Going forward, our release
schedule will start to accelerate, with multiple new releases expected before
the Eth2 mainnet launch.

Changelog highlights include:

* Full support for the 1.0 Eth2 phase0 spec and the monitoring of the
  mainnet validator deposit contract.

* LibP2P and GossipSub fixes which drastically improve the delivery of
  attestations and blocks (nearly 100% expected rate of delivery).

* Fixes for all major resource leaks: you no longer need to restart your
  node to improve its performance.

* Efficient caching and storage mechanisms: ensures our memory consumption
  remains comparatively low both during smooth and turbulent network conditions.

* Several storage and networking optimisations leading to an order of magnitude
  improvement in beacon chain sync speed.

* Audits to our codebase by ConsenSys Diligence, NCC Group and Trail of Bits.
  More than 60 of the security findings have already been addressed.
  The remaining items will be resolved before mainnet launch.

* Support for pairing with a locally running Geth instance to allow for
  decentralised monitoring of the validator deposit contract.

* An extensive user guide for managing the beacon node.

* Slashing protection mechanisms + database.

* Support for storing the validator signing keys in a separate process, isolated
  from the network, with a minimal attack surface.