status-im
/
nimbus-eth2
mirror of https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2.git
2
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Branch guide 

* update developer resources to include new branch structure
(https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/issues/2163)
* remove some information duplicated between readme and developer
handbook
This commit is contained in:
Jacek Sieka 2020-12-18 14:49:49 +01:00 committed by zah
parent 048a67d525
commit 3d87bc0033
3 changed files with 110 additions and 368 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

369
README.md
View File

@ -16,39 +16,27 @@ Nimbus beacon chain is a research implementation of the beacon chain component o
<!-- DON'T EDIT THIS SECTION, INSTEAD RE-RUN doctoc TO UPDATE -->
- [Nimbus Eth2 (Beacon Chain)](#nimbus-eth2-beacon-chain)
- [Documentation](#documentation)
- [Related projects](#related-projects)
- [Prerequisites for everyone](#prerequisites-for-everyone)
- [Linux](#linux)
- [MacOS](#macos)
- [Windows](#windows)
- [Android](#android)
- [For users](#for-users)
- [Connecting to testnets](#connecting-to-testnets)
- [Getting metrics from a local testnet client](#getting-metrics-from-a-local-testnet-client)
- [Stress-testing the client by limiting the CPU power](#stress-testing-the-client-by-limiting-the-cpu-power)
- [Interop (for other Eth2 clients)](#interop-for-other-eth2-clients)
- [For researchers](#for-researchers)
- [State transition simulation](#state-transition-simulation)
- [Local network simulation](#local-network-simulation)
- [Visualising simulation metrics](#visualising-simulation-metrics)
- [Network inspection](#network-inspection)
- [For developers](#for-developers)
- [Windows dev environment](#windows-dev-environment)
- [Linux, MacOS](#linux-macos)
- [Raspberry Pi](#raspberry-pi)
- [Makefile tips and tricks for developers](#makefile-tips-and-tricks-for-developers)
- [CI setup](#ci-setup)
- [License](#license)
- [Documentation](#documentation)
- [Related projects](#related-projects)
- [Branch guide](#branch-guide)
- [Developer resources](#developer-resources)
- [Interop tooling](#interop-tooling)
- [For researchers](#for-researchers)
- [State transition simulation](#state-transition-simulation)
- [Local network simulation](#local-network-simulation)
- [Visualising simulation metrics](#visualising-simulation-metrics)
- [Network inspection](#network-inspection)
- [CI setup](#ci-setup)
- [License](#license)
<!-- END doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->
## Documentation
You can find the information you need to run a beacon node and operate as a validator in [The Book](https://status-im.github.io/nimbus-eth2/).
The [Quickstart](https://status-im.github.io/nimbus-eth2/quick-start.html) in particular will help you get connected to the Pyrmont Testnet and eth2 Mainnet quickly!
## Related projects
* [status-im/nimbus-eth1](https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth1/): Nimbus for Ethereum 1
@ -56,152 +44,30 @@ You can find the information you need to run a beacon node and operate as a vali
You can check where the beacon chain fits in the Ethereum ecosystem our Two-Point-Oh series: https://our.status.im/tag/two-point-oh/
## Prerequisites for everyone
## Branch guide
At the moment, Nimbus has to be built from source.
* `stable` - latest stable release - **this branch is recommended for most users**
* `testing` - pre-release branch with features and bugfixes slated for the next stable release - this branch is suitable for use on testnets and for adventerous users that want to live on the edge.
* `unstable` - main development branch against which PR's are merged - if you want to contribute to Nimbus, start here.
Nimbus has the following external dependencies:
## Developer resources
* Developer tools (C compiler, Make, Bash, Git)
To build tools that interact with Nimbus while it's running, we expose an [RPC API](https://status-im.github.io/nimbus-eth2/api.html).
Nim is not an external dependency, Nimbus will build its own local copy.
To get started with developing Nimbus itself, see the [developer handbook](https://status-im.github.io/nimbus-eth2/developers.html).
### Linux
Nimbus is built in the [Nim language](https://nim-lang.org) - the compiler is automatically installed when building the project for the first time. More information - in particular security-related information about the language - can be found in the [Auditor Handbook](https://status-im.github.io/nimbus-eth2/auditors-book/).
On common Linux distributions the dependencies can be installed with:
```sh
# Debian and Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install build-essential git
# Fedora
dnf install @development-tools
# Archlinux, using an AUR manager
yourAURmanager -S base-devel
```
### MacOS
Assuming you use [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) to manage packages:
```sh
brew install cmake
```
Make sure you have [CMake](https://cmake.org/) installed, to be able to build libunwind (used for [lightweight stack traces](https://github.com/status-im/nim-libbacktrace)).
### Windows
You can install the developer tools by following the instruction in our [Windows dev environment section](#windows-dev-environment).
### Android
* Install the [Termux](https://termux.com) app from FDroid or the Google Play store
* Install a [PRoot](https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot) of your choice following the instructions for your preferred distribution.
Note, the Ubuntu PRoot is known to contain all Nimbus prerequisites compiled on Arm64 architecture (common architecture for Android devices).
*Assuming Ubuntu PRoot is used*
```sh
apt install build-essential git
```
## For users
### Connecting to testnets
Once the [prerequisites](#prerequisites) are installed you can connect to the [Pyrmont testnet](https://github.com/protolambda/pyrmont) with the following commands:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2
cd nimbus-eth2
make pyrmont # This will build Nimbus and all other dependencies
# and connect you to Pyrmont
```
You can also start multiple local nodes, in different terminal windows/tabs, by specifying their numeric IDs:
```bash
make pyrmont NODE_ID=0 # the default
make pyrmont NODE_ID=1
make pyrmont NODE_ID=2
```
To change the TCP and UDP ports from the default value of 9000:
```bash
make BASE_PORT=9100 pyrmont
```
### Getting metrics from a local testnet client
```bash
# the primitive HTTP server started to serve the metrics is considered insecure
make NIMFLAGS="-d:insecure" pyrmont
```
Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8008/metrics to see the raw metrics. You should see a plaintext page that looks something like this:
```
# HELP nim_runtime_info Nim runtime info
# TYPE nim_runtime_info gauge
nim_gc_mem_bytes 6275072.0
nim_gc_mem_occupied_bytes 1881384.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="KeyValuePairSeq[digest.Eth2Digest, block_pools_types.BlockRef]"} 25165856.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="BlockRef"} 17284608.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="string"} 6264507.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="seq[SelectorKey[asyncdispatch.AsyncData]]"} 409632.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[Labels, seq[Metric]]"} 122720.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="Future[system.void]"} 79848.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="anon ref object from /Users/hackingresearch/nimbus/clone/nim-beacon-chain/vendor/nimbus-build-system/vendor/Nim/lib/pure/asyncmacro.nim(319, 33)"} 65664.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="anon ref object from /Users/hackingresearch/nimbus/clone/nim-beacon-chain/vendor/nimbus-build-system/vendor/Nim/lib/pure/asyncnet.nim(506, 11)"} 43776.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="seq[byte]"} 37236.0
nim_gc_heap_instance_occupied_bytes{type_name="seq[TrustedAttestation]"} 29728.0
...
```
Unfortunately, this simple method only offers one snapshot in time (you'll need to keep refreshing to see the data update) which means it's impossible to see a useful history of the metrics. In short, it's far from optimal from an information design point of view.
In order to settle on a better solution, we'll need the help of two external projects -- [Prometheus](https://prometheus.io/) and [Grafana](https://grafana.com/).
See [this page](https://status-im.github.io/nimbus-eth2/metrics-pretty-pictures.html#prometheus-and-grafana) from our Nimbus book for a step-by-step guide on how to use Prometheus and Grafana to spin up a beautiful and useful monitoring dashboard for your validator.
------------------
*For those of you who are already familiar with Prometheus and Grafana*
To feed the data into a Prometheus instance, run:
```bash
cd build/data/shared_pyrmont_0
prometheus --config.file=./prometheus.yml --storage.tsdb.path=./prometheus
# when starting multiple nodes at the same time, just use the config file from the one with the highest ID
```
You can then visualise the data by getting Grafana up and running with the dashboard definition found in `grafana/beacon\_nodes\_Grafana\_dashboard.json`.
### Stress-testing the client by limiting the CPU power
```bash
make pyrmont CPU_LIMIT=20
```
The limiting is provided by the cpulimit utility, available on Linux and macOS.
The specified value is a percentage of a single CPU core. Usually 1 - 100, but can be higher on multi-core CPUs.
## Interop (for other Eth2 clients)
## Interop tooling
After installing the [prerequisites](#prerequisites)
To run the Nimbus state transition, we provide the `ncli` tool:
* [ncli](ncli)
The interop scripts have been moved in a common repo, the interop relied on 0.8.3 specs which had seen significant changes. The interop branch still exist but is unmaintained.
We provide several tools to interact with ETH2:
* [ncli](ncli/ncli.nim) - command line tools to interact with blocks and states - pretty printers, SSZ decoders, state transition helpers
* [ncli_db](ncli/ncli_db.nim) - command line tool to perform surgery on the Nimbus sqlite database
* [inspector]()
* [multinet](https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/tree/master/multinet) - a set of scripts to build and run several Eth2 clients locally
* [interop branch](https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/tree/interop) (unmaintained)
## For researchers
@ -305,187 +171,6 @@ The [inspector tool](./beacon_chain/inspector.nim) can help monitor the libp2p n
./env.sh build/inspector_minimal --decode -b:$(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eth2-clients/eth2-testnets/master/nimbus/testnet0/bootstrap_nodes.txt | head -n1)
```
## For developers
Latest updates happen in the `devel` branch which is merged into `master` every week on Tuesday before deploying new testnets.
Interesting Make variables and targets are documented in the [nimbus-build-system](https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-build-system) repo.
The following sections explain how to set up your build environment on your platform.
### Windows dev environment
Install Mingw-w64 for your architecture using the "[MinGW-W64 Online
Installer](https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/files/)" (first link
under the directory listing). Run it and select your architecture in the setup
menu ("i686" on 32-bit, "x86\_64" on 64-bit), set the threads to "win32" and
the exceptions to "dwarf" on 32-bit and "seh" on 64-bit. Change the
installation directory to "C:\mingw-w64" and add it to your system PATH in "My
Computer"/"This PC" -> Properties -> Advanced system settings -> Environment
Variables -> Path -> Edit -> New -> C:\mingw-w64\mingw64\bin (it's "C:\mingw-w64\mingw32\bin" on 32-bit)
Install [Git for Windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) and use a "Git Bash" shell to clone and build nimbus-eth2.
Install [CMake](https://cmake.org/) to be able to build libunwind (used for [lightweight stack traces](https://github.com/status-im/nim-libbacktrace)).
When running the tests, you might hit some Windows path length limits. Increase them by editing the Registry in a PowerShell instance with administrator privileges:
```powershell
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem' -Name 'LongPathsEnabled' -Value 1
```
and run this in a "Git Bash" terminal:
```bash
git config --global core.longpaths true
```
> If you were following the Windows testnet instructions, you can jump back to [Connecting to testnets](#connecting-to-testnets) now
You can now follow those instructions in the previous section by replacing `make` with `mingw32-make` (regardless of your 32-bit or 64-bit architecture):
```bash
mingw32-make -j $(nproc) test # run the test suite
```
### Linux, MacOS
After cloning the repo:
```bash
# The first `make` invocation will update all Git submodules.
# You'll run `make update` after each `git pull`, in the future, to keep those submodules up to date.
# Build nimbus_beacon_node and all the tools, using as many parallel jobs as you have CPU cores
make -j $(nproc)
# Run tests
make -j $(nproc) test
# Update to latest version
git pull
make -j $(nproc) update
```
To run a command that might use binaries from the Status Nim fork:
```bash
./env.sh bash # start a new interactive shell with the right env vars set
which nim
nim --version # Nimbus is tested and supported on 1.0.2 at the moment
# or without starting a new interactive shell:
./env.sh which nim
./env.sh nim --version
```
### Raspberry Pi
We recommend you remove any cover or use a fan; the Raspberry Pi will get hot (85°C) and throttle.
* Raspberry PI 3b+ or Raspberry Pi 4b.
* 64gb SD Card (less might work too, but the default recommended 4-8GB will probably be too small)
* [Rasbian Buster Lite](https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/) - Lite version is enough to get going and will save some disk space!
Assuming you're working with a freshly written image:
```bash
# Start by increasing swap size to 2gb:
sudo vi /etc/dphys-swapfile
# Set CONF_SWAPSIZE=2048
# :wq
sudo reboot
# Install prerequisites
sudo apt-get install git
# Then you can follow instructions for Linux.
```
### Makefile tips and tricks for developers
- build all those tools known to the Makefile:
```bash
# $(nproc) corresponds to the number of cores you have
make -j $(nproc)
```
- build a specific tool:
```bash
make state_sim
```
- you can control the Makefile's verbosity with the V variable (defaults to 0):
```bash
make V=1 # verbose
make V=2 test # even more verbose
```
- same for the [Chronicles log level](https://github.com/status-im/nim-chronicles#chronicles_log_level):
```bash
make LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG bench_bls_sig_agggregation # this is the default
make LOG_LEVEL=TRACE nimbus_beacon_node # log everything
```
- pass arbitrary parameters to the Nim compiler:
```bash
make NIMFLAGS="-d:release"
```
- you can freely combine those variables on the `make` command line:
```bash
make -j$(nproc) NIMFLAGS="-d:release" USE_MULTITAIL=yes eth2_network_simulation
```
- don't use the [lightweight stack tracing implementation from nim-libbacktrace](https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/pull/745):
```bash
make USE_LIBBACKTRACE=0 # expect the resulting binaries to be 2-3 times slower
```
- disable `-march=native` because you want to run the binary on a different machine than the one you're building it on:
```bash
make NIMFLAGS="-d:disableMarchNative" nimbus_beacon_node
```
- disable link-time optimisation (LTO):
```bash
make NIMFLAGS="-d:disableLTO" nimbus_beacon_node
```
- build a static binary
```bash
make NIMFLAGS="--passL:-static" nimbus_beacon_node
```
- publish a book using [mdBook](https://github.com/rust-lang/mdBook) from sources in "docs/" to GitHub pages:
```bash
make publish-book
```
- create a binary distribution
```bash
make dist
```
- test the binaries
```bash
make dist-test
```
### CI setup
Local testnets run for 4 epochs each, to test finalization. That happens only on Jenkins Linux hosts, and their logs are available for download as artifacts, from the job's page. Don't expect these artifacts to be kept more than a day after the corresponding branch is deleted.

97
docs/the_nimbus_book/src/developers.md
View File

@ -1,32 +1,36 @@
# For Developers
Latest updates happen in the `devel` branch which is merged into `master` every week on Tuesday.
This page contains tips and tricks for developers, further resources, along with information on how to set up your build environment on your platform.
### Ubuntu guide
Before building Nimbus for the first time, make sure to install the [prerequisites](./install.md).
## Branch lifecycle
See [this excellent resource](https://someresat.medium.com/guide-to-staking-on-ethereum-2-0-ubuntu-nimbus-e86bdee8c550) for detailed step-by-step guide on how to stake on eth2 with Ubuntu.
The git repository has 3 main branches, `stable`, `testing` and `unstable` as well as feature and bugfix branches.
It contains instructions on how to:
### Unstable
- Configure a newly running Ubuntu server instance
- Configure and run an eth1 node as a service
- Compile and configure the Nimbus client for eth 2, phase 0
The `unstable` branch contains features and bugfixes that are actively being tested and worked on.
### Windows dev environment
* Features and bugfixes are generally pushed to individual branches, each with their own pull request against the `unstable` branch.
* Once the branch has been reviewed and passed CI, the developer or reviewer merges the branch to `unstable`.
* The `unstable` branch is regularly deployed to the Nimbus pyrmont fleet where additional testing happens.
Install Mingw-w64 for your architecture using the "[MinGW-W64 Online
Installer](https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/files/)" (first link
under the directory listing). Run it and select your architecture in the setup
menu (`i686` on 32-bit, `x86_64` on 64-bit), set the threads to `win32` and
the exceptions to "dwarf" on 32-bit and "seh" on 64-bit. Change the
installation directory to "C:\mingw-w64" and add it to your system PATH in "My
Computer"/"This PC" -> Properties -> Advanced system settings -> Environment
Variables -> Path -> Edit -> New -> C:\mingw-w64\mingw64\bin (it's "C:\mingw-w64\mingw32\bin" on 32-bit)
### Testing
Install [Git for Windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) and use a "Git Bash" shell to clone and build nimbus-eth2.
The `testing` branch contains features and bugfixes that have gone through CI and initial testing on the `unstable` branch and are ready to be included in the next release.
* After testing a bugfix or feature on `unstable`, the features and fixes that are planned for the next release get merged to the `testing` branch either by the release manager or team members.
* The `testing` branch is regularly deployed to the Nimbus pyrmont fleet as well as a smaller mainnet fleet.
* The branch should remain release-ready at most times.
### Stable
The `stable` branch tracks the latest released version of Nimbus and is suitable for mainnet staking.
## Build system
### Windows
```bash
mingw32-make # this first invocation will update the Git submodules
@ -54,7 +58,9 @@ git pull
make update
```
To run a command that might use binaries from the Status Nim fork:
## Environment
Nimbus comes with a build environment similar to Python venv - this helps ensure that the correct version of Nim is used and that all dependencies can be found.
```bash
./env.sh bash # start a new interactive shell with the right env vars set
@ -64,15 +70,19 @@ nim --version # Nimbus is tested and supported on 1.0.2 at the moment
# or without starting a new interactive shell:
./env.sh which nim
./env.sh nim --version
# Start Visual Studio code with environment
./env.sh code
```
### Makefile tips and tricks for developers
## Makefile tips and tricks for developers
- build all those tools known to the Makefile:
```bash
# $(nproc) corresponds to the number of cores you have
make -j$(nproc)
make -j $(nproc)
```
- build a specific tool:
@ -113,12 +123,51 @@ make -j$(nproc) NIMFLAGS="-d:release" USE_MULTITAIL=yes eth2_network_simulation
make USE_LIBBACKTRACE=0 # expect the resulting binaries to be 2-3 times slower
```
- run some benchmarks and generate HTML charts
- disable `-march=native` because you want to run the binary on a different machine than the one you're building it on:
```bash
make benchmarks
make NIMFLAGS="-d:disableMarchNative" nimbus_beacon_node
```
### Multi-client interop scripts
- disable link-time optimisation (LTO):
```bash
make NIMFLAGS="-d:disableLTO" nimbus_beacon_node
```
- build a static binary
```bash
make NIMFLAGS="--passL:-static" nimbus_beacon_node
```
- publish a book using [mdBook](https://github.com/rust-lang/mdBook) from sources in "docs/" to GitHub pages:
```bash
make publish-book
```
- create a binary distribution
```bash
make dist
```
- test the binaries
```bash
make dist-test
```
## Multi-client interop scripts
[This repository](https://github.com/eth2-clients/multinet) contains a set of scripts used by the client implementation teams to test interop between the clients (in certain simplified scenarios). It mostly helps us find and debug issues.
## Stress-testing the client by limiting the CPU power
```bash
make pyrmont CPU_LIMIT=20
```
The limiting is provided by the cpulimit utility, available on Linux and macOS.
The specified value is a percentage of a single CPU core. Usually 1 - 100, but can be higher on multi-core CPUs.

12
docs/the_nimbus_book/src/install.md
View File

@ -49,7 +49,16 @@ brew install cmake
### Windows
You can install the developer tools by following the instruction in our [Windows dev environment section](./advanced.md#windows-dev-environment).
To build Nimbus on windows, the Mingw-w64 build environment is recommened.
Install Mingw-w64 for your architecture using the "[MinGW-W64 Online Installer](https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/files/)":
* select your architecture in the setup menu (`i686` on 32-bit, `x86_64` on 64-bit)
* set threads to `win32`
* set exceptions to "dwarf" on 32-bit and "seh" on 64-bit.
* Change the installation directory to `C:\mingw-w64` and add it to your system PATH in `"My Computer"/"This PC" -> Properties -> Advanced system settings -> Environment Variables -> Path -> Edit -> New -> C:\mingw-w64\mingw64\bin` (`C:\mingw-w64\mingw32\bin` on 32-bit)
Install [Git for Windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) and use a "Git Bash" shell to clone and build nimbus-eth2.
### Android
@ -62,4 +71,3 @@ Assuming you use Ubuntu PRoot
```sh
apt install build-essential git
```