* make the validating guide self-contained
Instead of having links to the three separate how-to guides,
now everything is under one umbrella.
* fix all now-broken links
* Apply suggestions from code review
Co-authored-by: tersec <tersec@users.noreply.github.com>
* address review comments
---------
Co-authored-by: tersec <tersec@users.noreply.github.com>
* refactor index.md
* move philosophy.md into index.md
* clean up the 'getting started' topic
move how-to's to the how-to section
* cleaner titles
* move prerequisites to the install.md page
* hardware.md: small refactor
* improve quick-start.md
* refactor eth1.md
* refactor validating guide
* reverse the order of BN and LC in the table
* pi-guide.md: minor edit
* Apply suggestions from code review
Co-authored-by: tersec <tersec@users.noreply.github.com>
* make link texts more concrete
* remove comparison to other clients
* add some more explanations to `build.md`
* change 'days' to 'hours'
---------
Co-authored-by: tersec <tersec@users.noreply.github.com>
* Incremental pruning
When turning on pruning the first time the current pruning algorithm
will prune the full database at startup. This delays restart
unnecessarily, since all of the pruned space is not needed at once.
This PR introduces incremental pruning such that we will never prune
more than 32 blocks or the sync speed, whichever is higher.
This mode is expected to become default in a follow-up release.
* part 2 of the initial doc fixes
- spelling fixes
- grammar fixes
- em-dashes should be em-dashes (`—`): double dashes (`--`) are not rendered properly
- reduce overusage of em-dashes, some of those should be separate sentences
- use the correct syntax for notes, tips and warnings
- every sentence is in a separate line (helps with future diffs)
- add missing dots at the end of list items
- fix some lists
* sentences on separate lines in the remaining files
- spelling fixes
- use the correct sintax for notes
- em-dashes should be em-dashes (`—`): double dashes (`--`) are not
rendered properly
- fix a link (was to a .html, should be to .md)
- add missing dots
- every sentence should be on a separate line: it makes future diffs
much nicer and easier to spot the changes
* Support for driving multiple EL nodes from a single Nimbus BN
Full list of changes:
* Eth1Monitor has been renamed to ELManager to match its current
responsibilities better.
* The ELManager is no longer optional in the code (it won't have
a nil value under any circumstances).
* The support for subscribing for headers was removed as it only
worked with WebSockets and contributed significant complexity
while bringing only a very minor advantage.
* The `--web3-url` parameter has been deprecated in favor of a
new `--el` parameter. The new parameter has a reasonable default
value and supports specifying a different JWT for each connection.
Each connection can also be configured with a different set of
responsibilities (e.g. download deposits, validate blocks and/or
produce blocks). On the command-line, these properties can be
configured through URL properties stored in the #anchor part of
the URL. In TOML files, they come with a very natural syntax
(althrough the URL scheme is also supported).
* The previously scattered EL-related state and logic is now moved
to `eth1_monitor.nim` (this module will be renamed to `el_manager.nim`
in a follow-up commit). State is assigned properly either to the
`ELManager` or the to individual `ELConnection` objects where
appropriate.
The ELManager executes all Engine API requests against all attached
EL nodes, in parallel. It compares their results and if there is a
disagreement regarding the validity of a certain payload, this is
detected and the beacon node is protected from publishing a block
with a potential execution layer consensus bug in it.
The BN provides metrics per EL node for the number of successful or
failed requests for each type Engine API requests. If an EL node
goes offline and connectivity is resoted later, we report the
problem and the remedy in edge-triggered fashion.
* More progress towards implementing Deneb block production in the VC
and comparing the value of blocks produced by the EL and the builder
API.
* Adds a Makefile target for the zhejiang testnet
By enabling the validator monitor, more precise information about the
lifecycle of an attestation is logged at the higher `NOTICE` log level
while current `sent` messages are logged at `INF` instead, since they
are less interesting.
In particular, missed attestations and those that vote for the wrong
head are now detected and logged at NOTICE.
In addition to logging, this feature enables rich metrics around
attestation and sync committee performance - by default, validators are
tracked in aggregate but a detailed mode exists as well
This feature has been available since early Nimbus days, but it has now
been tuned and optimised such that it is safe to enable by default, even
for large setups.
* enable automatic validator monitoring by default
* replace `--validator-monitor-totals` flag with
`--validator-monitor-details` - the detailed mode is disabled by default
* lower "sent" log level to `INF` for several messages - in particular
those that are traced by the validator monitor
This is a retake on #3531 which was later reverted in #3578.
The light client data structures were changed to accommodate additional
fields in future forks (e.g., to also hold execution data).
There is a minor change to the JSON serialization, where the `header`
properties are now nested inside a `LightClientHeader`.
The SSZ serialization remains compatible.
See https://github.com/ethereum/consensus-specs/pull/3190
and https://github.com/ethereum/beacon-APIs/pull/287
Introduce (optional) pruning of historical data - a pruned node will
continue to answer queries for historical data up to
`MIN_EPOCHS_FOR_BLOCK_REQUESTS` epochs, or roughly 5 months, capping
typical database usage at around 60-70gb.
To enable pruning, add `--history=prune` to the command line - on the
first start, old data will be cleared (which may take a while) - after
that, data is pruned continuously.
When pruning an existing database, the database will not shrink -
instead, the freed space is recycled as the node continues to run - to
free up space, perform a trusted node sync with a fresh database.
When switching on archive mode in a pruned node, history is retained
from that point onwards.
History pruning is scheduled to be enabled by default in a future
release.
In this PR, `minimal` mode from #4419 is not implemented meaning
retention periods for states and blocks are always the same - depending
on user demand, a future PR may implement `minimal` as well.
With https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/pull/4420 implemented, the
checks that we perform are equivalent to those of a `SYNCING` EL - as
such, we can treat missing EL the same as SYNCING and proceed with an
optimistic sync.
This mode of operation significantly speeds up recovery after an offline
EL event because the CL is already synced and can immediately inform the
EL of the latest head.
It also allows using a beacon node for consensus archival queries
without an execution client.
* deprecate `--optimistic` flag
* log block details on EL error, soften log level because we can now
continue to operate
* `UnviableFork` -> `Invalid` when block hash verification fails -
failed hash verification is not a fork-related block issue
* fix REST liveness endpoint responding even when gossip is not enabled
* fix VC exit code on doppelganger hit
* fix activation epoch not being updated correctly on long deposit
queues
* fix activation epoch being set incorrectly when updating validator
* move most implementation logic to `validator_pool`, add tests
* ensure consistent logging between VC and BN
* add docs
Adds a "Slot start" log to the LC that behaves similar to BN to inform
the user that the light client is doing something, and to indicate the
latest view of the network (finalized / optimistic).
Currently, we require genesis and a checkpoint block and state to start
from an arbitrary slot - this PR relaxes this requirement so that we can
start with a state alone.
The current trusted-node-sync algorithm works by first downloading
blocks until we find an epoch aligned non-empty slot, then downloads the
state via slot.
However, current
[proposals](https://github.com/ethereum/beacon-APIs/pull/226) for
checkpointing prefer finalized state as
the main reference - this allows more simple access control and caching
on the server side - in particular, this should help checkpoint-syncing
from sources that have a fast `finalized` state download (like infura
and teku) but are slow when accessing state via slot.
Earlier versions of Nimbus will not be able to read databases created
without a checkpoint block and genesis. In most cases, backfilling makes
the database compatible except where genesis is also missing (custom
networks).
* backfill checkpoint block from libp2p instead of checkpoint source,
when doing trusted node sync
* allow starting the client without genesis / checkpoint block
* perform epoch start slot lookahead when loading tail state, so as to
deal with the case where the epoch start slot does not have a block
* replace `--blockId` with `--state-id` in TNS command line
* when replaying, also look at the parent of the last-known-block (even
if we don't have the parent block data, we can still replay from a
"parent" state) - in particular, this clears the way for implementing
state pruning
* deprecate `--finalized-checkpoint-block` option (no longer needed)
In optimistic mode, Nimbus will sync optimistically even when the
execution client is offline / not available.
An optimistic node is less secure because it has not validated block
transactions via the execution client and can thus not be used for
validation duties.
* `.era` store docs
Initial documentation for era file generation and usage
* Update docs/the_nimbus_book/src/era-store.md
Co-authored-by: zah <zahary@status.im>
* Update docs/the_nimbus_book/src/era-store.md
Co-authored-by: Kim De Mey <kim.demey@gmail.com>
* remove dupe
Co-authored-by: zah <zahary@status.im>
Co-authored-by: Kim De Mey <kim.demey@gmail.com>
The `eth1_monitor` check to require engine API from bellatrix onward
has issues in setups where the EL and CL are started simultaneously
because the EL may not be ready to answer requests by the time that the
check is performed. This can be observed, e.g., on Raspberry Pi 4 when
using Besu as the EL client. Now that the merge transition happened, the
check is also not that useful anymore, as users have other ways to know
that their setup is not working correctly (e.g., repeated exchange logs)
When the BN-embedded LC makes sync progress, pass the corresponding
execution block hash to the EL via `engine_forkchoiceUpdatedV1`.
This allows the EL to sync to wall slot while the chain DAG is behind.
Renamed `--light-client` to `--sync-light-client` for clarity, and
`--light-client-trusted-block-root` to `--trusted-block-root` for
consistency with `nimbus_light_client`.
Note that this does not work well in practice at this time:
- Geth sticks to the optimistic sync:
"Ignoring payload while snap syncing" (when passing the LC head)
"Forkchoice requested unknown head" (when updating to LC head)
- Nethermind syncs to LC head but does not report ancestors as VALID,
so the main forward sync is still stuck in optimistic mode:
"Pre-pivot block, ignored and returned Syncing"
To aid EL client teams in fixing those issues, having this available
as a hidden option is still useful.
The optimistic sync spec was updated since the LC based optsync module
was introduced. It is no longer necessary to wait for the justified
checkpoint to have execution enabled; instead, any block is okay to be
optimistically imported to the EL client, as long as its parent block
has execution enabled. Complex syncing logic has been removed, and the
LC optsync module will now follow gossip directly, reducing the latency
when using this module. Note that because this is now based on gossip
instead of using sync manager / request manager, that individual blocks
may be missed. However, EL clients should recover from this by fetching
missing blocks themselves.
Aligns the default retention policy for LC data with the one for blocks.
Minimum spec requirement for both blocks and LC data is ~5 months.
Additional use cases are better supported by retaining data for longer.
* reorganise navigation menus
* update light client guide with comparison table
* add suggested fee recipient and JWT secrets to the merge guide
* add some background info to book readme
* add JWT docs
also limit toc to make it displayable with substeps.
* Use final `v1` version for light client protocols
* Unhide LC data collection options
* Default enable LC data serving
* rm unneeded import
* Connect to EL on startup
* Add docs for LC based EL sync
`mkdocs` works with markdown similar to `mdbook` but is generally more
pleasing to the eye and has several nice UX features.
This PR does the bulk of the transition - likely, a followup would be
needed to fully make use of the extra features and navigation.
Book pages have been kept url-compatible, meaning that for the most
part, old links should continue to work!
Co-authored-by: Etan Kissling <etan@status.im>
* update docs
* introduce mdbook-admonish for nice looking callouts
* new section on data directory
* recommend source build for advanced users and direct the rest to
binaries
* more strongly highlight that execution client is needed
* write an actual deposit guide
* remove cruft / fix links / etc
Miran
tersec
Zahary Karadjov
Jacek Sieka
Etan Kissling
liftlines
Zahary Karadjov
Andy Tudhope
cheny0
Chen Yang
Kim De Mey
Julian Ste
Shiti Saxena
Miguel Tenorio
omahs