Introduction
The past year has seen a lot happen in BitShares. What seems like way back, BitShares 5.0 dropped in Sept 2020. Then a huge amount of business development went down culminating in the article report from July you can find at that link. All of which is ongoing - regardless whether recent updates are low in volume. Today's article focuses on the purely technical. BitShares Core v6.0.0 "MEKONG" is now live. All node operators are advised to upgrade. Savvy and tech-minded BitShares enthusiasts will also want to dive down on some details below (or by following the link to GitHub). On behalf of the community, Thanks goes out to BitShares Core team led by @abitmore for the continued evolution and innovation of BitShares - the original DPoS blockchain.
BitShares v6.0.0 contains other than essential fixes and enhancements, a new feature relating to zero-collateral funding. This involves a user ability to access funds from a pool or several pools and pay them back instantly in the same transaction, without the need to lock collateral.
BitShares Core v6.0.0 Release Notes
These notes are taken from the draft here on BitShares GitHub repo, thus are subject to change. For reference only.
The BitShares Core software has been updated to the 6.0.0 Protocol Release. The code-name of the 6.x releases is "MEKONG". The Core software is used to build the validation nodes that perform consensus of all transactions on the BitShares blockchain. This release includes additions, improvements and changes to the consensus protocol. Documentation for users may be be found at How BitShares Works. Documentation for BitShares developers may be found at the BitShares Developer Portal.
Who Should Upgrade
All node operators must upgrade to handle the protocol upgrade.
How To Upgrade
Precautions:
- All validation nodes must complete their upgrade prior to Protocol Activation
- A blockchain replay will automatically be performed after the validation node software is restarted. This typically takes a few hours on a modern CPU.
How to Upgrade from Source Code
Note:
- The code base requires a compiler that supports the C++ 14 standard
- The minimum supported boost version is 1.58, the maximum is 1.74
- The minimum supported CMake version is 3.2
- For Ubuntu users, it is recommended to build in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa). Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) is no longer supported.
Obtain the Source Code
The source code may be obtained by checking out the 6.0.0 tag. Download the source at:
Build the Binaries
The binaries may be built by using your existing process, or by following the standard instructions that can be found in the wiki:
Deploy the Binaries
Your standard process for deploying the node software may be used. No additional requirements or precautions will be required to deploy the new release.
How to Upgrade with Docker
(TBD: Docker auto-build no longer works, we need to manually push to Docker Hub) The latest Docker image may be found at BitShares Core Docker page and updated with
docker pull bitshares/bitshares-core:6.0.0
Binaries for download
Binaries of the command line interface (CLI) wallet and the node software are pre-built and available for download. Note: These binary builds are reproducible and were signed using Gitian. Please check the README if you want to verify and/or contribute.
| Platform | SHA256 Checksum |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows | b721383133d56fd2a6469a2aac73c92f7fe518f48a2d6a2484d1dd9dcf6c5527 |
| Mac | c5c2ee313233aa06c42ea08f9dd747261dec61399ff1011b9f93b3553a84b868 |
| Linux | 042740d4e816b80d909d8c82acbefb3ddd20e5b833cace2cfd1816be090eaac1 |
Changes
The changes for 6.0.0 Protocol Release are summarized below.
Protocol
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Add no-collateral funding feature | 2351 | 2469, 2474, 2476 |
| Add simple collateralized P2P funding feature | 2362 | 2479, 2502 |
| Add 3 new black swan response methods | 2467 | 2499 |
| Add missing asset authorization checks for certain operations | 972, 973 | 2468 |
| Add option for MPA owners to disable collateral bidding | 2281 | 2504 |
| Allow bitasset options to be updated after GS | 2282 | 2506 |
| Match force-settlements with margin calls at normal margin call fill price | 2481 | 2489 |
| Revive GSed bitassets based on ICR rather than MCR | 2290 | 2505 |
| Skip asset authorization checks for from_account for override_transfer | 2295 | 2465 |
| Update liquidity pool exchange operations to comply with whitelist and blacklist market settings | 2350 | 2462, 2507 |
Node Functionality
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Delete unneeded directories when writing object database to disk | - | 2485 |
Node Performance and Stability
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Clear operation_results when generating block | - | 2475 |
| Remove BSIP-40 support for unused operations | - | 2482 |
Node Plugins
| Description | Plugins | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix liquidity pool deposit statistics | Market History | - | 2471 |
| Notify all related accounts on account creation | Account History | 265 | 2480 |
| Fix a crash when starting the ElasticSearch plugin | ElasticSearch Operations | 2490 | 2495 |
API
Please check the linked pull requests for more info and documentation.
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
The get_block API will return an empty operation_results field for blocks produced by nodes with version 6.0.0 or higher |
- | 2475 |
Software Design
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade the Docker base image to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) | - | 2473 |
| Phase out Ubuntu 16.04 | 2217 | - |
Build Process and Continuous Integration (CI)
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|---|---|
| Update version for Sonar Scanner | - | 2437, 2458 |
| Add OS version to cache key in sonar-scan workflow | - | 2486, 2487 |
Documentation
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|
Unit Tests
| Description | Issue | Pull Request |
|---|
Release Contributors
Thanks to all Contributors and Community members for support and trust in our vision and technology.
When to Upgrade
If you're reading this, BitShares Core 6.0 Codename "Mekong" software is available and all node and gateway operators should start upgrade.
The BitShares Hard Fork time for MAINNET is Tuesday, January 11, 2022 14:00:00 UTC and thus also the deadline by which all node operators should have completed the upgrade. A major release occurs for BitShares approximately once every year or 12-18 months. Follow us on Twitter to be notified on new publications from the verified media source on BitShares.
Cross-posted from BitShares News using Exxp to Hive.blog : https://news.bitshares.org/bitshares-core-v6-mekong/