Existing SON node upgrade

Introduction

Peerplays Core release 1.6.0 will introduce changes to SONs operations, and SONs operators (those acting as a SON on the network) will need to upgrade to the latest software and make changes to their node configuration in the config.ini file. These changes are critical to ensure un-interupted SONs network services.

Overview of SONS-related changes in 1.6.0

A brief overview of changes is given here, followed by details in subsequent sections, including changes SONs operators will need to make to their nodes.

General:

• From 1.6.0 forward, following the hard-fork date, it will be possible for SONs operators to operate a subset of SONs. They will no longer be required to operate all supported SONs. I.e., if they wish to operate a Bitcoin SON but not a Hive SON, this will be possible following the hard fork.

For Bitcoin SONs:

• 1.6.0 Introduces experimental support for Libbitcoin.

  • Note: As support is experimental, it is recommended to continue using a bitcoind API access point at this time.

• 1.6.0 renames a configuration parameter for clarity. Existing config.ini files will need to be adjusted.

• 1.6.0 adds some new configuration parameter, of which a few are mandatory. Existing config.ini files will need to be adjusted.

For Hive SONs:

• 1.6.0 adds a mandatory configuration parameter. Existing config.ini files will need to be adjusted.

New: Ethereum SONs:

• 1.6.0 adds support for Ethereum SONs. SONs operators MAY add an Ethereum SON to their operations.

1. Bitcoin SON Operators

With this new upgrade, the bitcoin operators have two option to use for interfacing with the Bitcoin network. The two Bitcoin API endpoint options are,

1. Bitcoind

2. Libbitcoin (Experimental) (Note: The current recommendation is to continue using bitcoind until support for Libbitcoin reaches maturity.)

Important: Main-net SONs operators are recommended to use the bitcoind option at this point as the libbitcoin feature is considered experimental in this release. Test-net SONs operators may try out Libbitcoin if desired.

New Parameters

Operators upgrading from a previous version will need to edit their existing config.ini file, as new config options are available and some are required in this release.

1. Parameter: use-bitcoind-client (Recommended to use) This option is used to select bitcoind as the API protocol for accessing the Bitcoin network. The user must add this option to their config and change the value from 0 to 1 to enable its usage. (Otherwise it will default to libbitcoin.)

# ==============================================================================
# peerplays_sidechain plugin options
# ==============================================================================

# ...

#Use bitcoind client instead of libbitcoin client
use-bitcoind-client = 1

1. Libbitcoin parameters The use of libbitcoin is not yet recommended for Main-net. These options MAY be added to the config file, but will be ignored so long as bitcoind is enabled. Example values are as follows:

# ==============================================================================
# peerplays_sidechain plugin options
# ==============================================================================

# ...

# Libbitcoin server IP address
libbitcoin-server-ip = 127.0.0.1

# Block ZMQ port of libbitcoin server
libbitcoin-server-block-zmq-port = 9093

# Trx ZMQ port of libbitcoin server
libbitcoin-server-trx-zmq-port = 9094

Renamed Parameters

1. Parameter: bitcoin-wallet-name

In 1.6.0, the bitcoin-wallet option in config.ini is renamed to bitcoin-wallet-name . The old option will not be recognized.

# ==============================================================================
# peerplays_sidechain plugin options
# ==============================================================================

#Bitcoin wallet name
bitcoin-wallet-name = mybitcoinwallet

If the input is not updated, the SONs will not function. The following warning message will be shown at witness_node startup:,

" Haven’t set up Bitcoin sidechain parameters "

2. HIVE SON Operators

After the upgrade, the HIVE plugin has only one new parameter added.

New parameter

1. hive-wallet-account-name The input for this parameter is the SON multisig account name on the HIVE network which is controlled by the SONs operators. This is the son-account on HIVE mainnet.

# ==============================================================================
# peerplays_sidechain plugin options
# ==============================================================================

# ...

# Hive wallet account name
hive-wallet-account-name = son-account

3. ETH SON Operators

New in this release, a SON operator may operate an ETH SON. Operators who wish to enable an ETH-SON can follow the steps from the link below,

ETH-SONs Configuration & Installation