Chia-Network/chia-blockchain 1.0beta8

on GitHub

[1.0beta8] aka Beta 1.8 - 2020-07-16

Added

• We have released a new plot file format. We believe that plots made in this
  format and with these IETF BLS keys will work without significant changes
  on mainnet at launch.
• We now use chacha8 and blake3
  for proof of space instead of the now deprecated AES methods. This shoul
  increase plotting speed and support more processors.
• Plot refreshing happens during all new challenges and only new/modified files are read.
• Updated blspy to use the
  new IETF standard for BLS signatures.
• Added a faster VDF process which generates n-wesolowski proofs quickly
  after the VDF result is known. This requires a high number of CPUs. To use it,
  set timelord.fast_algorithm = True in the config file.
• Added a new type of timelord helper - blue boxes, which generate compact
  proofs of time for existing proven blocks. This helps reducing the database
  size and speeds up syncing a node for new users joining the network. Full nodes
  send 100 random un-compact blocks per hour to blue boxes, and if
  timelord.sanitizer_mode = True, the blue box timelord will work on those
  challenges. Unlike the main timelord, average machines can run blue boxes
  and contribute to the chain. Expect improvements to the install method for
  blue boxes in future releases.
• From the UI you can add a directory that harvester will always check for
  existing and new plots. Harvester will only look in the specific directory you
  specify so you'll have to add any subfolders you want to also contain plots.
• The UI now asks for confirmation before closing and shows shutdown progress.
• UI now tries to shut down servers gracefully before exiting, and also closes
  the daemon before starting.
• The various sub repositories (chiapos, chiavdf, etc.) now build ARM64 binary
  wheels for Linux with Python 3.8. This makes installing on Ubuntu 20.04 lts on
  a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 easy.
• Ci's check to see if they have secret access and attempt to fail cleanly so
  that ci runs successfully complete from PRs or forked repositories.
• Farmer now sends challenges after a handshake with harvester.
• The bls-signatures binary wheels include libsodium on all but Windows which
  we expect to add in future releases.
• The chia executable is now available if installing from the Windows or MacOS
  Graphical installer. Try ./chia -h from
  ~\AppData\Local\Chia-Blockchain\app-0.1.8\resources\app.asar.unpacked\daemon\
  in Windows or
  /Applications/Chia.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpacked/daemon on MacOS.

Changed

• Minor changes have been made across the repositories to better support
  compiling on OpenBSD. HT @n1000.

• Changed XCH units to TXCH units for testnet.

• A push to a branch will cancel all ci runs still running for that branch.

• Ci's now cache pip and npm caches between runs.

• Improve test speed with smaller discriminants, less blocks, less keys, and
  smaller plots.

• RPC servers and clients were refactored.

• The keychain no longer supports old keys that don't have mnemonics.

• The keychain uses BIP39 for seed derivation, using the "" passphrase, and
  also stores public keys.

• Plots.yaml has been replaced. Plot secret keys are stored in the plots,
  and a list of directories that harvester can find plots in are in config.yaml.
  You can move plots around to any directory in config.yaml as long as the farmer
  has the correct farmer's secret key too.

• Auto scanning of plot directories for .plot files.

• The block header format was changed (puzzle hashes and pool signature).

• Coinbase and fees coin are now in merkle set, and bip158 filter.

• New harvester protocol with 2/2 harvester and farmer signatures, and modified
  farmer and full node protocols.

• 255/256 filter which allows virtually unlimited plots per harvester or drive.

• Improved create_plots and check_plots scripts, which are now
  "chia plots create" and "chia plots check".

• Add plot directories to config.yaml from the cli with "chia plots add".

• Use real plot sizes in UI instead of a formula/

• HD keys now use EIP 2333 format instead of BIP32, for compatibility with
  other chains.

• Keys are now derived with the EIP 2334 (m/12381/8444/a/b).

• Removed the ability to pass in sk_seed to plotting, to increase security.

• Linux builds of chiavdf and blspy now use a fresh build of gmp 6.2.1.

Fixed

• uPnP now works on Windows.
• Log rotation should now properly rotate every 20MB and keep 7 historical logs.
• Node had a significant memory leak under load due to an extraneous fork
  in the network code.
• Skylake processors on Windows without AVX would fail to run.
• Harvester no longer runs into 512 maximum file handles open issue on Windows.
• The version generator for new installers incorrectly handled the "dev"
  versions after a release tag.
• Due to a python bug, ssl connections could randomly fail. Worked around
  Python issue 29288
• Removed websocket max message limit, allowing for more plots
• Daemon was crashing when websocket gets improperly closed

Deprecated

• All keys generated before Beta 1.8 are of an old format and no longer useful.
• All plots generated before Beta 1.8 are no longer compatible with testnet and
  should be deleted.

Known Issues

• For Windows users on pre Haswell CPUs there is a known issue that causes
  "Given G1 element failed g1_is_valid check" when attempting to generate
  keys. This is a regression from our previous fix when it was upstreamed into
  relic. It can be fixed with this patch: https://github.com/Chia-Network/chia-blockchain/wiki/Windows-pre-Haswell-1.8-workaround