IntersectMBO/cardano-node 1.24.2 on GitHub

This release provides support for the upcoming Allegra (token locking) Hard Fork and Mary Hard Fork and the new features they bring.

Everyone must upgrade to this (or a later) version to cross the Allegra Hard Fork.
Daedalus users should look for Daedalus release 3.0.0 which includes a version of the node that will cross the Token locking Cardano update, however people using the node directly must upgrade.

Token locking Cardano update adds some features needed to support the Catalyst treasury scheme. It extends the existing multi-sig script language with predicates for time, via the slot number. It allows, for example, to make a script address that is not spendable until a certain point in time.
The native tokens Cardano update adds multi-asset support. This is comparable to ERC20 and ERC721 tokens, but supported natively in the UTxO ledger. This is part of the Goguen feature set. It is a very significant feature and will have implications for all Cardano wallet implementations, including exchanges.

Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) and Exchanges should update their node config "options" section with an extra entry:

  "options": {
    "mapBackends": {
      "cardano.node.resources": [
        "EKGViewBK"
      ],

See link to configuration files in documentation section below.

Node changes

Add a nodeStartTime metric. This is a partial replacement for the uptime metric that was removed in the 1.23.0 release. (#2118)
New metrics for the size of the UTxO and delegation maps (#2158)
Tracing changes to support "K=1000" benchmarks (#2156, #2175)
Mention the required xz tool in the Cabal build instructions (#2132)
Eliminate the need to update the LastKnownBlockVersion-* entries in the node config files for the Shelley-based eras. This means the configuration does not need to be updated for the Token locking or native tokens eras. (#2193)
Export some more metrics for selected OS and RTS stats (#2192)

Ledger changes

Support for optional additional scripts in the tx auxiliary data (#1993)
Update the CDDL specification of the blockchain binary format for Token locking and native tokens eras (#1994, #1999, #2009)
Improved serialised binary format for multi-asset values (#1979)
Add a compact in-memory storage format for multi-asset values (#1996)
Updates to the multi-asset formal specifiation (#2003)
Adjust how the major protocol version is handled for soft forks (#1998)
Initial preparatory steps for the Alonzo era (#2016, #2027)
Benchmarks for the transaction generators (#2024)

Consensus changes

Use a single set of credentials for all Shelley-based eras. This keeps the node configuration simple for the new eras. (#2753)
Add support for a token locking-only protocol mode to simplify benchmarking (#2754)
Add support for the system wall clock time being adjusted backwards by a small amount without triggering a node shutdown and restart. Small backwards adjustments can be caused by NTP. (#2781, #2785)

Network changes

Preparations for publishing io-sim as a public library (#2775)
Improved logging of the creation of the node's sockets (#2746)
Update the cardano-ping tool to support the node-to-node protocol V4 (#2787)

CLI changes

CLI support for the Token locking and native tokens eras, including creating transactions for the new eras, and support for the special new features in the new eras: script extensions, tx validity intervals, auxiliary scripts, multi-asset tx outputs and asset minting. (#2072, #2129, #2136)
It is now necessary to specify the target era (e.g. --allegra-era) when creating a transaction (with build-raw) so that the right format and feature-set is used. The --shelley-era remains the default.
It is necessary for now to specify the target era when using the CLI query commands. This may become automatic in future. The default is --shelley-era.
Move all the Shelley sub-commands to the top level of the command line. For example cardano-cli shelley transaction build-raw becomes simply cardano-cli transaction build-raw. The existing names are also kept for compatibility. (#2076, #2145)
Updated help text for the ledger/protocol state queries to clarify that they are primarily for debugging and are not stable interfaces (#2125, #2126, #2133)
New command transaction policyid for making multi-asset policy ids (#2176)
New command byron transaction txid to help scripts with getting the transaction id for Byron transactions made using the cli (#2169)
New --tx-file flag for the command transaction txid to accept complete txs, not just tx bodies (#2169)
Hide the deprecated --ttl flag in the --help output (#2189, #2190)

API changes

Full API support for the Token locking and native tokens eras, including creating transactions for the new eras, and support for the special new features in the new eras: script extensions, tx validity intervals, auxiliary scripts, multi-asset tx outputs and asset minting (#2092, #2110, #2111, #2121, #2127, #2128, #2141, #2149)

Documentation

Platforms

Linux 64-bit (Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, 20.04 LTS; Mint 19.3, 20; Debian 10.3)
Windows 64-bit (8.1, 10)
MacOS 10.13, 10.14, 10.15
Docker image

Minimum System Requirements

An Intel or AMD x86 processor with two or more cores, at 1.6GHz or faster (2GHz or faster for a stake pool or relay)
4GB of RAM (8GB for a relay or stake pool)
10GB of free storage (20GB for a stake pool)

Sign off

Role	Approval
Technical Lead	✔️
QA Engineer	✔️
Ops	✔️
Release Manager	✔️

IntersectMBO/cardano-node 1.24.2 Cardano Node 1.24.2 on GitHub