Notes
Nimbus v22.8.2 is a low-urgency hotfix release, eliminating a risk for potential crash during block production that was introduced in the v22.8.1 release. You can safely skip this release if you haven't enabled DEBUG logging on your beacon node, as the risk exists only when DEBUG logging is enabled.
Improvements:
- Reduced CPU usage for validator registration when using an external builder:
#4040
Fixes:
- A potential crash during block production when DEBUG logging is enabled:
#4054
Nimbus v22.8.1 was a high-urgency upgrade, improving the stability and performance of Nimbus in post-merge networks. Upgrading is highly recommended due to improved timing of the interactions with the execution engine which may lead to higher profitability from block production, especially for users running Nethermind.
Improvements (v22.8.1)
-
More timely block proposals in the presence of a non-responsive builder node:
#4012 -
More timely delivery of fork-choice update information to the execution client, enabling the production of more profitable blocks:
#4012 -
Improved SHA256 hashing performance resulting in a minor overall CPU usage reduction:
#4017 -
Reduced latency in the light client when following the head of the chain optimistically:
#4002 -
Spec-compliant delivery of the "safe block hash" property of the "fork-choice update" messages sent to the Engine API:
#4010 -
Relax overly aggressive gossip filtering conditions for incoming blocks:
#4044 -
New metrics
beacon_block_production_errorsandbeacon_block_payload_errorsfor detecting non-healthy operation of the Engine API:
#4036
Fixes (v22.8.1)
-
Sporadic loss of connectivity to the execution engine in the presence of large payloads:
#4028 -
Inappropriate loss of connectivity to honest peers in the presence of a non-responding execution client:
#4020 -
A loophole allowing the inclusion of very old and invalid slashing and exit messages within blocks:
#4013 -
Confusing error message when trusted node sync is executed with an invalid REST URL:
#4024
Nimbus v22.8.0 was a medium urgency release, featuring full support for the upcoming mainnet merge! All users should upgrade at their earliest convenience, but no later than 5th of September.
Since the network will go through the Bellatrix hard-fork on Sept 6, 2022, 11:34:47am UTC, failure to upgrade in time will result in inactivity penalties.
Please note that once the network reaches the terminal total difficulty (currently estimated to happen between 13th and 15th of September), it will no longer be possible to operate a beacon node without pairing it with a single non-shared merge-ready execution client. Nimbus is fully compatible will all execution clients and the required configuration steps for all of them are the same. Please refer to our merge guide for more details:
https://nimbus.guide/merge.html
To raise awareness of the required configuration changes, once the Bellatrix fork is activated on 6th of September, Nimbus will refuse to start unless a properly configured and authenticated Engine API end-point is provided through the command-line options --web3-url and --jwt-secret. If you need more time to complete the transition, you can temporarily run the beacon node with the command-line option --require-engine-api-in-bellatrix=no, but please note that such a setup will stop working once the network TTD is reached!
We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of our users who provided immensely valuable feedback in the many months of hard work leading to the merge and to all the fellow research and implementation teams who made this historic release possible!
Onwards and happy merging!
Breaking changes (v22.8.0)
-
Nimbus will refuse to start unless connected to a properly configured execution client in Bellatrix-enabled networks:
#4006 -
The custom error code returned by Nimbus when a validator doppelganger is detected has been changed from 1031 to 129 to improve compatibility with
systemd:
#3977
Improvements (v22.8.0)
-
Support for external block builders (a.k.a. MEV):
#3883 -
Beta release for the Nimbus stand-alone light client, which can be used to drive any execution client without requiring a full-blown beacon node:
https://nimbus.guide/light-client-data.html -
The first spec-compliant implementation of the LibP2P protocols for serving light client data:
https://nimbus.guide/light-client-data.html -
Keystore locking prevents accidentally loading the same validator keys in multiple instances of the Nimbus beacon node and the Nimbus validator client, thus eliminating a potential slashing risk:
#3907 -
Debian and RPM packages for the Nimbus beacon node and the Nimbus validator client are now available as part of the release. In the near future, Status will also provide a package repository, offering a more convenient installation:
#3974
status-im/infra-nimbus#79 -
Improved performance on networks with heavy forking activity through a reduction of the required state replays:
#3990 -
The Nimbus validator client now supports validator activity metrics such as
beacon_attestations_sent,beacon_aggregates_sent,beacon_attestation_sent_delay,beacon_blocks_sent,beacon_blocks_sent_delay,beacon_sync_committee_messages_sent,beacon_sync_committee_message_sent_delay,beacon_sync_committee_contributions_sent:
#3915 -
The sync status displayed in the Nimbus status bar and certain log messages now describes the state of the client more accurately (optimistically synced vs fully synced):
#3987
Fixes (v22.8.0)
-
Spec violation in the expected payload of the
/eth/v1/validator/prepare_beacon_proposerBeacon API end-point:
#3938 -
Invalid empty execution payloads being produced when the execution client is not responding:
#3991 -
Potentially incorrect Eth1 block votes, disagreeing with the forming majority:
#3944 -
More resilient deposit synchronization when Nimbus is paired with a highly loaded execution client:
#3943
#3957 -
A potential delay in detecting the terminal total difficulty block:
#3956 -
Missing Gossip filtering rule for sync committee contributions resulting in unnecessary traffic:
#3941 -
Compatibility issue preventing trusted node sync from Lodestar nodes:
#3934 -
A potential crash while processing rare gossip messages such as slashings and exits:
#3965 -
Inappropriate attestations sent by the validator client when the connected beacon node is only optimistically synced:
#3968
Urgency guidelines
low-urgency: update at your own convenience, sometime within our normal update cycle of two weeks
medium-urgency: may contain an important stability fix, it is better to update sooner rather than later
high-urgency: update as soon as you can, this is a critical update required for Nimbus to function correctly
SHA512 checksums
# Linux AMD64
a91ad7421078305f9e8db34f22e2ec0ba3e7f8cd0fec03b1cddb8c4b18f3929990063c2a792c5e01aba186aa4edb3153269f2e828742f901ea52242a6b9e0fe2 nimbus_beacon_node
093f71628e443a671fa073fd70b1147d9e925b8f0e95b332032cd8477456fef738b73066b653776706dbe1fa2c2abef7760e7898c5cd8913bc376e3952b10ed3 nimbus_validator_client
# Linux ARM64
6e6c587a8cc60a4890e187683b61094815a8fcd66a1ab9222ff9853082f3e89f3b613b444b551bd5e16d41a05a329510d31fbc63bb78454487d624fc4fa51f3a nimbus_beacon_node
6b77bb74d23d3fd56bfa940cb0c79febc5b3eedcb131021928bea70783a59c7ad77b3af857d4c8353bc6f93b568107804e0a20cf4e04df88c3eb856e09bbed92 nimbus_validator_client
# Linux ARM
59beb026273a310380ff385b8eea2225f8859bb42341c2fc4c78b0e9e565298e6d685e6f0edc266322aff653584dd751cb6c24fe1b960dc53a1172682510a02d nimbus_beacon_node
12885c763c5725ca7a3f6c68cc008fdda5fa0b592a834e4b5a46b42c37cfff8198695b920c7a0575a9f18714d79c77953e326e51806eb075bb10daf069b43932 nimbus_validator_client
# Windows AMD64
0241ca349b9ea831adc408e02a5197b1f4134757700c290337b45d3a6a6ab66349e300f2ae42695bc1cc2ddc5a05ba70bf9269408536aebb48ab18a5a40f34f3 nimbus_beacon_node.exe
783803290b7fda0840d5c55ece24c7b942ffd418b15c7ad381f2a0d08083b17fbeb1224f48271dffbf0607f77ff054f1494e4f9e6e7acfff4cf937cbe20f2a55 nimbus_validator_client.exe
# macOS AMD64
5f623780625cf177019ea1bea545b2452158a8beb8a3fc12403249a451a5f89a975fc2a8a9da33eb26df6dc94ea4e9b77918d6059f51917902e62c44a5f01f04 nimbus_beacon_node
262548ef77e31951b345b681b259181c29eb35839ae96d9fc3c645da1f4c3c34017fdca804118ef2584cdac2620e3c8dbf9342f2ee2473373e119ce3750c62e4 nimbus_validator_client
# macOS ARM64
a2ca9552760cc26ec61436934228372a029614999b62b364af39d3e7cd7c0bead74b3a3806c42a2f8e8cc9bc02d2acd77da96f93a65a3d8037f69c7c85bdc8f0 nimbus_beacon_node
e6ac72468cde15618f7687fe03c3e9fd649ed1e59f983e30fe0710ecf9b09ef379568cfc50851a241126d1c4b5bed578e2adba21444e2d4f2b3ea08f4af64720 nimbus_validator_client