About this release

This is a maintenance Iris and HyperChains release.

It:

• While it should be possible to override config values using OS environment variables, this didn't work for e.g. http:endpoints:dry-run, since the name contains a hyphen. Generally, it didn't work for any children of http:endpoints, since that schema subtree was improperly structured. This has been fixed, and for any config variable whose name contains a hyphen, the corresponding OS environment variable should replace any hyphen with an underscore: AE__HTTP__ENDPOINTS__DRY_RUN=true.

• The config variable http:endpoints:node_operator has been changed to node-operator, since this is what was expected by the application code. Due to the structural error above, it was possible to specify node-operator even before, and this is the only thing that would have worked. With the corrected structure and name change, such a setting will also be properly validated.

• Changes the key that defines the consensus in the config: it used to be called name and now it is renamed to type. ⚠️ This is a backwards incompatible change ⚠️

• Error reporting due to invalid configuration data during startup has been cleaned up significantly

• Validation errors due to invalid data in OS environment config variables were ignored. Now, startup is terminated.

• Fixes a bug in the node settings: cors configs were not processed correctly.

• Updated minimum supported version for tarball and standalone packages to MacOS 11.6.2 (Big Sur) ⚠️ This is a backwards incompatible change ⚠️

With regards of HyperChains it:

• Introduces posting of commitments on the parent chain. Each commitment uses a key block hash to represent the child chain on the parent chain. Since there is a delay caused of the number of confirmations on the parent chain block, the commitments are offset with as many blocks as the number of commitments is. This also means that the first commitments are based on the genesis block itself.

• Revisits heavily the config, notable changes are:

  • there is a section representing the parent chain consensus: with a type (now AE2AE), parent chain network_id and parent chain spend_address where all commitments are sent to. The latter one is likely to be removed.

  • there is a specific section for parent chain nodes polling

  • the keys now support parent chain keys as well

• When staking, return shares bought, stake, and execution height.

• When unstaking, return shares bought, stake, and execution height.

• Allow validator to become online at contract creation height

• Staker should not be able to be left with less than the minimum stake

• Removes the default consensus for networks with network_id starting with a hc_ prefix

• Fixes a bug in commitments production - there was a race condition that could lead to deadlocks

• Allows running a HC not only on CERES protocol but also on IRIS

Please join the mainnet by following the instructions in the documentation below, and let us know if you have any problems by opening a ticket. Troubleshooting of common issues is documented in the wiki.

Documentation

For an overview of the installation process for different platforms, building the package from source, configuration and operation of the Aeternity node please refer to Aeternity node documentation.