Validator 1.9.1

The core team has tagged Validator 1.9.1 mandatory release has been tagged and is ready for general availability.

This release will allow the approved HIP 55 https://github.com/helium/HIP/blob/main/0055-validator-challenges.md chain variable to be activated and prepare for the activation of Light Hotspots.

We request Validator Hosters to upgrade to v1.9.1 by 2022-05-11 00:00 UTC for Light Hotspot chain variable support and help ensure the network can continue normal operations.

For this update ensure that port 8080 is open.

From the HIP:

Validator Challenges move the role of generating Challenges to the Validator pool. This not only allows us to free Hotspots from the burden of following the blockchain but it also moves the entities initiating Challenges to machines with much more stable and predictable networking which reduces the likelihood of connectivity failures.

Hotspots can become clients of Validators to learn about blockchain updates in general, whether or not they're currently being challenged, and where to deliver Witness receipts.

Complete list of changes:
https://gist.github.com/evanmcc/d3c45f01e7512f1bfa3cc6c6fc2a5571

Validator 1.8.4

The core team has tagged Validator 1.8.4 release and it's ready for general availability.

This release removes non-active rust embedded gateway code and is a regular, non-mandatory update.

For operators building from source, this release will provide accelerated build and test times and docker operators should see a slight decrease in overall docker container size.

Complete list of changes here: https://gist.github.com/evanmcc/be303d51869c1c3ed736fe88f12ed2e9

Validator 1.8.3

The Validator v1.8.3 mandatory release has been tagged and is ready for general availability.

This release addresses the “bottom 3” issue which was improperly (but evenly) penalizing the last three members orders in the consensus group. In addition, it fixes a snapshot and delayed ledger issue, resolves user reported stalling issues, and also extends RPC timeouts for snap loading and taking.

This release lays the foundation for a future chain variable designed to implement H3Dex-based PoC Targeting. For more info: https://github.com/helium/HIP/blob/main/0054-h3dex-targeting.md

List of 1.8.x changes here: https://gist.github.com/evanmcc/4e359679bdecf0bc993526465f18fc5f

Please upgrade to v1.8.3 by 03/18/2022 00:00 UTC to ensure chain variable support and help ensure the network can continue normal operations.

Validator 1.7.0

The core developers have tagged v1.7.0 as a mandatory release. This release lays the foundation for a future chain variable designed to prevent a large number of disputes from forming a large block and causing issues for low-performing validator nodes.

The latest blockchain core updates are also included in v1.7.0.

Please upgrade to v1.7.0 by Friday, February 18, 2022 00:00 UTC to ensure chain variable support and help ensure the network can continue normal operations.

Validator 1.6.5

The core developers have tagged a v1.6.5 mandatory release. Key updates for this release include enabling the return to production of snapshots, garbage collection improvements, and accelerated POC ledger items.

This release also includes updates from earlier v1.6.x releases.

Before updating to v1.6.5 the team recommends source builders upgrade to rust 1.58. Directly updating to v1.6.5 from earlier v1.6.x versions is supported.

Shout out to @PaulVMo for his research and pull request #1367.

Validator 1.6.2

The core developers have tagged 1.6.2 as the latest release which includes:

• fix for cold start issue
• optimizes region cache related to pocv11
• addressed heartbeat version issue
• updated blessed snaphot
• latest blockchain core 2021.12.22.0

Users can directly upgrade from 1.5.4 or later to 1.6.2.

Validator 1.5.14

The core developers have tagged the latest release, 1.5.14 which includes a fix to unstick Validators halted at block 1,107,994 due to a nonce disagreement from loading a snapshot with a rescue block.

Validators that are operating normally can either remain on 1.5.13 or upgrade to 1.5.14.

Validator 1.5.13

This latest release fixes an issue introduced by the Rescue Block that was issued at height 1105523. It specifically allows the rescue block to be considered plausible and re-enables block syncing for Validators without a direct fast-forward or sync.

We strongly recommend upgrading to this release if your Validator is not syncing block 1105523.

More details here: helium/blockchain-core#1120

Validator 1.5.12

This latest release fixes two issues encountered over the last few days.

• Improves block sync, specifically plausible block handling. More details here: helium/blockchain-core#1115
• Reduces Reliable Broadcast (RBC) proposal size to 1MB (from 5MB). This is a tradeoff that only permits smaller blocks to be proposed (with fewer transactions). More details here: helium/erlang-hbbft#75

Validator v1.5.9

This latest release fixes a gossip issue and a bug where a validator can get in a bad state and stop syncing. More info here: helium/blockchain-core#1113