dash/contrib/linearize
Wladimir J. van der Laan bba59cabc3
Merge #16802: scripts: In linearize, search for next position of magic bytes rather than fail
3284e6c09a84e9557ec72723ad636053d3ef7122 scripts: search for next position of magic bytes rather than fail (Tim Akinbo)

Pull request description:

  When using the `linearize-data.py` contrib script to export block data, there are edge cases where the script fails with an `Invalid magic: 00000000` error. This error occurs due to the presence of padding bytes that occasionally appears between consecutive blocks in the block data file.

  There's an ongoing conversation about this in #14986. sipa also admitted that it is a bug in #5028. Fortunately, this is not an issue in bitcoin core as it handles this type of situation gracefully and so no fix in bitcoin core is required.

  This PR is an improvement on how the script handles these "invalid magic bytes". Rather than failing, this patch allows the script to search for the next occurrence of the magic bytes and then starts reading the block from there.

ACKs for top commit:
  laanwj:
    ACK 3284e6c09a84e9557ec72723ad636053d3ef7122

Tree-SHA512: 18067ae0b4b62e822dfc558a86439ad6acaf939b98479e38e8e4248536574643b26eb48e96ec7139375c88b42cbe7705a64deb13a3c239e16025a6aad3d69bfa
2021-09-15 13:54:38 -04:00
..
example-linearize-testnet.cfg Some Dashification (#3513) 2020-06-11 11:39:04 +03:00
example-linearize.cfg Dashification 2021-07-14 18:46:13 -05:00
linearize-data.py Merge #16802: scripts: In linearize, search for next position of magic bytes rather than fail 2021-09-15 13:54:38 -04:00
linearize-hashes.py Merge #15351: Update linearize-hashes.py 2021-08-18 22:24:36 -03:00
README.md merge #14954: Require python 3.5 2021-08-31 11:16:12 +05:30

Linearize

Construct a linear, no-fork, best version of the Dash blockchain.

Step 0: Install dash_hash

https://github.com/dashpay/dash_hash

Step 1: Download hash list

$ ./linearize-hashes.py linearize.cfg > hashlist.txt

Required configuration file settings for linearize-hashes:

  • RPC: datadir (Required if rpcuser and rpcpassword are not specified)
  • RPC: rpcuser, rpcpassword (Required if datadir is not specified)

Optional config file setting for linearize-hashes:

  • RPC: host (Default: 127.0.0.1)
  • RPC: port (Default: 9998)
  • Blockchain: min_height, max_height
  • rev_hash_bytes: If true, the written block hash list will be byte-reversed. (In other words, the hash returned by getblockhash will have its bytes reversed.) False by default. Intended for generation of standalone hash lists but safe to use with linearize-data.py, which will output the same data no matter which byte format is chosen.

The linearize-hashes script requires a connection, local or remote, to a JSON-RPC server. Running dashd or dash-qt -server will be sufficient.

Step 2: Copy local block data

$ ./linearize-data.py linearize.cfg

Required configuration file settings:

  • output_file: The file that will contain the final blockchain. or
  • output: Output directory for linearized blocks/blkNNNNN.dat output.

Optional config file setting for linearize-data:

  • debug_output: Some printouts may not always be desired. If true, such output will be printed.
  • file_timestamp: Set each file's last-accessed and last-modified times, respectively, to the current time and to the timestamp of the most recent block written to the script's blockchain.
  • genesis: The hash of the genesis block in the blockchain. (default is '00000ffd590b1485b3caadc19b22e6379c733355108f107a430458cdf3407ab6', mainnet)
  • input: dashd blocks/ directory containing blkNNNNN.dat
  • hashlist: text file containing list of block hashes created by linearize-hashes.py.
  • max_out_sz: Maximum size for files created by the output_file option. (Default: 1000*1000*1000 bytes)
  • netmagic: Network magic number. (default is 'bf0c6bbd', mainnet)
  • out_of_order_cache_sz: If out-of-order blocks are being read, the block can be written to a cache so that the blockchain doesn't have to be sought again. This option specifies the cache size. (Default: 100*1000*1000 bytes)
  • rev_hash_bytes: If true, the block hash list written by linearize-hashes.py will be byte-reversed when read by linearize-data.py. See the linearize-hashes entry for more information.
  • split_timestamp: Split blockchain files when a new month is first seen, in addition to reaching a maximum file size (max_out_sz).