Altchain PoP Miner

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Altchain PoP Miner install and run instructions

Overview

The Proof-of-Proof (PoP) consensus protocol enables a security inheriting blockchain (any Altchain) to inherit the complete proof-of-work of a security providing blockchain (VeriBlock). For a deeper understanding of the PoP consensus protocol, please refer to the PoP White Paper.

A PoP miner serves as the communication and transactional bridge between the mined Altchain and the VeriBlock blockchain. As often as they wish, a PoP miner will take the most recent blockchain state data from the Altchain, along with an identification of the miner, and publish it to the VeriBlock blockchain via a PoP transaction with the embedded data. The PoP miner then waits for the transaction to be included in a VeriBlock block and also proven in the Bitcoin blockchain (through the process of VeriBlock PoP Mining).

PoP mining is a competitive endeavor in which miners compete to have their endorsement of the Altchain state included in the earliest possible VeriBlock block.

Getting Started

Download NodeCore

For Altchain PoP mining to be successful, the local NodeCore instance must be fully synced with the VeriBlock network.

Configuration

The application.conf file is composed by different configuration blocks:

miner
Configuration Name Default Value Environment Variable Description Example
network testnet MINER_NETWORK The network type, there are three options: mainnet, testnet and alphanet 
miner {
  network: testnet
  feePerByte: 1000
  maxFee: 10000000
  # Uncomment if you have a local full node
  #connectDirectlyTo: ["localhost"]

  # Uncomment if you want the miner API to be bound to the internet
  api.host: 127.0.0.1
  api.port: 8081

  # Uncomment if you want basic auth at the miner API
  #api.auth.username: my-username
  #api.auth.password: my-password
}
feePerByte 1000 MINER_FEE_PER_BYTE The atomic units to pay per transaction byte
maxFee 10000000 MINER_MAX_FEE Maximum veriblock atomic units to pay as transaction fee
connectDirectlyTo The NodeCore IP if you have a full node
api.host 127.0.0.1 MINER_API_HOST The miner API host
api.port 8081 MINER_API_PORT The miner API port
api.auth.username MINER_API_USERNAME The miner API auth username
api.auth.password MINER_API_PASSWORD The miner API auth password

You can add chains to the securityInheriting block, for example:

securityInheriting
Parent Configuration Configuration Name Example Value Description Example
vbtc pluginKey btc The plugin to load 
securityInheriting {
  vbtc: {
    pluginKey: btc
    id: 3860170
    name: "vBitcoin"
    host: "http://localhost:18332"
    payoutAddress: "tb1q3az9yn9crk2zfgae2geuew8q58ftey7kexk5wy"
    keystonePeriod: 10
    autoMineRounds: [1,2,4]
    auth: {
        username: "vbitcoin"
        password: "....."
    }
    extraConfig: {
        requestLogsPath: ./logs
    }
  }
  vetc: {
    pluginKey: eth
    id: 3860170
    name: "vEthereum"
    host: "http://localhost:30304"
    payoutAddress: "3f8fabfa00c207c5d3428d1b78f101486c99da33"
    keystonePeriod: 10
    autoMineRounds: [1,2,4]
    payoutDetectionType: "DISABLED"
    auth: {
        username: "vbitcoin"
        password: "....."
    }
    extraConfig: {
        requestLogsPath: ./logs
    }
  }
}
vbtc id 3860170 The chain id
vbtc name vBitcoin The chain name
vbtc host http://localhost:10600/api API url from the coin daemon
vbtc payoutAddress payoutAddress Specify a payout address, if is not specified the first address from the publication data will be used as the payout address
vbtc keystonePeriod 10 Specify the keystone period
vbtc autoMineRounds [1,2,3,4] Whether this chain is configured to automine the block at the given block height, it can be disabled by commenting the autoMineRounds config.
vbtc.auth username rpcUsername The username used on the daemon authentication (if any), it can be disabled by commenting the whole auth config block.
vbtc.auth password rpcPassword The password used on the daemon authentication (if any), it can be disabled by commenting the whole auth config block.
vbtc.extraConfig requestLogsPath ./logs The verbose request logging path

Example of a full configuration file: 

miner {
  network: testnet
  feePerByte: 1000
  maxFee: 10000000
  # Uncomment if you have a local full node
  #connectDirectlyTo: ["localhost"]

  # Uncomment if you want the miner API to be bound to the internet
  api.host: 127.0.0.1
  api.port: 8081

  # Uncomment if you want basic auth at the miner API
  #api.auth.username: my-username
  #api.auth.password: my-password
}

securityInheriting {
  vbtc: {
    pluginKey: btc
    id: 3860170
    name: "vBitcoin"
    host: "http://localhost:18332"
    payoutAddress: "tb1q3az9yn9crk2zfgae2geuew8q58ftey7kexk5wy"
    keystonePeriod: 10
    autoMineRounds: [1,2,4]
    auth: {
        username: "vbitcoin"
        password: "....."
    }
    extraConfig: {
        requestLogsPath: ./logs
    }
  }
  vetc: {
    pluginKey: eth
    id: 3860170
    name: "vEthereum"
    host: "http://localhost:30304"
    payoutAddress: "3f8fabfa00c207c5d3428d1b78f101486c99da33"
    keystonePeriod: 10
    autoMineRounds: [1,2,4]
    payoutDetectionType: "DISABLED"
    auth: {
        username: "vbitcoin"
        password: "....."
    }
    extraConfig: {
        requestLogsPath: ./logs
    }
  }
}

Run

Inside the application's bin folder, you will have two scripts to run the application, veriblock-alt-pop (Linux and Mac) and veriblock-alt-pop.bat (Windows)

NOTE: If you are having trouble running nodecore-apm on Linux, you may need to make nodecore-apm executable: chmod a+x veriblock-alt-pop

On first execution of the application, a lightweight VeriBlock wallet will be created, in order to start mining you have to send VBK coin funds to this wallet.

The Altchain PoP miner communicates with NodeCore to maintain the internal wallet. A connection to a synchronized NodeCore is always required.

Docker

With APM Docker, the next environment variables are accessible:

Variable Name Example Value Description
MINER_FEE_PER_BYTE 1000 The atomic units to pay per transaction byte
MINER_MAX_FEE 10000000 Maximum veriblock atomic units to pay as transaction fee
MINER_NETWORK testnet The network type, there are three options: mainnet, testnet and alphanet
MINER_API_HOST 127.0.0.1 The miner API host
MINER_API_PORT 8081 The miner API port
MINER_API_USERNAME The miner API auth username
MINER_API_PASSWORD The miner API auth password
CONFIG_FILE /data/application.conf The APM config file
APM_LOG_PATH /data/logs The folder for the APM logs
APM_LOG_LEVEL The APM logger level
APM_CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL The APM console logger level
APM_ENABLE_JSON_LOG false Enable the APM JSON logs

Mining

Right now there are no real Altchains integrated with APM. However, we have created a virtual altchain for testing purposes

  • To begin a mining operation for the test alchain, type 'mine test' and press ENTER

Once we start having more plugins ready, Every single APM instance will be able to perform mining operations on multiple different chains.

Mining Lifecycle

The Altchain PoP Miner will do the next actions with the next order:

Action Duration Description Comment
INITIAL N/A Initial state, to be started
INSTRUCTION ~10 Seconds Mining Instruction retrieved, Endorsement Transaction to be submitted
ENDORSEMENT_TRANSACTION ~10 Seconds Endorsement Transaction submitted and to be confirmed
ENDORSEMENT_TX_CONFIRMED ~30 Seconds (VeriBlock block time) Endorsement Transaction confirmed in VeriBlock blockchain, waiting for Block of Proof VeriBlock transaction containing ALT data can be seen on VBK Explorer
BLOCK_OF_PROOF ~5 Seconds Block of Proof received, Endorsement Transaction to be proved
PROVEN ~5 Second Endorsement Transaction proven, building Context
SUBMITTED_POP_DATA Altchain block time VTB submitted, waiting for depth completion ALT PoP transaction can be seen in ALT mempool and later in an ALT block (at which point it will write out ATV, VTB[] to the Integration Library storage
PAYOUT_DETECTED N/A Completed ALT reward payout has been detected in ALT coinbase transaction

Shell

The Altchain PoP miner provides several commands:

Command Description
help <command (optional)> Lists all the commands
clear Clears the screen
quit or exit Stops the application
getdebuginfo Collect information about the application for troubleshooting
listconfig Lists the current config values
setconfig <key> <value> Sets a config value
getautomine <chain> Gets the current automine config
setautomine <chain> <round> <value> Sets the current automine config
getmaxfee Gets the current VBK max fee config
setmaxfee <value> Sets the current VBK max fee config
getfeeperbyte Gets the current VBK fee/Byte config
setfeeperbyte <value> Sets the current VBK fee/Byte config
mine <chain> <block (optional)> Begins a proof of proof mining operation for the given chain
listoperations <state> <limit> <offset> Lists the currently running mining operations
getoperation <id> Supplies the details of the operation matching the given id
getoperationlogs <id> <level (optional)> Gets the logs of the supplied operation
canceloperation <id> Cancels the operations
getaddress Gets the currently loaded VeriBlock address
getbalance Gets the coin balance for the current VeriBlock address
withdrawvbktoaddress <address> <amount> Sends a VBK amount to a given address
dumpprivatekey <address> Gets private key for an address
importprivatekey <key> Imports the provided private key into APM
setdefaultaddress <address> Sets the default APM address
importwallet <locationPath> Imports a wallet file
backupwallet <targetPath> Creates a backup from the loaded wallet
submitcontext <chain> <blockHash (optional)> Submits a context block to the given altchain
submitvtbs <chain> Submits VTBs to the given altchain <chain>
handlecontextgap <chain> Checks if there's any context gap in the given altchain and submits VTBs to it if so

API

The APM miner API is accessible at http://localhost:8081/api (by default), those are the API endpoints that are accessible:

See sample: https://github.com/VeriBlock/samples/tree/master/apm

Method Endpoint Description
GET /api/miner Get miner data
POST /api/miner/mine Start mining operation
GET /api/miner/operations Get operations list
GET /api/miner/operations/{id} Get operation details
POST /api/miner/operations/{id}/cancel Cancel an operation
GET /api/miner/operations/{id}/logs Get the operation logs
GET /api/miner/operations/{id}/workflow Get operation workflow
GET /api/miner/configured-altchains Get configured altchains
GET /api/debug Get debug information
GET /api/config Get all configuration values
PUT /api/config Sets a new value for a config property (needs restart)
GET /api/config/automine/{chain} Get the automine config
PUT /api/config/automine/{chain} Set the automine config
GET /api/config/vbk-fee Gets the current VBK fee config
PUT /api/config/vbk-fee Sets the current VBK fee config
POST /api/quit Exists the application
POST /api/wallet/withdraw Withdraw VBKs to Address
GET /api/network Returns the Blockchain Network this APM is configured with

User Interface

APM comes with a web user interface accessible by default under http://localhost:8081/index.html. It is a Single-Page Application that uses a set of the API endpoints to communicate with the APM instance.

Apm gui 2.png

FAQ

How to pop multiple altchains from one APM

  • Ensure that all your alt daemons are properly configured, this means that each alt daemon should run at different ports (you can't bind two daemons at the same port).
  • At the APM side, you should make the host configuration (inside the securityInheriting block) match with your alt daemon configuration.
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