#8311
Removes the `git_version` crate from `lighthouse_version` and implements git `HEAD` tracking manually.
This removes the (mostly) broken dirty tracking but prevents spurious recompilation of the `lighthouse_version` crate.
This also reworks the way crate versions are handled by utilizing workspace version inheritance and Cargo environment variables.
This means the _only_ place where Lighthouse's version is defined is in the top level `Cargo.toml` for the workspace. All relevant binaries then inherit this version. This largely makes the `change_version.sh` script useless so I've removed it, although we could keep a version which just alters the workspace version (if we need to maintain compatibility with certain build/release tooling.
### When is a Rebuild Triggered?
1. When the build.rs file is changed.
2. When the HEAD commit changes (added, removed, rebased, etc)
3. When the branch changes (this includes changing to the current branch, and creating a detached HEAD)
Note that working/staged changes will not trigger a recompile of `lighthouse_version`.
Co-Authored-By: Mac L <mjladson@pm.me>
Co-Authored-By: Michael Sproul <michael@sigmaprime.io>
* Remove ZeroizeString in favour of Zeroizing<String>
* cargo fmt
* remove unrelated line that slipped in
* Update beacon_node/store/Cargo.toml
thanks michael!
Co-authored-by: Michael Sproul <micsproul@gmail.com>
* Merge branch 'unstable' into remove-zeroizedstring
## Issue Addressed
Synchronize dependencies and edition on the workspace `Cargo.toml`
## Proposed Changes
with https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/issues/8415 merged it's now possible to synchronize details on the workspace `Cargo.toml` like the metadata and dependencies.
By only having dependencies that are shared between multiple crates aligned on the workspace `Cargo.toml` it's easier to not miss duplicate versions of the same dependency and therefore ease on the compile times.
## Additional Info
this PR also removes the no longer required direct dependency of the `serde_derive` crate.
should be reviewed after https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/pull/4639 get's merged.
closes https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/issues/4651
Co-authored-by: Michael Sproul <michael@sigmaprime.io>
Co-authored-by: Michael Sproul <micsproul@gmail.com>
## Issue Addressed
NA
## Proposed Changes
Add the Holesky network config as per 36e4ff2d51/custom_config_data.
Since the genesis state is ~190MB, I've opted to *not* include it in the binary and instead download it at runtime (see #4564 for context). To download this file we have:
- A hard-coded URL for a SigP-hosted S3 bucket with the Holesky genesis state. Assuming this download works correctly, users will be none the wiser that the state wasn't included in the binary (apart from some additional logs)
- If the user provides a `--checkpoint-sync-url` flag, then LH will download the genesis state from that server rather than our S3 bucket.
- If the user provides a `--genesis-state-url` flag, then LH will download the genesis state from that server regardless of the S3 bucket or `--checkpoint-sync-url` flag.
- Whenever a genesis state is downloaded it is checked against a checksum baked into the binary.
- A genesis state will never be downloaded if it's already included in the binary.
- There is a `--genesis-state-url-timeout` flag to tweak the timeout for downloading the genesis state file.
## Log Output
Example of log output when a state is downloaded:
```bash
Aug 23 05:40:13.424 INFO Logging to file path: "/Users/paul/.lighthouse/holesky/beacon/logs/beacon.log"
Aug 23 05:40:13.425 INFO Lighthouse started version: Lighthouse/v4.3.0-bd9931f+
Aug 23 05:40:13.425 INFO Configured for network name: holesky
Aug 23 05:40:13.426 INFO Data directory initialised datadir: /Users/paul/.lighthouse/holesky
Aug 23 05:40:13.427 INFO Deposit contract address: 0x4242424242424242424242424242424242424242, deploy_block: 0
Aug 23 05:40:13.427 INFO Downloading genesis state info: this may take some time on testnets with large validator counts, timeout: 60s, server: https://sigp-public-genesis-states.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/
Aug 23 05:40:29.895 INFO Starting from known genesis state service: beacon
```
Example of log output when there are no URLs specified:
```
Aug 23 06:29:51.645 INFO Logging to file path: "/Users/paul/.lighthouse/goerli/beacon/logs/beacon.log"
Aug 23 06:29:51.646 INFO Lighthouse started version: Lighthouse/v4.3.0-666a39c+
Aug 23 06:29:51.646 INFO Configured for network name: goerli
Aug 23 06:29:51.647 INFO Data directory initialised datadir: /Users/paul/.lighthouse/goerli
Aug 23 06:29:51.647 INFO Deposit contract address: 0xff50ed3d0ec03ac01d4c79aad74928bff48a7b2b, deploy_block: 4367322
The genesis state is not present in the binary and there are no known download URLs. Please use --checkpoint-sync-url or --genesis-state-url.
```
## Additional Info
I tested the `--genesis-state-url` flag with all 9 Goerli checkpoint sync servers on https://eth-clients.github.io/checkpoint-sync-endpoints/ and they all worked 🎉
My IDE eagerly formatted some `Cargo.toml`. I've disabled it but I don't see the value in spending time reverting the changes that are already there.
I also added the `GenesisStateBytes` enum to avoid an unnecessary clone on the genesis state bytes baked into the binary. This is not a huge deal on Mainnet, but will become more relevant when testing with big genesis states.
When we do a fresh checkpoint sync we're downloading the genesis state to check the `genesis_validators_root` against the finalised state we receive. This is not *entirely* pointless, since we verify the checksum when we download the genesis state so we are actually guaranteeing that the finalised state is on the same network. There might be a smarter/less-download-y way to go about this, but I've run out of cycles to figure that out. Perhaps we can grab it in the next release?
## Issue Addressed
Addresses #2557
## Proposed Changes
Adds the `lighthouse validator-manager` command, which provides:
- `lighthouse validator-manager create`
- Creates a `validators.json` file and a `deposits.json` (same format as https://github.com/ethereum/staking-deposit-cli)
- `lighthouse validator-manager import`
- Imports validators from a `validators.json` file to the VC via the HTTP API.
- `lighthouse validator-manager move`
- Moves validators from one VC to the other, utilizing only the VC API.
## Additional Info
In 98bcb947c I've reduced some VC `ERRO` and `CRIT` warnings to `WARN` or `DEBG` for the case where a pubkey is missing from the validator store. These were being triggered when we removed a validator but still had it in caches. It seems to me that `UnknownPubkey` will only happen in the case where we've removed a validator, so downgrading the logs is prudent. All the logs are `DEBG` apart from attestations and blocks which are `WARN`. I thought having *some* logging about this condition might help us down the track.
In 856cd7e37d I've made the VC delete the corresponding password file when it's deleting a keystore. This seemed like nice hygiene. Notably, it'll only delete that password file after it scans the validator definitions and finds that no other validator is also using that password file.
## Proposed Changes
Lots of lint updates related to `flat_map`, `unwrap_or_else` and string patterns. I did a little more creative refactoring in the op pool, but otherwise followed Clippy's suggestions.
## Additional Info
We need this PR to unblock CI.
## Issue Addressed
NA
## Proposed Changes
Implements the "union" type from the SSZ spec for `ssz`, `ssz_derive`, `tree_hash` and `tree_hash_derive` so it may be derived for `enums`:
https://github.com/ethereum/consensus-specs/blob/v1.1.0-beta.3/ssz/simple-serialize.md#union
The union type is required for the merge, since the `Transaction` type is defined as a single-variant union `Union[OpaqueTransaction]`.
### Crate Updates
This PR will (hopefully) cause CI to publish new versions for the following crates:
- `eth2_ssz_derive`: `0.2.1` -> `0.3.0`
- `eth2_ssz`: `0.3.0` -> `0.4.0`
- `eth2_ssz_types`: `0.2.0` -> `0.2.1`
- `tree_hash`: `0.3.0` -> `0.4.0`
- `tree_hash_derive`: `0.3.0` -> `0.4.0`
These these crates depend on each other, I've had to add a workspace-level `[patch]` for these crates. A follow-up PR will need to remove this patch, ones the new versions are published.
### Union Behaviors
We already had SSZ `Encode` and `TreeHash` derive for enums, however it just did a "transparent" pass-through of the inner value. Since the "union" decoding from the spec is in conflict with the transparent method, I've required that all `enum` have exactly one of the following enum-level attributes:
#### SSZ
- `#[ssz(enum_behaviour = "union")]`
- matches the spec used for the merge
- `#[ssz(enum_behaviour = "transparent")]`
- maintains existing functionality
- not supported for `Decode` (never was)
#### TreeHash
- `#[tree_hash(enum_behaviour = "union")]`
- matches the spec used for the merge
- `#[tree_hash(enum_behaviour = "transparent")]`
- maintains existing functionality
This means that we can maintain the existing transparent behaviour, but all existing users will get a compile-time error until they explicitly opt-in to being transparent.
### Legacy Option Encoding
Before this PR, we already had a union-esque encoding for `Option<T>`. However, this was with the *old* SSZ spec where the union selector was 4 bytes. During merge specification, the spec was changed to use 1 byte for the selector.
Whilst the 4-byte `Option` encoding was never used in the spec, we used it in our database. Writing a migrate script for all occurrences of `Option` in the database would be painful, especially since it's used in the `CommitteeCache`. To avoid the migrate script, I added a serde-esque `#[ssz(with = "module")]` field-level attribute to `ssz_derive` so that we can opt into the 4-byte encoding on a field-by-field basis.
The `ssz::legacy::four_byte_impl!` macro allows a one-liner to define the module required for the `#[ssz(with = "module")]` for some `Option<T> where T: Encode + Decode`.
Notably, **I have removed `Encode` and `Decode` impls for `Option`**. I've done this to force a break on downstream users. Like I mentioned, `Option` isn't used in the spec so I don't think it'll be *that* annoying. I think it's nicer than quietly having two different union implementations or quietly breaking the existing `Option` impl.
### Crate Publish Ordering
I've modified the order in which CI publishes crates to ensure that we don't publish a crate without ensuring we already published a crate that it depends upon.
## TODO
- [ ] Queue a follow-up `[patch]`-removing PR.
## Issue Addressed
Related to: #2259
Made an attempt at all the necessary updates here to publish the crates to crates.io. I incremented the minor versions on all the crates that have been previously published. We still might run into some issues as we try to publish because I'm not able to test this out but I think it's a good starting point.
## Proposed Changes
- Add description and license to `ssz_types` and `serde_util`
- rename `serde_util` to `eth2_serde_util`
- increment minor versions
- remove path dependencies
- remove patch dependencies
## Additional Info
Crates published:
- [x] `tree_hash` -- need to publish `tree_hash_derive` and `eth2_hashing` first
- [x] `eth2_ssz_types` -- need to publish `eth2_serde_util` first
- [x] `tree_hash_derive`
- [x] `eth2_ssz`
- [x] `eth2_ssz_derive`
- [x] `eth2_serde_util`
- [x] `eth2_hashing`
Co-authored-by: realbigsean <seananderson33@gmail.com>
## Proposed Changes
* Consolidate Tokio versions: everything now uses the latest v1.10.0, no more `tokio-compat`.
* Many semver-compatible changes via `cargo update`. Notably this upgrades from the yanked v0.8.0 version of crossbeam-deque which is present in v1.5.0-rc.0
* Many semver incompatible upgrades via `cargo upgrades` and `cargo upgrade --workspace pkg_name`. Notable ommissions:
- Prometheus, to be handled separately: https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/issues/2485
- `rand`, `rand_xorshift`: the libsecp256k1 package requires 0.7.x, so we'll stick with that for now
- `ethereum-types` is pinned at 0.11.0 because that's what `web3` is using and it seems nice to have just a single version
## Additional Info
We still have two versions of `libp2p-core` due to `discv5` depending on the v0.29.0 release rather than `master`. AFAIK it should be OK to release in this state (cc @AgeManning )
## Issue Addressed
Windows incompatibility.
## Proposed Changes
On windows, lighthouse needs to default to STDIN as tty doesn't exist. Also Windows uses ACLs for file permissions. So to mirror chmod 600, we will remove every entry in a file's ACL and add only a single SID that is an alias for the file owner.
Beyond that, there were several changes made to different unit tests because windows has slightly different error messages as well as frustrating nuances around killing a process :/
## Additional Info
Tested on my Windows VM and it appears to work, also compiled & tested on Linux with these changes. Permissions look correct on both platforms now. Just waiting for my validator to activate on Prater so I can test running full validator client on windows.
Co-authored-by: ethDreamer <37123614+ethDreamer@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Michael Sproul <micsproul@gmail.com>
## Issue Addressed
#2276
## Proposed Changes
Add the `SensitiveUrl` struct which wraps `Url` and implements custom `Display` and `Debug` traits to redact user secrets from being logged in eth1 endpoints, beacon node endpoints and metrics.
## Additional Info
This also includes a small rewrite of the eth1 crate to make requests using `Url` instead of `&str`.
Some error messages have also been changed to remove `Url` data.
## Issue Addressed
resolves#2129resolves#2099
addresses some of #1712
unblocks #2076
unblocks #2153
## Proposed Changes
- Updates all the dependencies mentioned in #2129, except for web3. They haven't merged their tokio 1.0 update because they are waiting on some dependencies of their own. Since we only use web3 in tests, I think updating it in a separate issue is fine. If they are able to merge soon though, I can update in this PR.
- Updates `tokio_util` to 0.6.2 and `bytes` to 1.0.1.
- We haven't made a discv5 release since merging tokio 1.0 updates so I'm using a commit rather than release atm. **Edit:** I think we should merge an update of `tokio_util` to 0.6.2 into discv5 before this release because it has panic fixes in `DelayQueue` --> PR in discv5: https://github.com/sigp/discv5/pull/58
## Additional Info
tokio 1.0 changes that required some changes in lighthouse:
- `interval.next().await.is_some()` -> `interval.tick().await`
- `sleep` future is now `!Unpin` -> https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio/issues/3028
- `try_recv` has been temporarily removed from `mpsc` -> https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio/issues/3350
- stream features have moved to `tokio-stream` and `broadcast::Receiver::into_stream()` has been temporarily removed -> `https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio/issues/2870
- I've copied over the `BroadcastStream` wrapper from this PR, but can update to use `tokio-stream` once it's merged https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio/pull/3384
Co-authored-by: realbigsean <seananderson33@gmail.com>
## Issue Addressed
Closes#1264
## Proposed Changes
* Milagro BLS: tweak the feature flags so that Milagro doesn't get compiled if we're using BLST. Profiling showed that it was consuming about 1 minute of CPU time out of 60 minutes of CPU time (real time ~15 mins). A 1.6% saving.
* Reduce monomorphization: compiling for 3 different `EthSpec` types causes a heck of a lot of generic functions to be instantiated (monomorphized). Removing 2 of 3 cuts the LLVM+linking step from around 250 seconds to 180 seconds, a saving of 70 seconds (real time!). This applies only to `make` and not the CI build, because we test with the minimal spec on CI.
* Update `web3` crate to v0.13. This is perhaps the most controversial change, because it requires axing some deposit contract tools from `lcli`. I suspect these tools weren't used much anyway, and could be maintained separately, but I'm also happy to revert this change. However, it does save us a lot of compile time. With #1839, we now have 3 versions of Tokio (and all of Tokio's deps). This change brings us down to 2 versions, but 1 should be achievable once web3 (and reqwest) move to Tokio 0.3.
* Remove `lcli` from the Docker image. It's a dev tool and can be built from the repo if required.
## Issue Addressed
#1992 and #1987, and also to be considered a continuation of #1751
## Proposed Changes
many changed files but most are renaming to align the code with the semantics of `--network`
- remove the `--network` default value (in clap) and instead set it after checking the `network` and `testnet-dir` flags
- move `eth2_testnet_config` crate to `eth2_network_config`
- move `Eth2TestnetConfig` to `Eth2NetworkConfig`
- move `DEFAULT_HARDCODED_TESTNET` to `DEFAULT_HARDCODED_NETWORK`
- `beacon_node`s `get_eth2_testnet_config` loads the `DEFAULT_HARDCODED_NETWORK` if there is no network nor testnet provided
- `boot_node`s config loads the config same as the `beacon_node`, it was using the configuration only for preconfigured networks (That code is ~1year old so I asume it was not intended)
- removed a one year old comment stating we should try to emulate `https://github.com/eth2-clients/eth2-testnets/tree/master/nimbus/testnet1` it looks outdated (?)
- remove `lighthouse`s `load_testnet_config` in favor of `get_eth2_network_config` to centralize that logic (It had differences)
- some spelling
## Additional Info
Both the command of #1992 and the scripts of #1987 seem to work fine, same as `bn` and `vc`
## Issue Addressed
NA
## Proposed Changes
Updates out of date dependencies.
## Additional Info
See also https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/issues/1712 for a list of dependencies that are still out of date and the resasons.
## Description
This PR updates Lighthouse to tokio 0.3. It includes a number of dependency updates and some structural changes as to how we create and spawn tasks.
This also brings with it a number of various improvements:
- Discv5 update
- Libp2p update
- Fix for recompilation issues
- Improved UPnP port mapping handling
- Futures dependency update
- Log downgrade to traces for rejecting peers when we've reached our max
Co-authored-by: blacktemplar <blacktemplar@a1.net>
## Issue Addressed
Resolve#1652
## Proposed Changes
Adds a cli option for voluntary exits. The flow is similar to prysm's where after entering the password for the validator keystore (or load password from `secrets` if present) the user is given multiple warnings about the operation being irreversible, then redirected to the docs webpage(not added yet) which explains what a voluntary exit is and the consequences of exiting and then prompted to enter a phrase from the docs webpage as a final confirmation.
Example usage
```
$ lighthouse --testnet zinken account validator exit --validator <validator-pubkey> --beacon-node http://localhost:5052
Running account manager for zinken testnet
validator-dir path: "..."
Enter the keystore password: for validator in ...
Password is correct
Publishing a voluntary exit for validator: ...
WARNING: This is an irreversible operation
WARNING: Withdrawing staked eth will not be possible until Eth1/Eth2 merge Please visit [website] to make sure you understand the implications of a voluntary exit.
Enter the phrase from the above URL to confirm the voluntary exit:
Exit my validator
Published voluntary exit for validator ...
```
## Additional info
Not sure if we should have batch exits (`--validator all`) option for exiting all the validators in the `validators` directory. I'm slightly leaning towards having only single exits but don't have a strong preference.
## Issue Addressed
Closes#1504Closes#1505
Replaces #1703Closes#1707
## Proposed Changes
* Update BLST and Milagro to versions compatible with BLSv4 spec
* Update Lighthouse to spec v1.0.0-rc.0, and update EF test vectors
* Use the v1.0.0 constants for `MainnetEthSpec`.
* Rename `InteropEthSpec` -> `V012LegacyEthSpec`
* Change all constants to suit the mainnet `v0.12.3` specification (i.e., Medalla).
* Deprecate the `--spec` flag for the `lighthouse` binary
* This value is now obtained from the `config_name` field of the `YamlConfig`.
* Built in testnet YAML files have been updated.
* Ignore the `--spec` value, if supplied, log a warning that it will be deprecated
* `lcli` still has the spec flag, that's fine because it's dev tooling.
* Remove the `E: EthSpec` from `YamlConfig`
* This means we need to deser the genesis `BeaconState` on-demand, but this is fine.
* Swap the old "minimal", "mainnet" strings over to the new `EthSpecId` enum.
* Always require a `CONFIG_NAME` field in `YamlConfig` (it used to have a default).
## Additional Info
Lots of breaking changes, do not merge! ~~We will likely need a Lighthouse v0.4.0 branch, and possibly a long-term v0.3.0 branch to keep Medalla alive~~.
Co-authored-by: Kirk Baird <baird.k@outlook.com>
Co-authored-by: Paul Hauner <paul@paulhauner.com>
## Issue Addressed
- Resolves#1727
## Proposed Changes
Remove the `lighthouse account validator deposit` command.
It's a shame to let this go, but it's currently lacking any tests and contains significant, un-handled edge-cases (e.g., it will wait forever until the eth1 node gives a tx confirmation and if you ctrl+c it before it finishes it will leave the filesystem in an unknown state with lockfiles lying around)
I don't think we need to make deposit functionality a priority before mainnet, we have bigger fish to fry IMO.
We, will need to revive this functionality before the next testnet, but I think we should make private, non-production tools to handle this for SigP internally.
## Additional Info
Be sure to re-open #1331 if this PR is abandoned.
## Issue Addressed
- Resolves#1706
## Proposed Changes
Updates dependencies across the workspace. Any crate that was not able to be brought to the latest version is listed in #1712.
## Additional Info
NA
This commit was modified by Paul H whilst rebasing master onto
v0.3.0-staging
Adding UPnP support will help grow the DHT by allowing NAT traversal for peers with UPnP supported routers.
Using IGD library: https://docs.rs/igd/0.10.0/igd/
Adding the the libp2p tcp port and discovery udp port. If this fails it simply logs the attempt and moves on
Co-authored-by: Age Manning <Age@AgeManning.com>
## Issue Addressed
Implements support for importing and exporting the slashing protection DB interchange format described here:
https://hackmd.io/@sproul/Bk0Y0qdGD
Also closes#1584
## Proposed Changes
* [x] Support for serializing and deserializing the format
* [x] Support for importing and exporting Lighthouse's database
* [x] CLI commands to invoke import and export
* [x] Export to minimal format (required when a minimal format has been previously imported)
* [x] Tests for export to minimal (utilising mixed importing and attestation signing?)
* [x] Tests for import/export of complete format, and import of minimal format
* [x] ~~Prevent attestations with sources less than our max source (Danny's suggestion). Required for the fake attestation that we put in for the minimal format to block attestations from source 0.~~
* [x] Add the concept of a "low watermark" for compatibility with the minimal format
Bonus!
* [x] A fix to a potentially nasty bug involving validators getting re-registered each time the validator client ran! Thankfully, the ordering of keys meant that the validator IDs used for attestations and blocks remained stable -- otherwise we could have had some slashings on our hands! 😱
* [x] Tests to confirm that this bug is indeed vanquished
Closes#1487Closes#1427
Directory restructure in accordance with #1487. Also has temporary migration code to move the old directories into new structure.
Also extracts all default directory names and utility functions into a `directory` crate to avoid repetitio.
~Since `validator_definition.yaml` stores absolute paths, users will have to manually change the keystore paths or delete the file to get the validators picked up by the vc.~. `validator_definition.yaml` is migrated as well from the default directories.
Co-authored-by: realbigsean <seananderson33@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Paul Hauner <paul@paulhauner.com>
## Proposed Changes
Having been bitten by submitting deposits with invalid signatures (for the wrong testnet), I'm proposing we check the signatures of deposits when submitting them via `lighthouse account validator deposit`.
The impact on performance is likely to be minimal because waiting for an Eth1 transaction confirmation takes a lot longer than verifying a single signature.
It would be great to have the same protection in the deposit web UI in the Lighthouse Book, but I imagine that will be obsoleted by the validator web UI work.
## Issue Addressed
NA
## Proposed Changes
- Refactor the `bls` crate to support multiple BLS "backends" (e.g., milagro, blst, etc).
- Removes some duplicate, unused code in `common/rest_types/src/validator.rs`.
- Removes the old "upgrade legacy keypairs" functionality (these were unencrypted keys that haven't been supported for a few testnets, no one should be using them anymore).
## Additional Info
Most of the files changed are just inconsequential changes to function names.
## TODO
- [x] Optimization levels
- [x] Infinity point: https://github.com/supranational/blst/issues/11
- [x] Ensure milagro *and* blst are tested via CI
- [x] What to do with unsafe code?
- [x] Test infinity point in signature sets
## Issue Addressed
NA
## Proposed Changes
- Introduces the `valdiator_definitions.yml` file which serves as an explicit list of validators that should be run by the validator client.
- Removes `--strict` flag, split into `--strict-lockfiles` and `--disable-auto-discover`
- Adds a "Validator Management" page to the book.
- Adds the `common/account_utils` crate which contains some logic that was starting to duplicate across the codebase.
The new docs for this feature are the best description of it (apart from the code, I guess): 9cb87e93ce/book/src/validator-management.md
## API Changes
This change should be transparent for *most* existing users. If the `valdiator_definitions.yml` doesn't exist then it will be automatically generated using a method that will detect all the validators in their `validators_dir`.
Users will have issues if they are:
1. Using `--strict`.
1. Have keystores in their `~/.lighthouse/validators` directory that weren't being detected by the current keystore discovery method.
For users with (1), the VC will refuse to start because the `--strict` flag has been removed. They will be forced to review `--help` and choose an equivalent flag.
For users with (2), this seems fairly unlikely and since we're only in testnets there's no *real* value on the line here. I'm happy to take the risk, it would be a different case for mainnet.
## Additional Info
This PR adds functionality we will need for #1347.
## TODO
- [x] Reconsider flags
- [x] Move doc into a more reasonable chapter.
- [x] Check for compile warnings.
