f7202bfbc0
* Replace Zcash parameters crates with pre-downloaded local parameter files * Download Zcash parameters using the `zcashd` script in CI and Docker * Add a zcash_proofs dependency to zebra-consensus * Download Sapling parameters using zcash_proofs, rather than fetch-params.sh * Add a new `zebrad download` subcommand This command isn't required for nomrmal usage. But it's useful when testing, or launching multiple Zebra instances. * Use `zebrad download` in CI to pre-download parameters * Log a helpful hint if downloading fails * Allow some duplicate dependencies currently hidden by orchard * Spawn a separate task to download Groth16 parameters * Run the parameter download with code coverage This avoids re-compining Zebra with and without coverage. * Update Cargo.lock after rebase * Try to pass `download` as an argument to `zebrad` in coverage CI * Fix copy and paste comment typos * Add path and download examples, like zcash_proofs * Download params in CI just like zcash_proofs does * Delete a redundant build step * Implement graceful shutdown for zebrad start * Send coverage summary to /dev/null when getting the params path * Use the correct parameters path and download commands in CI * Explain pre-downloads * Avoid calling params_folder twice * Rename parameter types and methods for consistency ```sh fastmod SaplingParams SaplingParameters zebra* fastmod Groth16Params Groth16Parameters zebra* fastmod PARAMS GROTH16_PARAMETERS zebra* fastmod params_folder directory zebra* ``` And a manual variable name tweak. * rustfmt * Remove a redundant coverage step Co-authored-by: Janito Vaqueiro Ferreira Filho <janito.vff@gmail.com> |
||
|---|---|---|
| .github | ||
| book | ||
| docker | ||
| grafana | ||
| tower-batch | ||
| tower-fallback | ||
| zebra-chain | ||
| zebra-client | ||
| zebra-consensus | ||
| zebra-network | ||
| zebra-rpc | ||
| zebra-script | ||
| zebra-state | ||
| zebra-test | ||
| zebra-utils | ||
| zebrad | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| CHANGELOG.md | ||
| CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md | ||
| CONTRIBUTING.md | ||
| Cargo.lock | ||
| Cargo.toml | ||
| LICENSE-APACHE | ||
| LICENSE-MIT | ||
| README.md | ||
| SECURITY.md | ||
| clippy.toml | ||
| cloudbuild.yaml | ||
| codecov.yml | ||
| deny.toml | ||
| firebase.json | ||
| katex-header.html | ||
| prometheus.yaml | ||
README.md
Contents
- Contents
- About
- Beta Releases
- Getting Started
- Known Issues
- Future Work
- Documentation
- Security
- License
About
Zebra is the Zcash Foundation's independent, consensus-compatible implementation of a Zcash node, currently under development. It can be used to join the Zcash peer-to-peer network, which helps keeping Zcash working by validating and broadcasting transactions, and maintaining the Zcash blockchain state in a distributed manner. Please join us on Discord if you'd like to find out more or get involved!
Zcash is a cryptocurrency designed to preserve the user's privacy. Like most cryptocurrencies, it works by a collection of software nodes run by members of the Zcash community or any other interested parties. The nodes talk to each other in peer-to-peer fashion in order to maintain the state of the Zcash blockchain. They also communicate with miners who create new blocks. When a Zcash user sends Zcash, their wallet broadcasts transactions to these nodes which will eventually reach miners, and the mined transaction will then go through Zcash nodes until they reach the recipient's wallet which will report the received Zcash to the recipient.
The original Zcash node is named zcashd and is developed by the Electric Coin
Company as a fork of the original Bitcoin node. Zebra, on the other hand, is
an independent Zcash node implementation developed from scratch. Since they
implement the same protocol, zcashd and Zebra nodes can communicate with each
other and maintain the Zcash network interoperably.
If you just want to send and receive Zcash then you don't need to use Zebra directly. You can download a Zcash wallet application which will handle that for you. (Eventually, Zebra can be used by wallets to implement their functionality.) You would want to run Zebra if you want to contribute to the Zcash network: the more nodes are run, the more reliable the network will be in terms of speed and resistance to denial of service attacks, for example.
These are some of the advantages or benefits of Zebra:
- Better performance: since it was implemented from scratch in an async, parallelized way, Zebra
is currently faster than
zcashd. - Better security: since it is developed in a memory-safe language (Rust), Zebra is less likely to be affected by memory-safety and correctness security bugs that could compromise the environment where it is run.
- Better governance: with a new node deployment, there will be more developers who can implement different features for the Zcash network.
- Dev accessibility: supports more developers, which gives new developers options for contributing to Zcash protocol development.
- Runtime safety: with an independent implementation, the detection of consensus bugs can happen quicker, reducing the risk of consensus splits.
- Spec safety: with several node implementations, it is much easier to notice bugs and ambiguity in protocol specification.
- User options: different nodes present different features and tradeoffs for users to decide on their preferred options.
- Additional contexts: wider target deployments for people to use a consensus node in more contexts e.g. mobile, wasm, etc.
Beta Releases
Every few weeks, we release a new Zebra beta release.
Zebra's network stack is interoperable with zcashd,
and Zebra implements all the features required to reach Zcash network consensus.
The goals of the beta release series are for Zebra to act as a fully validating Zcash node for all applicable consensus rules as of NU5 activation.
Currently, Zebra does not validate the following Zcash consensus rules:
NU5
- Full validation of Orchard transactions from NU5 onwards
- Validation of Orchard anchors (root of the Orchard note commitment tree)
NU4 - Canopy
- Validation of coinbase miner subsidy and miner fees
NU1 - Sapling
- Validation of Sapling anchors (root of the Sapling note commitment tree)
- Validation of Sprout JoinSplit-on-Groth16 proofs
NU0 - Overwinter
- ZIP-203: Transaction Expiry consensus rules
Sprout
- Validation of Sprout anchors (root of the Sprout note commitment tree)
- Validation of transaction lock times
- Validating updates of the Sprout note commitment tree
Other
- Undocumented rules derived from Bitcoin
- Undocumented network protocol requirements
Getting Started
Building zebrad requires Rust,
libclang, and a C++ compiler.
Build and Run Instructions
zebrad is still under development, so there is no supported packaging or
install mechanism. To run zebrad, follow the instructions to compile zebrad
for your platform:
- Install
cargoandrustc. - Install Zebra's build dependencies:
- libclang: the
libclang,libclang-dev,llvm, orllvm-devpackages, depending on your package manager - clang or another C++ compiler:
g++,Xcode, orMSVC
- libclang: the
- Run
cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra --tag v1.0.0-beta.1 zebrad - Run
zebrad start(see Running Zebra for more information)
If you're interested in testing out zebrad please feel free, but keep in mind
that there is a lot of key functionality still missing.
For more detailed instructions, refer to the documentation.
System Requirements
The recommended requirements for compiling and running zebrad are:
- 4+ CPU cores
- 16+ GB RAM
- 50GB+ available disk space for finalized state
- 100+ Mbps network connections
We continuously test that our builds and tests pass on:
- Windows Server 2019
- macOS Big Sur 11.0
- Ubuntu 18.04 / the latest LTS
- Debian Buster
Zebra's tests can take over an hour, depending on your machine. We're working on making them faster.
zebrad might build and run fine on smaller and slower systems - we haven't
tested its exact limits yet.
For more detailed requirements, refer to the documentation.
Memory Troubleshooting
If Zebra's build runs out of RAM, try setting:
export CARGO_BUILD_JOBS=2
If Zebra's tests timeout or run out of RAM, try running:
cargo test -- --test-threads=2
(cargo uses all the processor cores on your machine by default.)
macOS Test Troubleshooting
Some of Zebra's tests deliberately cause errors that make Zebra panic. macOS records these panics as crash reports.
If you are seeing "Crash Reporter" dialogs during Zebra tests, you can disable them using this Terminal.app command:
defaults write com.apple.CrashReporter DialogType none
Network Ports and Data Usage
By default, Zebra uses the following inbound TCP listener ports:
- 8233 on Mainnet
- 18233 on Testnet
zebrad's typical network usage is:
- Initial sync: 30 GB download
- Ongoing updates: 10-50 MB upload and download per day, depending on peer requests
For more detailed information, refer to the documentation.
Network Troubleshooting
Some of Zebra's tests download Zcash blocks, so they might be unreliable depending on your network connection.
You can set ZEBRA_SKIP_NETWORK_TESTS=1 to skip the network tests.
Zebra may be unreliable on Testnet, and under less-than-perfect network conditions. See our roadmap for details.
Known Issues
There are a few bugs in Zebra that we're still working on fixing:
- When Zebra receives an unexpected network message from a peer, it disconnects from that peer #2107
- Zebra's address book can use all available memory #1873
- Zebra does not evict pre-upgrade peers from the peer set across a network upgrade #706
- Zebra accepts non-minimal height encodings #2226
- In rare cases, Zebra panics on shutdown #1678
- Interrupt handler does not work when a blocking task is running #1351
- Zebra should eventually exit once the task finishes. Or you can forcibly terminate the process.
Zebra's state commits changes using database transactions. If you forcibly terminate it, or it panics, any incomplete changes will be rolled back the next time it starts.
Future Work
In 2021, we intend to finish NU5 validation, start adding RPC support and start adding wallet integrations. This phased approach allows us to test Zebra's independent implementation of the consensus rules, before asking users to entrust it with their funds.
Features:
- Full consensus rule validation
- Wallet functionality
- RPC functionality
Performance and Reliability:
- Reliable syncing on Testnet
- Reliable syncing under poor network conditions
- Batch verification
- Performance tuning
Currently, the following features are out of scope:
- Mining support
- Optional Zcash network protocol messages
- Consensus rules removed before Canopy activation (Zebra checkpoints on Canopy activation)
Documentation
The Zebra website contains user documentation, such as how to run or configure Zebra, set up metrics integrations, etc., as well as developer documentation, such as design documents. We also render API documentation for the external API of our crates, as well as internal documentation for private APIs.
Security
Zebra has a responsible disclosure policy, which we encourage security researchers to follow.
License
Zebra is distributed under the terms of both the MIT license and the Apache License (Version 2.0).
See LICENSE-APACHE and LICENSE-MIT.