Genesis

Overview

The Whiteblock platform allows users to provision multiple fully-functioning nodes over which they have complete control within a private test network

REST API

Documentation for the REST API can be found here.

Installation

• clone the repository
• cd genesis
• go get
• go build

Installation on Mac

Setup docker

set environment variables to allow SSH commands:

1. ssh localhost docker
   • if error bash: docker: command not found, move to next step
2. echo "PATH=$PATH" >> ~/.ssh/environment
3. as root: echo "PermitUserEnvironment yes" >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config
4. sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ssh.plist
5. sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ssh.plist
6. run step 1. again and there should be a docker help output

Build Genesis

• set up a go development environment
• go get github.com/whiteblock/genesis
• cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/whiteblock/genesis
• go build

Configuration

Configuration options are located in config.json in the same directory as the binary

Option	Description
sshUser	The default username for ssh
sshKey	The location of the ssh private key
listen	The socket to listen on
verbose	Enable or disable verbose mode
serverBits	The bits given to each server's number
clusterBits	The bits given to each clusters's number
nodeBits	The bits given to each nodes's number
threadLimit	The maximum number of threads that can be used for building
ipPrefix	Used for the IP Scheme
dockerOutputFile	The location instead the docker containers where the clients stdout and stderr will be captured
influx	The influxdb endpoint
influxUser	The influx auth username
influxPassword	The influx auth password
serviceNetwork	CIDR of the network for the services
serviceNetworkName	The name for the service network
nodePrefix	The prefix for each node name
nodeNetworkPrefix	The prefix for each cluster network
servicePrefix	The prefix for each service
nodesPublicKey	Location of the public key for the nodes
nodesPrivateKey	Location of the private key for the nodes
handleNodeSshKeys	Should genesis handle the nodes ssh keys?
maxNodes	Set a maximum number of nodes that a client can build
maxNode-memory	Set the max memory per node that a client can use
maxNodeCpu	Set the max cpus per node that a client can use

Config Environment Overrides

These will override what is set in the config.json file, and allow configuration via only ENV variables

• SSH_USER
• SSH_KEY
• LISTEN
• VERBOSE (only need to set it)
• SERVER_BITS
• CLUSTER_BITS
• NODE_BITS
• THREAD_LIMIT
• IP_PREFIX
• DOCKER_OUTPUT_FILE
• INFLUX
• INFLUX_USER
• INFLUX_PASSWORD
• SERVICE_NETWORK
• SERVICE_NETWORK_NAME
• NODE_PREFIX
• NODE_NETWORK_PREFIX
• SERVICE_PREFIX
• NODES_PUBLIC_KEY
• NODES_PRIVATE_KEY
• HANDLE_NODE_SSH_KEYS (only need to set it)
• MAX_NODES
• MAX_NODE_MEMORY
• MAX_NODE_CPU

Additional Information

• Config order of priority ENV -> config file -> defaults

IP Scheme

We are using ipv4 so each address will have 32 bits.

The following assumptions will be made

• Each server will have a relatively unique serverId
• This uniqueness need only apply to servers which will contain nodes which communicate with each other
• There are going to be 3 IP addresses reserved from each subnet
• Nodes in the same docker network are able to route between each other by default

For simplicity, the following variables will be used

• A = ipPrefix
• B = serverBits
• C = clusterBits
• D = nodeBits

Note the following rules

• A,B,C, and D must be greater than 0
• ceil(log2(A)) + B + C + D <= 32
• D must be atleast 2
• (2^B) = The maximum number of servers
• (2^C) = The number of cluster in a given server
• (2^D - 3) = How many nodes are groups together in each cluster
• (2^D - 3) * (2^C) = The max number of nodes on a server
• (2^D - 3) * (2^C) * (2^B) = The maximum number of nodes that could be on the platform

What is a cluster?

Each cluster corresponds to a subnet, docker network, and vlan.

Containers in the same cluster will have minimal latency applied to them. In the majority of cases, it is best to just have one node per cluster, allowing for latency control between all of the nodes.

How is it all calculated?

Given a node number X and a serverId of Y, Let Z be the cluster number, I be the generated IP in big-endian, and the earlier mentioned variables applied

Z = floor(X / (2^D - 3))) I = (A * 2^(B+C+D) ) + ( Y * 2^(B+C) ) + (Z * 2^C) + (X % (2^D - 3) + 2)

if Z == (2^C - 1) then I = I - 2

Explanation

First get the cluster the node is in

Then construct the IP one segment at a time through addition

Due to the restrictions, each piece will fit neatly into place without overlap

Finally, check if it is not the last cluster on the server,

add 1 to the ip address if it is not the last cluster.

Example

Given a node number(X) of 2 and a serverId(Y) of 3

Given the IP Scheme of __A__ = 10, __B__ = 8, __C__ = 14, __D__ = 2

__Z__ = floor(2/(2^2 - 3))
__Z__ = 2

It is going to be in cluster 2

Now, for the construction of the IP

Visually, it can be represented as

IP = AAAAAAAA BBBBBBBB CCCCCCCC CCCCCCDD

The values are simply placed inside the bit space of the IP address as represented, with the exception of the D bits, which needs to be calculated

calculate this number as (2 % (2^2 - 3) + 2) or 2

Then since (__Z__ != (2^__C__ - 1)) 2 != 16383, the value remains 2

Finally, construct IP

Part A = 00001010
Part B = 00000011
Part C = 00000000000010
Part D = 10
IP = 00001010 00000011 00000000000010 10
   = 00001010 00000011 00000000 00001010
   = 10       3        0        10

The gateway is calculated in a similar way, except take Part D to always equal 1

Gateway IP = 00001010 00000011 00000000000010 01
           = 00001010 00000011 00000000 00001001
           = 10       3        0        9

Finally the subnet is 32 - D

Resulting in

IP = 10.3.0.10
Gateway IP = 10.3.0.9
Subnet = 10.3.0.8/30

Blockchain Specific Parameters

Geth (Go-Ethereum)

Note: Any configuration option can be left out, and this entire section can even be null, the example contains all of the defaults

Options

• networkId: The network id
• difficulty: The initial difficulty set in the genesis.conf file
• initBalance: The initial balance for the accounts
• maxPeers: The maximum number of peers for each node
• gasLimit: The initial gas limit
• homesteadBlock: Set in genesis.conf
• eip155Block: Set in genesis.conf
• eip158Block: Set in genesis.conf

Example (using defaults)

{
    "chainId":15468,
    "networkId":15468,
    "difficulty":100000,
    "initBalance":100000000000000000000,
    "maxPeers":1000,
    "gasLimit":4000000,
    "homesteadBlock":0,
    "eip155Block":0,
    "eip158Block":0
}

Syscoin (RegTest)

Options

• rpcUser: The username credential

• rpcPass: The password credential

• masterNodeConns: The number of connections to set up for the master nodes

• nodeConns: The number of connections to set up for the normal nodes

• percentMasternodes: The percentage of the network consisting of master nodes

• options: Options to set enabled for all nodes

• senderOptions: Options to set enabled for senders

• receiverOptions: Options to set enabled for receivers

• mnOptions: Options to set enabled for master nodes

• extras: Extra options to add to the config file for all nodes

• senderExtras: Extra options to add to the config file for senders

• receiverExtras: Extra options to add to the config file for receivers

• mnExtras: Extra options to add to the config file for master nodes

Example (using defaults)

{
    "rpcUser":"username",
    "rpcPass":"password",
    "masterNodeConns":25,
    "nodeConns":8,
    "percentMasternodes":90,
    "options":[
        "server",
        "regtest",
        "listen",
        "rest"
    ],
    "senderOptions":[
        "tpstest",
        "addressindex"
    ],
    "mnOptions":[],
    "receiverOptions":[
        "tpstest"
    ],
    "extras":[],
    "senderExtras":[],
    "receiverExtras":[],
    "mnExtras":[]
}