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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/release-notes.md')
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1 files changed, 239 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/doc/release-notes.md b/doc/release-notes.md index d3ba067657..53b5a2119f 100644 --- a/doc/release-notes.md +++ b/doc/release-notes.md @@ -47,21 +47,255 @@ processing the entire blockchain. Compatibility ============== -Bitcoin Core is extensively tested on multiple operating systems using -the Linux kernel, macOS 10.10+, and Windows 7 and newer (Windows XP is not supported). +Bitcoin Core is supported and extensively tested on operating systems using +the Linux kernel, macOS 10.10+, and Windows 7 and newer. It is not recommended +to use Bitcoin Core on unsupported systems. Bitcoin Core should also work on most other Unix-like systems but is not frequently tested on them. -From 0.17.0 onwards macOS <10.10 is no longer supported. 0.17.0 is built using Qt 5.9.x, which doesn't -support versions of macOS older than 10.10. +From 0.17.0 onwards, macOS <10.10 is no longer supported. 0.17.0 is +built using Qt 5.9.x, which doesn't support versions of macOS older than +10.10. Additionally, Bitcoin Core does not yet change appearance when +macOS "dark mode" is activated. + +In addition to previously-supported CPU platforms, this release's +pre-compiled distribution also provides binaries for the RISC-V +platform. Notable changes =============== -Example item +Mining +------ + +- Calls to `getblocktemplate` will fail if the segwit rule is not specified. + Calling `getblocktemplate` without segwit specified is almost certainly + a misconfiguration since doing so results in lower rewards for the miner. + Failed calls will produce an error message describing how to enable the + segwit rule. + +Configuration option changes +---------------------------- + +- A warning is printed if an unrecognized section name is used in the + configuration file. Recognized sections are `[test]`, `[main]`, and + `[regtest]`. + +- Four new options are available for configuring the maximum number of + messages that ZMQ will queue in memory (the "high water mark") before + dropping additional messages. The default value is 1,000, the same as + was used for previous releases. See the [ZMQ + documentation](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/zmq.md#usage) + for details. + +- The `enablebip61` option (introduced in Bitcoin Core 0.17.0) is + used to toggle sending of BIP 61 reject messages. Reject messages have no use + case on the P2P network and are only logged for debugging by most network + nodes. The option will now by default be off for improved privacy and security + as well as reduced upload usage. The option can explicitly be turned on for + local-network debugging purposes. + +- The `rpcallowip` option can no longer be used to automatically listen + on all network interfaces. Instead, the `rpcbind` parameter must also + be used to specify the IP addresses to listen on. Listening for RPC + commands over a public network connection is insecure and should be + disabled, so a warning is now printed if a user selects such a + configuration. If you need to expose RPC in order to use a tool + like Docker, ensure you only bind RPC to your localhost, e.g. `docker + run [...] -p 127.0.0.1:8332:8332` (this is an extra `:8332` over the + normal Docker port specification). + +- The `rpcpassword` option now causes a startup error if the password + set in the configuration file contains a hash character (#), as it's + ambiguous whether the hash character is meant for the password or as a + comment. + +Documentation +------------- + +- A new short + [document](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/JSON-RPC-interface.md) + about the JSON-RPC interface describes cases where the results of an + RPC might contain inconsistencies between data sourced from different + subsystems, such as wallet state and mempool state. A note is added + to the [REST interface documentation](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/REST-interface.md) + indicating that the same rules apply. + +- A new [document](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/bitcoin-conf.md) + about the `bitcoin.conf` file describes how to use it to configure + Bitcoin Core. + +- A new document introduces Bitcoin Core's BIP174 + [Partially-Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBT)](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/psbt.md) + interface, which is used to allow multiple programs to collaboratively + work to create, sign, and broadcast new transactions. This is useful + for offline (cold storage) wallets, multisig wallets, coinjoin + implementations, and many other cases where two or more programs need + to interact to generate a complete transaction. + +- The [output script descriptor](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/descriptors.md) + documentation has been updated with information about new features in + this still-developing language for describing the output scripts that + a wallet or other program wants to receive notifications for, such as + which addresses it wants to know received payments. The language is + currently used in the `scantxoutset` RPC and is expected to be adapted + to other RPCs and to the underlying wallet structure. + +Build system changes +-------------------- + +- A new `--disable-bip70` option may be passed to `./configure` to + prevent Bitcoin-Qt from being built with support for the BIP70 payment + protocol or from linking libssl. As the payment protocol has exposed + Bitcoin Core to libssl vulnerabilities in the past, builders who don't + need BIP70 support are encouraged to use this option to reduce their + exposure to future vulnerabilities. + +Deprecated or removed RPCs +-------------------------- + +- The `signrawtransaction` RPC is removed after being deprecated and + hidden behind a special configuration option in version 0.17.0. + +- The 'account' API is removed after being deprecated in v0.17. The + 'label' API was introduced in v0.17 as a replacement for accounts. + See the [release notes from v0.17](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.17.0.md#label-and-account-apis-for-wallet) + for a full description of the changes from the 'account' API to the + 'label' API. + +- The `addwitnessaddress` RPC is removed after being deprecated in + version 0.13.0. + +- The wallet's `generate` RPC method is deprecated and will be fully + removed in a subsequent major version. This RPC is only used for + testing, but its implementation reached across multiple subsystems + (wallet and mining), so it is being deprecated to simplify the + wallet-node interface. Projects that are using `generate` for testing + purposes should transition to using the `generatetoaddress` RPC, which + does not require or use the wallet component. Calling + `generatetoaddress` with an address returned by the `getnewaddress` + RPC gives the same functionality as the old `generate` RPC. To + continue using `generate` in this version, restart bitcoind with the + `-deprecatedrpc=generate` configuration option. + +New RPCs +-------- + +- A new `getnodeaddresses` RPC returns peer addresses known to this + node. It may be used to find nodes to connect to without using a DNS + seeder. + +- A new `listwalletdir` RPC returns a list of wallets in the wallet + directory (either the default wallet directory or the directory + configured by the `-walletdir` parameter). + +Updated RPCs ------------ +Note: some low-level RPC changes mainly useful for testing are described +in the Low-level Changes section below. + +- The `getpeerinfo` RPC now returns an additional `minfeefilter` field + set to the peer's BIP133 fee filter. You can use this to detect that + you have peers that are willing to accept transactions below the + default minimum relay fee. + +- The mempool RPCs, such as `getrawmempool` with `verbose=true`, now + return an additional "bip125-replaceable" value indicating whether the + transaction (or its unconfirmed ancestors) opts-in to asking nodes and + miners to replace it with a higher-feerate transaction spending any of + the same inputs. + +- The `settxfee` RPC previously silently ignored attempts to set the fee + below the allowed minimums. It now prints a warning. The special + value of "0" may still be used to request the minimum value. + +- The `getaddressinfo` RPC now provides an `ischange` field indicating + whether the wallet used the address in a change output. + +- The `importmulti` RPC has been updated to support P2WSH, P2WPKH, + P2SH-P2WPKH, and P2SH-P2WSH. Requests for P2WSH and P2SH-P2WSH accept + an additional `witnessscript` parameter. + +- The `importmulti` RPC now returns an additional `warnings` field for + each request with an array of strings explaining when fields are being + ignored or are inconsistent, if there are any. + +- The `getaddressinfo` RPC now returns an additional `solvable` boolean + field when Bitcoin Core knows enough about the address's scriptPubKey, + optional redeemScript, and optional witnessScript in order for the + wallet to be able to generate an unsigned input spending funds sent to + that address. + +- The `getaddressinfo`, `listunspent`, and `scantxoutset` RPCs now + return an additional `desc` field that contains an output descriptor + containing all key paths and signing information for the address + (except for the private key). The `desc` field is only returned for + `getaddressinfo` and `listunspent` when the address is solvable. + +- The `importprivkey` RPC will preserve previously-set labels for + addresses or public keys corresponding to the private key being + imported. For example, if you imported a watch-only address with the + label "cold wallet" in earlier releases of Bitcoin Core, subsequently + importing the private key would default to resetting the address's + label to the default empty-string label (""). In this release, the + previous label of "cold wallet" will be retained. If you optionally + specify any label besides the default when calling `importprivkey`, + the new label will be applied to the address. + +- See the [Mining](#mining) section for changes to `getblocktemplate`. + +Graphical User Interface (GUI) +------------------------------ + +- A new Window menu is added alongside the existing File, Settings, and + Help menus. Several items from the other menus that opened new + windows have been moved to this new Window menu. + +- In the Send tab, the checkbox for "pay only the required fee" + has been removed. Instead, the user can simply decrease the value in + the Custom Feerate field all the way down to the node's configured + minimum relay fee. + +- In the Overview tab, the watch-only balance will be the only + balance shown if the wallet was created using the `createwallet` RPC + and the `disable_private_keys` parameter was set to true. + +Low-level changes +================= + +RPC +--- + +- The `submitblock` RPC previously returned the reason a rejected block + was invalid the first time it processed that block but returned a + generic "duplicate" rejection message on subsequent occasions it + processed the same block. It now always returns the fundamental + reason for rejecting an invalid block and only returns "duplicate" for + valid blocks it has already accepted. + +- A new `submitheader` RPC allows submitting block headers independently + from their block. This is likely only useful for testing. + +Configuration +------------- + +- The `-usehd` configuration option was removed in version 0.16. From + that version onwards, all new wallets created are hierarchical + deterministic wallets. This release makes specifying `-usehd` an + invalid configuration option. + +Changes for particular platforms +-------------------------------- + +- On macOS, Bitcoin Core now opts out of application CPU throttling + ("app nap") during initial blockchain download, when catching up from + over 100 blocks behind the current chain tip, or when reindexing chain + data. This helps prevent these operations from taking an excessively + long time because the operating system is attempting to conserve + power. + Credits ======= |