The long-awaited London upgrade is now ready to deploy on Ethereum testnets! The update will first go live on Ropsten, at the block 10499401which should take place around June 24, 2021.
This upgrade follows Berlinwhich was activated only a few months ago on the Ethereum mainnet. By starting work in London while Berlin was being deployed, customer teams were able to release this network upgrade at record speed! The upgrade includes the following EIPs:
The Ethereum Cat Herders published a blog post review the details of these EIPs.
It should be noted that EIP-1559, while backward compatible with the current transaction format, introduces changes to the block header, adds a new transaction type, comes with new JSON RPC endpoints and changes customer behavior in several areas (mining, transactions). swimming pool, etc.). It is strongly recommended that projects become familiar with the IEP. A more comprehensive list of resources related to EIP-1559 can be found here.
London Times
For the moment, only the testnets (Ropsten, Goerli, Rinkeby) are planned for London. Once the upgrade is successfully activated on these networks, a block will be set for the Ethereum mainnet and will be communicated on this blog and other venues.
The release schedule is as follows:
| Network | Block number | Expected date |
|---|---|---|
| Ropsten | 10499401 | June 24, 2021 |
| Görli | 5062605 | June 30, 2021 |
| Rinkeby | 8897988 | July 7, 2021 |
| Main network | To be determined once testnets are successful. | To be determined once testnets are successful. |
Note: The Kovan network will be upgraded at a later date, likely after the Mainnet block passes.
Ethereum node operators must upgrade their nodes before the block fork on the networks they wish to participate in. Due to variability in block time, it is recommended to update several days ahead of schedule. See the section below for the appropriate client versions to upgrade to.
Client versions
In order to be compatible with the London upgrade, node operators will need to upgrade the client version they are running. The versions, listed below for each client, support London across test Ethereum Networks. Another version will be made by each client once the mainnet fork block has been chosen.
Note: The OpenEthereum client will be deprecated after the London upgrade. The team is working with Erigon on a smooth transition for users. More information can be found here.
FAQs
As an Ethereum user or Ether holder, do I need to do anything?
The upgrades listed in this article only affect the Ethereum testnets, not the Ethereum mainnet. If you are just an Ethereum mainnet user, you don’t need to do anything at this time.
As a Ropsten miner or Goerli/Rinkeby validator, what should I do?
First, download the latest version of your Ethereum client as shown in the table above. Next, you’ll need to manually change your gas limit goal to double what it currently is. Indeed, once London is operational, the block size will be doubled and EIP-1559 will keep the blocks approximately 50% full.
For example, if before London you were a Ropsten miner targeting a block size of 8,000,000 gas, you will now need to target a limit of 16,000,000 gas to maintain the same number of transactions per block, on average. If you don’t change your gas limit target, you will start to reduce the block size on the network. The table below details the specific setting you need to update based on your client.
As a non-validating or mining node operator, what should I do?
Download the latest version of your Ethereum client, as shown in the table above, and be on the lookout for the mainnet upgrade announcement in the coming weeks.
What happens if I’m a miner or node operator and don’t participate in the upgrade?
If you are using an Ethereum client that is not updated to the latest version (listed above), your client will sync with the pre-fork blockchain once the upgrade is complete. You will be stuck on an incompatible chain following the old rules and will not be able to send Ether or operate on the Ethereum network after the upgrade.
What is a network upgrade in Ethereum-land?
A network upgrade is a change to the underlying Ethereum protocol, creating new rules to improve the system. The decentralized nature of blockchain systems makes network upgrades more difficult. Network upgrades in a blockchain require cooperation and communication with the community, as well as with the developers of the different Ethereum clients for the transition to go smoothly.
What happens during a network upgrade?
Once the community has reached agreement on what changes to include in the upgrade, the protocol changes are written to the various Ethereum clients, such as Geth, Erigon, Besu, and Nethermind. Protocol changes are activated at a specific block number. Any nodes that have not been upgraded to the new set of rules will be abandoned on the old chain where the previous rules continue to exist.
Why “London”?
After Istanbul, we ran out of names for our planned network upgrades. It was suggested to use Devcon city names for upgrades.and we did it! London is where Devcon 1 took place. He followed the Berlin Devcon 0.
THANKS!
Many thanks to everyone who participated in the research, planning, implementation, testing, troubleshooting, repairing, re-testing and deployment of London 😁🇬🇧
Shout out to Henri Bé for the cover image of this article!
Disclaimer
This is an emerging and evolving highly technical space. If you choose to implement the recommendations in this article and continue to participate, you should make sure you understand how it affects you. You should understand that there are risks, including but not limited to risks such as unexpected bugs. By choosing to implement these recommendations, you alone assume the risks and consequences. This article and recommendations do not constitute a sale of any kind and do not create any warranty of any kind, including but not limited to anything relating to the Ethereum network or the Ethereum clients mentioned in the this document.
