Ethereum developers recently held their 103rd All Core Developers Consensus call, discussing testing progress for the upcoming Shanghai and Capella upgrade.
The testing included new software, such as the MEV-Boost, builder, and relay software, on test networks where the Shanghai upgrade had been activated, such as the Zhejiang testnet and Devnet 7. These tests have been successful so far, with no issues identified during the staked ETH withdrawals.
DevOps Engineers Provide Updates On Ethereum Testnets
During the call, Barnabus Busa, a DevOps Engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, revealed that Devnet 7 had been deprecated after processing 359,000 validator withdrawal credential changes and testing several client releases.
The client versions utilized on Devnet 7 were not the ultimate versions, as several consensus layers (CL) and execution layer (EL) teams have not yet released them.
Busa advised creating Devnet 8 in early March, following the Sepolia upgrade in Shanghai, to evaluate the ultimate client releases.
Another DevOps Engineer, Paritosh Jayanthi, gave an update on testing the MEV-Boost software on the Zhejiang testnet, which included testing the software with staked ETH withdrawals.
Next, developers will test MEV-Boost software under edge case conditions on a dedicated devnet, where the developers will start to stress test MEV-Boost software under more extreme network conditions.
Hive Tests to Assess Client Logic & Behavior for Ethereum Developers
During a recent ACDE call, an Ethereum Foundation employee, Mario Vega, presented an update on the latest Hive tests for Ethereum clients.
These tests aim to evaluate client behavior in the event of MEV-Boost software failure, which Vega had previously committed to developing during the call.
Danny Ryan, the Ethereum Foundation Chair, highlighted issues with the circuit breaker mechanism that ensures validators can fall back on local block production in lieu of MEV-Boost blocks, which are not implemented uniformly across all clients.
Despite this, Ryan remains optimistic, stating that the team’s efforts to test the Shanghai and Capella upgrades and their software have been productive so far.
However, the Ethereum developers are working on testing and refining the various software being implemented in the upcoming upgrades. This is to ensure they function correctly under a range of network conditions.
These upgrades will improve the performance of the Ethereum network, and the developers are focused on ensuring that the software is ready for widespread use.
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