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Indirect method using eosio.msig contract

Cleos currently provides tools to propose an action with the eosio.msig contract, but it does not provide an easy interface to propose a custom transaction.

So, at the moment it is difficult to propose an atomic transaction with multiple actions (for example eosio::setcode followed by eosio::setabi).

The advantage of the eosio.msig method is that it makes coordination much easier and does not place strict time limits (less than 9 hours) on signature collection.

The disadvantage of the eosio.msig method is that it requires the proposer to have sufficient RAM to propose the transaction and currently cleos does not provide convenient tools to use it with custom transactions like the one that would be necessary to atomically upgrade the system contract.

For now, it is recommended to use the direct method to upgrade the system contract.

Direct method (avoids using eosio.msig contract)

Each of the top 21 block producers should do the following:

  1. Get current system contract for later comparison (actual hash and ABI on the main-net blockchain will be different):
cleos get code -c original_system_contract.wast -a original_system_contract.abi eosio
code hash: cc0ffc30150a07c487d8247a484ce1caf9c95779521d8c230040c2cb0e2a3a60
saving wast to original_system_contract.wast
saving abi to original_system_contract.abi
  1. Generate the unsigned transaction which upgrades the system contract:
cleos set contract -s -j -d eosio contracts/eosio.system | tail -n +4 > upgrade_system_contract_trx.json

The first few lines of the generated file should be something similar to (except with very different numbers for expiration, ref_block_num, and ref_block_prefix):

{
   "expiration": "2018-06-15T22:17:10",
   "ref_block_num": 4552,
   "ref_block_prefix": 511016679,
   "max_net_usage_words": 0,
   "max_cpu_usage_ms": 0,
   "delay_sec": 0,
   "context_free_actions": [],
   "actions": [{
      "account": "eosio",
      "name": "setcode",
      "authorization": [{
          "actor": "eosio",
          "permission": "active"
        }
      ],

and the last few lines should be:

      }
   ],
   "transaction_extensions": [],
   "signatures": [],
   "context_free_data": []
}

One of the top block producers should be chosen to lead the upgrade process. This lead producer should take their generated upgrade_system_contract_trx.json, rename it to upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json, and do the following:

  1. Modify the expiration timestamp in upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json to a time that is sufficiently far in the future to give enough time to collect all the necessary signatures, but not more than 9 hours from the time the transaction was generated. Also, keep in mind that the transaction will not be accepted into the blockchain if the expiration is more than 1 hour from the present time.

  2. Pass the upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json file to all the other top 21 block producers.

Then each of the top 21 block producers should do the following:

  1. Compare their generated upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json file with the upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json provided by the lead producer. The only difference should be in expiration, ref_block_num, ref_block_prefix, for example:
diff upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json upgrade_system_contract_trx.json
2,4c2,4
<   "expiration": "2018-06-15T22:17:10",
<   "ref_block_num": 4552,
<   "ref_block_prefix": 511016679,
---
>   "expiration": "2018-06-15T21:20:39",
>   "ref_block_num": 4972,
>   "ref_block_prefix": 195390844,
  1. If the comparison is good, each block producer should proceed with signing the official upgrade transaction with the keys necessary to satisfy their active permission. If the block producer only has a single key (i.e the "active key") in the active permission of their block producing account, then they only need to generate one signature using that active key. This signing process can be done offline for extra security.

First, the block producer should collect all the necessary information. Let us assume that the block producers active key pair is (EOS5kBmh5kfo6c6pwB8j77vrznoAaygzoYvBsgLyMMmQ9B6j83i9c, 5JjpkhxAmEfynDgSn7gmEKEVcBqJTtu6HiQFf4AVgGv5A89LfG3). The block producer needs their active private key (5JjpkhxAmEfynDgSn7gmEKEVcBqJTtu6HiQFf4AVgGv5A89LfG3 in this example), the upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json, and the chain_id (d0242fb30b71b82df9966d10ff6d09e4f5eb6be7ba85fd78f796937f1959315e in this example) which can be retrieved through cleos get info.

Then on a secure computer the producer can sign the transaction (the producer will need to paste in their private key when prompted):

cleos sign --chain-id d0242fb30b71b82df9966d10ff6d09e4f5eb6be7ba85fd78f796937f1959315e upgrade_system_contract_trx.json | tail -n 5
private key:   "signatures": [
    "SIG_K1_JzABB9gzDGwUHaRmox68UNcfxMVwMnEXqqS1MvtsyUX8KGTbsZ5aZQZjHD5vREQa5BkZ7ft8CceLBLAj8eZ5erZb9cHuy5"
  ],
  "context_free_data": []
}

Make sure to use the chain_id of the actual main-net blockchain that the transaction will be submitted to and not the example chain_id provided above.

The output should include the signature (in this case "SIG_K1_JzABB9gzDGwUHaRmox68UNcfxMVwMnEXqqS1MvtsyUX8KGTbsZ5aZQZjHD5vREQa5BkZ7ft8CceLBLAj8eZ5erZb9cHuy5") which the producer should then send to the lead producer.

When the lead producer collects 15 producer signatures, the lead producer should do the following:

  1. Make a copy of the upgrade_system_contract_official_trx.json and call it upgrade_system_contract_official_trx_signed.json, and then modify the upgrade_system_contract_official_trx_signed.json so that the signatures field includes all 15 collected signatures. So the tail end of upgrade_system_contract_official_trx_signed.json could look something like:
cat upgrade_system_contract_official_trx_signed.json | tail -n 20
  "transaction_extensions": [],
  "signatures": [
   "SIG_K1_JzABB9gzDGwUHaRmox68UNcfxMVwMnEXqqS1MvtsyUX8KGTbsZ5aZQZjHD5vREQa5BkZ7ft8CceLBLAj8eZ5erZb9cHuy5",
   "SIG_K1_Kj7XJxnPQSxEXZhMA8uK3Q1zAxp7AExzsRd7Xaa7ywcE4iUrhbVA3B6GWre5Ctgikb4q4CeU6Bvv5qmh9uJjqKEbbjd3sX",
   "SIG_K1_KbE7qyz3A9LoQPYWzo4e6kg5ZVojQVAkDKuufUN2EwVUqtFhtjmGoC6QPQqLi8J7ftiysBp52wJBPjtNQUfZiGpGMsnZ1f",
   "SIG_K1_KdQsE7ahHA9swE9SDGg4oF6XahpgHmZfEgQAy9KPBLd9HuwrF6c8m6jz43zizK2oo32Ejg1DYuMfoEvJgVfXo81jsqTHvA",
   "SIG_K1_K6228Hi2z1WabgVdf5bk2UdKyyDSVFwkMaagTn9oLVDV8rCX7aQcjY94c39ah2CkLTsTEqzTPAYknJ8m2m9B7npPkHaFzc",
   "SIG_K1_Jzdx75hBCA2WSaXgrupmrNbcQocUCsP8r1BKkPXMreiAKPZDwX9J3G8fS1HhyqWjc7FbukwZf8sVRdS3wKbJVpytqXe7Nn",
   "SIG_K1_KW7Qu2SdPD3zuQKh2ziFLzn9QbKqeMpeiemULky5Bbg1Mst6ijbCX3k2AVFGNFLkNLA36PM1WAT5oipzu1B1K7ymRxTx1Z",
   "SIG_K1_KXJf1KZNpz73YFKKE7u6jFgsQ8XcX3yA7rDX6ZmG1Qfnc9FLLmT1WViv4bwcPbxaEYfR6SNWfk5cCR9eao2si1soqkXq92",
   "SIG_K1_JynjkHFT5UFGDpEcqdriXTzCGCwS36Xztq4UAWQHLQgRUZT2YFoLhUcc87kvUteqCUGVxsmSbfgWv1KLy24voKN4Qs5zTe",
   "SIG_K1_JxhfCaGBhuNShpDHn7j1CryG3iSebvfi7FUnJsfkXNTiwLyq2NDBkeakwjCMWFbzr6qqWuMDLjfXbzdtU17f1wCXMjKSgk",
   "SIG_K1_KcMSz89QG1ZRFNrXc69R63d5KXbJA8CBjNPYv1VEA3TRfjqVYuhyaHpGXQN4RSKDq4ygr3UTRYBQQVutkJnR6zZ4Ssgd7R",
   "SIG_K1_JuxT6bhUAbDs6Q2ppuKyKauduvbaJLxvh4gBH4e4A9yRhvUBT7w3DcvMyhdaor27Kbu29jnqhTbvXcb57QqKWQDpboLv7e",
   "SIG_K1_K8BuFYpCiC5FhpVK8ZAzc3VUg7vz6WwLoWBrGN6nnuqUjngGqvHp3UxDVzcwhqccHdv8kdPXvF6G1NszwF1dd3wjCrHBYw",
   "SIG_K1_KfH5ZirPwDk1RQKvJv2AGPfsJyPXvXLegZ7LvcPmRtjtMiErs1STXLNT8kiBfhZr4xkWRA5NR1kMF3d49DFMJiB2iWMXJc",
   "SIG_K1_KjJB8jtcqpVe3r5jouFiAa9wJeYqoLMh5xrUV6kBF6UWfbYjimMWBJWz2ZPomGDsk7JtdUESVrYj1AhYbdp3X48KLm5Cev"
  ],
  "context_free_data": []
}
  1. Push the signed transaction to the blockchain:
cleos push transaction --skip-sign upgrade_system_contract_official_trx_signed.json
{
  "transaction_id": "202888b32e7a0f9de1b8483befac8118188c786380f6e62ced445f93fb2b1041",
  "processed": {
    "id": "202888b32e7a0f9de1b8483befac8118188c786380f6e62ced445f93fb2b1041",
    "receipt": {
      "status": "executed",
      "cpu_usage_us": 4909,
      "net_usage_words": 15124
    },
    "elapsed": 4909,
    "net_usage": 120992,
    "scheduled": false,
    "action_traces": [{
...

If you get an error message like the following:

Error 3090003: provided keys, permissions, and delays do not satisfy declared authorizations
Ensure that you have the related private keys inside your wallet and your wallet is unlocked.

That means that at least one of the signatures provided were bad. This may be because a producer signed the wrong transaction, used the wrong private key, or used the wrong chain ID.

If you get an error message like the following:

Error 3090002: irrelevant signature included
Please remove the unnecessary signature from your transaction!

That means unnecessary signatures were included. If there are 21 active producers, only signatures from exactly 15 of those 21 active producers are needed.

If you get an error message like the following:

Error 3040006: Transaction Expiration Too Far
Please decrease the expiration time of your transaction!

That means that the expiration time is more than 1 hour in the future and you need to wait some time before being allowed to push the transaction.

If you get an error message like the following:

Error 3040005: Expired Transaction
Please increase the expiration time of your transaction!

That means the expiration time of the signed transaction has passed and this entire process has to restart from step 1.

  1. Assuming the transaction successfully executes, everyone can then verify that the new contract is in place:
cleos get code -c new_system_contract.wast -a new_system_contract.abi eosio
code hash: 9fd195bc5a26d3cd82ae76b70bb71d8ce83dcfeb0e5e27e4e740998fdb7b98f8
saving wast to new_system_contract.wast
saving abi to new_system_contract.abi
diff original_system_contract.abi new_system_contract.abi
584,592d583
<         },{
<           "name": "deferred_trx_id",
<           "type": "uint32"
<         },{
<           "name": "last_unstake_time",
<           "type": "time_point_sec"
<         },{
<           "name": "unstaking",
<           "type": "asset"