release-notes-0.10.4.md raw

Bitcoin Core version 0.10.4 is now available from:

<https://bitcoin.org/bin/bitcoin-core-0.10.4/>

This is a new minor version release, bringing bug fixes, the BIP65 (CLTV) consensus change, and relay policy preparation for BIP113. It is recommended to upgrade to this version as soon as possible.

Please report bugs using the issue tracker at github:

<https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues>

Upgrading and downgrading =========================

How to Upgrade

If you are running an older version, shut it down. Wait until it has completely shut down (which might take a few minutes for older versions), then run the installer (on Windows) or just copy over /Applications/Bitcoin-Qt (on Mac) or bitcoind/bitcoin-qt (on Linux).

Downgrade warning

Because release 0.10.0 and later makes use of headers-first synchronization and parallel block download (see further), the block files and databases are not backwards-compatible with pre-0.10 versions of Bitcoin Core or other software:

received, really), which makes it incompatible with some tools or other programs. Reindexing using earlier versions will also not work anymore as a result of this.

stored on disk, which earlier versions won't support.

If you want to be able to downgrade smoothly, make a backup of your entire data directory. Without this your node will need start syncing (or importing from bootstrap.dat) anew afterwards. It is possible that the data from a completely synchronised 0.10 node may be usable in older versions as-is, but this is not supported and may break as soon as the older version attempts to reindex.

This does not affect wallet forward or backward compatibility. There are no known problems when downgrading from 0.11.x to 0.10.x.

Notable changes since 0.10.3 ============================

BIP65 soft fork to enforce OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY opcode

This release includes several changes related to the [BIP65][] soft fork which redefines the existing OPNOP2 opcode as OPCHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY (CLTV) so that a transaction output can be made unspendable until a specified point in the future.

  1. This release will only relay and mine transactions spending a CLTV

output if they comply with the BIP65 rules as provided in code.

  1. This release will produce version 4 blocks by default. Please see the

notice to miners below.

  1. Once 951 out of a sequence of 1,001 blocks on the local node's best block

chain contain version 4 (or higher) blocks, this release will no longer accept new version 3 blocks and it will only accept version 4 blocks if they comply with the BIP65 rules for CLTV.

For more information about the soft-forking change, please see <https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/6351>

Graphs showing the progress towards block version 4 adoption may be found at the URLs below:

consensus enforcement: <http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ver-50k.png>

earliest possible BIP65 consensus-enforced block: <http://bitcoin.sipa.be/ver-2k.png>

Notice to miners: Bitcoin Core’s block templates are now for version 4 blocks only, and any mining software relying on its getblocktemplate must be updated in parallel to use libblkmaker either version FIXME or any version from FIXME onward.

Bitcoin Core, which must be done prior to BIP65 achieving its 951/1001 status.

affect you.

will affect you at the pool operator’s discretion, which must be no later than BIP65 achieving its 951/1001 status.

[BIP65]: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0065.mediawiki

Windows bug fix for corrupted UTXO database on unclean shutdowns

Several Windows users reported that they often need to reindex the entire blockchain after an unclean shutdown of Bitcoin Core on Windows (or an unclean shutdown of Windows itself). Although unclean shutdowns remain unsafe, this release no longer relies on memory-mapped files for the UTXO database, which significantly reduced the frequency of unclean shutdowns leading to required reindexes during testing.

For more information, see: <https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/6917>

Other fixes for database corruption on Windows are expected in the next major release.

0.10.4 Change log =================

Detailed release notes follow. This overview includes changes that affect behavior, not code moves, refactors and string updates. For convenience in locating the code changes and accompanying discussion, both the pull request and git merge commit are mentioned.

Credits =======

Thanks to everyone who directly contributed to this release:

And those who contributed additional code review and/or security research.

As well as everyone that helped translating on Transifex.