Scaling consensys/quorum

Overview

Scaling a production-ready Ethereum network using ConSensys Quorum involves optimizing both the software and deployment environments. This documentation outlines the steps and code examples needed to effectively scale Quorum in a production setting.

1. Building and Deploying the Docker Image

To scale effectively, a streamlined process for building and deploying Quorum is essential. The Dockerfile provided simplifies the build process while ensuring that dependencies are managed and that the application is properly configured.

Dockerfile Configuration

# Support setting various labels on the final image
ARG COMMIT=""
ARG VERSION=""
ARG BUILDNUM=""

# Build Geth in a stock Go builder container
FROM golang:1.22-alpine as builder

RUN apk add --no-cache gcc musl-dev linux-headers git

# Get dependencies - will also be cached if we won't change go.mod/go.sum
COPY go.mod /go-ethereum/
COPY go.sum /go-ethereum/
RUN cd /go-ethereum && go mod download

ADD . /go-ethereum
RUN cd /go-ethereum && go run build/ci.go install -static ./cmd/geth
RUN cd /go-ethereum && go run build/ci.go install -static ./cmd/bootnode

# Pull Geth into a second stage deploy alpine container
FROM alpine:latest

RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates curl
RUN apk add --no-cache openssl # quorum (6 may 2024): 3.1.4-r5 is the installed openssl version, want 3.1.4-r6 to get fix for CVE-2024-2511
COPY --from=builder /go-ethereum/build/bin/geth /usr/local/bin/
COPY --from=builder /go-ethereum/build/bin/bootnode /usr/local/bin/

EXPOSE 8545 8546 30303 30303/udp
ENTRYPOINT ["geth"]

# Add some metadata labels to help programmatic image consumption
ARG COMMIT=""
ARG VERSION=""
ARG BUILDNUM=""

LABEL commit="$COMMIT" version="$VERSION" buildnum="$BUILDNUM"

Building the Docker Image

To build the Docker image, you can use the following command:

docker build -t quorum:latest --build-arg COMMIT="your_commit_hash" --build-arg VERSION="1.0.0" --build-arg BUILDNUM="001" .

Using the correct arguments ensures that the image accurately reflects the version of the codebase.

2. Testing Before Deployment

Testing is crucial to scale production environments effectively. The Quorum project includes helper scripts and constraints to ensure that the right conditions are met when running tests.

Running Tests with Specific Constraints

Ensure that the environment is conducive to testing. Use the gofuzz build constraint to run tests specifically designed to verify the integrity and performance of the code.

GO111MODULE=on go test -tags=gofuzz ./...

This command runs tests while including the necessary fuzzing to explore edge cases in your smart contracts and integrations effectively.

3. Continuous Integration and Deployment

Integrating CI/CD into your deployment pipeline is vital for scaling. Utilize GitHub Actions or similar tools to automate building, testing, and deploying your application to production.

Example GitHub Actions Workflow

You can define a GitHub Actions workflow in .github/workflows/deploy.yml as follows:

name: Build and Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Set up Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v2
        with:
          go-version: '1.22'
      - name: Build Docker Image
        run: |
          docker build -t quorum:latest --build-arg COMMIT="${{ github.sha }}" --build-arg VERSION="${{ github.event.release.tag }}" --build-arg BUILDNUM="${{ github.run_number }}" .
      - name: Push Docker Image
        run: |
          docker tag quorum:latest your_docker_registry/quorum:latest
          echo "${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}" | docker login -u "${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}" --password-stdin
          docker push your_docker_registry/quorum:latest

This workflow builds and pushes the Docker image upon every push to the main branch, ensuring that the production environment is always in sync with the latest changes.

4. Optimizing Performance

Once deployed, continuously monitor performance metrics and make adjustments as necessary. Tools like Prometheus and Grafana can be integrated to collect and visualize performance metrics from your Quorum nodes.

Example Prometheus Configuration

You might need to adjust your geth startup parameters to include metrics exposure.

geth --metrics --rpc.enable --rpc.addr "0.0.0.0" --rpc.port "8545"

This allows metrics access over the specified RPC port.

Conclusion

Scaling ConSensys Quorum in production requires careful planning, from building a robust Docker image to implementing a rigorous CI/CD pipeline. Focus on testing, monitoring, and optimizing performance post-deployment to ensure scalability under load. By following these guidelines, developers can efficiently manage the lifecycle of their blockchain applications.

Quoted Source: Documentation for ConSensys Quorum