README ¶
EVM tool
The EVM tool provides a few useful subcommands to facilitate testing at the EVM layer.
- transition tool (
t8n
) : a stateless state transition utility - transaction tool (
t9n
) : a transaction validation utility - block builder tool (
b11r
): a block assembler utility
State transition tool (t8n
)
The evm t8n
tool is a stateless state transition utility. It is a utility
which can
- Take a prestate, including
- Accounts,
- Block context information,
- Previous blockhashes (*optional)
- Apply a set of transactions,
- Apply a mining-reward (*optional),
- And generate a post-state, including
- State root, transaction root, receipt root,
- Information about rejected transactions,
- Optionally: a full or partial post-state dump
Specification
The idea is to specify the behaviour of this binary very strict, so that other node implementors can build replicas based on their own state-machines, and the state generators can swap between a `geth`-based implementation and a `parityvm`-based implementation.
Command line params
Command line params that need to be supported are
--input.alloc value (default: "alloc.json")
--input.env value (default: "env.json")
--input.txs value (default: "txs.json")
--output.alloc value (default: "alloc.json")
--output.basedir value
--output.body value
--output.result value (default: "result.json")
--state.chainid value (default: 1)
--state.fork value (default: "GrayGlacier")
--state.reward value (default: 0)
--trace.memory (default: false)
--trace.nomemory (default: true)
--trace.noreturndata (default: true)
--trace.nostack (default: false)
--trace.returndata (default: false)
Objects
The transition tool uses JSON objects to read and write data related to the transition operation. The following object definitions are required.
alloc
The alloc
object defines the prestate that transition will begin with.
// Map of address to account definition.
type Alloc map[common.Address]Account
// Genesis account. Each field is optional.
type Account struct {
Code []byte `json:"code"`
Storage map[common.Hash]common.Hash `json:"storage"`
Balance *big.Int `json:"balance"`
Nonce uint64 `json:"nonce"`
SecretKey []byte `json:"secretKey"`
}
env
The env
object defines the environmental context in which the transition will
take place.
type Env struct {
// required
CurrentCoinbase common.Address `json:"currentCoinbase"`
CurrentGasLimit uint64 `json:"currentGasLimit"`
CurrentNumber uint64 `json:"currentNumber"`
CurrentTimestamp uint64 `json:"currentTimestamp"`
Withdrawals []*Withdrawal `json:"withdrawals"`
// optional
CurrentDifficulty *big.Int `json:"currentDifficuly"`
CurrentRandom *big.Int `json:"currentRandom"`
CurrentBaseFee *big.Int `json:"currentBaseFee"`
ParentDifficulty *big.Int `json:"parentDifficulty"`
ParentGasUsed uint64 `json:"parentGasUsed"`
ParentGasLimit uint64 `json:"parentGasLimit"`
ParentTimestamp uint64 `json:"parentTimestamp"`
BlockHashes map[uint64]common.Hash `json:"blockHashes"`
ParentUncleHash common.Hash `json:"parentUncleHash"`
Ommers []Ommer `json:"ommers"`
}
type Ommer struct {
Delta uint64 `json:"delta"`
Address common.Address `json:"address"`
}
type Withdrawal struct {
Index uint64 `json:"index"`
ValidatorIndex uint64 `json:"validatorIndex"`
Recipient common.Address `json:"recipient"`
Amount *big.Int `json:"amount"`
}
txs
The txs
object is an array of any of the transaction types: LegacyTx
,
AccessListTx
, or DynamicFeeTx
.
type LegacyTx struct {
Nonce uint64 `json:"nonce"`
GasPrice *big.Int `json:"gasPrice"`
Gas uint64 `json:"gas"`
To *common.Address `json:"to"`
Value *big.Int `json:"value"`
Data []byte `json:"data"`
V *big.Int `json:"v"`
R *big.Int `json:"r"`
S *big.Int `json:"s"`
SecretKey *common.Hash `json:"secretKey"`
}
type AccessList []AccessTuple
type AccessTuple struct {
Address common.Address `json:"address" gencodec:"required"`
StorageKeys []common.Hash `json:"storageKeys" gencodec:"required"`
}
type AccessListTx struct {
ChainID *big.Int `json:"chainId"`
Nonce uint64 `json:"nonce"`
GasPrice *big.Int `json:"gasPrice"`
Gas uint64 `json:"gas"`
To *common.Address `json:"to"`
Value *big.Int `json:"value"`
Data []byte `json:"data"`
AccessList AccessList `json:"accessList"`
V *big.Int `json:"v"`
R *big.Int `json:"r"`
S *big.Int `json:"s"`
SecretKey *common.Hash `json:"secretKey"`
}
type DynamicFeeTx struct {
ChainID *big.Int `json:"chainId"`
Nonce uint64 `json:"nonce"`
GasTipCap *big.Int `json:"maxPriorityFeePerGas"`
GasFeeCap *big.Int `json:"maxFeePerGas"`
Gas uint64 `json:"gas"`
To *common.Address `json:"to"`
Value *big.Int `json:"value"`
Data []byte `json:"data"`
AccessList AccessList `json:"accessList"`
V *big.Int `json:"v"`
R *big.Int `json:"r"`
S *big.Int `json:"s"`
SecretKey *common.Hash `json:"secretKey"`
}
result
The result
object is output after a transition is executed. It includes
information about the post-transition environment.
type ExecutionResult struct {
StateRoot common.Hash `json:"stateRoot"`
TxRoot common.Hash `json:"txRoot"`
ReceiptRoot common.Hash `json:"receiptsRoot"`
LogsHash common.Hash `json:"logsHash"`
Bloom types.Bloom `json:"logsBloom"`
Receipts types.Receipts `json:"receipts"`
Rejected []*rejectedTx `json:"rejected,omitempty"`
Difficulty *big.Int `json:"currentDifficulty"`
GasUsed uint64 `json:"gasUsed"`
BaseFee *big.Int `json:"currentBaseFee,omitempty"`
}
Error codes and output
All logging should happen against the stderr
.
There are a few (not many) errors that can occur, those are defined below.
2
to 9
)- Other EVM error. Exit code
2
- Failed configuration: when a non-supported or invalid fork was specified. Exit code
3
. - Block history is not supplied, but needed for a
BLOCKHASH
operation. IfBLOCKHASH
is invoked targeting a block which history has not been provided for, the program will exit with code4
.
10
-20
)- Invalid input json: the supplied data could not be marshalled.
The program will exit with code
10
- IO problems: failure to load or save files, the program will exit with code
11
# This should exit with 3
./evm t8n --input.alloc=./testdata/1/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/1/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/1/env.json --state.fork=Frontier+1346 2>/dev/null
exitcode:3 OK
Forks
Basic usage
The chain configuration to be used for a transition is specified via the
--state.fork
CLI flag. A list of possible values and configurations can be
found in tests/init.go
.
Examples
Invoking it with the provided example files
./evm t8n --input.alloc=./testdata/1/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/1/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/1/env.json --state.fork=Berlin
Two resulting files:
alloc.json
:
{
"0x8a8eafb1cf62bfbeb1741769dae1a9dd47996192": {
"balance": "0xfeed1a9d",
"nonce": "0x1"
},
"0xa94f5374fce5edbc8e2a8697c15331677e6ebf0b": {
"balance": "0x5ffd4878be161d74",
"nonce": "0xac"
},
"0xc94f5374fce5edbc8e2a8697c15331677e6ebf0b": {
"balance": "0xa410"
}
}
result.json
:
{
"stateRoot": "0x84208a19bc2b46ada7445180c1db162be5b39b9abc8c0a54b05d32943eae4e13",
"txRoot": "0xc4761fd7b87ff2364c7c60b6c5c8d02e522e815328aaea3f20e3b7b7ef52c42d",
"receiptsRoot": "0x056b23fbba480696b65fe5a59b8f2148a1299103c4f57df839233af2cf4ca2d2",
"logsHash": "0x1dcc4de8dec75d7aab85b567b6ccd41ad312451b948a7413f0a142fd40d49347",
"logsBloom": "0x00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"receipts": [
{
"root": "0x",
"status": "0x1",
"cumulativeGasUsed": "0x5208",
"logsBloom": "0x00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"logs": null,
"transactionHash": "0x0557bacce3375c98d806609b8d5043072f0b6a8bae45ae5a67a00d3a1a18d673",
"contractAddress": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"gasUsed": "0x5208",
"blockHash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"transactionIndex": "0x0"
}
],
"rejected": [
{
"index": 1,
"error": "nonce too low: address 0x8A8eAFb1cf62BfBeb1741769DAE1a9dd47996192, tx: 0 state: 1"
}
],
"currentDifficulty": "0x20000",
"gasUsed": "0x5208"
}
We can make them spit out the data to e.g. stdout
like this:
./evm t8n --input.alloc=./testdata/1/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/1/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/1/env.json --output.result=stdout --output.alloc=stdout --state.fork=Berlin
Output:
{
"alloc": {
"0x8a8eafb1cf62bfbeb1741769dae1a9dd47996192": {
"balance": "0xfeed1a9d",
"nonce": "0x1"
},
"0xa94f5374fce5edbc8e2a8697c15331677e6ebf0b": {
"balance": "0x5ffd4878be161d74",
"nonce": "0xac"
},
"0xc94f5374fce5edbc8e2a8697c15331677e6ebf0b": {
"balance": "0xa410"
}
},
"result": {
"stateRoot": "0x84208a19bc2b46ada7445180c1db162be5b39b9abc8c0a54b05d32943eae4e13",
"txRoot": "0xc4761fd7b87ff2364c7c60b6c5c8d02e522e815328aaea3f20e3b7b7ef52c42d",
"receiptsRoot": "0x056b23fbba480696b65fe5a59b8f2148a1299103c4f57df839233af2cf4ca2d2",
"logsHash": "0x1dcc4de8dec75d7aab85b567b6ccd41ad312451b948a7413f0a142fd40d49347",
"logsBloom": "0x00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"receipts": [
{
"root": "0x",
"status": "0x1",
"cumulativeGasUsed": "0x5208",
"logsBloom": "0x00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"logs": null,
"transactionHash": "0x0557bacce3375c98d806609b8d5043072f0b6a8bae45ae5a67a00d3a1a18d673",
"contractAddress": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"gasUsed": "0x5208",
"blockHash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"transactionIndex": "0x0"
}
],
"rejected": [
{
"index": 1,
"error": "nonce too low: address 0x8A8eAFb1cf62BfBeb1741769DAE1a9dd47996192, tx: 0 state: 1"
}
],
"currentDifficulty": "0x20000",
"gasUsed": "0x5208"
}
}
About Ommers
Mining rewards and ommer rewards might need to be added. This is how those are applied:
block_reward
is the block mining reward for the miner (0xaa
), of a block at heightN
.- For each ommer (mined by
0xbb
), with blocknumberN-delta
- (where
delta
is the difference between the current block and the ommer) - The account
0xbb
(ommer miner) is awarded(8-delta)/ 8 * block_reward
- The account
0xaa
(block miner) is awardedblock_reward / 32
- (where
To make t8n
apply these, the following inputs are required:
--state.reward
- For ethash, it is
5000000000000000000
wei
, - If this is not defined, mining rewards are not applied,
- A value of
0
is valid, and causes accounts to be 'touched'.
- For ethash, it is
- For each ommer, the tool needs to be given an
address\
and adelta
. This is done via theommers
field inenv
.
Note: the tool does not verify that e.g. the normal uncle rules apply, and allows e.g two uncles at the same height, or the uncle-distance. This means that the tool allows for negative uncle reward (distance > 8)
Example:
./testdata/5/env.json
:
{
"currentCoinbase": "0xaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
"currentDifficulty": "0x20000",
"currentGasLimit": "0x750a163df65e8a",
"currentNumber": "1",
"currentTimestamp": "1000",
"ommers": [
{"delta": 1, "address": "0xbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb" },
{"delta": 2, "address": "0xcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc" }
]
}
When applying this, using a reward of 0x08
Output:
{
"alloc": {
"0xaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa": {
"balance": "0x88"
},
"0xbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb": {
"balance": "0x70"
},
"0xcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc": {
"balance": "0x60"
}
}
}
Future EIPS
It is also possible to experiment with future eips that are not yet defined in a hard fork. Example, putting EIP-1344 into Frontier:
./evm t8n --state.fork=Frontier+1344 --input.pre=./testdata/1/pre.json --input.txs=./testdata/1/txs.json --input.env=/testdata/1/env.json
Block history
The BLOCKHASH
opcode requires blockhashes to be provided by the caller, inside the env
.
If a required blockhash is not provided, the exit code should be 4
:
Example where blockhashes are provided:
./evm t8n --input.alloc=./testdata/3/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/3/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/3/env.json --trace --state.fork=Berlin
cat trace-0-0x72fadbef39cd251a437eea619cfeda752271a5faaaa2147df012e112159ffb81.jsonl | grep BLOCKHASH -C2
{"pc":0,"op":96,"gas":"0x5f58ef8","gasCost":"0x3","memSize":0,"stack":[],"depth":1,"refund":0,"opName":"PUSH1"}
{"pc":2,"op":64,"gas":"0x5f58ef5","gasCost":"0x14","memSize":0,"stack":["0x1"],"depth":1,"refund":0,"opName":"BLOCKHASH"}
{"pc":3,"op":0,"gas":"0x5f58ee1","gasCost":"0x0","memSize":0,"stack":["0xdac58aa524e50956d0c0bae7f3f8bb9d35381365d07804dd5b48a5a297c06af4"],"depth":1,"refund":0,"opName":"STOP"}
{"output":"","gasUsed":"0x17"}
In this example, the caller has not provided the required blockhash:
./evm t8n --input.alloc=./testdata/4/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/4/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/4/env.json --trace --state.fork=Berlin
ERROR(4): getHash(3) invoked, blockhash for that block not provided
Error code: 4
Chaining
Another thing that can be done, is to chain invocations:
./evm t8n --input.alloc=./testdata/1/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/1/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/1/env.json --state.fork=Berlin --output.alloc=stdout | ./evm t8n --input.alloc=stdin --input.env=./testdata/1/env.json --input.txs=./testdata/1/txs.json --state.fork=Berlin
What happened here, is that we first applied two identical transactions, so the second one was rejected. Then, taking the poststate alloc as the input for the next state, we tried again to include the same two transactions: this time, both failed due to too low nonce.
In order to meaningfully chain invocations, one would need to provide meaningful new env
, otherwise the
actual blocknumber (exposed to the EVM) would not increase.
Transactions in RLP form
It is possible to provide already-signed transactions as input to, using an input.txs
which ends with the rlp
suffix.
The input format for RLP-form transactions is identical to the output format for block bodies. Therefore, it's fully possible
to use the evm to go from json
input to rlp
input.
The following command takes json the transactions in ./testdata/13/txs.json
and signs them. After execution, they are output to signed_txs.rlp
.:
./evm t8n --state.fork=London --input.alloc=./testdata/13/alloc.json --input.txs=./testdata/13/txs.json --input.env=./testdata/13/env.json --output.result=alloc_jsontx.json --output.body=signed_txs.rlp
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.102] Trie dumping started root=e4b924..6aef61
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.102] Trie dumping complete accounts=3 elapsed="275.66µs"
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.102] Wrote file file=alloc.json
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.103] Wrote file file=alloc_jsontx.json
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.103] Wrote file file=signed_txs.rlp
The output.body
is the rlp-list of transactions, encoded in hex and placed in a string a'la json
encoding rules:
cat signed_txs.rlp
"0xf8d2b86702f864010180820fa08284d09411111111111111111111111111111111111111118080c001a0b7dfab36232379bb3d1497a4f91c1966b1f932eae3ade107bf5d723b9cb474e0a06261c359a10f2132f126d250485b90cf20f30340801244a08ef6142ab33d1904b86702f864010280820fa08284d09411111111111111111111111111111111111111118080c080a0d4ec563b6568cd42d998fc4134b36933c6568d01533b5adf08769270243c6c7fa072bf7c21eac6bbeae5143371eef26d5e279637f3bd73482b55979d76d935b1e9"
We can use rlpdump
to check what the contents are:
rlpdump -hex $(cat signed_txs.rlp | jq -r )
[
02f864010180820fa08284d09411111111111111111111111111111111111111118080c001a0b7dfab36232379bb3d1497a4f91c1966b1f932eae3ade107bf5d723b9cb474e0a06261c359a10f2132f126d250485b90cf20f30340801244a08ef6142ab33d1904,
02f864010280820fa08284d09411111111111111111111111111111111111111118080c080a0d4ec563b6568cd42d998fc4134b36933c6568d01533b5adf08769270243c6c7fa072bf7c21eac6bbeae5143371eef26d5e279637f3bd73482b55979d76d935b1e9,
]
Now, we can now use those (or any other already signed transactions), as input, like so:
./evm t8n --state.fork=London --input.alloc=./testdata/13/alloc.json --input.txs=./signed_txs.rlp --input.env=./testdata/13/env.json --output.result=alloc_rlptx.json
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.187] Trie dumping started root=e4b924..6aef61
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.187] Trie dumping complete accounts=3 elapsed="123.676µs"
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.187] Wrote file file=alloc.json
INFO [12-27|09:25:11.187] Wrote file file=alloc_rlptx.json
You might have noticed that the results from these two invocations were stored in two separate files. And we can now finally check that they match.
cat alloc_jsontx.json | jq .stateRoot && cat alloc_rlptx.json | jq .stateRoot
"0xe4b924a6adb5959fccf769d5b7bb2f6359e26d1e76a2443c5a91a36d826aef61"
"0xe4b924a6adb5959fccf769d5b7bb2f6359e26d1e76a2443c5a91a36d826aef61"
Transaction tool
The transaction tool is used to perform static validity checks on transactions such as:
- intrinsic gas calculation
- max values on integers
- fee semantics, such as
maxFeePerGas < maxPriorityFeePerGas
- newer tx types on old forks
Examples
./evm t9n --state.fork Homestead --input.txs testdata/15/signed_txs.rlp
[
{
"error": "transaction type not supported",
"hash": "0xa98a24882ea90916c6a86da650fbc6b14238e46f0af04a131ce92be897507476"
},
{
"error": "transaction type not supported",
"hash": "0x36bad80acce7040c45fd32764b5c2b2d2e6f778669fb41791f73f546d56e739a"
}
]
./evm t9n --state.fork London --input.txs testdata/15/signed_txs.rlp
[
{
"address": "0xd02d72e067e77158444ef2020ff2d325f929b363",
"hash": "0xa98a24882ea90916c6a86da650fbc6b14238e46f0af04a131ce92be897507476",
"intrinsicGas": "0x5208"
},
{
"address": "0xd02d72e067e77158444ef2020ff2d325f929b363",
"hash": "0x36bad80acce7040c45fd32764b5c2b2d2e6f778669fb41791f73f546d56e739a",
"intrinsicGas": "0x5208"
}
]
Block builder tool (b11r)
The evm b11r
tool is used to assemble and seal full block rlps.
Specification
Command line params
Command line params that need to be supported are:
--input.header value `stdin` or file name of where to find the block header to use. (default: "header.json")
--input.ommers value `stdin` or file name of where to find the list of ommer header RLPs to use.
--input.txs value `stdin` or file name of where to find the transactions list in RLP form. (default: "txs.rlp")
--output.basedir value Specifies where output files are placed. Will be created if it does not exist.
--output.block value Determines where to put the alloc of the post-state. (default: "block.json")
<file> - into the file <file>
`stdout` - into the stdout output
`stderr` - into the stderr output
--seal.clique value Seal block with Clique. `stdin` or file name of where to find the Clique sealing data.
--seal.ethash Seal block with ethash. (default: false)
--seal.ethash.dir value Path to ethash DAG. If none exists, a new DAG will be generated.
--seal.ethash.mode value Defines the type and amount of PoW verification an ethash engine makes. (default: "normal")
--verbosity value Sets the verbosity level. (default: 3)
Objects
header
The header
object is a consensus header.
type Header struct {
ParentHash common.Hash `json:"parentHash"`
OmmerHash *common.Hash `json:"sha3Uncles"`
Coinbase *common.Address `json:"miner"`
Root common.Hash `json:"stateRoot" gencodec:"required"`
TxHash *common.Hash `json:"transactionsRoot"`
ReceiptHash *common.Hash `json:"receiptsRoot"`
Bloom types.Bloom `json:"logsBloom"`
Difficulty *big.Int `json:"difficulty"`
Number *big.Int `json:"number" gencodec:"required"`
GasLimit uint64 `json:"gasLimit" gencodec:"required"`
GasUsed uint64 `json:"gasUsed"`
Time uint64 `json:"timestamp" gencodec:"required"`
Extra []byte `json:"extraData"`
MixDigest common.Hash `json:"mixHash"`
Nonce *types.BlockNonce `json:"nonce"`
BaseFee *big.Int `json:"baseFeePerGas"`
}
ommers
The ommers
object is a list of RLP-encoded ommer blocks in hex
representation.
type Ommers []string
txs
The txs
object is a list of RLP-encoded transactions in hex representation.
type Txs []string
clique
The clique
object provides the necessary information to complete a clique
seal of the block.
var CliqueInfo struct {
Key *common.Hash `json:"secretKey"`
Voted *common.Address `json:"voted"`
Authorize *bool `json:"authorize"`
Vanity common.Hash `json:"vanity"`
}
output
The output
object contains two values, the block RLP and the block hash.
type BlockInfo struct {
Rlp []byte `json:"rlp"`
Hash common.Hash `json:"hash"`
}
A Note on Encoding
The encoding of values for evm
utility attempts to be relatively flexible. It
generally supports hex-encoded or decimal-encoded numeric values, and
hex-encoded byte values (like common.Address
, common.Hash
, etc). When in
doubt, the execution-apis
way
of encoding should always be accepted.
Testing
There are many test cases in the cmd/evm/testdata
directory.
These fixtures are used to power the t8n
tests in
t8n_test.go
. The best way to verify correctness of new evm
implementations is to execute these and verify the output and error codes match
the expected values.