Build a Parachain


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--- title: Build a Parachain description: Build a simple parachain without Cumulus duration: 1.5 hours ---

Build a Parachain

NOTE this is using the archived repo of the Polkadot v1.0.0 release.

Agenda

  • Build a simple collator without Cumulus
  • Introduction to Cumulus and how to build a Parachain
  • Workshop: Manually registering a parachain
  • Workshop: How to acquire a parachain slot

Before we begin:

# We will need a polkadot binary, e.g.
git clone https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot/
cd polkadot
cargo build --release

# Compile this in advance to save time:
git clone https://github.com/Polkadot-Blockchain-Academy/cumuless-parachain-PBA-BA-2023
cd cumuless-parachain-PBA-BA-2023
# Ma a branch *for yourself*
git checkout -b <YOUR GITHUB USERNAME HERE>
cargo build --release

Build Simple Parachain

We're going to build a simple parachain without Cumulus!

  • PVF
  • Collator

Notes:

This will be a parachain built without using FRAME. There will be only one collator and no collator selection logic. No message processing. No transactions. No runtime upgrades. No parachain full nodes.

Parachain requirements

A parachain needs two things:

  1. A Wasm runtime with validate_block function exposed
  2. Node side that can sync relay chain blocks and talk to the relay chain

Notes:

Talking to the relay chain means speaking the networking protocol of Polkadot to distribute the PoV.

Minimal parachain runtime (PVF)

#![allow(unused)]
#![no_std]
#![cfg_attr(
fn main() {
	not(feature = "std"),
	feature(core_intrinsics, lang_items, core_panic_info, alloc_error_handler)
)]

// Make the Wasm binary available.
#[cfg(feature = "std")]
include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/wasm_binary.rs"));

#[cfg(feature = "std")]
/// Wasm binary unwrapped. If built with `BUILD_DUMMY_Wasm_BINARY`, the function panics.
pub fn wasm_binary_unwrap() -> &'static [u8] {
	Wasm_BINARY.expect(
		"Development wasm binary is not available. Testing is only \
						supported with the flag disabled.",
	)
}

#[cfg(not(feature = "std"))]
#[panic_handler]
#[no_mangle]
pub fn panic(_info: &core::panic::PanicInfo) -> ! {
	core::intrinsics::abort()
}

#[cfg(not(feature = "std"))]
#[alloc_error_handler]
#[no_mangle]
pub fn oom(_: core::alloc::Layout) -> ! {
	core::intrinsics::abort();
}

#[cfg(not(feature = "std"))]
#[no_mangle]
pub extern "C" fn validate_block(_params: *const u8, _len: usize) -> u64 {
	loop {}
}
}

Notes:

The panic and oom handlers are Rust-specific things you don't need to worry about. If we actually include an infinite loop into the validate_block function, a parablock will never be backed/included by the relay chain validators.

Parachain node side

  • Our node will sync relay chain blocks
  • When importing the new best block,
    we'll connect to the backing group
  • Then we'll advertise our block ("collation")
    to a validator in the group
  • The validator will request the collation
    from us using collator-protocol
  • Now it's in the hands of validators
    to include our block

Notes:

Validators are shuffled into small backing groups, which rotate regularly with group_rotation_frequency. Currently, collators can only produce the next block after their previous block has been included by the relay chain (remember CandidateIncluded). Since inclusion happens in the next block after candidate being backed, this means collators can only produce blocks every 12s. Async backing will change that.

Collator-protocol

Polkadot contains the implementation of the both collator and validator side of the collator protocol.

#![allow(unused)]
fn main() {
/// What side of the collator protocol is being engaged
pub enum ProtocolSide {
	/// Validators operate on the relay chain.
	Validator {
		/// The keystore holding validator keys.
		keystore: SyncCryptoStorePtr,
		/// An eviction policy for inactive peers or validators.
		eviction_policy: CollatorEvictionPolicy,
	},
	/// Collators operate on a parachain.
	Collator(
		PeerId,
		CollatorPair,
		IncomingRequestReceiver<request_v1::CollationFetchingRequest>,
	),
}
}

Notes:

We're going to use Polkadot as a library configured for the collator side.

Time to look into the code

Our PBA parachain is a trimmed down version of:

Exercise

Make the state of the Parachain a fixed sized 2d field (e.g. 25x25) that evolves at each block according to Game of Life and print the state at each block.

Questions