Updated 2020-03-10

Upgrading your protocol in a private network

To upgrade the protocol (also known as a hardfork) in a private network:

1. Review included EIPs for breaking changes. A meta EIP for each protocol upgrade lists included EIPs. For example, Istanbul.
2. Network participants agree on the block number at which to upgrade.

3. For each node in the network:

   a. Add the milestone block number to the genesis file. b. Restart the node before reaching milestone block.

Caution

To avoid a forked network, all network participants must update their genesis file to include the agreed on milestone block and restart their node before reaching the milestone block.