Sia v0.5.1

This is a patch release that fixes a major performance bug introduced in v0.5.0
It also adds support for a new --modules flag, which allows the user to specify exactly which modules they would like to run. For example, siad -M cghmrtw runs the standard profile, while siad -M cgmtw runs a mining profile. The full list of modules is as follows:

Initial	Module
c	consensus
g	gateway
h	host
m	miner
r	renter
t	transaction pool
w	wallet
e	explorer

Note that not all configurations are valid, because most modules depend on the presence of at least one other module. For example, you can't include w without c and t as well.
This flag is mainly intended for power users who wish to optimize for a specific purpose, such as mining, hosting, or running an explorer.

Finally, this release changes the behavior of siac upload to be consistent with Sia-UI, in that both will now set files to renew by default. This setting will be configurable in a future release.

Sia v0.5.0

Sia has matured greatly since our last stable release, v0.4.8. Over 500 commits were made by 5 contributers, including community contributor @mtlynch and our new employee @VoidingWarranties. The changes touched nearly every file in the codebase, adding features, patching bugs, and improving test coverage. The gist of it is:

• The API has been overhauled, especially the renter routes
• The renter supports folder structure now, allowing you to create subdirectories
• The renter can automatically renew file contracts without reuploading the file
• The renter can automatically repair files if their host goes offline
• The host more intelligently manages its contracts, reducing the likelihood of missed storage proofs
• The miner and wallet are mostly unchanged.

Remember, this release is expected to be somewhat unstable. Take precautions to protect your data by backing up your wallet passphrase and file (wallet/wallet.json) and your .sia files (in the renter directory). Patches to the v0.5.x release will address issues as they arise, so you are encourage to check for a new release if you are experiencing problems.

We look forward to seeing what you do with Sia!

Sia v0.4.8

This is a patch release that fixes compatibility issues introduced by v0.4.7.

Sia v0.4.7

Now that the hardfork block (21000) has passed, this patch removes support for pre-hardfork clients (v0.3.3.3 and earlier).

Sia v0.4.5

This is a patch release that addresses the last major database inconsistency bug. Users should no longer experience database inconsistency, even under heavy load. A bug in the renter was also fixed, which may resolve the issue some users had with files disappearing.

Sia v0.4.4

This release focuses on improving the reliability of uploads. Previously, it was possible for uploads to "stall out" and never reach 100% redundancy. As of v0.4.4, uploads will always complete (provided there are enough hosts, and coins to pay for the upload). To complement this improved reliability, Sia-UI has a new "Add Folder" feature that allows you to easily upload a whole directory of files.

One of our big goals for the next release is to actively monitor the health of files, and repair them as needed. This means reuploading pieces when their contracts are close to expiring, and moving pieces to new hosts if their current host is unresponsive.

Thanks to @mtlynch for his contributions to this release. After some lengthy discussion, he convinced us of the benefits of mocking and explicit dependencies, which we now intend to use across the Sia codebase.

Sia v0.4.3

This release fixes two prominent bugs:

• The database should corrupt far less frequently now. We consolidated many independent updates into one atomic update, which reduces the chance of corruption and also grants a noticeable speedup.
• The wallet can now be safely unlocked during IBD (initial block download, i.e. bootstrapping). Previously the wallet would hang indefinitely; now it will eventually unlock, though it may take up to a few minutes.

Also worth noting is that the Gateway is a little smarter now in terms of what IP addresses it will connect to (and accept connections from). This should make it easier for multiple nodes on the same IP address to bootstrap.

Sia v0.4.2

This release includes a few bugfixes. 'Siac' now supports sending siafunds. The host selection algorithm is now more sensitive to price, more heavily preferring cheaper hosts than previously. A bug in the host weighting algorithm was fixed. The hostdb now ignores local addresses. There is more logging.

Sia v0.4.1

This is the first minor release for v0.4. It contains mostly bugfixes; nothing major in terms of functionality.

• You can now advertise a custom address with siac host announce mydomain.com. This solves the "dynamic IP problem" where hosts would advertise a dynamic IP address only for it to change soon after.
• The gateway now prunes its node list more aggressively. This should improve the overall health of the network (e.g. you should form new peer connections more quickly).
• The siag tool has been removed; no further updates to it are necessary. If you still need to use it, you can download binaries here.

I'd like to give a big shout out to @bitspill and @mtlynch, who contributed to this release! I can't tell you how cool it is to see members of the community pitching in to help us develop Sia. If you'd like to get involved yourself, check out our Issues page, and the #dev channel on our Slack.

Sia v0.4.0

This release has been a long time coming -- over 500 commits in the making. But that means lots of new features! You can read the full summary in the README, but here's the tl;dr:

Feature: Wallets are now generated and encrypted using a seed phrase. So even if you lose your wallet file, you just need the phrase to recover it.
Caveat: You can't use your old wallet.dat with the new client. You will need to send your v0.3.3.3 coins to a v0.4.0 address.

Feature: Files are now erasure-coded and transferred in parallel.
Caveat: The host and renter use new protocols now, so you can't download a v0.3.3.3 file from v0.4.0. You may want to download your files from a v0.3.3.3 client and reupload them on v0.4.0. Also, the new download algorithm is slower than we'd like.

Feature: The blockchain is now fully on-disk, reducing memory usage.
Caveat: The block database structure has changed, so you will need to redownload the blockchain. This may take anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours. Also, most operations are a lot slower now; siad can take up to a minute to start up.

Feature: Ports are now automatically forwarded if your router supports UPnP.
Caveat: No real downside here, unless you really don't like UPnP. If so, you can disable it in your router.

Even more information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GbnU6Dw5za8QnQypivUagYSTJ3Fwaud_izbU3c-gxog

This release does not have an accompanying UI release (yet). This release of siad is not compatible with the current UI. We hope to release the next patch (v0.4.1) relatively soon after gathering feedback on v0.4.0. Thank you for your patience.