NEO Global Development has released version 2.9.4 of the neo-cli node software. The update features quality of life improvements and bug fixes, with larger changes currently in testing for later release. The changelog can be viewed here.

Additional Functionality

The first change allows neo-cli to be run as a Windows service. These services, commonly referred to as daemons, are programs that run in the background without a user interface. They can be scheduled to start automatically, allowing users to synchronize the NEO blockchain in the background after the PC boots up.

NGD also added two new commands to the CLI; install pluginName and uninstall pluginName. Previously, neo-cli users were required to manually download plugins from GitHub and add them to the neo-cli directory.

Plugins are used to add additional functionality to the neo-cli software. The most commonly used plugin is ImportBlocks, which allows faster chain synchronization through the use of a bootstrap file. Official NGD bootstrap files may be found here.

The update also granted additional possibilities for plugins, providing them the ability to retrieve contract execution results, delay the start of the node, and have their own third-party dependencies.

Bug Fixes

Three bug fixes were included in the update. An exception caused by the concurrent access of MethodHashes has been resolved, alongside an issue that could prevent some transactions from leaving the mempool.

An elusive bug that caused issues relaying blocks was discovered by community member michaely2008, which was subsequently fixed.

NeoResearch developer Vitor Coelho commented: “Eagle eyes! This was an important bug fix that passed throughout our eyes recently. Thanks for fixing this, it surely improved the network instantaneously.”

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