Restarting Node

Hands-on exercise: Restart your Docker validator to load upgrade.json and verify it was applied.

Objectives

By the end of this exercise, you will be able to:

Restart the Docker validator container safely.
Confirm (via logs) that the node loaded your UpgradeConfig.
Recognize and fix the common “timestamp is in the past” startup failure.

Prerequisites

Before starting this exercise, ensure you have:

Created upgrade.json with disable entries in:
- ~/.avalanchego/configs/chains/<YOUR_BLOCKCHAIN_ID>/upgrade.json
Access to a terminal on the Docker host (to run docker commands).

Instructions

Step 1: Exit the container shell (if needed)

If you’re currently inside the container shell, exit back to your host terminal:

exit

Step 2: Restart the validator container

Restart the container so AvalancheGo reloads configuration files:

docker restart <YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME_OR_ID>

Then follow the logs as it starts back up:

docker logs -f <YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME_OR_ID>

Step 3: Confirm the upgrade config was loaded

On startup, Subnet-EVM prints the chain configuration. You’re looking for log output that includes an UpgradeConfig / precompileUpgrades section containing your two disable entries.

If you don’t see the upgrade config reflected in logs, double-check you created upgrade.json in the correct directory: it must be next to config.json inside ~/.avalanchego/configs/chains/<YOUR_BLOCKCHAIN_ID>/.

Expected Output

Your node restarts successfully and logs show it parsed an UpgradeConfig that includes your disable upgrades.

... Initialised chain configuration ... UpgradeConfig: {"precompileUpgrades":[ ... ]}

Verification

To verify you've completed this exercise successfully:

The container is running (docker ps shows it up).
The logs include your precompileUpgrades entries.

Troubleshooting

Issue: The node fails on startup after adding the upgrade

Problem: A common cause is a blockTimestamp being in the past relative to chain head.

Solution:

Update the timestamps to a larger value (e.g., now + 10 minutes) and restart again.
Keep the two upgrades in increasing timestamp order.

Next Steps

Next, you’ll verify in the Builder Console that the Transaction/Deployer allowlist precompiles are no longer available.

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