Configure Canton parameters

Participant Node protocol version

On Participant Node connection to a Sequencer Node there is a handshake between the nodes to ensure that the Synchronizer protocol version is compatible. By default a Participant Node can connect to a Synchronizer running any stable protocol version.

Ensure a minimum protocol version

Setting a minimum protocol version ensures that the Participant Node can only connect to a Synchronizer running a protocol version at least as high as the configured minimum. Use this to ensure a Participant Node cannot connect to a Synchronizer running an protocol version known to have an security exploit or that doesn’t support a required feature.

For example to ensure that the Synchronizer protocol version is at least version 33 set the minimum-protocol-version Participant Node parameter:

canton.participants.participant1.parameters.minimum-protocol-version=33

Enable early access protocol features

Warning

The use of early access is intended for non-production environments and is not covered by support

Enable alpha protocol versions

To allow a Participant Node to connect to a Synchronizer running an alpha protocol version, set the alpha-version-support parameter to true. As this is an experimental feature, it’s necessary to also set the non-standard-config parameter to true:

canton.parameters {
  # turn on non-standard configuration support
  non-standard-config = yes

  # turn on support of alpha version support for synchronizer nodes
  alpha-version-support = yes
}

canton.participants.participant1.parameters = {
  # enable alpha version support on the participant (this will allow the participant to connect to a synchronizer running protocol version dev or any other alpha protocol)
  # and it will turn on support for unsafe daml lf dev versions
  # not to be used in production and requires you to define non-standard-config = yes
  alpha-version-support = yes
}

Enable beta protocol versions

To allow a Participant Node to connect to a Synchronizer running an beta protocol version, set the beta-version-support parameter to true. As this is an experimental feature, it’s necessary to also set the non-standard-config parameter to true:

canton.parameters {
  # turn on support of beta version support for synchronizer nodes
  beta-version-support = yes
}

canton.participants.participant1.parameters = {
  # enable beta version on the participant (this will allow the participant to connect to a synchronizer with beta protocol version)
  beta-version-support = yes
}

Detect when Canton has started

When running Canton inside a test environment, it can be useful to detect when Canton has started.

To instruct Canton to write a file containing details of the running ports when initialized, configure a ports-file:

canton.parameters.ports-file=ports.json

On startup, Canton writes to the ports-file the values of the ports its services are running on:

{
  "participant1" : {
    "ledgerApi" : 5021,
    "adminApi" : 5022,
    "jsonApi" : null
  }
}

Enable preview commands

Canton console preview commands are commands that are not considered stable and are not listed in command group help requests.

To enable preview commands, set the enable-preview-commands parameter to yes in the configuration file. Preview commands are now listed in command group help requests and may be used.

Warning

Preview commands are not guaranteed to be stable and may change in future releases.

canton.features.enable-preview-commands=yes