Node upgrades

Node upgrades follow a standard stop-replace-restart procedure. Autheo Chain uses Cosmos SDK governance-based upgrades where the network reaches consensus on an upgrade height, after which nodes must be running the new binary.

Before upgrading

Read the release notes at the GitHub releases page
Back up config/priv_validator_key.json and data/priv_validator_state.json
Confirm the target upgrade height or block time in the governance proposal

Upgrade procedure

Download the new binary

# Check current version
autheod version

# Download the new binary (replace X.Y.Z with the target version)
wget https://github.com/autheo-blockchain/autheo-chain-core/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/autheod-linux-amd64 \
  -O /tmp/autheod-new

chmod +x /tmp/autheod-new

# Verify the version
/tmp/autheod-new version

Stop the node at the upgrade height

The node will automatically halt at the governance-specified upgrade height if the upgrade handler is built into the binary. If performing a manual upgrade:

sudo systemctl stop autheod

Replace the binary

sudo cp /tmp/autheod-new /usr/local/bin/autheod
autheod version # confirm new version

Restart the node

sudo systemctl start autheod
sudo journalctl -u autheod -f

Watch the logs for committed state messages indicating the node is producing or following blocks.

Verify sync

autheod status | jq '.SyncInfo'

Confirm catching_up: false and that the latest_block_height is advancing.

Build from source (alternative)

git clone https://github.com/autheo-blockchain/autheo-chain-core.git
cd autheo-chain-core
git checkout vX.Y.Z
make build
sudo cp build/autheod /usr/local/bin/autheod

Rollback

If the upgrade fails and you need to roll back:

Stop the node: sudo systemctl stop autheod
Restore the previous binary
Restore data/priv_validator_state.json from your backup (critical — prevents double-signing)
Start the node

Never restore an older priv_validator_state.json than the most recent backup. Using a stale state file will cause the node to double-sign blocks, resulting in permanent tombstoning.

Cosmovisor (automatic upgrades)

For automated upgrade management, consider running the node under Cosmovisor. Cosmovisor monitors for on-chain upgrade proposals and automatically swaps the binary at the target height.

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Papers

Before upgrading

Upgrade procedure

Build from source (alternative)

Rollback

Cosmovisor (automatic upgrades)

​Before upgrading

​Upgrade procedure

​Build from source (alternative)

​Rollback

​Cosmovisor (automatic upgrades)

Before upgrading

Upgrade procedure

Build from source (alternative)

Rollback

Cosmovisor (automatic upgrades)