Smart contracts are powerful tools on the blockchain, allowing transactions and agreements to happen without middlemen. However, over time, these contracts may need to be upgraded to fix bugs, improve features, or enhance security. One of the key challenges in smart contract upgrades is ensuring the data stored in the smart contract deep storage is properly migrated to the new version.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the basics of automating smart contract upgrades using deep storage data.

Step 1: Understanding Deep Storage Data

Blockchain storage refers to how data is managed and stored on the blockchain, including the deep storage data within smart contracts that might not be immediately visible on the blockchain’s surface. This includes internal variables, arrays, mappings, and other types of data structures within the contract.
When upgrade smart contract, it’s essential to ensure that all the stored data, especially deep storage data, is transferred accurately to the new contract version. Otherwise, users might lose important information or face potential bugs.

Step 2: Identify Data to Migrate

Before initiating an upgrade, the first and most important step is to identify all storage variables that need to be transferred. As part of this process, it is essential:

• Identify data sources: Ensure that you have a clear understanding of where all the data is coming from within the contract. This involves recognizing all sources of data, whether they are basic variables, mappings, or arrays.
• Duplicate records: It’s crucial to be cautious of any potential duplicate records within the data, as these could lead to inconsistencies or errors during the migration process. Identifying and managing duplicates beforehand will help ensure a smooth transfer.
• Data mapping: Proper data mapping is essential to match the structure of the old contract’s data with that of the new contract. Ensuring this alignment will allow the data to be transferred correctly and without discrepancies.
• Transformation & translation: During the smart contract migration, the data may need to be transformed or translated to fit the new contract structure. This step is critical for ensuring that all data is correctly formatted and transferred without loss or corruption.
• Trail migration review: After the migration is complete, it is important to conduct a thorough review to verify the success of the process. A trail migration review ensures that all data has been accurately moved and no important information has been overlooked.

By carefully addressing each of these steps, you can ensure that the smart contract migration process is efficient, and secure, and preserves the integrity of the smart contract data. This thorough approach helps avoid errors and ensures that the migration is completed smoothly and successfully.

Step 3: Take a Snapshot of the Current Contract State

To ensure a smooth upgrade, you’ll want to take a snapshot of the current contract state, which includes extracting all the data in its storage. This storage data snapshot will help you capture the state at a particular point in time so it can be moved to the new contract.

A platform like SmartMuv or custom scripts can help automate this process by extracting the current state of the contract’s deep storage data.

Step 4: Deploy the New Contract

After capturing the data from the old contract, it’s time to deploy the updated version, packed with new features, bug fixes, and critical security patches. But what about existing contracts with vulnerabilities? Dive into SolSaviour: A Protection System for Defective Smart Contracts to explore powerful solutions that protect and reinforce contracts in need of a fix.

Step 5: Migrate the Deep Storage Data

Now, you’ll use the snapshot taken in Step 3 to migrate the deep storage data to the new contract. This is where automation tools like SmartMuv come in handy. These tools can ensure that all the old contract’s data is copied accurately to the new contract.

Step 6: Validate the Upgrade

After migrating the data, it’s important to perform a security audit of the new contract and validate that all the data has been transferred correctly. In particular, auditors or developers should check for issues like storage collisions in smart contracts, ensuring that no variables unintentionally share storage space in the new contract. By reviewing the deep storage data and resolving any collisions, you can ensure no information is lost during the upgrade.

Step 7: Retire the Old Contract

Once the new contract is fully operational and the deep storage data has been successfully migrated, the old contract can be safely retired. However, it’s essential to notify users and ensure they are interacting with the new contract version.

Conclusion:

Automating smart contract upgrades using deep storage data helps to make the process smoother, faster, and more secure. By following this step-by-step guide, developers can ensure their contracts are upgraded seamlessly while preserving important data, thus improving the long-term reliability and functionality of the blockchain ecosystem.

Automating these upgrades not only saves time but also helps in avoiding human errors, making the transition between contracts much more secure and efficient.

Source: https://medium.com/@smartmuv/a-step-by-step-guide-to-automating-contract-upgrades-with-deep-storage-data-ead1facb0a2e