Ethereum: Geth Port Change Causes Disruption

A recent update to the Ethereum client has introduced a change in the discovery port for the Geth node. Initially, users were using the default port of 30303, but after installing version 1.13.14, an unexpected change occurred.

As reported by several users on the Ethereum subreddit and other online forums, the Geth node was now discovering connections on the port 1024 instead of its usual default port of users who rely on this discovery feature.

The Issue: Discovery Port Change

To summarize, when you run ./geth with the following command line options:

./geth --port 30303 --discovery.port 30304 --http --http.api eth,net,engine,admin --authrpc.jwtsecret ~/myhex.hex --datadir='~/ethereum/execution/data ' '

However, shortly after starting the node, it starts discovering connections on port 1024 instead.

Causes and Consequences

There are a few possible reasons for this unexpected change:

• Misconfigured configuration files: It is possible that one or more of your system’s configuration files (e.g., geth.conf, etherscan.io/config.json) contain incorrect settings that led to the port change .

• Node update issues: A recent update may have introduced changes to the Geth node’s behavior, which caused this unexpected discovery port change.

Workarounds and Solutions

To resolve this issue:

• Check configuration files

  : Review your system’s configuration files for any incorrect settings that may be causing the port change.

• Update Geth: If you’re using a recent version of Geth (e.g., 1.14.x), update to the latest version to ensure you’re running with the correct default discovery port.

Conclusion

A small but important change in the discovery port for Geth has caused a stir among Ethereum users who rely on this feature. If you’ve encountered issues with your node or have experience with configuration files, it’s essential to investigate and resolve any discrepancies that might be causing this unexpected behavior.