feat: Add subnet type argument when creating canisters (#2584)

Adds a new optional argument when creating canisters through dfx that allows users to choose a specific "type" of subnet that their canister can be created on. These user-facing types are different than the existing types of subnets in the registry (system,verified, application) and are mostly useful for allowing users to choose a subnet with some certain characteristics. Additionally, the ability to list available subnet types is added through a new subcommand of `dfx ledger`.

Author: dsarlis

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -408,6 +408,10 @@ Changed the text in this case to read:
 
 ### chore: add retry logic to dfx download script
 
+### feat: Add subnet type argument when creating canisters
+
+`dfx ledger create-canister` gets a new option `--subnet-type` that allows users to choose a type of subnet that their canister can be created on. Additionally, a `dfx ledger show-subnet-types` is introduced which allows to list the available subnet types.
+
 ## Dependencies
 
 ### Replica

docs/cli-reference/dfx-ledger.md

@@ -133,11 +133,13 @@ You can specify the following argument for the `dfx ledger create-canister` comm
 
 | Option                | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
 |-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-| `--amount <amount>`   | Specify the number of ICP tokens to mint into cycles and deposit into destination canister. You can specify an amount as a number with up to eight (8) decimal places.                                                                               |
-| `--e8s <e8s>`         | Specify ICP token fractional units—called e8s—as a whole number, where one e8 is smallest partition of an ICP token. For example, 1.05000000 is 1 ICP and 5000000 e8s. You can use this option on its own or in conjunction with the `--icp` option. |
-| `--fee <fee>`         | Specify a transaction fee. The default is 10000 e8s.                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
-| `--icp <icp>`         | Specify ICP tokens as a whole number. You can use this option on its own or in conjunction with `--e8s`.                                                                                                                                             |
-| `--max-fee <max-fee>` | Specify a maximum transaction fee. The default is 10000 e8s.                                                                                                                                                                                         |
+| `--amount <amount>`           | Specify the number of ICP tokens to mint into cycles and deposit into destination canister. You can specify an amount as a number with up to eight (8) decimal places.                                                                               |
+| `--e8s <e8s>`                 | Specify ICP token fractional units—called e8s—as a whole number, where one e8 is smallest partition of an ICP token. For example, 1.05000000 is 1 ICP and 5000000 e8s. You can use this option on its own or in conjunction with the `--icp` option. |
+| `--fee <fee>`                 | Specify a transaction fee. The default is 10000 e8s.                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
+| `--icp <icp>`                 | Specify ICP tokens as a whole number. You can use this option on its own or in conjunction with `--e8s`.                                                                                                                                             |
+| `--max-fee <max-fee>`         | Specify a maximum transaction fee. The default is 10000 e8s.                                                                                                                                                                                         |
+| `--subnet-type <subnet-type>` | Specify the optional subnet type to create the canister on. If no subnet type is provided, the canister will be created on a random default application subnet.                                                                                      |
+
 
 ### Examples
 
@@ -264,6 +266,47 @@ The following example illustrates sending a `notify` message to the ledger in re
 dfx ledger notify 75948 tsqwz-udeik-5migd-ehrev-pvoqv-szx2g-akh5s-fkyqc-zy6q7-snav6-uqe --network ic
 ```
 
+## dfx ledger show-subnet-types
+
+Use the `dfx ledger show-subnet-types` command to list the available subnet types that can be chosen to create a canister on.
+
+### Basic usage
+
+``` bash
+dfx ledger show-subnet-types [options] [flag]
+```
+
+### Flags
+
+You can use the following optional flags with the `dfx ledger show-subnet-types` command.
+
+| Flag              | Description                   |
+|-------------------|-------------------------------|
+| `-h`, `--help`    | Displays usage information.   |
+| `-V`, `--version` | Displays version information. |
+
+### Options
+
+You can specify the following options for the `dfx ledger show-subnet-types` command.
+
+| Option                | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
+|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `--cycles-minting-canister-id <cycles-minting-canister-id>`   | Canister id of the cycles minting canister. Useful if you want to test locally with a different id for the cycles minting canister. |
+
+### Examples
+
+You can use the `dfx ledger show-subnet-types` command to list the available subnet types that can be chosen to create a canister on. If a specific cycles minting canister id is not provided, then the mainnet cycles minting canister id will be used.
+
+For example, you can run the following command to get the subnet types available on mainnet:
+
+``` bash
+dfx ledger show-subnet-types
+```
+
+This command displays output similar to the following:
+
+    ["Type1", "Type2", ..., "TypeN"]
+
 ## dfx ledger top-up
 
 Use the `dfx ledger top-up` command to top up a canister with cycles minted from ICP tokens.

e2e/assets/cmc/main.mo

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import Array "mo:base/Array";
+import P "mo:base/Principal";
+import Text "mo:base/Text";
+import Prim "mo:⛔";
+
+actor Call {
+  type SubnetTypesToSubnetsResponse = {
+    data: [(Text, [Principal])];
+  };
+
+  public query func get_subnet_types_to_subnets() : async SubnetTypesToSubnetsResponse {
+    let type1 = "type1";
+    let type2 = "type2";
+    {
+      data = [
+        (type1, [Prim.principalOfBlob("\00")]),
+        (type2, [Prim.principalOfBlob("\01"), Prim.principalOfBlob("\02")]),
+      ];
+    }
+  };
+
+}

e2e/assets/cmc/patch.bash

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+jq '.canisters.cmc.main="main.mo"' dfx.json | sponge dfx.json

e2e/tests-dfx/ledger.bash

@@ -134,3 +134,21 @@ tc_to_num() {
 
     (( balance_now - balance > 4000000000000 ))
 }
+
+@test "ledger create-canister" {
+    dfx identity use alice
+    assert_command dfx ledger create-canister --amount=100 --subnet-type "type1" "$(dfx identity get-principal)"
+    assert_match "Transfer sent at block height 6"
+    assert_match "Refunded at block height 7 with message: Provided subnet type type1 does not exist"
+}
+
+@test "ledger show-subnet-types" {
+    install_asset cmc
+
+    dfx deploy cmc
+
+    CANISTER_ID=$(dfx canister id cmc)
+
+    assert_command dfx ledger show-subnet-types --cycles-minting-canister-id "$CANISTER_ID"
+    assert_eq '["type1", "type2"]'
+}

src/dfx/src/commands/ledger/create_canister.rs

@@ -46,6 +46,12 @@ pub struct CreateCanisterOpts {
     /// Max fee, default is 10000 e8s.
     #[clap(long, validator(icpts_amount_validator))]
     max_fee: Option<String>,
+
+    /// Specify the optional subnet type to create the canister on. If no
+    /// subnet type is provided, the canister will be created on a random
+    /// default application subnet.
+    #[clap(long)]
+    subnet_type: Option<String>,
 }
 
 pub async fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: CreateCanisterOpts) -> DfxResult {
@@ -73,9 +79,10 @@ pub async fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: CreateCanisterOpts) -> DfxResult
         .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Cannot get HTTP client from environment."))?;
 
     fetch_root_key_if_needed(env).await?;
+
     let height = transfer_cmc(agent, memo, amount, fee, opts.from_subaccount, controller).await?;
     println!("Transfer sent at block height {height}");
-    let result = notify_create(agent, controller, height).await?;
+    let result = notify_create(agent, controller, height, opts.subnet_type).await?;
 
     match result {
         Ok(principal) => {

src/dfx/src/commands/ledger/mod.rs

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ mod balance;
 pub mod create_canister;
 mod fabricate_cycles;
 mod notify;
+pub mod show_subnet_types;
 mod top_up;
 mod transfer;
 
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ enum SubCommand {
     CreateCanister(create_canister::CreateCanisterOpts),
     FabricateCycles(fabricate_cycles::FabricateCyclesOpts),
     Notify(notify::NotifyOpts),
+    ShowSubnetTypes(show_subnet_types::ShowSubnetTypesOpts),
     TopUp(top_up::TopUpOpts),
     Transfer(transfer::TransferOpts),
 }
@@ -68,6 +70,7 @@ pub fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: LedgerOpts) -> DfxResult {
             SubCommand::CreateCanister(v) => create_canister::exec(&agent_env, v).await,
             SubCommand::FabricateCycles(v) => fabricate_cycles::exec(&agent_env, v).await,
             SubCommand::Notify(v) => notify::exec(&agent_env, v).await,
+            SubCommand::ShowSubnetTypes(v) => show_subnet_types::exec(&agent_env, v).await,
             SubCommand::TopUp(v) => top_up::exec(&agent_env, v).await,
             SubCommand::Transfer(v) => transfer::exec(&agent_env, v).await,
         }
@@ -199,13 +202,15 @@ pub async fn notify_create(
     agent: &Agent,
     controller: Principal,
     block_height: BlockHeight,
+    subnet_type: Option<String>,
 ) -> DfxResult<NotifyCreateCanisterResult> {
     let result = agent
         .update(&MAINNET_CYCLE_MINTER_CANISTER_ID, NOTIFY_CREATE_METHOD)
         .with_arg(
             Encode!(&NotifyCreateCanisterArg {
                 block_index: block_height,
                 controller,
+                subnet_type,
             })
             .context("Failed to encode notify arguments.")?,
         )

src/dfx/src/commands/ledger/notify/create_canister.rs

@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ pub struct NotifyCreateOpts {
 
     /// The controller of the created canister.
     controller: String,
+
+    /// Specify the optional subnet type to create the canister on. If no
+    /// subnet type is provided, the canister will be created on a random
+    /// default application subnet.
+    #[clap(long)]
+    subnet_type: Option<String>,
 }
 
 pub async fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: NotifyCreateOpts) -> DfxResult {
@@ -34,7 +40,7 @@ pub async fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: NotifyCreateOpts) -> DfxResult {
 
     fetch_root_key_if_needed(env).await?;
 
-    let result = notify_create(agent, controller, block_height).await?;
+    let result = notify_create(agent, controller, block_height, opts.subnet_type).await?;
 
     match result {
         Ok(principal) => {

src/dfx/src/commands/ledger/show_subnet_types.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+use crate::lib::environment::Environment;
+use crate::lib::error::DfxResult;
+use crate::lib::ledger_types::{GetSubnetTypesToSubnetsResult, MAINNET_CYCLE_MINTER_CANISTER_ID};
+use crate::lib::waiter::waiter_with_timeout;
+use crate::util::expiry_duration;
+
+use crate::lib::root_key::fetch_root_key_if_needed;
+
+use anyhow::{anyhow, Context};
+use candid::{Decode, Encode, Principal};
+use clap::Parser;
+
+const GET_SUBNET_TYPES_TO_SUBNETS_METHOD: &str = "get_subnet_types_to_subnets";
+
+/// Show available subnet types in the cycles minting canister.
+#[derive(Parser)]
+pub struct ShowSubnetTypesOpts {
+    #[clap(long)]
+    /// Canister ID of the cycles minting canister.
+    cycles_minting_canister_id: Option<Principal>,
+}
+
+pub async fn exec(env: &dyn Environment, opts: ShowSubnetTypesOpts) -> DfxResult {
+    let agent = env
+        .get_agent()
+        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Cannot get HTTP client from environment."))?;
+
+    fetch_root_key_if_needed(env).await?;
+
+    let cycles_minting_canister_id = opts
+        .cycles_minting_canister_id
+        .unwrap_or(MAINNET_CYCLE_MINTER_CANISTER_ID);
+
+    let result = agent
+        .update(
+            &cycles_minting_canister_id,
+            GET_SUBNET_TYPES_TO_SUBNETS_METHOD,
+        )
+        .with_arg(Encode!(&()).context("Failed to encode get_subnet_types_to_subnets arguments.")?)
+        .call_and_wait(waiter_with_timeout(expiry_duration()))
+        .await
+        .context("get_subnet_types_to_subnets call failed.")?;
+    let result = Decode!(&result, GetSubnetTypesToSubnetsResult)
+        .context("Failed to decode get_subnet_types_to_subnets response")?;
+
+    let available_subnet_types: Vec<String> = result.data.into_iter().map(|(x, _)| x).collect();
+
+    println!("{:?}", available_subnet_types);
+
+    Ok(())
+}

src/dfx/src/commands/quickstart.rs

@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ async fn step_interact_ledger(
     let notify_spinner = ProgressBar::new_spinner();
     notify_spinner.set_message("Notifying the the cycles minting canister...");
     notify_spinner.enable_steady_tick(100);
-    let res = notify_create(agent, ident_principal, height).await
+    let res = notify_create(agent, ident_principal, height, None).await
                         .with_context(|| format!("Failed to notify the CMC of the transfer. Write down that height ({height}), and once the error is fixed, use `dfx ledger notify create-canister`."))?;
     let wallet = match res {
         Ok(principal) => principal,

src/dfx/src/lib/ledger_types/mod.rs

@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ pub struct TimeStamp {
 pub struct NotifyCreateCanisterArg {
     pub block_index: BlockIndex,
     pub controller: Principal,
+    pub subnet_type: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(CandidType)]
@@ -157,6 +158,11 @@ pub type NotifyCreateCanisterResult = Result<Principal, NotifyError>;
 
 pub type NotifyTopUpResult = Result<u128, NotifyError>;
 
+#[derive(CandidType, Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub struct GetSubnetTypesToSubnetsResult {
+    pub data: Vec<(String, Vec<Principal>)>,
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;