!!! NOTE: I've archived this repository as Zap seems to have stopped uploading the latest LND images to DockerHub.
!!! I added a section to the start of this README on setting up & running a node simply without using Docker.

lnd without Docker

I'm adding this section as Zap no longer seems to upload LND images to DockerHub (at least, not in a timely manner).

The simple steps are:

Install lnd, lncli, lndconnect as follows (remember to change the link as necessary, based on version and platform):

    wget -c https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/releases/download/v0.13.3-beta/lnd-linux-amd64-v0.13.3-beta.tar.gz -O - | tar -xz
    wget -c https://github.com/LN-Zap/lndconnect/releases/download/v0.2.0/lndconnect-linux-amd64-v0.2.0.tar.gz -O - | tar -xz
    sudo mv lnd-linux-amd64-v0.13.3-beta/lncli /usr/local/bin/lncli
    sudo mv lnd-linux-amd64-v0.13.3-beta/lnd /usr/local/bin/lnd
    sudo mv lndconnect-linux-amd64-v0.2.0/lndconnect /usr/local/bin/lndconnect

When you do this, make sure /usr/local/bin is in your PATH variable. If which lnd and which lncli return a path, you're set.

If you are migrating from using Docker, for simplicity I recommend moving your .lnd directory to /home/ubuntu

    sudo cp -r /home/ubuntu/lnd-data/.lnd /home/ubuntu/.lnd

Now, make sure that all settings you would have set inline are in the /home/ubuntu/.lnd/lnd.conf file.

MAKING SURE THAT YOU STOPPED & REMOVED THE DOCKER CONTAINER & IMAGE for your previous lightning node, run your new one with

    nohup lnd > /dev/null 2> /home/ubuntu/.lnd/err.log & 
    # After a few seconds...
    lncli unlock

Error logs can be found in /home/ubuntu/.lnd/err.log. Lndconnect should work as usual.

When updating LND, all you need to do is lncli stop then repeat the installation step & startup step.

lnd for Docker

Docker image that runs lnd in a container for easy deployment. Modified some parameters to run on mainnet.

The image contains the latest lnd daemon and lndconnect.

Quick Start

1. Create a lnd-data volume to persist the lnd data, should exit immediately. The lnd-data container will store the lnd data when the node container is recreated (software upgrade, reboot, etc):

   docker volume create --name=lnd-data
   docker run -v ~/lnd-data:/lnd --name=lnd-node -d \
       -p 9735:9735 \
       -p 10009:10009 \
       lnzap/lnd:latest \
       --bitcoin.active \
       --bitcoin.mainnet \
       --debuglevel=info \
       --bitcoin.node=neutrino \
       --routing.assumechanvalid \
       --neutrino.connect=btcd-mainnet.lightning.computer \
       --neutrino.connect=bb1.breez.technology \
       --neutrino.feeurl=https://nodes.lightning.computer/fees/v1/btc-fee-estimates.json \
       --rpclisten=0.0.0.0:10009
   

Instead of lnzap/lnd:latest, you can also try specific images such as lnzap/lnd:0.12.1-beta as listed in LNZap's dockerHub page.

1.1 Some additional settings that may be of interest:

    --alias=Paddle \
    --color=#9fbed0 \
    --rejecthtlc \
    --rejectpush \
    --accept-keysend \

2. Verify that the container is running and lnd node is downloading the blockchain

   $ docker ps
   CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                         COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                                              NAMES
   d0e1076b2dca        lnzap/lnd:0.12.1-beta         "lnd_oneshot"       2 seconds ago       Up 1 seconds        0.0.0.0:9735->9735/tcp, 0.0.0.0:10009->10009/tcp   lnd-node
   

3. You can then access the daemon's output thanks to the docker logs command

   docker logs -f lnd-node
   

4. Install optional init scripts for upstart and systemd are in the init directory.

5. You must set up a wallet in order to generate macaroons.

   docker exec -u lnd -it lnd-node lncli create
   

6. You will likely need to add these settings to lnd.conf, delete tls.cert and tls.key files, and restart lnd to regenerate them:

   tlsextraip=IPADDRESS
   externalip=IPADDRESS
   
   # Other settings are optional, refer to [these](https://github.com/alexbosworth/run-lnd) instructions for an example
   # [This](https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/blob/master/sample-lnd.conf) is also an exhaustive exmaple
   

7. I find that the easiest way to set up a gRPC connection to this node from other devices is to use lndconnect.

   # In a temporary location, download lndconnect and install
   wget https://github.com/LN-Zap/lndconnect/releases/download/v0.2.0/lndconnect-linux-386-v0.2.0.tar.gz
   sudo tar -xvf lndconnect-linux-386-v0.2.0.tar.gz --strip=1 -C /usr/local/bin
   # Display help to make sure it works
   lndconnect -h
   # Issue an lndconnect URI
   lndconnect --lnddir=/home/<username>/lnd-data/.lnd --host=<IPADDRESS> -j
   # If using EC2 following [these](https://github.com/alexbosworth/run-lnd) instructions:
   lndconnect --host=<EC2_IPADDRESS> -j
   # If you want a scannable QR code in your terminal, omit the -j parameter
   lndconnect --lnddir=/home/<username>/lnd-data/.lnd --host=<IPADDRESS>
   

8. If still having trouble connecting, make sure firewall settings allow port 9735 & 10009.

9. Use a library like node-lnd-grpc or ln-service, connect with lndconnectUri or its cert and macaroon params and get started!

Requesting a Bitrefill Thor channel

An easy way to set up a channel with inbound liquidity is to use Bitrefill's Thor service.

When opening a channel with the Bitrefill Thor service, you are given a long command ("LND Channel") in the website that looks like this:

    lncli connect <Bitrefill's LND Node Pubkey>@<Bitrefill's IP>:9735 >/dev/null 2>&1; lncli getinfo|grep '"identity_pubkey"'|sed -e 's/.*://;s/[^0-9a-f]//g'|tr -d '\n'| curl -G --data-urlencode remoteid@- "https://api.bitrefill.com/v1/thor?k1=some_long_hexadecimal_string&private=0"

So in our setup (using docker), we will run the following commands:

    docker exec -u lnd -it lnd-node lncli connect <Bitrefill's LND Node Pubkey>@<Bitrefill's IP>:9735
    
    docker exec -u lnd -it lnd-node lncli getinfo|grep '"identity_pubkey"'|sed -e 's/.*://;s/[^0-9a-f]//g'|tr -d '\n'| curl -G --data-urlencode remoteid@- "https://api.bitrefill.com/v1/thor?k1=some_long_hexadecimal_string&private=0"

This should return a JSON string stating {"status":"OK"} if successful. I hope that works!

Running your own btcd

Relying on altruistic third party btcd nodes for your neutrino node is not da wae. Check out Zap's repository LN-Zap/docker-btcd for a quick and simple way to run a local btcd node.

Troubleshooting

I have had lnd basically stop responding due to 'too many open files'.

    Error opening file /lnd/.lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/peers.json: open /lnd/.lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/peers.json: too many open files

This causes enormous headaches as it seems to increase routing fails and prevents new grpc connections. A temporary solution short of simply restarting the container is the following:

See how many simultaneous open files the system supports with ulimit -n. This often defaults to 1024.

sudo vi /etc/security/limits.conf and add rows * soft nofiles 65536 and * hard nofiles 65536, save, log out and back in. Check ulimit -n to see that it is now 65536.

Documentation

• Additional documentation in the docs folder.