Tip of the day: How can I run a LN node without full Core? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

Tip of the day: How can I run a LN node without full Core?

7957 sats \ 20 comments \ @DarthCoin 26 Feb bitcoin

I thought you were missing Darth's "tips of the day", so I came up with a question I had from one of my readers few days ago:

"How can I run LNbits quickly, with minimum effort and resources?"

We all know that the powerful LNbits require a LN node as funding source. And many new users are struggling to setup a node for that, or using bundle nodes, with outdated software, complicated dockers etc, things that for a noob are quite hard to debug and maintain.

So I came up with a more simple approach:

A LN node with neutrino synced blocks.

Why?

it does NOT require to run a heavy full Bitcoin Core node
it does not need a big hard drive
it sync in aprox 5 min
it is not using heavily the CPU and memory
is private syncing (neutrino server node doesn't need to read your wallet xpub, it just provide blocks)

Steps to do:

In this scenario, we want to run a LNbits with a LND node as funding source, for a small shop merchant or as a LN bank fro your family / friends. This process take more or less 30 min.

On any PC with a Linux OS (I recommend Debian or Ubuntu for simplicity), install LND as LN node.
Optional for managing your node you can install Thunderhub or RTL as desktop apps. If not, you can easily connect Zeus mobile app to your node and manage it from there.
Open 2-3 channels with big good nodes.
Install LNbits latest version, as a standalone app (no need for complicated docker etc)
Connect your LNbits with the LND node
Edit your domain DNS entries for your new LNbits server and also open the ports 80/443 required for the SSL certificate and access in your router, pointing to the LNbits machine.
Setup Caddy for reverse proxy DNS https of your LNbits (see LNbits documentation, is very easy)
Done. Start your LNbits instance and setup your users.

Documentation:

In closing, I would encourage all public node runners to ACTIVATE NEUTRINO on their Bitcoin Core nodes. It takes just 2 lines:

blockfilterindex=1
peerblockfilters=1

In this way you could participate and really help decentralize the network, helping the mobile node users (See Blixt, Zeus, Breez, Nayuta etc) that are using Neutrino. Or just offer these neutrino connections to your close friends and family to use it. Be a real "uncle Jim" for those that cannot run a full Bitcoin Core node.

I hope more users will understand the significance of this mini-guide... May the Bitcoin Be With You!

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485 sats \ 1 reply \ @Lux 26 Feb

Tips and tricks.. I really like you can put LnTips Bot as funding source Sets up in a minute, no hassle and you get a msg in Telegram when you get paid

331 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin OP 26 Feb

Yep, also Alby, Ibex, another LNbits instance (this is really cool), LNpay, OpenNode. All these do not require a LN node management. But yes, are custodial. Anyways, in LNbits you have the scrub extension and you can swap out to any other LN address/LNURL all the funds you want.

The options are endless with LNbits.

93 sats \ 0 replies \ @Nikos 26 Feb freebie

This is an excellent guide! Thanks for sharing!

73 sats \ 0 replies \ @quark 27 Feb

it is nice to see you back with nice guides, or tips. Thank you

72 sats \ 0 replies \ @03479d0ee6 26 Feb

Great guide! Thank you.

72 sats \ 0 replies \ @satoshiplanet 26 Feb

Great! Thanks for sharing

72 sats \ 0 replies \ @TNStacker 26 Feb

Much appreciated ⚡🧡

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Taft 27 Feb

I hope more users will understand the significance of this mini-guide... May the Bitcoin Be With You!

That's a great guide! May the Bitcoin Be With You, Too!

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @0xIlmari 27 Feb

What are the security downsides of not having a full Bitcoin Code node backing your LN?

How can an attacker (including a malicious LN peer) that knows your setup, exploit it?

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @DarthCoin OP 27 Feb

None. A LN node only needs a repository from where to read blocks and keep up the sync. It doesn't matter if is a full node with local blocks storage or neutrino.

Exploit what?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @0xIlmari 27 Feb

I don't know, it's why I'm asking.

I just know that if you're not running a full node, you're obviously making a security tradeoff and I'd like to know how can this bite me back?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin OP 27 Feb

It all depends what do you want to do/obtain. My guide about using LNbits with a neutrino + LN node is dedicated for those who want a quick install for a LNbits for a shop/business. It is not a general rule. Please read the links inside the guide to understand further the case.

security tradeoff and I'd like to know how can this bite me back?

Breez, Zeus and Blixt mobile nodes are using neutrino. And are just fine. Same works for a desktop LN node.

Using a full core node have other practicalities but not always you need a full node, just to transact over Bitcoin network.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @trieska 28 Feb freebie

at this moment I am running just full node without LN. I found this interesting and because my plan is to run LN node too I decide to enable "NEUTRINO". So I did put those two lines in config and restart bitcoind. After some time bitcoind start to restarting, so did ckech log and found following error:

2024-02-28T18:29:12Z ERROR: UndoReadFromDisk: Checksum mismatch
2024-02-28T18:29:12Z *** ThreadSync: Failed to write block 0000000000000000000558868ed1f96fc38462812fa50da74073438b97c368f4 to index database

I know, this is different topic but maybe someone knows about this issue. Thank you for any help / tip.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @DarthCoin OP 28 Feb

I think you have some bad blocks on that drive. Try to rescan your blocks to reindex.

Why do you want to activate neutrino on your core node if you are not gonna share that neutrino connection to others? Please read carefully the documentation about neutrino and how to use it.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @trieska 28 Feb

I did RPC call getblockstats on that block and get error:

bitcoin-cli  getblockstats 740198
  error code: -1
  error message:
  Can't read undo data from disk

ok, looks that I need to rescan, but not sure what you mean. Should I put 'reindex=1' in config and restart bitcoind?

I think that I understand what that mean to activate neutrino. I will not used it at the moment and probably it is not necessary for my future LN node but I am accepting inbound connection from internet now and would like to see what happen and to help a little ...