- Also changed "go" to "Go" when used as a name - Also changed "http" to "https" for two URLs that support HTTPS
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Table of Contents
- Installation
- Available Backend Operating Modes
- Macaroons
- Network Reachability
- Simnet vs. Testnet Development
- Creating an lnd.conf (Optional)
Installation
Preliminaries
In order to work with lnd
, the
following build dependencies are required:
-
Go:
lnd
is written in Go. To install, run one of the following commands:Note: The minimum version of Go supported is Go 1.12. We recommend that users use the latest version of Go, which at the time of writing is
1.12
.On Linux:
(x86-64)
wget https://dl.google.com/go/go1.12.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz sha256sum go1.12.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz | awk -F " " '{ print $1 }'
The final output of the command above should be
3924819eed16e55114f02d25d03e77c916ec40b7fd15c8acb5838b63135b03df
. If it isn't, then the target REPO HAS BEEN MODIFIED, and you shouldn't install this version of Go. If it matches, then proceed to install Go:tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.12.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
(ARMv6)
wget https://dl.google.com/go/go1.12.3.linux-armv6l.tar.gz sha256sum go1.12.3.linux-armv6l.tar.gz | awk -F " " '{ print $1 }'
The final output of the command above should be
efce59fac5ebc7302263ca1093fe2c3252c1b936f5b1ae08afc328eea0403c79
. If it isn't, then the target REPO HAS BEEN MODIFIED, and you shouldn't install this version of Go. If it matches, then proceed to install Go:tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.12.3.linux-armv6l.tar.gz export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
On Mac OS X:
brew install go@1.12
On FreeBSD:
pkg install go
Alternatively, one can download the pre-compiled binaries hosted on the Golang download page. If one seeks to install from source, then more detailed installation instructions can be found here.
At this point, you should set your
$GOPATH
environment variable, which represents the path to your workspace. By default,$GOPATH
is set to~/go
. You will also need to add$GOPATH/bin
to yourPATH
. This ensures that your shell will be able to detect the binaries you install.export GOPATH=~/gocode export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin
We recommend placing the above in your .bashrc or in a setup script so that you can avoid typing this every time you open a new terminal window.
-
Go modules: This project uses Go modules to manage dependencies as well as to provide reproducible builds.
Usage of Go modules (with Go 1.12) means that you no longer need to clone
lnd
into your$GOPATH
for development purposes. Instead, yourlnd
repo can now live anywhere!
Installing lnd
With the preliminary steps completed, to install lnd
, lncli
, and all
related dependencies run the following commands:
go get -d github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd
cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd
make && make install
NOTE: Our instructions still use the $GOPATH
directory from prior
versions of Go, but with Go 1.12, it's now possible for lnd
to live
anywhere on your file system.
For Windows WSL users, make will need to be referenced directly via /usr/bin/make/, or alternatively by wrapping quotation marks around make, like so:
/usr/bin/make && /usr/bin/make install
"make" && "make" install
On FreeBSD, use gmake instead of make.
Alternatively, if one doesn't wish to use make
, then the go
commands can be
used directly:
GO111MODULE=on go install -v ./...
Updating
To update your version of lnd
to the latest version run the following
commands:
cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd
git pull
make clean && make && make install
On FreeBSD, use gmake instead of make.
Alternatively, if one doesn't wish to use make
, then the go
commands can be
used directly:
cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd
git pull
GO111MODULE=on go install -v ./...
Tests
To check that lnd
was installed properly run the following command:
make check
Available Backend Operating Modes
In order to run, lnd
requires, that the user specify a chain backend. At the
time of writing of this document, there are three available chain backends:
btcd
, neutrino
, bitcoind
. All but neutrino (atm) can run on mainnet with
an out of the box lnd
instance. We don't require --txindex
when running
with bitcoind
or btcd
but activating the txindex
will generally make
lnd
run faster.
NOTE: WE DO NOT FULLY SUPPORT PRUNED OPERATING MODES FOR FULL NODES. It's
possible to run a node in a pruned mode and have it serve lnd, however one must
take care to ensure that lnd
has all blocks on disk since the birth of the
wallet, and the age of the earliest channels (which were created around March
2018).
The set of arguments for each of the backend modes is as follows:
btcd Options
btcd:
--btcd.dir= The base directory that contains the node's data, logs, configuration file, etc. (default: /Users/roasbeef/Library/Application Support/Btcd)
--btcd.rpchost= The daemon's rpc listening address. If a port is omitted, then the default port for the selected chain parameters will be used. (default: localhost)
--btcd.rpcuser= Username for RPC connections
--btcd.rpcpass= Password for RPC connections
--btcd.rpccert= File containing the daemon's certificate file (default: /Users/roasbeef/Library/Application Support/Btcd/rpc.cert)
--btcd.rawrpccert= The raw bytes of the daemon's PEM-encoded certificate chain which will be used to authenticate the RPC connection.
Neutrino Options
neutrino:
-a, --neutrino.addpeer= Add a peer to connect with at startup
--neutrino.connect= Connect only to the specified peers at startup
--neutrino.maxpeers= Max number of inbound and outbound peers
--neutrino.banduration= How long to ban misbehaving peers. Valid time units are {s, m, h}. Minimum 1 second
--neutrino.banthreshold= Maximum allowed ban score before disconnecting and banning misbehaving peers.
Bitcoind Options
bitcoind:
--bitcoind.dir= The base directory that contains the node's data, logs, configuration file, etc. (default: /Users/roasbeef/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin)
--bitcoind.rpchost= The daemon's rpc listening address. If a port is omitted, then the default port for the selected chain parameters will be used. (default: localhost)
--bitcoind.rpcuser= Username for RPC connections
--bitcoind.rpcpass= Password for RPC connections
--bitcoind.zmqpubrawblock= The address listening for ZMQ connections to deliver raw block notifications
--bitcoind.zmqpubrawtx= The address listening for ZMQ connections to deliver raw transaction notifications
Using btcd
Installing btcd
On FreeBSD, use gmake instead of make.
To install btcd, run the following commands:
Install btcd:
make btcd
Alternatively, you can install btcd
directly from its
repo.
Starting btcd
Running the following command will create rpc.cert
and default btcd.conf
.
btcd --testnet --rpcuser=REPLACEME --rpcpass=REPLACEME
If you want to use lnd
on testnet, btcd
needs to first fully sync the
testnet blockchain. Depending on your hardware, this may take up to a few
hours. Note that adding --txindex
is optional, as it will take longer to sync
the node, but then lnd
will generally operate faster as it can hit the index
directly, rather than scanning blocks or BIP 158 filters for relevant items.
(NOTE: It may take several minutes to find segwit-enabled peers.)
While btcd
is syncing you can check on its progress using btcd's getinfo
RPC command:
btcctl --testnet --rpcuser=REPLACEME --rpcpass=REPLACEME getinfo
{
"version": 120000,
"protocolversion": 70002,
"blocks": 1114996,
"timeoffset": 0,
"connections": 7,
"proxy": "",
"difficulty": 422570.58270815,
"testnet": true,
"relayfee": 0.00001,
"errors": ""
}
Additionally, you can monitor btcd's logs to track its syncing progress in real time.
You can test your btcd
node's connectivity using the getpeerinfo
command:
btcctl --testnet --rpcuser=REPLACEME --rpcpass=REPLACEME getpeerinfo | more
Running lnd using the btcd backend
If you are on testnet, run this command after btcd
has finished syncing.
Otherwise, replace --bitcoin.testnet
with --bitcoin.simnet
. If you are
installing lnd
in preparation for the
tutorial, you may skip this step.
lnd --bitcoin.active --bitcoin.testnet --debuglevel=debug --btcd.rpcuser=kek --btcd.rpcpass=kek --externalip=X.X.X.X
Using Neutrino
In order to run lnd
in its light client mode, you'll need to locate a
full-node which is capable of serving this new light client mode. lnd
uses
BIP 157 and BIP
158 for its light client
mode. A public instance of such a node can be found at
faucet.lightning.community
.
To run lnd in neutrino mode, run lnd
with the following arguments, (swapping
in --bitcoin.simnet
if needed), and also your own btcd
node if available:
lnd --bitcoin.active --bitcoin.testnet --debuglevel=debug --bitcoin.node=neutrino --neutrino.connect=faucet.lightning.community
Using bitcoind or litecoind
The configuration for bitcoind and litecoind are nearly identical, the
following steps can be mirrored with loss of generality to enable a litecoind
backend. Setup will be described in regards to bitcoind
, but note that lnd
uses a distinct litecoin.node=litecoind
argument and analogous
subconfigurations prefixed by litecoind
. Note that adding --txindex
is
optional, as it will take longer to sync the node, but then lnd
will
generally operate faster as it can hit the index directly, rather than scanning
blocks or BIP 158 filters for relevant items.
To configure your bitcoind backend for use with lnd, first complete and verify the following:
- Since
lnd
uses ZeroMQ to interface withbitcoind
, yourbitcoind
installation must be compiled with ZMQ. Note that if you installedbitcoind
from source and ZMQ was not present, then ZMQ support will be disabled, andlnd
will quit on aconnection refused
error. If you installedbitcoind
via Homebrew in the past ZMQ may not be included (this has now been fixed in the latest Homebrew recipe for bitcoin) - Configure the
bitcoind
instance for ZMQ with--zmqpubrawblock
and--zmqpubrawtx
. These options must each use their own unique address in order to provide a reliable delivery of notifications (e.g.--zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
and--zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333
). - Start
bitcoind
running against testnet, and let it complete a full sync with the testnet chain (alternatively, use--bitcoind.regtest
instead).
Here's a sample bitcoin.conf
for use with lnd:
testnet=1
server=1
daemon=1
zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333
Once all of the above is complete, and you've confirmed bitcoind
is fully
updated with the latest blocks on testnet, run the command below to launch
lnd
with bitcoind
as your backend (as with bitcoind
, you can create an
lnd.conf
to save these options, more info on that is described further
below):
lnd --bitcoin.active --bitcoin.testnet --debuglevel=debug --bitcoin.node=bitcoind --bitcoind.rpcuser=REPLACEME --bitcoind.rpcpass=REPLACEME --bitcoind.zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332 --bitcoind.zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333 --externalip=X.X.X.X
NOTE:
- The auth parameters
rpcuser
andrpcpass
parameters can typically be determined bylnd
for abitcoind
instance running under the same user, including when using cookie auth. In this case, you can exclude them from thelnd
options entirely. - If you DO choose to explicitly pass the auth parameters in your
lnd.conf
or command line options forlnd
(bitcoind.rpcuser
andbitcoind.rpcpass
as shown in example command above), you must also specify thebitcoind.zmqpubrawblock
andbitcoind.zmqpubrawtx
options. Otherwise,lnd
will attempt to get the configuration from yourbitcoin.conf
. - You must ensure the same addresses are used for the
bitcoind.zmqpubrawblock
andbitcoind.zmqpubrawtx
options passed tolnd
as for thezmqpubrawblock
andzmqpubrawtx
passed in thebitcoind
options respectively. - When running lnd and bitcoind on the same Windows machine, ensure you use 127.0.0.1, not localhost, for all configuration options that require a TCP/IP host address. If you use "localhost" as the host name, you may see extremely slow inter-process-communication between lnd and the bitcoind backend. If lnd is experiencing this issue, you'll see "Waiting for chain backend to finish sync, start_height=XXXXXX" as the last entry in the console or log output, and lnd will appear to hang. Normal lnd output will quickly show multiple messages like this as lnd consumes blocks from bitcoind.
- Don't connect more than two or three instances of
lnd
tobitcoind
. With the defaultbitcoind
settings, having more than one instance oflnd
, orlnd
plus any application that consumes the RPC could causelnd
to miss crucial updates from the backend.
Macaroons
lnd
's authentication system is called macaroons, which are decentralized
bearer credentials allowing for delegation, attenuation, and other cool
features. You can learn more about them in Alex Akselrod's writeup on
Github.
Running lnd
for the first time will by default generate the admin.macaroon
,
read_only.macaroon
, and macaroons.db
files that are used to authenticate
into lnd
. They will be stored in the network directory (default:
lnddir/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet
) so that it's possible to use a distinct
password for mainnet, testnet, simnet, etc. Note that if you specified an
alternative data directory (via the --datadir
argument), you will have to
additionally pass the updated location of the admin.macaroon
file into lncli
using the --macaroonpath
argument.
To disable macaroons for testing, pass the --no-macaroons
flag into both
lnd
and lncli
.
Network Reachability
If you'd like to signal to other nodes on the network that you'll accept
incoming channels (as peers need to connect inbound to initiate a channel
funding workflow), then the --externalip
flag should be set to your publicly
reachable IP address.
Simnet vs. Testnet Development
If you are doing local development, such as for the tutorial, you'll want to
start both btcd
and lnd
in the simnet
mode. Simnet is similar to regtest
in that you'll be able to instantly mine blocks as needed to test lnd
locally. In order to start either daemon in the simnet
mode use simnet
instead of testnet
, adding the --bitcoin.simnet
flag instead of the
--bitcoin.testnet
flag.
Another relevant command line flag for local testing of new lnd
developments
is the --debughtlc
flag. When starting lnd
with this flag, it'll be able to
automatically settle a special type of HTLC sent to it. This means that you
won't need to manually insert invoices in order to test payment connectivity.
To send this "special" HTLC type, include the --debugsend
command at the end
of your sendpayment
commands.
There are currently two primary ways to run lnd
: one requires a local btcd
instance with the RPC service exposed, and the other uses a fully integrated
light client powered by neutrino.
Creating an lnd.conf (Optional)
Optionally, if you'd like to have a persistent configuration between lnd
launches, allowing you to simply type lnd --bitcoin.testnet --bitcoin.active
at the command line, you can create an lnd.conf
.
On MacOS, located at:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Lnd/lnd.conf
On Linux, located at:
~/.lnd/lnd.conf
Here's a sample lnd.conf
for btcd
to get you started:
[Application Options]
debuglevel=trace
maxpendingchannels=10
[Bitcoin]
bitcoin.active=1
Notice the [Bitcoin]
section. This section houses the parameters for the
Bitcoin chain. lnd
also supports Litecoin testnet4 (but not both BTC and LTC
at the same time), so when working with Litecoin be sure to set to parameters
for Litecoin accordingly. See a more detailed sample config file available
here
and explore the other sections for node configuration, including [Btcd]
,
[Bitcoind]
, [Neutrino]
, [Ltcd]
, and [Litecoind]
depending on which
chain and node type you're using.