Let’s Get Lightning: A New LN Node Initiative ⚡

The Lightning Network is really taking off! I'm launching a new project to get more LN nodes running here. Biggest initiative yet. Join in and earn merits by setting up your own node, opening channels, and sending/receiving sats. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. You'll earn rewards as you progress through different stages.

Just made some stats since I lost track of who did what. Turns out I missed awarding merits to a lot of legends here. So if you have questions about Lightning Network, this thread is open!

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OK, I'll break the ice. Shame on me, I've never set up LN. Yeah, there's a mix of laziness and lack of time, plus the fact the price was going mostly up lately made me consider also saving a little, for a change. However, since I'm here, I am open to try, especially as you've written that it's a marathon. Then, no matter how slow I am, I'll try to finish it. Of course, I don't need merits and so on, the fact I'll finally have LN is good enough for me. PS. Super cool initiative, I am surprised that nobody came around yet.

This is a very good initiative, and I am actually very surprised that no one is yet participating. I am absolutely brand new to lightening network, this is not the first time coming across the topic but I've never did understand it as clear as I did while reading through the setup steps provided by the op, I am super hyped to jump on this but unfortunately, my pc recently developed a rather serious screen issue which I am hoping I can afford to fix soon, and as soon as I do, i will definitely get on this to learn how to setup my own LN. I initially had two questions, the first was.. 1. Do I need to download the full bitcoin network before I can be able to setup my own LN - This I already found the answer in the op, and it's a No, that a pruned node will do (I will find out what pruned node is later) 2. This maybe a stupid question, but forgive me if it actually is, I am interest to know if there are any special pc specifications required to be successful with the LN setup (like from the beginning to the last step), any special kind of pc (with maybe any special feature or specifications like memory size, storage size and all) required for this? Thanks for the answer (in anticipation).

A pruned node still downloads the entire blockchain, just doesn't store it (it only stores a rather small amount of data). I have a dilemma. I do have a Bitcoin node (and a Fulcrum) which I fire up now and then for sync and when I need it for transactions (from Electrum). It's not running 24/7 and this may be an issue, I guess. I've seen that LND does have Windoze binaries and I could use it, but to only set it up for a week-end may not be the best use of time and may not be the way LN is supposed to be set up. This being said, I'd use very much an advice: * is there something I've missed and I should just go on with LND? * should I maybe use something like Phoenix wallet for Android (although my phone is also not online 24/7 - is that a problem?) * do you have a better solution?

It might be a good idea to use a web frontend like Ride The Lightning for Windows once you run the LND program in the terminal. https://dev.lightning.community/tutorial/ More information: https://www.fjordblock.com/how-to-run-a-bitcoin-lightning-node-on-windows/ It is definitely better to run LND as a windows service, but I haven't seen instructions on how to do that yet.

I come again with my main concern related to LND: will it be an issue if my computer is stopped an average of 20h/day? On chain, I know that after I've broadcasted the tx I'm fine and I know that my coins will come in even if my wallet is closed ("the coins are not in the wallet"). With LN I think that I have to keep LND running to keep the channel(s) open and I hope that wrong, so please tell me.

While I had my first Lightning node up and running about 2-3 years ago, I didn't use it much and I'm still learning about Lightning Network. It's not ideal to have your Lightning node offline for prolongued time. Don't trust me and I can't say confidently that about 20h offline time will be just fine. If you don't have channels open, it doesn't matter, but no channels is mostly pointless. The trustless nature of Lightning means you shouldn't need to trust your channel partner. If your channel partner plays foul and posts a wrong channel state, means he tries to steal parts or all of your channel balance fraction then your Lightning node will penalize him. Apparently, your node can't do that in a timely manner when it's offline. Not all hope is lost though, because your channel partner usually can't screw you immediately or in very short time, as far as I understood it. To minimize risks I would avoid too long offline periods. What is too long? Can't say, really. Don't stay offline with your Lightning node (LND or c-Lightning) for longer than maybe one or two days. In my opinion that's just too risky (of course it depends on your channel capacity, but I don't like loosing even a few thousand sats for no reason). Don't perceive this as a discouragement. Lightning is interesting by design, it's also here and there complicated and a joy when it just works. Well, most coins have two sides, haven't they?

New to this, then saw an interesting video by BTC Sessions on Youtube about a tutorial on how to run the Lightning Network. Is that all we need to participate in this quest? Source: 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU - Ammar M. A.

Yes, that is perfect! Do update us with your progress, preferably when you run programs, when the application is running properly and stuff like that.

Not sure since I have to learn all the stuff there first before doing the setup, but I will definitely update the progress if I finally decide to run a lightning node. - Ammar M. A.

This sounds really good, considering how you enlightened more on the setup. I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable. But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?

Not much, but here are some other ways you can run a Lightning node. You might be able to get away with running Breez app on your phone, but I haven't tried this app yet. Maybe I will connect it to my node tomorrow and see how it is. Alby Hub if I can get it to work might be a good way for you to run a Lightning Node as well. It has the same look and feel as a Bitcoin node. Even has a desktop app. But I found a bug in the login process that I'm trying to help the dev team fix.

Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?

While I do like to see tutorials and while I am sure it would make the life easy for some, making and maintaining one may be a bit big effort. So I'd wait for more answers. But even myself, I have a lot of n00bish questions/dilemmas, as you've seen (btw, I am still incredibly unsure which wallet would be better for me). I know that Electrum may be relying on watchtowers, which may sound intriguing (I'll also have to get to understand what are they about). However... tutorials and too many questions/answers may make this topic difficult to follow and may need to be handled separately. On the other hand, unless more people start coming in here,... it's too quiet... I've handled that for you

That's what Bitcoin Wiki is for, I can just dump most of the stuff there.

Friends, we are now awarding merits to anybody who puts in the effort to run a Lightning node with these steps. A few merit sources will be collaborating with this. It is a great way for you to rank up if you are stuck between ranks. Please read the OP for details.