Bitcoin Node Workshop Build Your Own Bitcoin Node

Ride The Lightning

Ride The Lightning (RTL) is a web-based interface for managing a Lightning node. It provides a convenient way to view your node, channels, peers, balances and payments from any web browser on your local network.

RTL does not store your bitcoin or hold your Lightning channels. It communicates with LND using its REST API and authenticates using LND's administrative macaroon.

The github repository can be found here.

github.com/Ride-The-Lightning/RTL.

A link to the latest release can be found on the right hand side of the page. Make note of the latest release number.

Install Debian dependencies.

Check if the following packages are installed.

node --version
npm --version
git -v

Install them if they're not.

apt install git nodejs npm

Create the RTL user

Create a dedicated system account for RTL.

useradd \
    --system \
    --home-dir /var/lib/rtl \
    --create-home \
    --shell /usr/sbin/nologin \
    rtl

Create the application directory.

mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/rtl

Download RTL

Clone the RTL repository directly into the installation directory.

git clone https://github.com/Ride-The-Lightning/RTL.git /usr/local/lib/rtl

Change into the RTL directory.

cd /usr/local/lib/rtl

Verify the signed release tag

Import the developer's public key.

curl https://keybase.io/suheb/pgp_keys.asc | gpg --import

Then verify. At the time of writing the latest release was v0.15.9.

git tag -v v0.15.9 (use latest release number)

You should see a Good signature message before continuing.

Check out the verified release.

git checkout v0.15.9 (use latest release number)

Install RTL

Install the production dependencies.

npm ci --omit=dev --legacy-peer-deps

Configure RTL

RTL stores its database under /var/lib/rtl, while the configuration file remains in the installation directory.

Create the database directory.

mkdir -p /var/lib/rtl

RTL includes a default configuration file named Sample-RTL-Config.json. Copy it into the file we'll use.

cp Sample-RTL-Config.json RTL-Config.json

Edit the file.

nano /usr/local/lib/rtl/RTL-Config.json

Only the following settings need to be changed.

"dbDirectoryPath": "/var/lib/rtl"

"macaroonPath": "/var/lib/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet"

"configPath": "/etc/lnd.conf"

"channelBackupPath": "/var/lib/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/channel.backup"

Save the file and exit the editor.

Configure LND permissions

RTL needs permission to read LND's TLS certificate and administrative macaroon. Add the rtl user to the lnd group.

usermod -aG lnd rtl

Grant the lnd group read and execute access to the directories that contain the TLS certificate and macaroons.

chmod 750 /var/lib/lnd
chmod 750 /var/lib/lnd/data
chmod 750 /var/lib/lnd/data/chain
chmod 750 /var/lib/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin
chmod 750 /var/lib/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet

Allow members of the lnd group to read the TLS certificate and administrative macaroon.

chmod 640 /var/lib/lnd/tls.cert
chmod 640 /var/lib/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/admin.macaroon

These permissions allow RTL to authenticate with LND while preventing access from other users on the system.

Create the systemd service

Create the RTL service.

nano /etc/systemd/system/rtl.service

Enter the following.

[Unit]
Description=Ride The Lightning (RTL)
After=network-online.target lnd.service
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=rtl
Group=rtl
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/lib/rtl
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node rtl
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file and exit the editor.

Reload systemd.

systemctl daemon-reload

Enable the service

Enable RTL so that it starts automatically when the system boots.

systemctl enable rtl

Start the service

Start RTL.

systemctl start rtl

Verify the installation

Check that the service is running.

systemctl status rtl

Add these two lines to /etc/bitcoin.conf

zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333

Then restart Bitcon Core.

systemctl restart bitcoind

You should see the service listed as active (running).

Open a web browser and connect to your server on port 3000.

http://your-server-ip:3000

The Ride The Lightning login page should appear.

The default password is 'password'. Change it once you've logged in.

After logging in, RTL should connect to your LND node and display your Lightning wallet.

Incorporate RTL into the dashboard.

Create the web server configuration file.

nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/rtl.conf

Copy the following into rtl.conf.

<VirtualHost *:4083>

    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyRequests Off

    ProxyPass        / http://127.0.0.1:3000/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:3000/

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/rtl-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/rtl-access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Enable the site.

a2ensite rtl.conf

Configure apache2 to listen on port 4083.

nano /etc/apache2/ports.conf

Insert the following line.

Listen 4083

Enable apache2 modules.

a2enmod proxy
a2enmod proxy_http

Restart apache2 webserver.

systemctl restart apache2