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Connecting to a lightning node remotely

Remote connection formats summary table

LND prefix d server d auth d tls d
lndconnect lndconnect:// grpc_host:10009 ? macaroon=base64_macaroon & cert=base64_cert
BoS { "socket": "grpc_host:10009" , "macaroon": "base64_macaroon" , "cert": "base64_cert" }
BTCPay type=lnd-rest ; https://rest_host:8080/ ; macaroon=hex_macaroon ; certthumbprint=hex_cert
C-lightning prefix d server d auth d tls
Spark Wallet / Sparko spark_rpc_host ? access-key=accessKey
BTCPay unix socket type=clightning ; server=unix://home/user/.lightning/lightning-rpc
BTCPay TCP type=clightning ; server=tcp://tcp_host:27743/
BTCPay Charge type=clightning ; server=https://charge_host:8080/ ; api-token=myapitoken...
C-lightning REST rest_host ? hex_macaroon
Eclair prefix d server d auth d tls
BTCPay type=eclair ; server=https://eclair_host:8080/ ; password=eclairpassword...

LND

RPC

  • lncli
lncli --rpcserver=IP_ADDRESS:GRPC_PORT --tlscertpath=./../tls.cert --macaroonpath=./../admin.macaroon

poetry run ./suez --client-args=--rpcserver=IP_ADDRESS:GRPC_PORT --client-args=--tlscertpath=./../tls.cert --client-args=--macaroonpath=./../admin.macaroon

LNDconnect

  • Specification

https://github.com/LN-Zap/lndconnect/blob/master/lnd_connect_uri.md

lndconnect://<host>:<port>?[cert=<base64url_DER_certificate>&]macaroon=<base64url_macaroon>
  • implementation

https://github.com/raspiblitz/raspiblitz/blob/a22589c86109d56ecc1e1aca7abb214c7e9189c7/home.admin/config.scripts/bonus.lndconnect.sh#L194

# generate data parts
macaroon=$(sudo base64 /mnt/hdd/app-data/lnd/data/chain/${network}/${chain}net/admin.macaroon | tr -d '=' | tr '/+' '_-' | tr -d '\n')
cert=$(sudo grep -v 'CERTIFICATE' /mnt/hdd/lnd/tls.cert | tr -d '=' | tr '/+' '_-' | tr -d '\n')

# generate URI parameters
macaroonParameter="?macaroon=${macaroon}"
certParameter="&cert=${cert}"

lndconnect="lndconnect://${host}:${port}${macaroonParameter}${certParameter}"

Balance of Satoshis

https://github.com/alexbosworth/balanceofsatoshis#saved-nodes

  • stored in
~/.bos/YOUR_NODE_NAME/credentials.json
  • with base64 values
{
"cert": "base64 tls.cert value",
"macaroon": "base64 .macaroon value",
"socket": "host:port"
}

# For `cert` 
base64 ~/.lnd/tls.cert | tr -d '\n'
# For `macaroon`
base64 ~/.lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/admin.macaroon | tr -d '\n'
  • with path
{
"cert_path": "/path/lnd/tls.cert",
"macaroon_path": "/path/lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/admin.macaroon",
"socket": "LND_IP:10009"
}

BTCPayserver

  • LND via the REST proxy:
type=lnd-rest;server=https://mylnd:8080/;macaroon=abef263adfe...
type=lnd-rest;server=https://mylnd:8080/;macaroon=abef263adfe...;certthumbprint=abef263adfe...
  • macaroon
xxd -plain /root/.lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/admin.macaroon | tr -d '\n'
  • certthumbprint:
openssl x509 -noout -fingerprint -sha256 -in /root/.lnd/tls.cert | sed -e 's/.*=//;s/://g'
  • optional:
allowinsecure=true

C-lightning

Spark Wallet

https://github.com/shesek/spark-wallet

Sparko

https://github.com/fiatjaf/sparko
Currently only works with a CA signed certificate.
See: https://github.com/shesek/spark-wallet/blob/master/doc/tls.md#add-as-trusted-certificate-to-android

  • Simply:
URL?access-key=accessKey

the accessKey has macaroon-like permissions

C-lightning REST (with Zeus)

https://github.com/Ride-The-Lightning/c-lightning-REST/

  • No standard yet, but needs:
URL?hex_macaroon
  • generate the hex_macaroon:
xxd -plain /home/bitcoin/c-lightning-REST/certs/access.macaroon | tr -d '\n'

BTCPayserver

  • c-lightning via TCP or unix domain socket connection:
type=clightning;server=unix://root/.lightning/lightning-rpc
type=clightning;server=tcp://1.1.1.1:27743/
  • Lightning Charge via HTTPS:
type=charge;server=https://charge:8080/;api-token=myapitoken...

Eclair

BTCPayServer

  • Eclair via HTTPS:
type=eclair;server=https://eclair:8080/;password=eclairpassword...

Notes

  • common dependencies
sudo apt install qrencode base64 xxd
  • generate a QRcode in the terminal
    (press CTRL + - to reduce the size)
string="desired content or $(command output)"
qrencode -t ANSIUTF8 "$string"
  • base64_macaroon
base64 ~/.lnd/data/chain/bitcoin/mainnet/admin.macaroon | tr -d '\n'
  • hex_macaroon:
xxd -plain /home/bitcoin/c-lightning-REST/certs/access.macaroon | tr -d '\n'
  • base64_cert
base64 ~/.lnd/tls.cert | tr -d '\n'
  • certthumbprint:
openssl x509 -noout -fingerprint -sha256 -in /root/.lnd/tls.cert | sed -e 's/.*=//;s/://g'
  • inspect a tls.cert
openssl x509 -in /mnt/hdd/lnd/tls.cert -noout -text

sudo cat /var/lib/tor/SERVICE_NAME/hostname
# or on a RaspiBlitz
sudo cat /mnt/hdd/tor/SERVICE_NAME/hostname