dikaios1517 on Nostr: Been running a Start9 for almost exactly a year now, and Alby Hub with it since it ...
Been running a Start9 for almost exactly a year now, and Alby Hub with it since it was released. Let me know if you need any help.
My recommendations:
- Bitcoin Core or Knots, depending on your preference. I use Knots because I am also mining with OCEAN (nprofile…rjvz) and creating my own block templates using #DATUM, which requires Knots.
- LND is going to be your main Lightning node, if you plan to use Alby Hub, but you can also run CLN along-side it, and just open a single channel between your LND node and your CLN node so you can have the benefits of both. For instance, if you want to have a BOLT12 static receiving invoice you can share, only CLN currently supports that.
- Alby Hub is the most user friendly way to manage hosting multiple wallets and connecting them to Nostr clients and other apps using Nostr Wallet Connect. It is a must have, in my opinion, since you are otherwise relatively limited when it comes to remote usage of your node, except via Tor, which can be slow and unreliable.
- Electrs is going to be how you use your own node with on-chain Bitcoin wallets like Sparrow, Spectr, or Nunchuk. This is one of the most important reasons to run your own node. Use YOUR node when doing on-chain transactions, or browsing the mempool.
- In a similar vein, get the self-hosted version of Mempool.space, so you can explore your node's own mempool.
- RoboSats is a great option so you can buy sats P2P via Lightning.
- Ride the Lightning and or Thunderhub are good node management services, and RTL works with both LND and CLN if you are planning to run both.
Outside of that, there are all sorts of other things you can self-host on your Start9, such as Nextcloud, SimpleX Server, noStrudel, a Nostr RS Relay, or a Jellyfin media server. These are great when you just need to access them from within your local network, but they are less useful when you want to access them remotely for now, since your only option is via Tor. That will be changing in the coming OS update, but we still have no ETA for when that will be. I have personally been waiting all of last year. 😂
When you are setting up your Lightning node, choose your channel partners carefully. It is better to go with people you know and can reach out to when your node is down to let them know what is going on so they don't force-close the channel on you. Don't skimp on channel size, either. Stick with channels of at least 1m sats each, if not more.
You can buy inbound channels via Alby Hub, but in my experience there is no need to do so. There are often fellow plebs willing to open a channel to you to give you some starting inbound liquidity. Additionally, you can open a 2m sat channel, then use Boltz.exchange to send 1m of that back to yourself on-chain, or back into your cold storage. Then you have 1m sending and 1m receiving capacity in that channel. Thunderhub lets you specify exactly which channel you want to send the sats from when paying the invoice.
Again, feel free to reach out if you want some help. I'd be happy to open a channel to you when you are set up, too.
My recommendations:
- Bitcoin Core or Knots, depending on your preference. I use Knots because I am also mining with OCEAN (nprofile…rjvz) and creating my own block templates using #DATUM, which requires Knots.
- LND is going to be your main Lightning node, if you plan to use Alby Hub, but you can also run CLN along-side it, and just open a single channel between your LND node and your CLN node so you can have the benefits of both. For instance, if you want to have a BOLT12 static receiving invoice you can share, only CLN currently supports that.
- Alby Hub is the most user friendly way to manage hosting multiple wallets and connecting them to Nostr clients and other apps using Nostr Wallet Connect. It is a must have, in my opinion, since you are otherwise relatively limited when it comes to remote usage of your node, except via Tor, which can be slow and unreliable.
- Electrs is going to be how you use your own node with on-chain Bitcoin wallets like Sparrow, Spectr, or Nunchuk. This is one of the most important reasons to run your own node. Use YOUR node when doing on-chain transactions, or browsing the mempool.
- In a similar vein, get the self-hosted version of Mempool.space, so you can explore your node's own mempool.
- RoboSats is a great option so you can buy sats P2P via Lightning.
- Ride the Lightning and or Thunderhub are good node management services, and RTL works with both LND and CLN if you are planning to run both.
Outside of that, there are all sorts of other things you can self-host on your Start9, such as Nextcloud, SimpleX Server, noStrudel, a Nostr RS Relay, or a Jellyfin media server. These are great when you just need to access them from within your local network, but they are less useful when you want to access them remotely for now, since your only option is via Tor. That will be changing in the coming OS update, but we still have no ETA for when that will be. I have personally been waiting all of last year. 😂
When you are setting up your Lightning node, choose your channel partners carefully. It is better to go with people you know and can reach out to when your node is down to let them know what is going on so they don't force-close the channel on you. Don't skimp on channel size, either. Stick with channels of at least 1m sats each, if not more.
You can buy inbound channels via Alby Hub, but in my experience there is no need to do so. There are often fellow plebs willing to open a channel to you to give you some starting inbound liquidity. Additionally, you can open a 2m sat channel, then use Boltz.exchange to send 1m of that back to yourself on-chain, or back into your cold storage. Then you have 1m sending and 1m receiving capacity in that channel. Thunderhub lets you specify exactly which channel you want to send the sats from when paying the invoice.
Again, feel free to reach out if you want some help. I'd be happy to open a channel to you when you are set up, too.