readme: First pass at homogenizing the readme a bit
We haven't touched the readme for quite some time, just randomly added to it,
and it's starting to show. This is my attempt at cleaning it up a bit (more to
come):
- No longer discourage users from running on mainnet, we're way beyond that
point.
- No longer instruct users to build from source, when we have real binary
releases, on the PPA, the releases page and the docker images.
- Cut down on the docker specific instructions, they are taking a lot of room
when only a minority will likely run them that way
- Generally make the README more of a dispatch for more in-depth
documentation rather than trying to address everything right on the
front-page.
- Add a bit of context about running on top of a pruned node
Signed-off-by: Christian Decker <decker.christian@gmail.com>
Header from folded patch 'fixup!_readme__first_pass_at_homogenizing_the_readme_a_bit.patch':
fixup! readme: First pass at homogenizing the readme a bit
This implementation is still very much a work in progress.
It can be used for testing, but __it should not be used for real funds__.
We do our best to identify and fix problems, and implement missing
features.
This implementation has been in production use on the Bitcoin mainnet since early 2018, with the launch of the [Blockstream Store][blockstream-store-blog].
We recommend getting started by experimenting on `testnet`, but the implementation is considered stable and can be safely used on mainnet.
Any help testing the implementation, reporting bugs, or helping with
Any help testing the implementation, reporting bugs, or helping with outstanding issues is very welcome.
Don't hesitate to reach out to us on IRC at [#lightning-dev @ freenode.net][irc1], [#c-lightning @ freenode.net][irc2], or on the implementation-specific mailing list [c-lightning@lists.ozlabs.org][ml1], or on the Lightning Network-wide mailing list [lightning-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org][ml2].
## Getting Started
c-lightning currently only works on Linux (and possibly Mac OS with some
tweaking), and requires a locally (or remotely) running `bitcoind` (version 0.15 or
above) that is fully caught up with the network you're testing on.
Pruning (prune=n option in bitcoin.conf) is not currently supported.
c-lightning only works on Linux and Mac OS, and requires a locally (or remotely) running `bitcoind` (version 0.16 or above) that is fully caught up with the network you're testing on.
Pruning (`prune=n` option in `bitcoin.conf`) is partially supported, see [here](#pruning) for more details.
### Installation
Please refer to the [installation documentation](doc/INSTALL.md) for
detailed instructions.
For the impatient here's the gist of it for Ubuntu and Debian:
- Installation of a pre-compiled binary from the [release page][releases] on Github
- Using one of the [provided docker images][dockerhub] on the Docker Hub
- Compiling the source code yourself (suggested mainly for developers or if you need one of the still [unreleased features][changelog-unreleased])
Or if you like to throw `docker` into the mix, you can use the official docker image either directly or as a base layer for more complex images.
The docker image is [elementsproject/lightningd](https://hub.docker.com/r/elementsproject/lightningd/) (from this [Dockerfile](Dockerfile)).
Image tags with `-dev` at the end are images built with `DEVELOPER=1`.
If you build the image yourself, you can use the build arg `DEVELOPER=1` to build c-lightning in developer mode.
Please refer to the [PPA release page][ppa] and the [installation documentation](doc/INSTALL.md) for detailed instructions.
It has the following environment variable:
* `EXPOSE_TCP` default to false, if true, use expose c-lightning RPC on port 9835. (Use this only for testing)
Here is an example of a docker-compose file with bitcoind and c-lightning on `testnet` which expose bitcoind's RPC interface on default ports `18332` and c-lightning API on port `9735`:
For the impatient here's the gist of it for Ubuntu:
Please refer to `lightningd --help` for all other command line options.
### JSON-RPC Interface
### Listing all commands:
`cli/lightning-cli help` will print a table of the API and lists the
following commands
c-lightning exposes a [JSON-RPC 2.0][jsonrpcspec] interface over a Unix Domain socket located in its home directory (default: `$HOME/.lightning`).
The Unix Domain Socket has the advantage of not being exposed over the network by default, allowing users to add their own authentication and authorization mechanism, while still providing a fully functional RPC interface out of the box.
You can use `lightning-cli help` to print a table of the available RPC methods that can be called.
The JSON-RPC interface is also documented in the following manual pages:
This opens a connection and, on top of that connection, then opens
a channel.
The funding transaction needs 1 confirmation in order for the channel
to be usable, and 6 to be broadcast for others to use.
You can check the status of the channel using `cli/lightning-cli
listpeers`, which after 3 confirmations (1 on testnet) should say
that `state` is `CHANNELD_NORMAL`; after 6 confirmations you can use
`cli/lightning-cli listchannels` to verify that the `public` field is now
`true`.
### Different states
* `OPENINGD` means that `lightning_openingd` is negotiating channel
opening.
* `CHANNELD_AWAITING_LOCKIN` means that `lightning_channeld` is waiting
until the minimum number of confirmation on the channel funding
transaction.
* `CHANNELD_NORMAL` means your channel is operating normally.
* `CHANNELD_SHUTTING_DOWN` means one or both sides have asked to shut
down the channel, and we're waiting for existing HTLCs to clear.
* `CLOSINGD_SIGEXCHANGE` means we're trying to negotiate the fee for
the mutual close transaction.
* `CLOSINGD_COMPLETE` means we've broadcast our mutual close
transaction (which spends the funding transaction) , but haven't seen
it in a block yet.
* `FUNDING_SPEND_SEEN` means we've seen the funding transaction spent.
* `ONCHAIN` means that the `lightning_onchaind` is tracking the onchain
closing of the channel.
* `AWAITING_UNILATERAL` means that we're waiting for a unilateral close to hit the blockchain.
All these states have more information about what's going on in the
`status` field in `listpeers`.
The funding transaction needs 3 confirmation in order for the channel to be usable, and 6 to be announced for others to use.
You can check the status of the channel using `lightning-cli listpeers`, which after 3 confirmations (1 on testnet) should say that `state` is `CHANNELD_NORMAL`; after 6 confirmations you can use `lightning-cli listchannels` to verify that the `public` field is now `true`.
### Sending and receiving payments
@ -223,68 +133,75 @@ The recipient creates an invoice with the expected `<amount>` in
millisatoshi (or `"any"` for a donation), a unique `<label>` and a
The sender can feed this `bolt11` string to the `decodepay` command to
see what it is, and pay it simply using the `pay` command:
The sender can feed this `bolt11` string to the `decodepay` command to see what it is, and pay it simply using the `pay` command:
```
cli/lightning-cli pay <bolt11>
```bash
lightning-cli pay <bolt11>
```
Note that there are lower-level interfaces (and more options to these
interfaces) for more sophisticated use.
## Configuration File
lightningd can be configured either by passing options via the command
line, or via a configuration file.
Command line options will always override the values in the configuration
file.
To use a configuration file, create a file named "config" within your
".lightning" directory. Usually, this will be ~/.lightning/config
`lightningd` can be configured either by passing options via the command line, or via a configuration file.
Command line options will always override the values in the configuration file.
Configuration options are set using a key=value pair on each line of
the file, for example:
To use a configuration file, create a file named `config` within your lightning directory.
By default this will be `$HOME/.lightning/config`.
```
Configuration options are set using a key=value pair on each line of the file, for example:
```ini
alias=SLEEPYDRAGON
rgb=008000
network=testnet
```
For a full list of possible lightningd configuration options, run:
```
lightningd/lightningd --help
```bash
lightningd --help
```
## Further information
### Developers
Developers wishing to contribute should start with the developer guide [here](doc/HACKING.md).
### Pruning
c-lightning requires JSON-RPC access to a fully synchronized `bitcoind` in order to synchronize with the Bitcoin network.
Access to ZeroMQ is not required and `bitcoind` does not need to be run with `txindex` like other implementations.
The lightning daemon will poll `bitcoind` for new blocks that it hasn't processed yet, thus synchronizing itself with `bitcoind`.
If `bitcoind` prunes a block that c-lightning has not processed yet, e.g., c-lightning was not running for a prolonged period, then `bitcoind` will not be able to serve the missing blocks, hence c-lightning will not be able to synchronize anymore and will be stuck.
In order to avoid this situation you should be monitoring the gap between c-lightning's blockheight using `lightning-cli getinfo` and `bitcoind`'s blockheight using `bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo`.
If the two blockheights drift apart it might be necessary to intervene.
### JSON RPC
JSON-RPC interface is documented in the following manual pages:
### Developers
Developers wishing to contribute should start with the developer guide [here](doc/HACKING.md).
Christian Decker
6 years ago
Rusty Russell