Node Academy: Chapter 4 - Installing and Configuring LND & TOR

To install LND (Lightning Network Daemon), you can either download the binary from the project's repository or compile it from the source code. If you choose to compile from source, you'll need to install dependencies such as Node.js, Yarn, and Golang.

Once LND is installed, you need to configure it before starting it for the first time. This involves creating a configuration file and making some amendments to the Bitcoin Core configuration file. The Bitcoin Core configuration file should include settings for enabling remote procedure calls and ZMQ, with specified usernames and passwords.

For LND configuration, you'll need to create a lit.conf file and customize settings such as the node's alias, color, UI password, and Bitcoin RPC username and password. You also need to specify Bitcoin Core options, including the RPC host, ZMQ settings, and network type.

After configuring LND, you can test the installation by running "litd" and ensuring it doesn't encounter any errors.

If you want to use Tor with LND, you can install Tor either from the Ubuntu software repository or from source. To configure Tor, you need to generate a password, edit the Tor configuration file to set the HashedControlPassword and ControlPort, and then restart Tor.

To configure LND for Tor, you'll need to add Tor-related settings to the lit.conf file, including enabling Tor, specifying the SOCKS and control ports, Tor password, and optional settings for clearnet operation. You can also configure Bitcoin Core to connect to peers over the Tor network by adding a "proxy" setting to its configuration file.

Following these instructions will allow you to install and configure LND, along with optional Tor integration, for enhanced privacy and connectivity in your Bitcoin node.