nix-bitcoin/README.md at 118595608d057abf484825e27f72729d23ef312f

Merge fort-nix/nix-bitcoin#445 : clightning-plugins: add commando plugin

ee4cdb0586 pyln-proto: relax pycparser constraint (William Casarin)
2d6c4e829e readme: fix monitor c-lightning plugin link (William Casarin)
0bede274a8 clightning-plugins/commando: add module (Erik Arvstedt)
380ec3bb78 clightning-plugins: add commando (William Casarin)
80312ba9d7 python-packages/sha256: init at 0.1 (William Casarin)
71eccb73d6 python-packages/runes: init at 0.4.0 (William Casarin)
570e271695 clightning-plugins: bump to latest git (William Casarin)

Pull request description:

ACKs for top commit:
  erikarvstedt:
    ACK ee4cdb0586

Tree-SHA512: 2db97ee758f061ce72f8e049299c453cc4e9947d9af55c68745aa15bcd9529cb47defb52366ca216249441fb8e113c3b3b048a5381f41fd1ef80e677dae0fe37

2022-02-27 18:38:18 +00:00

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nix-bitcoin is a collection of Nix packages and NixOS modules for easily installing full-featured Bitcoin nodes with an emphasis on security.

Overview

nix-bitcoin can be used for personal or merchant wallets, public infrastructure or for Bitcoin application backends. In all cases, the aim is to provide security and privacy by default. However, while nix-bitcoin is used in production today, it is still considered experimental.

nix-bitcoin nodes can be deployed on dedicated hardware, virtual machines or containers. The Nix packages and NixOS modules can be used independently and combined freely.

nix-bitcoin is built on top of Nix and NixOS which provide powerful abstractions to keep it highly customizable and maintainable. Testament to this are nix-bitcoin's robust security features and its potent test framework. However, running nix-bitcoin does not require any previous experience with the Nix ecosystem.

Get started

See the examples for an overview of all features.
To setup a new node from scratch, see the installation instructions.
To add nix-bitcoin to an existing NixOS configuration, see importable-configuration.nix and the Flake example.

Docs

Features

A configuration preset for setting up a secure node

All applications use Tor for outbound connections and support accepting inbound connections via onion services.

NixOS modules (src)

Application services
- bitcoind, with a default banlist against spy nodes
- clightning with support for announcing an onion service
  Available plugins:
  - clboss: automated C-Lightning Node Manager
  - commando: control your node over lightning
  - helpme: walks you through setting up a fresh c-lightning node
  - monitor: helps you analyze the health of your peers and channels
  - prometheus: lightning node exporter for the prometheus timeseries server
  - rebalance: keeps your channels balanced
  - summary: print a nice summary of the node status
  - zmq: publishes notifications via ZeroMQ to configured endpoints
- lnd with support for announcing an onion service and static channel backups
  - Lightning Loop
  - Lightning Pool
  - charge-lnd: policy-based channel fee manager
  - lndconnect via a REST onion service
- Ride The Lightning: web interface for lnd and clightning
- spark-wallet
- electrs
- btcpayserver
- liquid
- JoinMarket
  - JoinMarket Orderbook Watcher
- bitcoin-core-hwi
Helper
- netns-isolation: isolates applications on the network-level via network namespaces
- nodeinfo: script which prints info about the node's services
- backups: duplicity backups of all your node's important files
- operator: adds non-root user operator who has access to client tools (e.g. bitcoin-cli, lightning-cli)

Security

Simplicity: Only services enabled in configuration.nix and their dependencies are installed, support for doas (sudo alternative), code is continuously reviewed and refined.
Integrity: The Nix package manager guarantees that all dependencies are exactly specified, packages can be built from source to reduce reliance on binary caches, nix-bitcoin merge commits are signed, all commits are approved by multiple nix-bitcoin developers, upstream packages are cryptographically verified where possible, we use this software ourselves.
Principle of Least Privilege: Services operate with least privileges; they each have their own user and are restricted further with systemd features, RPC whitelisting and netns-isolation. There's a non-root user operator to interact with the various services.
Defense-in-depth: nix-bitcoin supports a hardened kernel, services are confined through discretionary access control, Linux namespaces, dbus firewall and seccomp-bpf with continuous improvements.

Note that if the machine you're deploying from is insecure, there is nothing nix-bitcoin can do to protect itself.

Troubleshooting

If you are having problems with nix-bitcoin check the FAQ or submit an issue.
There's also a Matrix room at #general:nixbitcoin.org and a #nix-bitcoin IRC channel on libera.
We are always happy to help.

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