counterweight_v2/README.md

# Counterweight V2

Release: v1

This is the repo where I store everything necessary to spin up my
Bitcoin-related node.

It currently includes:

- Bitcoin core
- electrs
- mempool block explorer
- lnbits

## How to deploy

### Requirements

These instructions assume you are on a debian/ubuntu machine with docker,
docker compose and git installed.

### Cloning

First, clone this repo where you would like to run your node.

### Building electrs

Since there is no good `electrs` docker image out there, we roll our own one
for this project. The file is `electrs-docker/Dockerfile`. To build the image,
run the following command:

```bash
cd electrs-docker
docker build -t my-electrs:latest -f Dockerfile . 
```

### Environment and configuration files

Now, you need to build a `.env` file. You can start by making a copy of
`.env-example` and filling it.

Afterwards, create the `data` folder in the root of the cloned repo. Inside,
create the folders `bitcoin`, `electrs`, `mempool` and `lnbits`.

Inside `data/bitcoin`, you will need to place a `bitcoin.conf` file. You can
use the example in `config_templates/bitcoin.conf`. Ensure that your inputs
here are consistent with the ones in the `.env` file.

Inside `data/electrs/config`, you will need to place a `config.toml` file. You
can use the example in `config_templates/config.toml`. For this one, you should
not make any changes if you are following these instructions.

Inside `data/lnbits`, you will need to place a `.env` file. Pay attention: this
file is specific for LNbits and is unrelated to the other `.env` file that sits
on the root of this repo. The best place to get an example
is [the official LNbits repository](https://github.com/lnbits/lnbits).

### Running and Smoke testing

To run, execute a simple `docker compose up -d`.

Once you get everything running, here is how you can check on the health of the
different services:

- All: check if the containers are running.
- Bitcoin: check the logs. You should see Bitcoin updating its tip with as new
  blocks are found.
- Electrs: connect from Sparrow or another wallet.
- Mempool: visit the page.
- LNbits: visit the page, perhaps make a small transaction if you want to be
  dead sure everything is up and running.

### Monitoring

TODO: explain how to setup automatic monitoring of all the services

## Upgrading versions of the different services

- Bitcoin: upgrade in docker-compose.yaml.
- electrs: specify tag in the `git checkout` command in the custom electrs
  dockerfile, build again.
- mempool: upgrade web, api and db in docker-compose.yaml.
- LNbits: upgrade in docker-compose.yaml.

## How to backup data

The relevant assets you should backup are:
- Your `.env` file.
- Your `docker-compose-yaml` (if you changed any of its contents).
- Your data folder.

An `rsync` to another server should do the trick. You probably don't want to
copy the bitcoin blockchain and the electrs indexes due to their massive size.
You can use the `--exclude` option when calling `rsync` to exclude them.