nix-bitcoin/examples/README.md

Examples

The easiest way to try out nix-bitcoin is to use one of the provided examples.

Flakes-based quick start

If you use a Flakes-enabled version of Nix, run the following command to start a minimal nix-bitcoin QEMU VM:

nix run github:fort-nix/nix-bitcoin/release

The VM (defined in flake.nix) runs in the terminal and has bitcoind and clightning installed.
It leaves no traces (outside of /nix/store) on the host system.

More examples

Clone this repo and enter the examples shell:

git clone https://github.com/fort-nix/nix-bitcoin
cd nix-bitcoin/examples/
nix-shell

The following example scripts set up a nix-bitcoin node according to ./configuration.nix and then shut down immediately. They leave no traces (outside of /nix/store) on the host system.
By default, ./configuration.nix enables bitcoind and clightning.

• ./deploy-container.sh creates a NixOS container.
  This is the fastest way to set up a node.
  Requires: Nix, a systemd-based Linux distro and root privileges

• ./deploy-qemu-vm.sh creates a QEMU VM.
  Requires: Nix, Linux

• ./deploy-krops.sh creates a QEMU VM and deploys a nix-bitcoin configuration to it using krops.
  Requires: Nix, Linux

• ./deploy-container-minimal.sh creates a container defined by importable-configuration.nix.
  You can copy and import this file to use nix-bitcoin in an existing NixOS configuration.
  The configuration doesn't use the secure-node.nix preset.
  Requires: Nix, a systemd-based Linux distro and root privileges

Run the examples with option --interactive or -i to start a shell for interacting with the node:

./deploy-qemu-vm.sh -i

Tests

The nix-bitcoin test suite is also useful for exploring features.

Real-world example

Check the server repo for https://nixbitcoin.org to see the configuration of a Flakes-based nix-bitcoin node that's used in production.

The commands in shell.nix allow you to locally run the node in a VM or container.

Flakes

Flakes make it easy to include nix-bitcoin in an existing NixOS config. The flakes example shows how to use nix-bitcoin as an input to a system flake.

Persistent container with Flakes

The persistent container example shows how to run a Flake-based node in a container.
Requires: A systemd-based Linux distro and root privileges.

Extending nix-bitcoin with Flakes

The mempool extension flake shows how to define new pkgs and modules in a Flake.
Since mempool is now a core nix-bitcoin module, this Flake just serves as an example.