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1359 sats \ 22 comments \ @sox 10 Sep meta

Official Alby Hub GuideOfficial Alby Hub Guide

last updated: September 10, 2025

Flavors:

Desktop
Server

Setup Alby Hub DesktopSetup Alby Hub Desktop

Download the latest Alby Hub Desktop release from Github here
Run Alby Hub Desktop

It is recommended to use an always-on device, as receiving payments could otherwise fail.

see official documentation

Now you can attach send and/or receive

Setup Alby Hub ServerSetup Alby Hub Server

Requirements:

a server running a Linux-based distribution or macOS
reachable from the internet via clearnet and HTTPS

Choose a path:

Quickstart (only Linux)
Docker
Manual

QuickstartQuickstart

Follow the Quick start script provided by Alby here
Visit the Web UI at ip:8080 or ip:8029 (if installed as a service) to continue setup

DockerDocker

Pull the image from Docker:

$ docker run -v .albyhub-data:/data -e WORK_DIR='/data' -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/getalby/hub:latest

Visit the Web UI at ip:8080 to continue setup

ManualManual

Download the latest Alby Hub Server release for your processor from Github here
Extract it to a folder of your choice, we'll go with albyhub, and navigate to it
Create a data folder in albyhub: mkdir -p data
Create a start.sh script in albyhub

WORK_DIR="dir/to/albyhub/data" LDK_GOSSIP_SOURCE="" dir/to/albyhub/bin/albyhub

Now you can either install it as a service or run it via ./start.sh
Visit the Web UI at ip:8080 or ip:PORT (if installed as a service) to continue setup

Now you can attach send and/or receive

Install as a systemd service (optional)Install as a systemd service (optional)

This focuses on systemd for Linux systems.

macOS uses launchd to handle services, you can follow this really good guide to mirror what we're going to do here.

Open with your editor of choice /etc/systemd/system/albyhub.service
Populate:

[Unit]
Description=Alby Hub
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=1
User=$USER
ExecStart=dir/to/albyhub/start.sh
Environment="PORT=8029"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl enable albyhub
sudo systemctl start albyhub

Attach sendAttach send

Navigate to the Connections tab in Alby Hub
Press Add connection

Create a Full Access connection and press Next

Copy the Nostr Wallet Connect URL via the apposited button

Paste the copied NWC URL in the NWC send step of the Alby Hub wallet attachment on SN
Press next in Stacker News

Attach receiveAttach receive

Navigate to the Connections tab in Alby Hub
Press Add connection

Create a Read Only connection and press Next

Copy the Nostr Wallet Connect URL via the apposited button

Paste the copied NWC URL in the NWC receive step of the Alby Hub wallet attachment on SN
Press next in Stacker News

view all related items

1 reply \ @sox OP 10 Sep

You can follow an amazing and more in-depth guide from @DarthCoin here #701233. I can't speak for it being updated, but it explores external sources opposed to Alby's own service.

This guide focuses only on

installing Alby Hub
creating connections
- attach these connections to SN

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 10 Sep

Do you guys plan to add also the Rizful node guide into SN docs, about how to connect with SN? I think is a good option too.

1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 10 Sep

I'll also shamelessly plug my Alby desktop guide which is designed for a total lightning noob: #723978

It walks through everything step by step and explains common pitfalls like thinking you need to buy liquidity from a LSP.

It's a little dated now and the SN interface has changed but hopefully the guide mostly still works

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @sox OP 10 Sep

Awesome!

169 sats \ 6 replies \ @sancristrader 17 Nov

I am running the Hub in the Docker container on my server. Configured everything per this guide, and the send/receive wallets show green:

The hub portal however says that I must open a channel first, to receive anything:

Is this required, or SN will open a channel to my hub when I withdraw?

62 sats \ 5 replies \ @sox OP 17 Nov

You do have to open a channel either with us (but this gets expensive very quickly) or with a provider.

I missed this in the guide! will update in the coming days 🫡

In the meantime, you can follow Alby’s guides on how to open a channel.

100 sats \ 4 replies \ @sancristrader 17 Nov

Can you explain why it gets expensive when I open a channel with SN directly?
What are the cheapest channel to open? And how do I fund this wallet, it has 0 sats and no channels open.

Also, another thing for the guide is that it is probably wise to not run the config portal on a public IP, to expose the node config to the open internet? I run Docker bound to localhost

docker run -d \
  --privileged \
  --name albyhub \
  -v /nail/alby/data:/data \
  -e WORK_DIR='/data' \
  -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/getalby/hub:latest

then ssh'd to my server with an SSH tunnel

ssh -L 8080:localhost:8080 me@myserver.com

and then accessed the portal via http://localhost:8080/ in my browser

100 sats \ 2 replies \ @sancristrader 17 Nov

Also, I see this in the SN FAQ:

there could be an issue paying your receiving wallet if the zap is small and you don't have a direct channel to SN, the routing fee may exceed SN's 3% max fee

So there seems to be an advantage in opening a direct channel?

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @sox OP 19 Nov

Sorry, got lost in the loop!

Can you explain why it gets expensive when I open a channel with SN directly?

You'd have to provide the outbound liquidity (sats that you can spend through the channel) yourself with an on-chain transaction. It's relatively expensive, if the channel closes you get back your bitcoins, so you're just locking them.

Then you also have to pay the channel opening fee which varies with the mempool congestion

So there seems to be an advantage in opening a direct channel?

It's always recommended to open a channel this way because

it has virtually non-existent routing fees
you wouldn't depend on the status of an LSP
it keeps you in control

But you still have to get inbound liquidity in some way to receive sats, e.g. by spending through your channel or receiving through your specific channel. You can also buy inbound liquidity from an LSP.

On the other hand, opening an LSP is not a bad idea to start receiving and sending sats. It's convenient, cheap and you don't have to manage anything. You can open a channel now and don't have to deal with anything else, but direct channels will affirm your funds sovereignty.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @sancristrader 20 Nov

Can you answer these questions about opening a direct channel to SN:

If I want to only receive what I earn on SN, the outbound liquidity would have to be minimal? How much would it have to be?
Private or public channel? (I have no other channels to me)
Do you have any write-up or instructions on how to open a channel to you?
Can you open a channel to my node instead?

The tx fees are minumal right now, so I think i'd be interested in opening a direct channel to SN.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @sox OP 19 Nov

that it is probably wise to not [...] expose the node config to the open internet?

that's correct, this guide only covers basic installation and security should be assessed personally. but I'll include some tips in the next update

350 sats \ 1 reply \ @Nodii 12 Sep

Quick heads-up: I added an external link to this page in the Alby guides: https://guides.getalby.com/user-guide/alby-hub/alby-hub-flavors/docker

Thanks for your contribution 🙏

Note: we may remove the link if the guide becomes outdated. There are many community guides, and keeping them all current requires ongoing checks by the team. I included this one because it’s up to date and adds details not covered in our docs. 🔗🙂

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @sox OP 12 Sep

That’s nice! This guide covers the essentials, since it’s an updatable post we’ll make sure to be up to date ourselves.

Thanks a lot!

edit: oh and please, if you find anything wrong, don’t hesitate to let us know ^^

35 sats \ 3 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 10 Sep

I'm not trying to be an asshole or troll here, but you called this the "Official" guide. Are you working on Alby development (your bio doesn't say)? "Official" implies some level of connection to the project itself.