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UmbrelInfo

Frequently Asked Questions

General questions and further learnings regarding the technology used in Umbrel.

Issues concerning the primary operations of your Umbrel node can be found in the separate Troubleshooting guide.

Table of contents

  1. Can I get rich by routing Lightning payments?
  2. Can I attach the Ext4 formatted hard disk to my Windows computer?
  3. Can I use previously downloaded blockchain to save time when setting up my Umbrel node?
  4. What do all the Linux commands do?
  5. How can I see the logs of a specific Umbrel module?
  6. Where can I get more information?
  7. Does Umbrel support …?

Can I get rich by routing Lightning payments?

Nobody knows. Probably not. You will get minimal fees. I don’t care. Enjoy the ride!

Can I attach the Ext4 formatted hard disk to my Windows computer?

The Ext4 file system is not compatible with standard Windows, but with additional software like Linux File Systems by Paragon Software (they offer a 10 days free trial) it is possible.

Can I use previously downloaded blockchain to save time when setting up my Umbrel node?

This is not natively supported by Umbrel for different reasons but you can make it at your own risk following these instructions:

  1. Flash Umbrel OS to an SD card and boot it in a Pi with your SSD attached
  2. Run through the setup process
  3. Go to the settings page and shutdown Umbrel (Your SSD is now formatted correctly for Umbrel)
  4. Remove the SSD and attach it to a host Linux machine with access to the pre-downloaded blockchain
  5. Copy blocks and chainstate directories from your Bitcoin Core data directory to /umbrel/bitcoin/ on the SSD
  6. Remove the SSD from the host, plug it back into your Umbrel, and power it back on.

What do all the Linux commands do?

This is a (very) short list of common Linux commands for your reference. For a specific command, you can enter man [command] to display the manual page (type q to exit).

command description example
cd change to directory cd /home/umbrel
ls list directory content ls -la /home/umbrel/umbrel
cp copy cp file.txt newfile.txt
mv move mv file.txt moved_file.txt
rm remove rm temporaryfile.txt
mkdir make directory mkdir /home/umbrel/newdirectory
ln make link ln -s /target_directory /link
sudo run command as superuser sudo nano textfile.txt
su switch to different user account sudo su root
chown change file owner chown umbrel:umbrel myfile.txt
chmod change file permissions chmod +x executable.script
nano text file editor nano textfile.txt
tar archive tool tar -cvf archive.tar file1.txt file2.txt
exit exit current user session exit
systemctl control systemd service sudo systemctl start umbrel-startup
journalctl query systemd journal sudo journalctl -u umbrel-external-storage
htop monitor processes & resource usage htop
shutdown shutdown or restart Pi sudo shutdown -r now

How can I see the logs of a specific Umbrel module?

Step 1 - In a terminal window, execute this:

ssh -t umbrel@umbrel.local

Password: < your own Umbrel dashboard password > (remember that you will not see what you type, then press ENTER)

Step 2 - type this command, replacing the name of each docker container you want to see (tor, lnd, bitcoin, btcpay, lnbits etc)

docker-compose logs tor

Where can I get more information?

If you want to learn more about Bitcoin and are curious about the inner workings of the Lightning Network, the following list of articles and tutorials can offer a very good introduction:

General Info about Bitcoin and Lightning Network:

Umbrel Tutorials:

Lightning Network Apps:

Video Tutorials for wallets

Video Tutorials for privacy using nodes

Does Umbrel support …?

Currently not, but Umbrel has an application infrastructure, so third-party developers can add apps to Umbrel and publish them in its App Store.

This General FAQ guide will be constantly updated with findings that have been or will be reported in the issues section. Feel free to contribute via a merge request.