🔐Backups

Backing up your Alby Hub is essential to ensure your funds can be recovered in case you lose access to your node. Taking the time to do it right ensures everything is safe and easily recoverable.

This guide applies to the default node implementation of Alby Hub (LDK) only. If you're using a different node backend, please refer to its documentation for backup instructions.

1. Recovery Phrase

2. Channel backup

   1. Automatic Backups (part of ✨ Alby Subscription)

   2. Manual Backups (self-hosting)

3. Backup checklist

Types of Backups

1. Recovery Phrase

• What It Does Restores any funds in your Savings Balance.

• Limitations Any funds held in channels will be lost, unless you also have a backup of your channels. (see below)

2. Channel backups

Channel backups can only be restored if you have the Recovery Phrase.

2.1 Automatic Backups (part of ✨ Alby Subscription)

• What It Does Asks your channel partners to force-close the channel to your node. Backups are being made after each channel opening / closure automatically and are encrypted before they are stored along with your Alby Account.

• Limitations Funds from channels may take up to 14 days to return. You will need to open new channels to continue sending and receiving transactions.

2.2 Manual backups (self-hosting)

You need to make this backup each time you have a new channel. If new channels were made after the backup, you could risk losing funds.

• What It Does Asks your channel partners to force-close the channel to your node.

• Limitations Funds from channels may take up to 14 days to return. You will need to open new channels to continue sending and receiving transactions.

• How to backup the self-hosted version of Alby Hub:

  1. Go to the working directory of your Alby Hub

  2. Back up the newest file in .data/ldk/static_channel_backups/

Backup Checklist

✨ Alby Subscription

• Recovery Phrase

• Unlock password

• Access to your Alby Account (to get the latest channel backup)

Self-hosted (no subscription)

• Recovery Phrase

• An up-to-date channel backup of your Alby Hub

Where are Alby Hub self-hosted internal files on Windows?

Please note that the data files for Alby Hub on Windows can be found here: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\albyhub. ⚠️ Be very careful with these files, as they contain crucial information about your Lightning Network channels and cannot be recovered if deleted. If you wish to migrate your hub to another computer, it's recommended to use the proper migration flow instead of simply copying and pasting this folder to ensure all data is safely transferred. 😊🔒

Where are Alby Hub self-hosted internal files on Unix or macOS?

For other operating systems, we use the XDG implementation, specifically the XDG_DATA_HOME folder type.

On Unix, Alby Hub stores important data in ~/.local/share, while on macOS, it’s located in ~/Library/albyhub. 😊 For more details about XDG folder implementation, you can check this link: XDG Implementation Guide 📂👍

Thanks for your understanding!

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Congratulations! 🎉 You've successfully learned how to back up your Alby Hub, ensuring the safety of your funds and channels. Remember to always keep your Recovery Phrase, unlock password, and latest channel backup handy. With your backups in place, your hub is now well-protected and ready for any situation! 🔐📦

Get a subscription to Alby Cloud! ☁️ Unlock 24/7 availability for your self-hosted wallet by subscribing to Alby Cloud. Never worry about downtime again!

Learn More About Savings Balance! 💰 Discover the on-chain side of your self-custodial wallet. Click here to learn more about managing your Savings Balance securely.

Migrate Your Hub! 🔄 Planning to move your Alby Hub? The migration process is similar to a backup in many ways. Click here to explore more on how to migrate your hub seamlessly!

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Thank you for stopping by! This section was created with contributions from René, Roland & Jean-Paul