Feature Request: Ability to set base ports

[dangeross]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The base port for LND REST api for the first node is usually 8081. This port seems to conflict with other applications (e.g. local development), but in particular it conflicts with XCode build PhaseScriptExecution which runs on 8081.

PhaseScriptExecution Start\ Packager /Users/rosssavage/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Satimoto-evtdshsaqaokluevsdbhyvsxutjv/Build/Intermediates.noindex/Satimoto.build/DebugTestnet-iphonesimulator/Satimoto.build/Script-FD10A7F022414F080027D42C.sh (in target 'Satimoto' from project 'Satimoto')
cd /Users/rosssavage/Source/Projects/react-mobile/ios
/bin/sh -c /Users/rosssavage/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Satimoto-evtdshsaqaokluevsdbhyvsxutjv/Build/Intermediates.noindex/Satimoto.build/DebugTestnet-iphonesimulator/Satimoto.build/Script-FD10A7F022414F080027D42C.sh
Connection to localhost port 8081 [tcp/sunproxyadmin] succeeded!
Port 8081 already in use, packager is either not running or not running correctly
Command PhaseScriptExecution failed with a nonzero exit code

Describe the solution you'd like
To be able to configure the base port settings manually either in the settings.json file or via UI

[jamaljsr]

Thanks for this feedback. It shouldn't be too difficult to add a screen to the UI to specify these base ports.

[limpbrains]

I'm having the same issue while working on React-native project. RN Metro bundler also uses 8081. Maybe you can just switch to some rare or random port?

[limpbrains]

Way to fix this:

• add new LND to your network
• remove first one
• restart
  now 8081 will be free

[Abdulkbk]

Hi @jamaljsr, I would like to take on this. I'll post updates once I begin.

[Abdulkbk]

Hi @jamaljsr, I would like to take on this. I'll post updates once I begin.

I came across this code block:

I think it ensures that ports do not conflict by checking for open ports before assigning any to a node.

I also tried to make the ports conflict - I started a service on 8081 and the first LND node changed to 8082. Tried again by starting 2 different services on 8081 and 8082, and my first LND changed to 8083 this time.

@jamaljsr I believe you're aware of this, so do you think I should go ahead and implement the feature or what would you advise?

[jamaljsr]

@Abdulkbk yes, Polar will already detect and avoid using ports that are already in use. The situation that @dangeross is describing is that initially Polar assigns LND REST ports starting at 8081. So if you start a network in Polar, then open another app that needs ports 8081, it will conflict. So he wants to be able to configure Polar to assign ports starting at a number other than 8081.

The list of starting port numbers (BasePorts) that Polar uses are currently hard-coded in constants.ts. The functionality that needs to be implemented is to display UI somewhere that allows users to customize these BasePorts and have them stored in the Polar settings. So if you were to change the the LND REST base port to 8091, then Polar would assign ports 8091, 8092, 8093, etc. This would alleviate the conflict with the other app. The one thing that we have to be careful of is to not allow users to set these base port numbers to be too close to each other. If the user sets the LND REST port to be 8091 and the CLN REST port to be 8093, then the third LND node will overlap with the first CLN node and the docker network will not start. Right now we have the hard-coded values separated by 100 (LND 8081, CLN 8181, Eclair 8281) since it's unlikely for anyone to add 100 nodes.

I hope this all makes sense. Feel free to ask any clarifying questions.

[Abdulkbk]

@Abdulkbk yes, Polar will already detect and avoid using ports that are already in use. The situation that @dangeross is describing is that initially Polar assigns LND REST ports starting at 8081. So if you start a network in Polar, then open another app that needs ports 8081, it will conflict. So he wants to be able to configure Polar to assign ports starting at a number other than 8081.

The list of starting port numbers (BasePorts) that Polar uses are currently hard-coded in constants.ts. The functionality that needs to be implemented is to display UI somewhere that allows users to customize these BasePorts and have them stored in the Polar settings. So if you were to change the the LND REST base port to 8091, then Polar would assign ports 8091, 8092, 8093, etc. This would alleviate the conflict with the other app. The one thing that we have to be careful of is to not allow users to set these base port numbers to be too close to each other. If the user sets the LND REST port to be 8091 and the CLN REST port to be 8093, then the third LND node will overlap with the first CLN node and the docker network will not start. Right now we have the hard-coded values separated by 100 (LND 8081, CLN 8181, Eclair 8281) since it's unlikely for anyone to add 100 nodes.

I hope this all makes sense. Feel free to ask any clarifying questions.

This makes perfect sense. Thanks for clarifying.