Mining

The miner is available natively on Windows, Ubuntu, and MacOS. There is also a docker miner, but this is now deprecated.

Overview

This getting started guide will cover:

  • Getting the Command Line Interface (CLI) wallet software
  • Creating an XGT wallet address and keys
  • Getting the mining software
  • Creating the miner run command using the keys
  • Mining process

Getting the XGT CLI Wallet

The XGT CLI wallet is currently distributed as a Docker Image. This manages the wallet dependencies, and provides installation without cumbersome tooling configuration.

  1. Install Docker

  2. Pull the wallet code docker image: 
    docker pull obskein/xgt-wallet:1.0.7
  3. Run the docker wallet image, in this case connecting to a seed node at seed-node-1.xgt.co.in 
    docker run --env XGT_HOST=http://seed-node-1.xgt.co.in:8751/ -it obskein/xgt-wallet:1.0.7

Creating an XGT wallet address and keys

Wallets which are used for mining XGT must be registered on the XGT network using a signing tap, such as xgt-firestarter.

Once the XGT CLI wallet is running, the command

create_mining_wallet

SAVE WHAT GETS EMITTED BY THIS COMMAND, it will look like this:

{"extensions"=>[], "operations"=>[{"type"=>"witness_update_operation", "value"=>{"owner"=>"XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT", "url"=>"http://test.host", "block_signing_key"=>"XGT6AuTQeopoMyrwcbFhYJdv3G3MimjdVpATh9iVwWcN2TSmd1yYx", "props"=>{"account_creation_fee"=>{:amount=>"0", :precision=>8, :nai=>"@@000000021"}}, "fee"=>{:amount=>"0", :precision=>8, :nai=>"@@000000021"}}}]}
"4aa587ca9816fd0d25853439e5920129770b91e8"
"sudo docker run --publish 8751:8751 --publish 2001:2001 --env XGT_WALLET=XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT --env XGT_RECOVERY_PRIVATE_KEY=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_WITNESS_PRIVATE_KEY=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_SEED_HOST=seed-node-1.xgt.co.in:2001 rjungemann/xgt:1.4.8"
keys
    master 5KKCemKjiTrxh8NS2vtfWZvzzhhMNHARZYgfvoFkDwZpJh4g91H
    recovery_private 5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86
    recovery_public XGT6AuTQeopoMyrwcbFhYJdv3G3MimjdVpATh9iVwWcN2TSmd1yYx
    money_private 5KM95toHur4ehkBMnQTGMcGeHqW2w9DdSU2dCMyWqMwgDobnLam
    money_public XGT5t9LwMxPEGQw8kDs6cfUtzHHkLTJHfNWMQKtNkm32gDAShV4Eg
    social_private 5KDyq1jfvVMXDWLW4UXAKVSpyYjjtzDb4sU6V8F2tkCXvTtsrDz
    social_public XGT7Jc414q6vg8hF2vBiUWUJFykYzbt1vXU5wpwWzcVxfzX6daHaF
    memo_private 5JUF9fzkzmgEL6LVME37wRpYRfHiM5jmx8sqpSy3SZPLCjFQK1k
    memo_public XGT5gBkQjx3zhT7PR6seJLMgzcEUWYCU33hM4zytQG9upMmVee76v
    wallet_name XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT
body {"keys":{"wallet_name":"XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT","recovery_public":"XGT6AuTQeopoMyrwcbFhYJdv3G3MimjdVpATh9iVwWcN2TSmd1yYx","money_public":"XGT5t9LwMxPEGQw8kDs6cfUtzHHkLTJHfNWMQKtNkm32gDAShV4Eg","social_public":"XGT7Jc414q6vg8hF2vBiUWUJFykYzbt1vXU5wpwWzcVxfzX6daHaF","memo_public":"XGT5gBkQjx3zhT7PR6seJLMgzcEUWYCU33hM4zytQG9upMmVee76v"},"create_tx_res":{"id":"84878d4f9a50f869da4492d7c96ac8a2e2057def"}}
#=> true

This output contains several useful things:

Miner registration operation:

The operation that will go to the network, to register your miner:

{"extensions"=>[], "operations"=>[{"type"=>"witness_update_operation", "value"=>{"owner"=>"XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT", "url"=>"http://test.host", "block_signing_key"=>"XGT6AuTQeopoMyrwcbFhYJdv3G3MimjdVpATh9iVwWcN2TSmd1yYx", "props"=>{"account_creation_fee"=>{:amount=>"0", :precision=>8, :nai=>"@@000000021"}}, "fee"=>{:amount=>"0", :precision=>8, :nai=>"@@000000021"}}}]}

The TXID for that registration:

"4aa587ca9816fd0d25853439e5920129770b91e8"

A Docker run command, for running the miner:

sudo docker run --publish 8751:8751 --publish 2001:2001 --env XGT_WALLET=XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT --env XGT_RECOVERY_PRIVATE_KEY=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_WITNESS_PRIVATE_KEY=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_WIFS=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_SEED_HOST=seed-node-1.xgt.co.in:2001 rjungemann/xgt:1.4.8

The keys that were created:

keys
    master 5KKCemKjiTrxh8NS2vtfWZvzzhhMNHARZYgfvoFkDwZpJh4g91H
    recovery_private 5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86
    recovery_public XGT6AuTQeopoMyrwcbFhYJdv3G3MimjdVpATh9iVwWcN2TSmd1yYx
    money_private 5KM95toHur4ehkBMnQTGMcGeHqW2w9DdSU2dCMyWqMwgDobnLam
    money_public XGT5t9LwMxPEGQw8kDs6cfUtzHHkLTJHfNWMQKtNkm32gDAShV4Eg
    social_private 5KDyq1jfvVMXDWLW4UXAKVSpyYjjtzDb4sU6V8F2tkCXvTtsrDz
    social_public XGT7Jc414q6vg8hF2vBiUWUJFykYzbt1vXU5wpwWzcVxfzX6daHaF
    memo_private 5JUF9fzkzmgEL6LVME37wRpYRfHiM5jmx8sqpSy3SZPLCjFQK1k
    memo_public XGT5gBkQjx3zhT7PR6seJLMgzcEUWYCU33hM4zytQG9upMmVee76v
    wallet_name XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT

Will create a series of public and private keypairs, and a wallet address. Additionally, the command will also register the address with the network, to enable mining.

Mining on Windows

The Windows miner is available as an executable, requiring minimal configuration. Please use the Latest Release, as updates to the client can meaningfully affect network health.

Configuring the miner

To generate the required configuration files, run xgtd.exe and then safely close the program using ctrl+c. You can find xgtd data, including config.ini, in %Appdata%\.xgtd. To configure your miner, make the following changes to the config.ini file and add the credentials from the wallet you created earlier:

  1. # witness = should be witness = "WALLET_NAME" (with "")
  2. # private-key = should be private-key = RECOVERY_PRIVATE
  3. # mining-reward-key = should be mining-reward-key = RECOVERY_PRIVATE
  4. Add another line miner = [WALLET_NAME, RECOVERY_PRIVATE]
  5. Change the value of enable-stale-production from 0 to 1

Running the miner

The miner can be run with or without command line arguments like so: D:\Users\root\Downloads\xgtd --data-dir=D:\xgt-chainstate-0. The following arguments may be useful for advanced configurations or dealing with irregularities in chain behavior:

  • Set the data directory: --data-dir=SOME_DIRECTORY
  • Rebuild the blockchain from an existing block log: --replay-blockchain
  • Recover from unknown transaction state: --transaction-status-rebuild-state

Known issues

Closing the miner without safely shutting it down using ctrl+c will require a resync. Closing the miner during a sync can sometimes cause issues, which can be fixed using the --transaction-status-rebuild-state command line argument

Mining on Ubuntu

The CMake version was upgraded in 1.4.9. To install the correct version of CMake, issue the following commands:

  1. sudo apt remove --purge cmake
  2. hash -r
  3. sudo snap install cmake --classic

After installing the correct version of CMake, clone the XGT Github repository and run

  1. cd xgt (Go into xgt directory)
  2. git pull
  3. git checkout 1.4.9
  4. rake clean configure make
  5. rake run

Wallet credentials can be set as environment variables. Here are the required environment variables:

  • XGT_WALLET=YOUR_WALLET_NAME
  • XGT_WIF=RECOVERY_PRIVATE
  • XGT_RECOVERY_PRIVATE_KEY=RECOVERY_PRIVATE
  • XGT_WITNESS_PRIVATE_KEY=RECOVERY_PRIVATE
  • MINING_DISABLED=FALSE (TRUE for non-mining seed nodes)

Mining using Docker (Deprecated)

Downloading and installing the miner is broadly similar in form to the wallet CLI.

docker pull rjungemann/xgt:1.4.8

Creating the miner run command using the keys

The following command must be updated to use the wallet address AND the wallet recovery_private keys procured in the previous steps. In this case, XGT_WALLET needs to be set to the wallet address, and XGT_RECOVERY_PRIVATE_KEY needs to be set to the recovery private address.

sudo docker run --publish 8751:8751 --publish 2001:2001 --env XGT_WALLET=XGT3oKtXHRCJhc62YFfBmjpoKP9picBmRfkn77yUPmT --env XGT_RECOVERY_PRIVATE_KEY=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_WITNESS_PRIVATE_KEY=5JsLyFWarvkXQyvXZ2XD3Y9P1WRfmJLyarMfA4PGv3UFAb9eh86 --env XGT_SEED_HOST=seed-node-1.xgt.co.in:2001 rjungemann/xgt:1.4.8

Mining process

Once a miner is attached to the network, either via the seed node or to another running node, then XGT will (in order)

  1. Catch up the current block log, and sync with the network
  2. Listen for transactions in the mempool
  3. Attempt to calculate a valid SHA-256 for a block, using the current difficulty
  4. Attempt to sign that block with the valid credentials
  5. Broadcast the signed block, and get rewarded for the block mine.

Tips

Save the docker run command as a cmd file (windows) or sh file (other platforms) to simplify starting the miner.

On linux, the engineering team uses systemd configurations to run the miner on startup. This can be achieved using the startup folder on windows, to start at login.

Common problems

Witness does not exist yet, bailing!

This is caused by mining wallet not correctly being registered on the network. There was likely a problem communicating with the XGT seed node in the wallet set up phase, because either the address of the seed node was wrong, or the seed node was down. Set an alternate seed node by setting XGT_SEED_HOST to a node on the network.