[UPDATED] Guide to mining on DigitalOcean! ($0.007 per hour, average 650 PPS)

[XPMiner]

UPDATE: There have been some recent optimizations released which increase the PPS to an average of 650PPS (from 25-30 earlier).

Below I've written a step-by-step guide along with my personal tips. Please use my referral link below. Donations are welcome!
(XPM: AbPbhpodUx4DDPpgrYUCuGrTVehqiVxHes | LTC: LSRn1M1kp7cukPnn9K6UcckVP5Mi3FA7PZ | BTC: 1CGz2zaJeJ1Bg5ttVtzNbNuR13ThchPHyk)

1)   Visit DigitalOcean and sign up for a new account.
2)   Try any of these promo codes for a free $10 credit: http://www.retailmenot.com/s/digitalocean (note: you must enter it along with your credit card on the billing tab)
3)   Create a 512GB / 1 CPU Ubuntu 12.10 x64 Desktop. (This is the best value for mining purposes. $0.007 per hour up to $5 per month and I preferred the Desktop just because I hate not having GUIs though there may be a slight performance decrease.)
4)   You will be emailed the password for your "Droplet". Use it to login via "console access"
5)   Download Primecoin. http://sourceforge.net/projects/primecoin-hp/files/0.1.1-hp4/primecoin-0.1.1-hp4.tar.bz2/download

Code: [Select]

apt-get install build-essential libssl-dev libboost-all-dev libdb5.3++-dev -y
apt-get install libgmp-dev
tar jxf primecoin-0.1.1-hp4.tar.bz2
cd primecoin-0.1.1-hp4/src
dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=64M count=16
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile
make -f makefile.unix USE_UPNP=-
mkdir ~/.primecoin
echo "rpcuser=ARPCUserName
rpcpassword=SomethingReallyLongOK
gen=1" > ~/.primecoin/primecoin.conf
sudo mv primecoind /usr/local/bin/.
primecoind --daemon
6)   Setup primecoind to load on startup: applications menu->settings->settings manager->session and startup->application autostart->add

Code: [Select]

/usr/local/bin/primecoind --daemon
7)   Create a script on desktop to run watch your mining progress (This makes it easier as once you login you just have to double-click one icon to check on your mining stats)
right click on desktop->create launcher->

Code: [Select]

watch 'primecoind listtransactions | grep "amount\|category" & primecoind getmininginfo'   Now your first "Droplet" is all set.
9)   To make more "Droplets" you can save time by cloning your first "Droplet" by saving it as an image and reusing it in "Create". (note: this maybe a security risk because then all your Droplets will have the same wallet)
10)    New accounts are limited to 5 "Droplets" however you can send in a support ticket to request your limit be increased.
11)    To access your newly mined Primecoins
on VPS terminal:

Code: [Select]

primecoind listtransactions # to find your receiving addresses
primecoind dumpprivkey $receiving_address
on main wallet:

Code: [Select]

primecoind importprivkey $privkey_from_vps

Happy mining! Let me know if you have any questions or your own suggestions/improvements.

--
(XPM: AbPbhpodUx4DDPpgrYUCuGrTVehqiVxHes | LTC: LSRn1M1kp7cukPnn9K6UcckVP5Mi3FA7PZ | BTC: 1CGz2zaJeJ1Bg5ttVtzNbNuR13ThchPHyk)

[FuzzyBear]

nice guide, i had a test with a few servers and found no advantage to increasing the number of cores and ram.. think my server provider sucks

[craslovell]

Giving it a try, but it looks like the promo code isn't working 

[XPMiner]

Giving it a try, but it looks like the promo code isn't working 

Try any of these: http://www.retailmenot.com/s/digitalocean

[craslovell]

Giving it a try, but it looks like the promo code isn't working 

Try any of these: http://www.retailmenot.com/s/digitalocean

I was just about to say, HELLOSF works for $5 off.

Making a droplet now for fun, we will see how it goes!

[craslovell]

Going to have to add some nodes, this droplet doesn't like to play nice.

[craslovell]

Going to have to add some nodes, this droplet doesn't like to play nice.

scratch that it just had to think hard about it for 5 minutes 

[ekco]

I've had so-so luck on my digitalocean miners - my openVZ miners perform a hell of a lot better.

digitalOcean1: 32 PPS
digitalOcean2: 19 PPS
digitalOcean3: 28 PPS

openVZ1: 118 PPS
openVZ2: 312 PPS
openVZ3: 230 PPS

[XPMiner]

I've had so-so luck on my digitalocean miners - my openVZ miners perform a hell of a lot better.

digitalOcean1: 32 PPS
digitalOcean2: 19 PPS
digitalOcean3: 28 PPS

openVZ1: 118 PPS
openVZ2: 312 PPS
openVZ3: 230 PPS

What's the rate you're paying for openVZ?

[craslovell]

my droplet is getting about 3 PPS when I check it. Doesn't bother me though it's just for fun!

[mhps]

According to this https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet#Bitcoin_Qt it is not a good idea to use the same wallet elsewhere (e.g. in the VM created by images)

The solution seems to be simple if the wallet in the image is empty -- delete the wallet.dat and a new one will be generated when the wallet is run. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet#Making_a_new_wallet

If you don't know it yet -- here is how to access your new coins from another wallet even before the coins mature. Useful when you have to give up the VM and the immature coins in it cannot be sent out:  http://ppcointalk.org/index.php?topic=333.0

[XPMiner]

OP has been updated with optimizations.

[DR3AMR2]

For the watch section, you'll get a cleaner output to show the mining info and balance (immature, mature and orphan) if you use this:

Code: [Select]

watch 'primecoind listtransactions | grep "amount\|category" & primecoind getmininginfo'


[XPMiner]

For the watch section, you'll get a cleaner output to show the mining info and balance (immature, mature and orphan) if you use this:

Code: [Select]

watch 'primecoind listtransactions | grep "amount\|category" & primecoind getmininginfo'


Thanks! Updating OP

[DR3AMR2]

You can also get away with compiling the source code in the smaller single CPU droplet if you create a swapfile

Code: [Select]

dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=64M count=16
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile

[XPMiner]

You can also get away with compiling the source code in the smaller single CPU droplet if you create a swapfile

Code: [Select]

dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=64M count=16
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile

Thanks again! Updated OP. What's your XPM address? you deserve a tip! Btw, did you sign up as a result of my guide or did you already know about this?

[n01d3x]

Ok, so I have got my droplet set up and running. I can see the mininginfo, but how will I know when I find a block?

[UnknownK]

According to you I signed up for a digital ocean account. But while entering the card details I didn't notice any place where I can enter the promo code. They actually charged my original creditcard until I deactivated the account. please help me out here.

[XPMiner]

Ok, so I have got my droplet set up and running. I can see the mininginfo, but how will I know when I find a block?

You can setup a main wallet to run on your main computer. Import the private keys from your droplet. Instructions are in OP. However you have to have mined blocks before you know what addresses you normally mine into.

[XPMiner]

According to you I signed up for a digital ocean account. But while entering the card details I didn't notice any place where I can enter the promo code. They actually charged my original creditcard until I deactivated the account. please help me out here.

Just send in a support ticket, they will credit you $10.

[craslovell]

It looks like if you accept a smaller code in the promo box, it won't let you change it. You actually have to delete browser cache for the box to be available again, otherwise they hide it.

tricky tricky

[ivanlabrie]

Ok, so I have got my droplet set up and running. I can see the mininginfo, but how will I know when I find a block?

You can setup a main wallet to run on your main computer. Import the private keys from your droplet. Instructions are in OP. However you have to have mined blocks before you know what addresses you normally mine into.

Hmmm, do you need to do anything else to get the mined blocks in your main wallet? I imported yet I had a block I wasn't aware of in one of my vps instances.

[XPMiner]

Ok, so I have got my droplet set up and running. I can see the mininginfo, but how will I know when I find a block?

You can setup a main wallet to run on your main computer. Import the private keys from your droplet. Instructions are in OP. However you have to have mined blocks before you know what addresses you normally mine into.

Hmmm, do you need to do anything else to get the mined blocks in your main wallet? I imported yet I had a block I wasn't aware of in one of my vps instances.

Yes, you have to check your VPS once in a while because new blocks may be mined into addresses that you haven't seen before. Right now there are 6-7 different addresses I'm mining into using a single wallet.

[ivanlabrie]

Damn! I lost a lot of xpm then...

[XPMiner]

Just curious, how many droplets has everyone setup?

[craslovell]

Just curious, how many droplets has everyone setup?

I've setup only one just for fun. Everything else I'm mining with is raw desktop CPU power 

By the way, the droplet hasn't found a single block since I created it either.

[mhps]

This thread is famous now

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/16/digitalocean_primecoin_cloud_problems/

[sahkan]

This thread is famous now

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/16/digitalocean_primecoin_cloud_problems/

"18,000 users signed up", so which one of you spend a whole day signing up with new accounts?

[FuzzyBear]

This thread is famous now

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/16/digitalocean_primecoin_cloud_problems/

it was the:

" One person on the Primecoin forum posted a walkthrough"

link back to this forum that really buttered my ego!!