HowTo run and connect to PoW Miner pool

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See: Main_Page, NodeCore_Networking

See also: List_of_mining_pools_testnet

Overview

A brand new pool will start at Current Round = 1, as the Current Round is based on number of blocks won... not to be confused with the current blockchain height

  • Current Round: X - the blocks that have been won by this pool. This increments each time the pool wins a new block.
  • Pool Mining Block: Y - the current block the pool is working on
  • Blockchain height: Z - the height of the blockchain

Once a round is won, then the pool payouts the reward from the block proportionally to all the shares submitted.

For example, if you mine on a pool for 10 minutes, and it wins a block (block time is targeted for every 30 seconds, other pools may win other blocks in the meantime), and you contributed 10% of the shares to that round, then you will receive approximately 10% of the block reward (less pool fees).

Technical note - The pool data is stored in the file: "\testnet\poolshares-normal.txt". Is that is deleted, then the html page will start anew.

Pool 1b.png

Setup a Pool

Modify the nodecore.properties file: 

#Allow the pool statistics page to be reachable from any remote host
pool.stats.bind.address=0.0.0.0

#Allow the UCP pool server to be reachable from any remote host
ucp.mining.bind.address=0.0.0.0
  1. Run an instance of NodeCore
  2. In the NodeCore_CommandLine, run startpool
  3. Make note of the public IP (pool miners will connect to this)
  4. Open firewall ports for 8500/tcp and 8501/tcp such that other clients can connect

Opening firewall ports will vary per OS and version. One set of commands is: 

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8500/tcp
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8501/tcp
firewall-cmd --reload

Connect to an Existing Pool

  1. Run the PoW Miner
  2. Specify thread count to mine on
  3. Connect to the IP and port provided by the pool owner (Note that pools generally want to maximize users, to pools binding to 0.0.0.0 allow connections from any IP)
  4. Enter the address to mine to (run getinfo from the NodeCore_CommandLine)

You can see pool results by viewing the web page:

http://<IP_Address>:8500

FAQ

Should I pool or solo mine?

Joining a pool reduces the variance.

If you join a pool, you are more likely to get a trickle of rewards because the pool has higher hashing rate, but splits among all the members. Pools will also have an operator fee, but that is negligible.

  • If you join a bigger pool (more hashes), then you are likely to get a more frequent trickle, but of smaller rewards because it's split among more people
  • If you join a smaller pool (less hashes), then you are likely to get less frequent rewards... but when (if) they come they'll be larger because it's split among less people

If you solo mine, when (if) you do a get a reward then you get the whole thing. If you solo mine at 1/10000 of the total network hash, statistically within 10000 blocks you will win a block and get the whole reward.

There is not a right or wrong answer to (1) Should I join a pool or solo mine, or (2) should I join a big pool or a small pool.

Troubleshooting

Cannot see the pool web page

Check for http (as in http://<IP_Address>:8500), not https

Ensure that the nodecore.properties file has been updated per above steps (and NodeCore was restarted).

Ensure that firewall ports are open for 8500/tcp and 8501/tcp

I start the pool but another computer can not connect its IP

Set this option in your nodecore.properties file (See: Nodecore.properties) 

ucp.mining.bind.address=0.0.0.0

And restart NodeCore and the pool software

Error: unable to start pool Starting pool failed: the port 8500 is already bound on 127.0.0.1!

Ensure that the nodecore.properties file is updated per above, and restart nodecore.

Pool is stuck at round 1

Troubleshooting questions to check:

  • Is there a miner connecting to it?
  • If you run NC_CLI getinfo, does it show the latest block (i.e. does NodeCore appear to be updating)?

Pool is stuck at block X

This should not happen, but if it does... have the administrator restart nodecore on the server.

General Troubleshooting tips

Make sure that it works locally:

  • You can connect a miner on 127.0.0.1
  • You can view the html page at http://127.0.0.1:8500
  • You can connect NC_CLI on 127.0.0.1 and run getInfo and it shows the latest block

Make your you're connecting to the right ports: 

The website is on port 8500
http://111.194.224.159:8500/

The miner connects to port 8501
111.194.224.159:8501
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