How to configure ASIC Hub for remote monitoring? (Farm management)

ASIC Hub Overview and Core Functionality

1. ASIC Hub is a centralized firmware layer designed to interface directly with Bitcoin mining hardware, particularly Bitmain Antminers and MicroBT Whatsminers.

2. It replaces default vendor firmware with an open-source alternative that exposes real-time telemetry via HTTP API, WebSocket streams, and MQTT endpoints.

3. The system supports simultaneous connection to multiple miners across heterogeneous models, enabling unified status visualization without vendor lock-in.

4. Built-in authentication mechanisms restrict unauthorized access to power controls, configuration changes, and firmware updates.

5. All data ingestion occurs locally on the hub device; no telemetry is transmitted to external cloud services unless explicitly configured by the operator.

Hardware Requirements and Network Setup

1. A dedicated Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM minimum) or x86-based Linux server running Debian 12 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS serves as the host platform.

2. The hub must reside on the same Layer 2 network segment as the mining fleet to ensure low-latency polling and broadcast discovery.

3. Static IP assignment is mandatory for the hub device to maintain stable DNS resolution and avoid DHCP lease conflicts during reboots.

4. Port forwarding rules are unnecessary if remote access is achieved through reverse SSH tunneling or WireGuard-based site-to-site encryption.

5. Miner devices must have their management interfaces set to static IPs or reserved DHCP leases to prevent address drift during long-running operations.

Remote Monitoring Configuration Steps

1. Install the official ASIC Hub image onto the host SD card or disk using BalenaEtcher and boot the device with Ethernet connected.

2. Access the initial setup portal via http://:8080 from a local browser and configure admin credentials, timezone, and NTP server.

3. Navigate to the “Miner Discovery” tab and initiate a subnet scan; discovered units appear with model identification, firmware version, and hashboard count.

4. Enable MQTT export by specifying broker address, port, username, and password—then assign each miner to a unique topic prefix like “farm/antminer-s19j-pro/001”.

5. Activate the built-in Grafana instance by toggling the dashboard service and importing the preloaded “ASIC Realtime Metrics” JSON dashboard template.

Security Hardening Practices

1. Disable SSH password authentication and enforce key-based login with ED25519 keys generated offline.

2. Configure UFW to allow only inbound traffic on ports 22 (SSH), 8080 (web UI), and 1883 (MQTT) while blocking all others by default.

3. Rotate API tokens every 90 days and revoke unused tokens via the “Access Control” section of the web interface.

4. Apply kernel-level sysctl restrictions to disable ICMP echo replies and prevent ARP cache poisoning attempts.

5. Mount /var/log and /etc as read-only after initial configuration to mitigate persistence of malicious payloads.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can ASIC Hub monitor non-Bitmain miners such as Canaan Avalon units?ASIC Hub does not support Avalon devices due to proprietary communication protocols and lack of public register documentation. Only Antminer and Whatsminer families are officially integrated.

Q: Is it possible to trigger automatic shutdowns when ambient temperature exceeds a threshold?Yes. Temperature-triggered actions are configurable under “Automation Rules” where users define sensor input sources, comparison operators, and relay output assignments.

Q: Does ASIC Hub store historical hashrate data locally?It retains 72 hours of in-memory metrics by default. For extended retention, external InfluxDB or TimescaleDB instances can be configured as time-series backends.

Q: What happens if the hub device loses power during a firmware update on a connected miner?The update process halts immediately. Miners revert to their last known stable firmware version and resume operation without manual intervention.