How to use PiMP OS for professional mining? (Linux distro)

Installation Process and System Requirements

1. PiMP OS requires a 64-bit x86-64 CPU with virtualization support enabled in BIOS, at least 4GB RAM, and a minimum of 32GB storage space on SSD or USB drive.

2. Download the latest ISO from the official PiMP OS website and verify its SHA256 checksum before flashing using tools like BalenaEtcher or Rufus.

3. Boot from the USB device, select “Install PiMP OS” from the GRUB menu, and follow the guided partitioning wizard—manual LVM setup is supported for advanced users.

4. During installation, assign a static hostname and configure network interface settings to ensure consistent miner connectivity across reboots.

5. The installer automatically configures GPU drivers for AMD (ROCm 5.7+) and NVIDIA (470.199.02+), including OpenCL and CUDA toolkit integration.

Mining Configuration via pimp-manager CLI

1. After first boot, log in as pimp user and run pimp --update to fetch the latest miner binaries and configuration templates.

2. Use pimp --miners to list all pre-installed miners such as lolMiner, GMiner, T-Rex, and TeamRedMiner, each compiled against optimized GPU libraries.

3. Configure a new mining profile with pimp --new, specifying pool URL, wallet address, coin algorithm (e.g., ETHASH, KAWPOW, AUTOLYKOS2), and intensity parameters per GPU.

4. Assign profiles to specific GPUs using pimp --gpu 0 --profile eth-ethermine, allowing heterogeneous rigs to run different algorithms simultaneously.

5. Save configurations with pimp --save; the system writes JSON-based config files to /opt/pimp/configs/ with automatic backup versioning.

Monitoring and Remote Management

1. Access the built-in web dashboard at http://[rig-ip]:8080, which displays real-time hashrate, temperature, fan speed, power draw, and pool connection status for each GPU.

2. Enable SSH access by default; use pimp --ssh on to toggle key-based authentication and restrict root login via /etc/ssh/sshd_config.

3. Integrate with external monitoring stacks using the PiMP API endpoint /api/v1/status, returning JSON-formatted metrics compatible with Prometheus exporters.

4. Schedule automated health checks with pimp --cron add --check-temp --alert-email admin@domain.com to trigger notifications when GPU core exceeds 85°C.

5. Log rotation is handled by logrotate daily; raw logs reside in /var/log/pimp/, including stratum connection traces and kernel-level GPU error reports.

Security Hardening and Network Isolation

1. The firewall defaults to UFW with only ports 22 (SSH), 8080 (web UI), and 3333 (stratum proxy) open; all others are explicitly denied.

2. All miner binaries are signed with the PiMP OS GPG key and verified during pimp --update; unsigned packages trigger immediate abort and alert logging.

3. GPU compute mode is set to EXCLUSIVE_PROCESS to prevent unauthorized CUDA/OpenCL access from non-miner processes.

4. The pimp user has no sudo privileges by default; administrative tasks require explicit sudo -u root invocation with audit trail in /var/log/auth.log.

5. Stratum traffic is forced through TLS 1.3 when connecting to pools supporting it; fallback to plain TCP is disabled unless manually overridden in config.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can PiMP OS mine on ASIC-resistant coins like Ravencoin or Ergo?A: Yes. PiMP OS includes XMRig for RandomX, lolMiner for Autolykos2 (Ergo), and KawPow-compatible miners for Ravencoin. Algorithm support is updated within 48 hours of mainnet activation.

Q: Does PiMP OS support dual mining setups like ETH+CKB or ETH+ALGO?A: Dual mining is not natively supported. PiMP OS focuses on single-algorithm stability per GPU; concurrent kernels may cause thermal throttling or driver crashes on consumer-grade cards.

Q: How does PiMP OS handle GPU driver updates across kernel upgrades?A: Kernel modules are rebuilt automatically during pimp --update using DKMS. If a new kernel lacks compatible drivers, the system boots into fallback mode with legacy GPU stack.

Q: Is there a way to disable automatic miner restarts after watchdog triggers?A: Yes. Edit /opt/pimp/conf/pimp.conf and set watchdog_enabled=false. This disables the systemd service that monitors miner liveness and auto-restarts failed instances.