Run a Mining Pool

Running a Pastella mining pool allows miners to combine their hash rate and receive steady, predictable payouts. This guide covers setting up and operating your own mining pool.

What is a Mining Pool?

A mining pool is a cooperative mining service where multiple miners contribute computing power to find blocks. When a block is found, rewards are distributed among participants based on their contributed shares.

How Payouts Work

Pastella pools use PPLNS (Pay Per Last N Shares):

Pool fee: 1% of block reward
Finder reward: 1% to block finder
Miners: 98% distributed proportionally

Benefits of Running a Pool

Service to community - Help smaller miners earn
Pool fee income - Earn 1% of all block rewards
Control - Custom payout thresholds, fees, features
Transparency - Full visibility into pool operations

Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	4 cores	8+ cores
RAM	4GB	8GB+
Storage	50GB SSD	100GB+ SSD
Network	100 Mbps	1 Gbps

Software Requirements

OS: Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 11+
Node.js: v14.21.3 (use NVM)
Redis: v2.6+
Pastella Daemon: Latest from PastellaCore

Network Requirements

Public IP with open ports:
- 3333 - Low end miners
- 5555 - Mid range miners
- 7777 - High end miners
- 8117 - Stratum protocol
- 80/443 - Frontend (optional)

Installation

Step 1: Install Dependencies

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install build dependencies
sudo apt install -y \
  build-essential \
  libssl-dev \
  libboost-all-dev \
  libsodium-dev \
  python3 \
  git

# Install Redis
sudo apt install -y redis-server
sudo systemctl enable redis-server
sudo systemctl start redis-server

Step 2: Install Node.js

Use NVM for Node.js management:

# Install NVM
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc

# Install Node.js v14.21.3
nvm install 14.21.3
nvm use 14.21.3
nvm alias default 14.21.3

Step 3: Install and Sync Pastella Daemon

# Clone PastellaCore
git clone https://github.com/PastellaOrg/Pastella
cd Pastella

# Build
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

# Run daemon
./src/Pastellad --rpc-bind-ip 0.0.0.0

Wait for full blockchain sync.

Step 4: Clone Mining Pool

# Clone pool repository
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/PastellaOrg/pastella-mining-pool
cd pastella-mining-pool

# Install dependencies
npm install

Configuration

Step 1: Create Pool Wallet

Generate a wallet for pool rewards:

# Using Pastella Wallet API
./Pastella-Wallet-API --generate-container \
  --container-file pool.wallet \
  --container-password YourStrongPassword

Save the wallet address that's generated.

Step 2: Configure Pool

Copy and edit the configuration:

cp config.json.example config.json
nano config.json

Key Configuration Settings

{
  "poolHost": "your-pool-domain.com",
  "poolAddress": "PAS1YourPoolWalletAddressHere",
  "coinUnits": 100000000,
  "cnAlgorithm": "randomx",
  "isRandomX": true,
  "cnVariant": 0,
  "cnHalfVariant": 0,

  "daemon": {
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 21001
  },

  "walletApi": {
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 21002,
    "apiKey": "your-api-key-here",
    "walletFile": "/path/to/pool.wallet",
    "walletPassword": "YourStrongPassword"
  },

  "payments": {
    "enabled": true,
    "interval": 300,
    "minPayment": 100000,
    "denomination": 1000,
    "transferFee": 1000,
    "dynamicTransferFee": true,
    "minerPayFee": true
  },

  "blockUnlocker": {
    "enabled": true,
    "poolFee": 1,
    "finderReward": 1,
    "depth": 10
  },

  "ports": {
    "3333": {
      "diff": 1000,
      "desc": "Low end hardware"
    },
    "5555": {
      "diff": 15000,
      "desc": "Mid range hardware"
    },
    "7777": {
      "diff": 25000,
      "desc": "High end hardware"
    },
    "9999": {
      "diff": 500000,
      "desc": "Super high end"
    }
  },

  "varDiff": {
    "minDiff": 100,
    "maxDiff": 100000000,
    "targetTime": 30,
    "retargetTime": 15,
    "variancePercent": 30,
    "maxJump": 50
  },

  "redis": {
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 6379,
    "db": 0,
    "password": null
  }
}

Setting Difficulty Ports

Adjust difficulty based on your miners:

Port	Difficulty	Hardware	Notes
3333	1000-5000	CPUs, SBCs	Raspberry Pi friendly
5555	15000	Modern CPUs	i5/i7, Ryzen
7777	25000	High-end CPUs	Threadripper, i9
9999	500000+	Mining farms	Enterprise grade

Payment Configuration

Understanding payment settings:

interval: Seconds between payment runs (300 = 5 minutes)
minPayment: Minimum payout (100000 = 0.001 PAS)
denomination: Round to this amount (1000 = 0.00001 PAS)
minerPayFee: If true, miners pay transfer fee

Running the Pool

Start the Pool

cd ~/pastella-mining-pool
node init.js

You should see output like:

[Pool] Started on 3333 port (low difficulty)
[Pool] Started on 5555 port (mid range)
[Pool] Started on 7777 port (high end)
[Api] Listening for API requests on port 8117

Create Systemd Service

For auto-start on boot:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/pastella-pool.service

[Unit]
Description=Pastella Mining Pool
After=network.target pastellad.service redis.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=your-user
WorkingDirectory=/home/your-user/pastella-mining-pool
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /home/your-user/pastella-mining-pool/init.js
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
SyslogIdentifier=pastella-pool

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable and start
sudo systemctl enable pastella-pool
sudo systemctl start pastella-pool

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u pastella-pool -f

Frontend Setup

The pool includes a web frontend for miner statistics.

Build Frontend

cd ~/pastella-mining-pool/frontend
npm install
npm run build

Deploy to Web Server

# Install nginx
sudo apt install nginx

# Copy built files
sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/html/

# Configure nginx
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/pastella-pool

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-pool-domain.com;

    location / {
        root /var/www/html;
        index index.html;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }

    location /api {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8117;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

# Enable site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/pastella-pool /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Pool Management

Monitoring Pool Performance

Access the pool API:

# Pool stats
curl http://localhost:8117/stats

# Miner stats
curl http://localhost:8117/stats?address=PAS1MinerAddress

# Worker stats
curl http://localhost:8117/workers?address=PAS1MinerAddress

Redis Commands

# Connect to redis
redis-cli

# View all pool keys
KEYS pastella:*

# View pool stats
HGETALL pastella:stats

# View miner balance
HGET pastella:balances:PAS1MinerAddress balance

# Clear all data (danger!)
FLUSHDB

Backup and Recovery

Backup Redis data:

# Save snapshot
redis-cli BGSAVE

# Backup RDB file
cp /var/lib/redis/dump.rdb ~/redis-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).rdb

Backup wallet:

# Backup wallet file
cp pool.wallet ~/pool-wallet-backup.wallet

# Backup wallet keys
cat pool.wallet.keys > ~/pool-wallet-keys-$(date +%Y%m%d).txt

Security

Firewall Configuration

# Install UFW
sudo apt install ufw

# Allow SSH
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

# Allow pool ports
sudo ufw allow 3333/tcp
sudo ufw allow 5555/tcp
sudo ufw allow 7777/tcp
sudo ufw allow 9999/tcp

# Allow web
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable

API Key Security

Generate strong API key:

# Generate random key
openssl rand -hex 32

Update config.json:

"walletApi": {
  "apiKey": "generated-random-key-here"
}

Rate Limiting

Protect against abuse:

# Install fail2ban
sudo apt install fail2ban

# Create filter
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/pastella-pool.conf

[Definition]
failregex = <HOST> .* "Ban:.*"
ignoreregex =

# Enable jail
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

[pastella-pool]
enabled = true
filter = pastella-pool
logpath = /var/log/syslog
maxretry = 10
bantime = 3600

Docker Deployment

Alternative deployment using Docker:

Dockerfile

FROM node:10.24.0-slim

RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    build-essential \
    libssl-dev \
    libboost-all-dev \
    redis-server \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install

COPY . .

EXPOSE 3333 5555 7777 8117

CMD ["node", "init.js"]

docker-compose.yml

version: '3'

services:
  pool:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3333:3333"
      - "5555:5555"
      - "7777:7777"
      - "8117:8117"
    volumes:
      - ./config.json:/app/config.json
      - pool-data:/app/data
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - redis

  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
    restart: always

volumes:
  pool-data:
  redis-data:

# Deploy
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f pool

Troubleshooting

"Cannot connect to daemon"

Ensure daemon is running with RPC enabled:

# Check daemon status
curl http://localhost:21001/info

# Check daemon logs
tail -f ~/.pastella/debug.log

"Wallet API connection failed"

Verify wallet API is running:

# Check if wallet API is accessible
curl http://localhost:21002/getbalance

# Start wallet API if not running
./Pastella-Wallet-API \
  --rpc-bind-port 21002 \
  --container-file pool.wallet \
  --container-password YourPassword

Miners cannot connect

Check firewall and ports:

# Check if ports are listening
netstat -tulpn | grep -E '3333|5555|7777'

# Check firewall
sudo ufw status

High memory usage

Tune Redis:

# Edit redis config
sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf

maxmemory 1gb
maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru

Pool Best Practices

1. Regular Backups

Backup Redis daily
Backup wallet files weekly
Test recovery procedures

2. Monitoring

Set up alerts for pool downtime
Monitor hash rate and miner count
Track payout processing

3. Transparency

Publish pool fee structure
Show pool hash rate transparently
Provide miner statistics

4. Community

Provide clear documentation
Respond to support requests
Maintain communication channels

Profitability

Revenue Calculation

Daily Revenue = Blocks Found × Block Reward × Pool Fee
Blocks Found = (Pool Hash Rate / Network Hash Rate) × Daily Blocks
Daily Blocks = 2880 (30-second block time)

Example:

Pool has rate: 10,000 H/s
Network has rate: 500,000 H/s
Pool share: 2%
Blocks per day: ~58
Pool fee (1%): 2.3 PAS/day

What is a Mining Pool?​

How Payouts Work​

Benefits of Running a Pool​

Prerequisites​

Hardware Requirements​

Software Requirements​

Network Requirements​

Installation​

Step 1: Install Dependencies​

Step 2: Install Node.js​

Step 3: Install and Sync Pastella Daemon​

Step 4: Clone Mining Pool​

Configuration​

Step 1: Create Pool Wallet​

Step 2: Configure Pool​

Key Configuration Settings​

Setting Difficulty Ports​

Payment Configuration​

Running the Pool​

Start the Pool​

Create Systemd Service​

Frontend Setup​

Build Frontend​

Deploy to Web Server​

Pool Management​

Monitoring Pool Performance​

Redis Commands​

Backup and Recovery​

Security​

Firewall Configuration​

API Key Security​

Rate Limiting​

Docker Deployment​

Dockerfile​

docker-compose.yml​

Troubleshooting​

"Cannot connect to daemon"​

"Wallet API connection failed"​

Miners cannot connect​

High memory usage​

Pool Best Practices​

1. Regular Backups​

2. Monitoring​

3. Transparency​

4. Community​

Profitability​

Revenue Calculation​

Costs​

Next Steps​

Additional Resources​