Aleo Mining Guide: Setup and Process Explained

Aleo is dedicated to building a modular and compliant zero-knowledge privacy application platform, offering a comprehensive toolkit for developing private applications. The Aleo mining algorithm is known as Alpha, and currently, it only supports NVIDIA GPU mining.

During the test phase, users can connect to mining pools for preliminary testing. Please note that this stage does not offer any points or rewards.

Once Aleo Testnet3 is officially launched, users who connect to the pool and participate in mining will begin to accumulate points.

After Testnet3 concludes, rewards will be calculated based on Aleo’s official incentive plan and each user’s mining points. These rewards will be credited to user accounts. Users can also bind their Aleo mainnet wallet addresses to withdraw mining earnings.

Preparing Your Mining Equipment and Environment

Mining Hardware Requirements

To mine Aleo effectively, you'll need:

GPU: NVIDIA graphics card with driver version 515 or higher.
CPU: A 16-core CPU is recommended per GPU (e.g., a 32-core CPU for 2 GPUs).
RAM: 64GB of memory per GPU (e.g., 128GB for 2 GPUs). Using more, smaller RAM sticks is often more efficient than fewer, larger ones.
Storage: A 256GB SSD is sufficient.

Software and Operating System

Operating System: Ubuntu 18.04 is the recommended OS for stability and compatibility.
Mining Software: The necessary software can be obtained from official repositories.

Registering a Mining Account

The f2pool platform uses a username-based mining system for Aleo. You need to register an account to get your unique username.

Visit the f2pool official website.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the registration process.
Once registered, log in to your account. Your username will be visible in your account center or dashboard.

This username is essential for configuring your mining parameters. All mining rewards will be automatically accumulated in your account and can be withdrawn once you bind your wallet.

👉 Explore more strategies for efficient mining setup

Configuring Your Mining Parameters

Miners can choose one of the following two connection methods based on their preferences and network setup.

Option 1: Connecting to a Standard Pool Address

This method connects to the pool without SSL encryption.

Set Your Account Name: Open the aleo.sh file. Locate the line that reads ACCOUNT_NAME=accountname and replace accountname with your actual f2pool username.
Set the Pool Address: In the same file, find the line POOL=”xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxx”. Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:xxxx with the following address: stratum+tcp://aleo-asia.f2pool.com:4400.
Start Mining: Execute the following command in your terminal to begin mining:
```
chmod +x aleo.sh && ./aleo.sh
```

Option 2: Connecting to an SSL-Encrypted Pool

This method uses SSL encryption for a more secure connection to the mining pool.

Install stunnel: Use the following command to install the stunnel package on Ubuntu:
```
sudo apt-get install stunnel4
```
Configure stunnel: You will need to create and edit the stunnel configuration file to establish the secure connection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Aleo?
A: Aleo is a platform focused on enabling privacy-preserving applications through zero-knowledge proof technology. It allows developers to build decentralized applications that offer user privacy by default.

Q: Can I mine Aleo with AMD GPUs?
A: Currently, Aleo's Alpha mining algorithm only supports NVIDIA GPUs. AMD GPU support has not been announced for this phase.

Q: Do I get paid during the test phase?
A: No, the initial testing phase does not offer any rewards or points. Earnings only begin to accumulate once the official Testnet3 phase is active.

Q: How do I receive my mining rewards?
A: After Testnet3, rewards are calculated and credited to your f2pool account. You must then bind your official Aleo mainnet wallet address to your f2pool account to withdraw your earnings.

Q: Why is a specific CPU and RAM configuration recommended?
A: Aleo mining is computationally intensive. The recommended 16-core CPU and 64GB RAM per GPU help ensure the miner operates efficiently and can handle the complex proofs required by the algorithm without bottlenecks.

Q: Is mining on Ubuntu mandatory?
A: While Ubuntu 18.04 is the recommended and most tested environment for stability, technically skilled miners might get it running on other Linux distributions, though official support and guides are tailored for Ubuntu.