Raspberry Pi Monero Mining

Overview

This guide walks you through setting up a Raspberry Pi as a Monero (XMR) CPU miner using XMRig, a high-performance, open-source RandomX miner. Monero uses the RandomX proof-of-work algorithm, designed specifically for CPU mining.

What You'll Learn

Requirements

Gather the following hardware and software before starting.

Section 1 — Install Raspberry Pi Imager

Download and use the official Raspberry Pi Imager to flash the operating system.

Section 2 — First Boot and System Update

Boot your Raspberry Pi and perform initial system updates.

Connect via SSH

Insert the SD card into your Pi, connect power, and SSH into the device:

ssh username@raspberrypi.local

Replace username with the username you configured. If you changed the hostname, use that instead of raspberrypi.

Update System Packages

Run the following commands to update all packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

Clean Up After Reboot

After the system reboots, reconnect via SSH and remove unused packages:

sudo apt autoremove -y

Section 3 — Install Required Dependencies

Install the build tools and development libraries needed to compile XMRig.

Install Build Tools

sudo apt install -y git cmake build-essential

Install Development Libraries

Install the libraries required for RandomX-based CPU mining:

sudo apt install -y \
    libssl-dev \
    libuv1-dev \
    libhwloc-dev \
    libmicrohttpd-dev \
    libjansson-dev \
    libgmp-dev \
    libunbound-dev \
    libsodium-dev \
    pkg-config

Dependency Reference

Section 4 — Clone and Build Mining Software

Download and compile XMRig, a high-performance open-source Monero CPU miner.

Clone XMRig Repository

git clone https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig.git
cd xmrig

Create Build Directory and Compile

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

Build Process Explanation

Section 5 — Monero Wallet Setup

Create a Monero wallet to receive your mining rewards.

Section 6 — Configure Mining Software

Configure XMRig with your wallet address and mining pool settings.

Configuration Requirements

• Wallet address — Your Monero public address
• Mining pool URL — Pool server address and port
• Worker name — Identifier for this miner
• CPU thread configuration — Number of threads to use

Create Configuration File

Create a config.json file in the build directory:

nano ~/xmrig/build/config.json

Example Configuration

Add the following configuration (replace placeholders with your values):

{
    "autosave": true,
    "cpu": true,
    "opencl": false,
    "cuda": false,
    "pools": [
        {
            "url": "pool.example.com:3333",
            "user": "YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS_HERE",
            "pass": "worker1",
            "coin": "monero",
            "algo": "rx/0",
            "keepalive": true,
            "tls": false
        }
    ],
    "print-time": 60,
    "health-print-time": 60,
    "retries": 5,
    "retry-pause": 5
}

Configuration Fields

Section 7 — Start Mining

Launch XMRig in a screen session for interactive monitoring. Using screen allows you to detach from the mining session while it continues running in the background.

Install Screen

If screen is not already installed:

sudo apt install -y screen

Start XMRig in a Screen Session

Navigate to the build directory and start XMRig in a detached screen session:

cd ~/xmrig/build
screen -dmS xmrig ./xmrig

This starts XMRig in a detached screen session named xmrig. The miner runs in the background and you can safely disconnect from SSH.

Attach to the Screen Session

To view the live mining output, attach to the screen session:

screen -r xmrig

Detach from the Screen Session

To detach and leave XMRig running in the background, press:

Ctrl+A, then D

This returns you to the normal shell while XMRig continues mining.

Screen Commands Reference

Expected Console Output

When XMRig starts successfully, you'll see output similar to:

 * ABOUT        XMRig/6.x.x
 * LIBS         libuv/1.x.x OpenSSL/x.x.x hwloc/2.x.x
 * HUGE PAGES   supported
 * CPU          ARM Cortex-A72 (4) 64-bit
 * MEMORY       3.7/7.8 GB
 * DONATE       1%
 * POOL #1      pool.example.com:3333
 * COMMANDS     hashrate, pause, resume, results, connection
[2026-02-06 12:00:00.000]  net      new job from pool.example.com
[2026-02-06 12:00:01.000]  cpu      accepted (1/0) diff 10000 (62 ms)
[2026-02-06 12:01:00.000]  miner    speed 10s/60s/15m 85.2 85.0 n/a H/s

Understanding the Output

Section 8 — Optional Optimization

Tune your miner for improved performance and stability.

Adjust Thread Count

Edit config.json to specify the number of mining threads. For a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4 cores, start with 3-4 threads:

"cpu": {
    "enabled": true,
    "huge-pages": true,
    "max-threads-hint": 100
}

Monitor CPU Temperature

vcgencmd measure_temp

Set CPU Governor to Performance

For maximum hashrate, set the CPU frequency scaling governor to performance mode:

echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Cooling Recommendations

Section 9 — Autostart on Boot (systemd + screen)

Configure XMRig to start automatically in a screen session when the Raspberry Pi boots. This method combines the power of systemd for auto-start with screen for interactive monitoring.

Step 1: Create the Start Script

Create a script in your home directory that manages the screen session:

nano ~/start-xmrig.sh

Add the following content:

#!/bin/bash
cd /home/pi/xmrig/build
# Kill any old xmrig screen
screen -S xmrig -X quit 2>/dev/null
# Start in detached screen
screen -dmS xmrig bash -c './xmrig; exec bash'
# Keep script alive so systemd service stays active
while true; do sleep 3600; done

Make the script executable:

chmod +x ~/start-xmrig.sh

Step 2: Create the systemd Service

Create a new systemd service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/xmrig-screen.service

Add the following configuration:

[Unit]
Description=XMRig Monero Miner (Screen Session)
After=network.target

[Service]
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi
ExecStart=/home/pi/start-xmrig.sh
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
StandardOutput=inherit
StandardError=inherit

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Step 3: Enable and Start the Service

# Reload systemd to recognize the new service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable to start at boot
sudo systemctl enable xmrig-screen.service

# Start the service immediately
sudo systemctl start xmrig-screen.service

# Check that it's running
sudo systemctl status xmrig-screen.service

Interacting with the Miner

Once the service is running, you can attach to the screen session to view live mining output:

# Attach to the mining session
screen -r xmrig

# Detach (leave running): Press Ctrl+A, then D

Cleaning Up Dead Screens

If you have stale or dead screen sessions, clean them up with:

screen -wipe

Service Management Commands

How It Works

Optional: Advanced Performance Tuning (Overclocking)

Overclocking can improve CPU and memory performance but increases heat and power consumption.

Edit Boot Configuration

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

CPU Overclocking Settings

Add or modify the following lines (example for Raspberry Pi 4):

# CPU frequency (example for Pi 4)
arm_freq=2000

# Increase core frequency
core_freq=600

# Enable overvoltage (use conservative values)
over_voltage=6

Memory Tuning (Optional)

# Increase SDRAM frequency
sdram_freq=550

Apply Changes

sudo reboot

Monitor Temperature

Install monitoring tools:

sudo apt install -y lm-sensors

Check temperature:

vcgencmd measure_temp

Overclocking Guidelines

Reverting Changes

To revert to default settings, remove or comment out the added lines from /boot/config.txt and reboot:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt
# Comment out or remove overclocking lines
sudo reboot