===== Automated plotting on Linux with Plotman =====
==== Reference Sites ====
  - Install on plotting machine
    * https://chiadecentral.com/plotman-automate-and-manage-chia-plotting/
  - Configure archiver to move plots to external or remote drives
    * https://github.com/ericaltendorf/plotman/wiki/Archiving 
==== Installing Plotman ====
  - Ensure that you have at least Python 3.7 installed and Pip installed 
    * For help go to [[https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/installing-packages/]]
  - Activate your Chia environment
    * ''. ./activate''
  - Install Plotman 
    * ''pip install –force-reinstall git+https://github.com/ericaltendorf/plotman@main''
  - Verify that Plotman is working with
    * ''plotman status''
==== Configure Plotting and Destination Drives ====
  - Create a default plotman.yaml config file
    * ''plotman config generate''
    * This will be located in ~/.config/plotman/plotman.yaml
  - Plotman is designed to maximize the number of plots running in parallel
    * You need to tell it which drives you use for 
      * plotting (primary and secondary)
      * destination
      * (optionally) archiving
    * And how to stagger jobs and the amount of resources to use
    * An example config for plotting with two SSD's, a second plotting temp drive, and a single destination drive
      * <code>directories:
   # normally NVMe SSD or SAS
   tmp:
      - /data/s970evop_1
      - /data/mp510_1

   # only worthwhile if NVMe or SATA SSD
   tmp2: /data/crp1_1/tmp

   # normally spinning rust
   dst:
      - /data/wdredp_1</code>
==== Configure Job Staggering ====
  * An example config that allows 6 parallel jobs in total, with no more than 3 jobs per primary plotting drive, but only 2 jobs per drive in phase 1
    * <code>scheduling:
   tmpdir_stagger_phase_major: 2
   tmpdir_stagger_phase_minor: 1
   tmpdir_stagger_phase_limit: 2   # no more than 2 jobs per drive for above phase thresholds
   tmpdir_max_jobs: 3
   global_max_jobs: 6</code>
==== Configure Plotman Plotting for Pools ====
  * To allow creation of plots for a pool, add the pool contract address to the config file
    * <code>plotting:
   pool_contract_address: xch..............</code>
    * Find your pool contract address with the command
      * ''chia plotnft show''
==== Configure Chia Plot Parameters====
  * Example for rig with 12 hyperthreads, 32 GB RAM, and max of 6 parallel jobs
    * <code>plotting:
type: chia
chia:
  k: 32                # k-size of plot, leave at 32 most of the time
  e: False             # Use -e plotting option
  n_threads: 4         # Threads per job: Can overcommit providing no more than 4 jobs allowed in phase 1
  n_buckets: 128       # Number of buckets to split data into
  job_buffer: 5120     # Per job memory: Increase above default 3390 if RAM to spare for marginal improvement</code>
==== Configure Archiving ====
  * Plotman allows optional archiving to either local or remote drives
    * Although rsyncd is recommended for remote drives, it is also possible to use remote NFS drives and Plotman will think that they are local drives
    * An example config for archiving with throttled bandwidth to a harvester running on a Raspberry Pi with NFS drives is
      * <code>archiving:
  target: rsync_rsync_throttle
  env:
    site_root: /nfs/chia
  target_definitions:
    rsync_rsync_throttle:
      env:
        command: rsync
        # adjust bandwidth limit in bytes/second to avoid overloading device hosting archive drives
        options: --bwlimit=35000 --preallocate --remove-source-files --skip-compress plot --whole-file
        site_root: null
      disk_space_script: |
        #!/bin/bash
        set -evx
        df -BK | grep " ${site_root}/" | awk '{ gsub(/K$/,"",$4); printf "%s:%.0f\n", $6, $4*1024 }'
      transfer_script: |
        #!/bin/bash
        set -evx
        "${command}" ${options} "${source}" "${destination}"
      transfer_process_name: "{command}"
      transfer_process_argument_prefix: "{site_root}"</code>
      
==== Running Plotman ====
  * From the CLI the three commands you will use the most are
    * ''plotman status''
      * Gives an overview of all the jobs running
    * ''plotman interactive''
      * Interactive screen showing jobs and archiving progress
      * Works well with headless systems, i.e. SSH friendly
      * Stop and start plotting and archiving using the <p> and <a> keys
      * Quit the interactive screen by pressing <q>
    * ''plotman analyze''
      * Allows you to see how many jobs you have created over period
      * For example:
      * ''plotman analyze ~/.chia/mainnet/log/*2021-08-09*''
      * <code>+-------+----+-------------+---------------+--------------+---------------+---------------+--------------+
| Slice | n  |   %usort    |    phase 1    |   phase 2    |    phase 3    |    phase 4    |  total time  |
+=======+====+=============+===============+==============+===============+===============+==============+
| x     | 18 | μ=100.0 σ=0 | μ=12.6K σ=659 | μ=5.4K σ=307 | μ=11.6K σ=817 | μ=854.6 σ=132 | μ=30.5K σ=1K |
+-------+----+-------------+---------------+--------------+---------------+---------------+--------------+</code>