Table of Contents
Quick Start - How to farm Chia
New to Chia farming? In this guide, we will help you to get started! We will discuss:
- system prerequisites;
- how to download the Chia client;
- how to generate your own private key;
- how to obtain your first XCH;
- how to create a PlotNFT;
- how to create your first poolplot;
- how to monitor your farm.
Prerequisites
- Computer with minimum 4-core CPU and 4GB (8 recommended) of RAM
- At least 250 GiB of free space on your HDD/SSD
- a few minutes of patience (to sync the Chia Blockchain, which is ~20.8GB, as of 02-Oct-2021)
Ideally this is a very energy efficient computer that you can leave on 24/7, like the Raspberry Pi4, or an old left-over desktop or laptop.
Step 1 - Downloading the Chia Client
Download the latest version of the Chia Client for your system from the official Chia Network github here.
The Chia code signing certificate is new, so you will likely be presented with the question if you trust the installation. Here you have to choose “More Info” and “Run Anyway” to be able to run the installer.
Step 2 - Generating your own private key
“Not your keys, not your crypto.” - A phrase that every crypto-enthousiast will have heard in his life at least once. This is the moment. You will generate your own private keys!
Click on [Create a New Private Key]. You will be presented with a list of 24 words. Write these words down carefully and in the correct order. If you loose them, you will not be able to access your funds in your wallet. You can also save them on a USB drive that is not connected to the internet, or put them in an encrypted notepad file. Only you are responsible for keeping your keys safe.
Clickt [Next] to proceed to the Chia Network GUI. Select Farming Mode under Settings. Your computer will now connect to other nodes in the network in order to synchronize the blockchain, as well as your wallet. This can take up to two days. Let the waiting begin… but in the meantime you can already get started with Step 3!
Step 3 - Obtaining your first XCH
In order to create your plotNFT in step 4, you will first need some XCH coins. This is because a fraction of XCH is required to create the smartcontract on the blockchain that allows you to join a pool. To obtain your first XCH, you can go to the faucet of the official Chia Network website here. You are asked to enter your wallet address. This is the receive address that you can find under the Wallet tab on the left of the Chia client. Proceed to step 4 when your wallet is synced; this shouldn't take more than around 15 mintues.
Step 4 - Creating your first plotNFT
Welcome back. Once your wallet is synced, you can create your first PlotNFT. This is a smartcontract that allows you to join (and leave/switch) a pool with all the plots that you assign to this contract (as in Step 5).
Go to the Pool Tab on the left, and select [Connect to pool]. In the field next to it, you are asked to enter the PoolURL. You can put the poolURL of your liking, but we from Spacefarmers.io of course recommend to join our pool by entering the following in the field: https://xch.spacefarmers.io/. Wait a few minutes for the NFT to be accepted on chain.
Step 5 - Creating your first poolplot
- Go to the Plots tab and click [Add Plot].
- Specify the temporary folder; this needs to be a drive with at least 250GiB of free space. It can be both HDD or SSD, but SSD is recommended as it will more than double the speed of plotting.
- Specify the final directory; this needs to be a drive with at least 110 GiB
- In the dropdown, select the NFT contract you created in step 4.
Creating the plot will take between 4h-14h, depending on your system. A lot of tweaking is involved in creating the best plots for your system. To learn more, visit https://chialinks.com/plotting/ or ask us for help in our SpaceFarmers Discord.
Monitoring your farm
Once your plot is created, you can monitor your farm by login in to the SpaceFarmer Dashboard.