How can I solo mine Tari (CPU only or otherwise)?

[SolfataraEmit]

How can I solo mine Tari on the CPU only? What is the process for doing so? Can I choose not to merge mine?

[SolfataraEmit]

Instructions for Mining Tari using XMRig

The following instructions are a simple guide to setting up the Tari suite and XMRig so that you can mine Tari. The instructions focus on the use of the CPU to mine.

Currently, there is no way to mine Tari without merge-mining Monero, but there is work in progress that will allow you to do so. The answer will be updated to reflect this once it has been made available.

The contents are as follows:

• Prerequisites
• Setting up Minotari
  • Minotari Base Node
  • Minotari Console Wallet
  • Minotari Merge Mining Proxy
• XMRig
• Custom Configuration
• Troubleshooting
  • MacOS: "Command" Not Opened. Apple could not verify "Command"

Prerequisites

In order to run Tari, you will require the following applications, as well as your text editor of choice for editing configuration files.

• The Tari suite, which can be downloaded here. For stability, please use the latest released version and avoid the pre-releases.
• XMRig. Please always confirm that XMRig is downloaded from the official source. Currently can be found here.
• A Tari Wallet Address
• A Monero Wallet Address

Note: Currently, it is not possible to mine Tari solely without merge-mining Monero. Work is currently in development to allow this.

Setting up Minotari

Download the Tari suite for your operating system of choice, and unzip the contents to a folder of your choice.

Next, open your command line interface (CLI) on Windows, Terminal on MacOS/Linux) and navigate to the folder. It'll typically be something like this:

cd tari
ls

Typing ls will list all the Tari binaries we'll require. The ones we'll be using are:

• minotari_node
• minotari_console_wallet
• minotari_merge_mining_proxy

Minotari Base Node Setup

To set up the Minotari Base Node, ensure you are still in the folder with the Tari binaries, then run the following

./minotari_node -b <nodebasefolder>

This will start the process and store the configuration files in the you provided.

Initializing logging according to "minotarinodesettings/mainnet/config/base_node/log4rs.yml"
Node config does not exist.
Would you like to mine (Y/n)?
NOTE: this will enable additional gRPC methods that could be used to monitor and submit blocks from this node

Select Y to both question

• "Would you like to mine?", and,
• "Node Identity does not exist. Would you like to create one?"

This will start the node, which will begin syncing. This will use the default settings for the base node:

• The base node's default GRPC address will be http://127.0.0.1:18142
• Wallet will connect to the base node via http://127.0.0.1:9000

Note: Make sure you are connected to the right network. By default, if you are using the main release, it will be mainnet. If you are using one of the pre-releases, it will likely be esmeralda, which is the test network. You can confirm you are on the correct network by assessing the messages being displayed in the terminal (the below as an example):

11:25 v4.9.0 mainnet State: Syncing blocks: (01dc53343af8e28b) 26937/60367 (44%) 3.28 blks/s, latency: 305.12ms Tip: 26938 (Thu, 12 Jun 2025 09:12:07 +0000) Mempool: 0tx (0g, +/- 0blks) Connections: 17|0 Banned: 0 Messages (last 60s): 99 Rpc: 0/100 ⚡️ 608.93ms

If you wish to configure the node with your own preferences, please refer to the Custom Configuration section.

minotari_node needs to be open and running for mining to work

Minotari Console Wallet (Optional)

If you do not have a Minotari wallet address, you will need to create one. This can be done either via running Tari Universe or creating a wallet through the minotari_node binary. If you already have a Minotari wallet address, you can proceed to the Minotari Merge Mining Proxy setup section.

The following instructions assume you will use the Minotari Console Wallet.

From the same folder, run the following command. Note that the should be different from the

./minotari_console_wallet -b <walletbasefolder>

Select Y to the question, "Would you like to mine (Y/n)?"

You will be then presented with a list of options, as per below. Select 1 and press ENTER

Console Wallet

1. Create a new wallet.
2. Recover wallet from seed words or hardware device.
3. Create a read-only wallet using a view key.
>> 

Enter in your desired wallet passphrase. This is required for accessing the wallet locally via minotari_console_wallet. If you enter a weak password, you will be warned that this is the case and provided recommendations to improve it.

Note: Be sure to note the passphrase as you will require it to access your wallet locally.

Select N to the question, "Would you like to use a connected hardware wallet?"

You will be presented with your seed words. These are essential if you wish to recover your wallet. You cannot recover the wallet without them. Note them down, then type confirm and press enter.

This will launch into the wallet. To confirm that you are connected to your base node (and not a fallback server), check the bottom-right corner of the interface. You'll see the "Connected Base Node ID:" and your local address. Default value will be http://127.0.0.1:9000.

Confirm that you are on the right network. Mainnet will be displayed at the lower-right of the application.

Press right arrow button twice to access the Send tab, and note the one-sided address. Be sure that your CLI is maximized; if the terminal window is too small, it may cut off a portion of the address..

Once this has been noted, you can close the wallet. It is not necessary for the wallet to be active for you to mine to the wallet. Wallet can be relaunched when required to confirm deposit of mining rewards.

If you wish to configure the node with your own preferences, please refer to the Custom Configuration section.

Merge Mining Proxy

First, confirm that your base node is fully synced. Typically, you're node will be displaying the following:

11:40 v4.10.1-pre.1 mainnet State: Listening Tip: 60272 (Tue, 29 Jul 2025 09:38:08 +0000) Mempool: 0tx (0g, +/- 0blks) Connections: 8|0 Banned: 0 Messages (last 60s): 32 Rpc: 0/100 ⚡️ 587.59ms

To confirm the most current tip, you can also use tools such as explore.tari.com to confirm the most recent block.

Open up a new terminal window or tab, then run the following command:

./minotari_merge_mining_proxy -b <mmmpbasefolder>

This will launch the merge mining proxy with the default settings and place the configuration file in the

You'll be asked to confirm if you would like to mine. Select Y

Node config does not exist.
Would you like to mine (Y/n)?
NOTE: this will enable additional gRPC methods that could be used to monitor and submit blocks from this node.

It will take a moment to generate the configuration, so give it a minute or two. Once completed, you'll be asked to provide your Tari's wallet payment address (for depositing the mining rewards). Enter your payment wallet (either generated in the Minotari Console Wallet section or derived from Tari Universe or another source, then press enter.

You will then need to provide the GRPC endpoint exposed on the base node. By default, this should be http://127.0.0.1:18102

Once running, you'll see the following logs:

15:39 INFO  👛 Connecting to base node at http://127.0.0.1:18102
15:39 INFO  Listening on 127.0.0.1:18081...
Listening on 127.0.0.1:18081...

XMRig

Download XMRig for your operating system of choice, then extract the contents to your desired folder.

Open your command line interface (CLI) on Windows, Terminal on MacOS/Linux) and change the directory to the folder that contains xmrig.

Run the following command, changing the <> variables to your specific values:

./xmrig --algo=rx/0 --url=<your_merge_mining_proxy_listening_address> --coin=monero --retry-pause=1 --user <your_monero_address> --donate-level=1 --threads=<number_of_cpu_threads> --daemon

You'll know you're successful if you see the following (or something similar):

 * ABOUT        XMRig/6.24.0 clang/14.0.3 (built for macOS ARMv8, 64 bit)
 * LIBS         libuv/1.51.0 OpenSSL/3.5.0 hwloc/2.12.1
 * HUGE PAGES   unavailable
 * 1GB PAGES    unavailable
 * CPU          Apple M1 (1) 64-bit AES
                L2:16.0 MB L3:0.0 MB 8C/8T NUMA:1
 * MEMORY       7.9/8.0 GB (99%)
 * DONATE       1%
 * POOL #1      127.0.0.1:18081 coin Monero
 * COMMANDS     hashrate, pause, resume, results, connection
 * OPENCL       disabled
 * CUDA         disabled
[2025-07-29 15:48:10.006]  net      use daemon 127.0.0.1:18081  127.0.0.1
[2025-07-29 15:48:10.006]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 603G algo rx/0 height 3466174 (14 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:48:10.006]  cpu      use argon2 implementation default
[2025-07-29 15:48:10.006]  randomx  init dataset algo rx/0 (8 threads) seed 9362241da3cd590c...
[2025-07-29 15:48:10.006]  randomx  allocated 2336 MB (2080+256) huge pages 0% 0/1168 +JIT (0 ms)
[2025-07-29 15:48:11.906]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 603G algo rx/0 height 3466174 (15 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:48:16.295]  randomx  dataset ready (6290 ms)
[2025-07-29 15:48:16.295]  cpu      use profile  *  (2 threads) scratchpad 2048 KB
[2025-07-29 15:48:16.296]  cpu      READY threads 2/2 (2) huge pages 0% 0/2 memory 4096 KB (0 ms)
[2025-07-29 15:48:27.831]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 603G algo rx/0 height 3466174 (25 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:48:43.836]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 603G algo rx/0 height 3466174 (35 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:48:45.859]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 601G algo rx/0 height 3466175 (16 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:48:48.876]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 601G algo rx/0 height 3466175 (18 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:49:04.857]  net      new job from 127.0.0.1:18081 diff 601G algo rx/0 height 3466175 (22 tx)
[2025-07-29 15:49:16.402]  miner    speed 10s/60s/15m 545.3 n/a n/a H/s max 817.5 H/s

In addition, you can confirm that the minotari_merge_mining_proxy is correctly serving jobs to XMRig:

15:48 INFO  Difficulties: Minotari (1306369452341), Monero(603530819175), Selected(603530819175)
15:48 INFO  Monero height = #3466174, Minotari base node height = #60536, P2pool height: #0
15:48 INFO  Difficulties: Minotari (1306369452341), Monero(603530819175), Selected(603530819175)
15:48 INFO  Monero height = #3466174, Minotari base node height = #60536, P2pool height: #0
15:48 INFO  Monero height = #3466174, Minotari base node height = #60536, P2pool height: #0
15:48 INFO  Monero height = #3466174, Minotari base node height = #60536, P2pool height: #0
15:48 INFO  Monero height = #3466174, Minotari base node height = #60536, P2pool height: #0

Congratulations, you're now merge-mining Tari with Monero.

Custom Configuration

Most of Tari's applications allow you to define custom values, such as choosing your desired base node address and port, or running on a particular network.

This can be done in two ways. When running the binaries, the tools create a folder with the config.toml file. Users can edit these to allow for custom configurations

When reviewing the config.toml, settings related to the specific section fall under their appropriate [block]. As an example, the base node settings will fall under the [base_node] block, with sub-settings falling under [base_node.subsetting]

Alternatively, users can pass the variables via the command line using the -p argument. Below is an example of minotari_node being launched with custom configuration values. Note that these override the specific values in the config.toml, not the entire configuration file:

./minotari_node \
  -p base_node.http_wallet_query_service.port=9000 \
  -p base_node.http_wallet_query_service.external_address=http://127.0.0.1:9000 \
  -p base_node.mining_enabled=true \
  -p base_node.second_layer_grpc_enabled=false \
  -p base_node.grpc_enabled=true \
  -p base_node.grpc_address=/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/18142

Troubleshooting

MacOS: "Binary" Not Opened. Apple could not verify "Binary"

Occasionally, MacOS will indicate that it is unable to verify the application when you attempt to run it. To remove this, you can use two commands

# Make it executable
chmod +x ./binary_name

# Remove quarantine attribute (if it was downloaded from the web)
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ./binary_name

This should allow you to run the binary.

Note: Before you do this, you should ensure that the application you have downloaded is correct and from the official source. XMRig in particular is a notorious target for malicious versions. Ensure you have performed your due diligence by downloading the binaries from the correct, official source and, if you're familiar with the process, confirmed the checksum matches official sources.