Mine ZEC on Linux: Full Setup Guide

Why Linux for ZEC Mining?

Linux offers several advantages over Windows for crypto mining: lower memory footprint (more RAM available for mining), better stability for long-running processes, no forced Windows Updates interrupting mining sessions, and superior process management via systemd for auto-restart on crashes. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is the most widely used mining Linux distribution due to its long-term support, large community, and excellent NVIDIA/AMD driver support.

That said, Linux has a steeper learning curve. This guide assumes you're comfortable with basic terminal commands (navigating directories, running commands with sudo). If you're new to Linux entirely, consider starting with Windows or a pre-configured mining OS like HiveOS instead.

Step 1 — Fresh Ubuntu 22.04 Installation

Start with a fresh minimal Ubuntu 22.04 Server installation. Download the ISO from ubuntu.com, flash it to a USB drive with Rufus (Windows) or dd (Linux), and boot from USB on your mining rig. Choose Ubuntu Server (minimal) — you don't need a desktop GUI for mining, and a minimal install consumes less RAM and CPU.

During installation, set up a non-root user, enable SSH server, and skip optional snaps. After first boot, update the system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y build-essential git curl wget

Step 2 — Install NVIDIA Drivers

For NVIDIA GPUs (recommended for Equihash/ZEC), install the proprietary drivers. Ubuntu's driver manager makes this straightforward:

sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
sudo reboot

After reboot, verify the driver installed correctly:

nvidia-smi

You should see a table listing your GPU(s), driver version (535+ recommended for RTX 40xx), and CUDA version. If nvidia-smi returns "command not found", the driver didn't install — retry with sudo apt install -y nvidia-driver-535.

Step 3 — Download and Configure lolMiner

lolMiner is the recommended GPU miner for Zcash on Linux. Download the latest release:

mkdir ~/miners && cd ~/miners
wget https://github.com/Lolliedieb/lolMiner-releases/releases/latest/download/lolMiner_v1.xx_Lin64.tar.gz
tar -xzf lolMiner_v1.xx_Lin64.tar.gz
cd lolMiner_v1.xx_Lin64

Create a start script:

nano start_zec.sh

Add the following content (replace pool and wallet details):

#!/bin/bash
./lolMiner \
  --algo EQUIHASH \
  --pool zec.2miners.com:2020 \
  --user YOUR_ZEC_ADDRESS.rig1 \
  --pass x \
  --watchdog exit

chmod +x start_zec.sh
./start_zec.sh

You should see lolMiner detect your GPU(s), connect to the pool, and begin submitting shares. The Sol/s counter will appear within 30–60 seconds.

Step 4 — Autostart with systemd

To have mining resume automatically after reboots or crashes, create a systemd service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/zecminer.service

Paste this configuration (adjust paths and username):

[Unit]
Description=Zcash GPU Miner (lolMiner)
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=yourusername
WorkingDirectory=/home/yourusername/miners/lolMiner_v1.xx_Lin64
ExecStart=/home/yourusername/miners/lolMiner_v1.xx_Lin64/start_zec.sh
Restart=always
RestartSec=30

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable zecminer
sudo systemctl start zecminer
sudo systemctl status zecminer

Step 5 — Monitoring and Maintenance

View live miner logs: sudo journalctl -fu zecminer. Install GPU monitoring tools for temperature tracking:

watch -n 2 nvidia-smi

For AMD GPUs, use radeontop. Set up email or Telegram alerts for when mining stops using simple bash scripts that check if the lolMiner process is running and send an alert if not — or use a monitoring platform like HiveOS or minerstat which handles this automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions