FAQ

The project is still in beta, start a Discussion or join our Discord for support and to help out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

• General
• Farming
• Plotting
• Security

General

Where can I get support?

Machinaris is a community-supported project with helpful users, willing to lend a hand, particularly on initial setup. Check out our Discord group, Github Issues, Unraid Support thread, or Machinaris sub-reddit.

How can I stop or restart the WebUI?

docker exec -it machinaris bash
kill $(pidof "gunicorn: master [web:app]")
kill $(pidof "gunicorn: master [api:app]")
... time passes ...
/machinaris/scripts/start_machinaris.sh

Plotting

Can I use two (or more) temporary plotting directories?

Yes, just mount both temp plotting volumes in-container. For example, let's say you have:

• /mnt/disks/ssd1 mapped to /plotting1 in container.
• /mnt/disks/ssd2 mapped to /plotting2 in container.

On Docker run, this looks like -v '/mnt/disks/ssd1':'/plotting1':'rw' and -v '/mnt/disks/ssd2':'/plotting2':'rw'

Then set the plotman.yaml directories:tmp section to have two entries similar to this:

Can I send my completed plots to another system when they're done?

Yes, Plotman supports archiving via rsync in the plotman.yaml file transfer completed plots to a destination server, without tying up resources for your plotting. For detailed configuration in Machinaris, see this wiki page.

Can I restart/update the container without killing my plotting jobs?

Unfortunately, no. A Docker container is a lot like a small virtual machine, so restarting the container is like rebooting the VM. However, if you are plotting, first stop Plotman on the Plotting page. This will prevent new plotting jobs from launching, but will allow existing jobs to complete. Then later, when your plotting jobs are done, you can restart the Machinaris container and/or update the Docker image without impacting plotting.

Farming

How can I restart the Chia farmer services?

docker exec -it machinaris bash
chia start farmer -r

Can I use two (or more) final destination directories to hold my plots?

Yes, Machinaris supports this for both farming and as a plotting destination. First, you need to mount them as separate volumes in-container. For example, let's say you have:

• /mnt/disks/disk1/plots mapped to /plots/disk1 in container.
• /mnt/disks/disk2/plots mapped to /plots/disk2 in container.

On Docker run, this looks like -v '/mnt/disks/disk1/plots':'/plots/disk1':'rw' and -v '/mnt/disks/disk2/plots':'/plots/disk2':'rw'

Next you need to let the farming binaries know about the multiple plot directories. Override the plots_dir environment variable when launching the Machinaris container. This can hold multiple in-container paths, separated by a colon, such as -e plots_dir="/plots/disk1:/plots/disk2" on your docker run command.

With Unraid, you would edit the Variable named plots_dir to hold the colon-separated list of your container paths. (Toggle 'Advanced View' first!) NOTE: This is not a Path configuration in Unraid, but rather a Variable:

Finally, you need to configure both in-container paths in plotman.yaml similar to shown:

Why are there no challenges shown on the main Machinaris page?

If you are farming successfully, every 10 secs or so, you should see a new challenge such as this:

If you don't see any challenges, it could be fine. Perhaps you don't have plots, perhaps you still syncing, perhaps you started up...

However, if the problem persists, then you are NOT farming and you are not eligible to win XCH rewards. If that's the case, take a close look at the Alerts page for notifications of errors from Chiadog. Also, it's worth looking into the Chia log yourself. Depending on your volume mounts, you'll find mainnet/logs/debug.log.

How come Machinaris shows zero plots farming right after restart?

Some users, particularly those with lots of plots, have reported that the main Machinaris status (and chia farm summary behind the scenes) report zero plots on initial start up, even when plots exist in the /plots directory. This generally resolves itself as Chia catches up on syncing/startup so just wait a while and check later. One user reported 30 minutes for them once.

Security

Why doesn't Machinaris offer an authentication mechanism to allow logins?

Machinaris is a simple web app for access to your blockchain and plotting. It is intended for use on your local area network only, but you may choose to proxy access to it via other web servers. If you do this, then your web server should have many means of securing/authenticating access to proxy targets such as Machinaris. The onus is on you to configure this correctly for you particular setting.

Who wrote this? Can they be trusted?

That's a good question. Nice to meet you! My name is Guy Davis. I'm a middle-aged Canadian, with a regular day job, a lovely wife, and two great kids. Back in April 2021, I tried the "official" docker image on my Unraid server. Unlike many other good apps for Unraid, it was commandline-only, required manual plotting, and manual log monitoring. Too much babysitting! I wanted a WebUI with automatic staggered plotting and monitoring/alerting.

This led me to create Machinaris project, whose code-base is completely open-source and which is built via fully-reviewable Github Actions. I take private key security seriously and am actively looking to improve security with each release.

If you have any concerns, please feel to raise them in our Discord group, Github Issues, Unraid Support thread, or Machinaris sub-reddit.