In this blog post, we will introduce Termius and show how you can use it to access your mining machines via SSH.
💻 About Termius
Termius is an SSH client that can be used on various different devices: Windows, macOS, Linux, and even on iOS and Android. This is the main reason why we recommend it as a client for accessing your mining machines via SSH. The alternative software that is available is PuTTY for Windows and built-in Terminal applications for macOS and Linux.
Besides a nice user interface and the ability to organize all your connections, Termius also offers a free plan. If you need more features than offered in the free plan, there are Premium and Team plans available as well.
🔐 Why would you need SSH access?
SSH (Secure Shell) is a special protocol that encrypts network connection. This means that when you connect to an SSH server, all credentials are transmitted securely.
msOS mining OS
msOS offers different types of remote access to your rig. One is a local connection and one is a remote connection, which is only available through the minerstat dashboard. While the main point of management of a msOS rig is still the minerstat dashboard, there are cases when mining managers want to access the rig directly via console. The reasons are usually connected to calling actions that aren’t used often or debugging. For example, implementation of a custom mining client, quicker testing of different overclocking parameters, or checking the mining client’s output to learn more about the issues it is having.
Older ASIC firmware or unofficial ASIC firmware
In 2019 a lot of ASIC manufacturers started disabling SSH access to the ASIC machines. Before that, connecting to an ASIC via SSH was a standard procedure. Nowadays, connecting to ASIC via SSH is still possible with older ASIC firmware or some unofficial ASIC firmware, which will unlock the SSH access. Connecting to ASIC via SSH will allow monitoring and management via SSH connection.
Windows
Windows computers don’t offer SSH connections by default. If you would want to connect via SSH, you would need to install special software for that. However, since this is not a common practice on mining rigs, we won’t pay special attention to it at this time.
✔️ Step 1: Install Termius
You can download the software and register a free account on the Termius website. We will show an example for Windows, but you can use Linux, macOS, Android, or iOS version as well.
✔️ Step 2: Add your mining machine
Click on the [NEW HOST] button and enter all the details about your rig or ASIC:
- Name: Your worker’s name
- Address: Your worker’s local IP
- Tags: This is optional, but you can divide your workers by tags msOS and ASIC
- Port: 22 (or blank to use 22 as default)
- Username: minerstat
- Password: msos
💡 Important: You can only connect via SSH to your msOS mining rig through your local network. Remote access is disabled and possible only through the minerstat dashboard.
✔️ Step 3: Connect to your mining machine
Click on the three dots on the right side of your worker’s name and select [Connect via SSH].
✔️ Step 4: Use your mining machine
You can now use your mining machine and enter the commands to the console.
🎁 Bonus: Useful msOS commands
Once you are connected to your rig, you can use the following commands:
- mhelp - List all available commands
- miner - Show mining client screen
- agent - Show minerstat agent + miner screen
- mstart - (Re)start mining
- mstop - Stop mining
- mrecovery - Restore system to default
- mupdate - Update system (clients, fixes, …)
- mreconf -Simulate first boot: configure DHCP, creating fake dummy
- mclock - Fetch OC from the dashboard
- mreboot - Reboot the rig
- mshutdown - Shut down the rig
- forcereboot - Force Reboot (<0.1 sec)
- forceshutdown - Power off (<0.1 sec)
- mfind 0 - Find GPU (e.g. mfind 0 will set fans to 0% except for GPU0 for 5 seconds)
- minfo - Show welcome screen and msOS version
- mswap create 16384 - Tool for swap file creation with 16 GB
- hugepages - Toggle between smaller (128) and bigger (1168) huge pages
- mworker ACCESS_KEY WORKER_NAME - Set access key & worker name to config.js
- mwifi WIFI_SSID WIFI_PASS - Connect to wireless networks easily
- mled - Toggle Nvidia LED Lights on and off
Happy mining!
