Mining STEEM on AWS (Free Tier)

AWS

Setup AWS Instance.

Establish Amazon AWS Account and log in (Credit card required)
Under Amazon Web Services Choose EC2 under the Compute sub-category.
Click Launch Instance
Select Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS (HVM), SSD Volume Type
Click tickbox for the General Purpose t2.micro
Click the Review and Launch button
Finally, click Launch
Create a new key pair unless you already have one setup and make sure you save the .pem file

Finding the EC2 Instance

Click the orange cube in top-left and then click EC2 under the Compute sub-category.
Choose Instances from the left side of the screen to see your new Linux AWS instance.

Connecting to the EC2 Instance

Right-click the instance and choose Connect for instructions on connecting.

Commands to Run

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install git cmake g++ python-dev autotools-dev libicu-dev build-essential libbz2-dev libboost-all-dev libssl-dev libncurses5-dev doxygen libreadline-dev dh-autoreconf

sudo fallocate -l 4G /swapfile

sudo chmod 600 /swapfile

sudo mkswap /swapfile

sudo swapon /swapfile

wget -O boost_1_60_0.tar.gz http://sourceforge.net/projects/boost/files/boost/1.60.0/boost_1_60_0.tar.gz/download

tar xzvf boost_1_60_0.tar.gz

cd boost_1_60_0

./bootstrap.sh --prefix=/usr/local

sudo ./b2 install

cd

git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/secp256k1

cd secp256k1

./autogen.sh

./configure

make

./tests

cd

git clone https://github.com/steemit/steem

cd steem

git submodule update --init --recursive

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DENABLE_CONTENT_PATCHING=OFF -DLOW_MEMORY_NODE=ON

make

cd programs/steemd

./steemd --rpc-endpoint --seed-node="seed.steemed.net:2001" --seed-node="52.74.152.79:2001"

cd steem/programs/cli_wallet

./cli_wallet

set_password "PASSWORD"

unlock "PASSWORD"

suggest_brain_key

Copy the JSON output and save it to secure locations

{
"brain_priv_key": "FULK DEBUG EARTH IMAGINE BABBLE POPIFY PREFEED EMBIND FOREPAW KAHILI ...",
"wif_priv_key": "5JsPmgU1dfKu8SHWAWkBKw1XGz97Kwz4DLwgm2bSz99qtFqTAkp", 
"pub_key": "STM73jgNRFLTKSTaGWv8QfXzSopUZBsQGmrECWPvpnemjyAcBfzAc"
}

Never share the "wif_private_key"
You will need your wif private key for the config.ini file in a minute.
this is a good time to load YOUR key in your cli_wallet terminal window like this:

import_key 5JsPmgU1dfKu8SHWAWkBKw1XGz97Kwz4DLwgm2bSz99qtFqTAkp

Exit cli_wallet terminal:

ctrl + c

This is a good time to pick your account/miner name. Remember, account names must be all lower case, less than 15 characters, and start with a letter. For instance, lets say you pick account name george1234 as your account name. Check if the account already exists by going to:

https://steemit.com/@george1234

If you get an error like this:

Server error (500) 10 assert_exception: Assert Exception itr != accounts_by_name.end(): Unable to find account 'george1234'. Did you forget to add a record for it? {"acct":"george1234"} th_a database.cpp:313 get_account

Then you are in luck and the account name is available to claim, try another until you stop getting the error.

Finally, you have what you need to edit your config.ini file and start mining.

Open file with your favorite linux text editor: steem/programs/steemd/witness_node_data_dir/config.ini

Replace george1234 with your account name and this wif key 5JsPmgU1dfKu8SHWAWkBKw1XGz97Kwz4DLwgm2bSz99qtFqTAkp with yours.

# P2P nodes to connect to on startup (may specify multiple times)

seed-node = 212.117.213.186:2016
seed-node = 185.82.203.92:2001
seed-node = 52.74.152.79:2001
seed-node = 52.63.172.229:2001
seed-node = 104.236.82.250:2001
seed-node = 104.199.157.70:2001
seed-node = steem.kushed.com:2001
seed-node = steemd.pharesim.me:2001
seed-node = seed.steemnodes.com:2001
seed-node = steemseed.dele-puppy.com:2001
seed-node = seed.steemwitness.com:2001
seed-node = seed.steemed.net:2001
seed-node = steem-seed1.abit-more.com:2001
seed-node = steem.clawmap.com:2001
seed-node = 52.62.24.225:2001
seed-node = steem-id.altexplorer.xyz:2001
seed-node = 213.167.243.223:2001
seed-node = 162.213.199.171:34191
seed-node = 45.55.217.111:12150
seed-node = 212.47.249.84:40696
seed-node = 52.4.250.181:39705
seed-node = 81.89.101.133:2001
seed-node = 46.252.27.1:1337

# name of witness controlled by this node (e.g. initwitness )

witness = "george1234"

# name of miner and its private key (e.g. ["account","WIF PRIVATE KEY"] )

miner = ["george1234","5JsPmgU1dfKu8SHWAWkBKw1XGz97Kwz4DLwgm2bSz99qtFqTAkp"]

# Number of threads to use for proof of work mining

mining-threads = 1

these are the parts you change, leave the rest as is and save your config file then go back to the steemd terminal window (hopefully it synced by now):

ctrl + c

will stop steemd and then restart it with the following line:

./steemd --rpc-endpoint

It should start mining as soon as it catches up to the latest block. Once a block is mined, the account name will be claimed. You can then run the following commands in CLI_wallet. Remember to change george1234 to your account name:

unlocked >>> get_account "george1234"  

unlocked >>> list_my_accounts  

unlocked >>> vote_for_witness george1234 joseph true true 

unlocked >>> vote george1234 "joseph" "mining-steem-for-dummies" 100 true