Downloading & Installation
To download the latest Primecoin client, go to our SourceForge files and navigate to the latest (generally "highest") version. Once you are within this folder, do either of the following:
If you are Windows, download the win32 setup executable.
If you are on a Linux-based distribution, download the .tar.gz. The Linux version does contain 32-bit and 64-bit binaries, as well as the source in the event you wish to compile.
Installation on Windows
To install Primecoin on Windows, download the executable and run the installer.
Installation on Linux
On Linux-based distributions, you can obviously go the route of either extracting the tar.gz through a file manager (or unzipping program) or CLI. For the purposes of this installation guide, we'll simply stick with command-line interface.
Navigate to the directory you downloaded the file to.
cd ~/Downloads
Extract the tar.gz
tar -xzvf primecoin-*-linux.tar.gz
Install the client.
sudo cp primecoin*/bin/[architecture]/primecoind /usr/local/bin/primecoind
Replace [architecture] with 32 or 64 depending on whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit system.
Make the daemon a service.
service=primecoind
Running Primecoin
Note: If you have never run Primecoin before then please allow time for the blockchain to be downloaded.
Windows
To run Primecoin, simply start the Windows client. If you've never run Primecoin before, please allow it time to synchronize the blockchain. You will be able to tell when it has finished synchronizing when the client is no longer providing updates, such as "6 weeks"..."5 weeks", etc. This does not indicate how long it will take, rather how much of the blockchain will be downloaded. The time it will take for it to synchronize depends on your Internet speeds.
Linux
To run Primecoin, enter the following command, which will run the Primecoin daemon in the background and have it running after you exit the terminal.
primecoind --daemon
To get a list of commands type:
primecoind help
To get help with a command type:
primecoind help [command]
To stop the daemon type:
primecoind stop
To get your mining status type:
primecoind getmininginfo
To get your balance type (tells how much Primecoin you have in your wallet):
primecoind getbalance
To see your transactions (including rewards for generating) type:
primecoind gettransactions
To send primecoins to another address type:
primecoind sendtoaddress [address] [amount] "[comment]"
For example:
primecoind sendtoaddress AGx4qUkpKGLtBAib7AwzMyvRRFWChfnSdC 1 "Thanks for your help with setting up Primecoin"
Mining
Windows
For some reason the Windows client will not start generating (the Primecoin equivalent to Bitcoin's "hashing") until you run a command in the debug window. To do so:
Go to Help.
Click Debug Window.
This is the console where you will execute all commands to the Primecoin daemon.
Type this command to use all CPU cores:
setgenerate true -1
If you want to use a specific number of cores, instead of -1, type the number of cores.
You can then type the following to see the status of generation.
getmininginfo
Screenshot of the getmininginfo response, where "primepersec" is your generation rate: http://i.imgur.com/WfiagnJ.png
If you want to turn generation off you can use:
setgenerate false
This allows you to keep the wallet running without generating to receive/send transactions, messages, etc.
You are now generating. Transactions will appear in the Overview window. When you get paid for generating it will appear as an incoming transaction.
Screenshot of incoming transactions: http://i.imgur.com/ogqc1Mv.png
Linux
To generate Primecoin under Linux, refer to the commands above or by using the Primecoin help command.
Backing up and Moving Primecoin
If you want to move Primecoin, install the Primecoin wallet software on the target computer and drop wallet.dat into the install folder. To backup your wallet, make a copy of the file wallet.dat.
Noteworthy Links
Links
A GPU miner is being worked on here.
Weekly updates on Primecoin development are here.
You can exchange Primecoin for prepaid debit cards here.
Participate on the official forum here.