## Operating Systems: Various versions of Linux and Windows 7, 8
### Wallet Software: Simplewallet
#### Resource for Creating Bootable Disks: [Linux](http://www.pendrivelinux.com/), [Windows](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool)
#### Resource for Monero Binaries: [Monero Binaries](https://getmonero.org/downloads/)
- Take any computer you have lying around, even your normal workstation. You may find it easier to use an older computer that has no wifi or bluetooth if you're particularly paranoid
- Create a Linux or Windows bootable disk, and make sure you have the Monero binaries on the same disk or on a second disk (for Linux make sure you have also downloaded copies of the dependencies you will need, libboost1.55 and miniupnpc for instance)
- Disconnect the network and/or Internet cables from your computer, physically remove the wifi card or switch the wifi/bluetooth off on a laptop if possible
- Boot into your bootable OS, install the dependencies if necessary
- Copy the Monero binaries to a RAM disk (/dev/shm in Linux, Windows bootable ISOs normally have a Z: drive or something)
- Don't run the Monero daemon. Instead, using the command line, use monero-wallet-cli to create a new Monero @account
- When prompted for a name, give it any name, it doesn't really matter
- When prompted for a password, type in like 50 - 100 random characters. Don't worry that you don't know the password, just make it LONG
-**CRITICAL STEP**: Write down (on paper) your 25 word @mnemonic-seed
**WARNING**: If you forget to write down this information your funds may be lost forever
- Write down (on your phone, on paper, on another computer, wherever you want) your address and view key
- Switch off the computer, remove the battery if there is one, and leave it physically off for a few hours
The account you've created was created in RAM, and the digital files are now inaccessible. If some adversary manages to somehow obtain the data, they will lack the long password to open it. If you need to receive payments, you have your public address, and you have the view key if needed. If you need access to it, you have your 25 word @mnemonic-seed, and you can now write out several copies of it, including an offsite copy (e.g. a bank deposit box).
- Download the [official binaries](https://getmonero.org/downloads/) or compile the last source available on [Github](https://github.com/monero-project/bitmonero)
- You only need to do this step once : open a terminal (ctrl+alt+t) and install the required dependencies by typing : "*sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev libssl-dev libevent-dev libdb++-dev*". When asked, press the Y key and then Enter to continue
- Load monerod by typing in your terminal : "*./monerod*". Wait for the synchronization with the network (monerod is updating the blockchain you have downloaded in step 4 or is downloading it from scratch). This can take a lot of time the first time, so be patient
- Once monerod is synchronized with the network, open a new terminal, change the directory (cf. step 5), and launch monero-wallet-cli by typing "*./monero-wallet-cli*"
- To exit monerod or monero-wallet-cli just type "*exit*" in the associated terminal
Now to access the portfolio you have just created you will have to launch monerod, wait for it to be synchronized with the network, launch monero-wallet-cli, and type the name of your portfolio and your password.
This is a guide to obtain your own Monero as of 20150919. This is perhaps the easiest way to purchase and hold Monero.
####Step 1: Buy Bitcoin
There are many ways to buy Bitcoin. Perhaps the easiest way is through circle.com. Once you have purchased some Bitcoin, you are ready to buy some Monero! Buying Bitcoin is straightforward. Please goto circle.com and just follow the instructions there.
####Step 2: Set up a mymonero.com account
MyMonero.com is an online wallet for Monero, maintained by Monero Core Developer Ricardo Spagni (fluffpony). It is the easiest wallet to use. Simply go to MyMonero.com and click on the "Create an Account" button.
Copy your address to the clipboard by highlighting the whole thing and hitting ctrl+c (or edit menu, copy), or clicking the little icon next to your address. Save your address somewhere. This is how others will send Monero to you, and what you will use to deposit Monero into your account!
#### Step 3: Buy Monero and transfer the Monero to your new address
Go to www.shapeshift.io . On the righthand side, of the screen, click icon under "Receive" to select Monero.
Sometimes, your funds will become stuck - you will have some locked funds that never become unlocked. This is how you fix it.
- Load your wallet in monero-wallet-cli.
- Type
> seed
into the command prompt. Write down your 25 word seed, if you haven't already. This is the best way to make sure you don't loose access to your funds.
- Close monero-wallet-cli by typing
> exit
- Backup all of your wallet related files. These include:
> yourwalletname.bin
> yourwalletname.bin.keys
> yourwalletname.bin.address.txt
This can be done by copying the files to a new folder.
Sometimes, when creating your wallet, you might have named it something without the .bin part. In that case, the wallet file will be called yourwalletname without the .bin at the end.
- Delete yourwallet.bin
- Load monero-wallet-cli, type in the name of the wallet you just deleted
- Enter password. The wallet will now refresh and hopefully your locked funds will now become unlocked.
# Importing the Blockchain to Monero GUI wallet (Windows)
### Step 1
Download the Current bootstrap from https://downloads.getmonero.org/blockchain.raw; you can skip this step if you are importing the Blockchain from another source.
### Step 2
Find the path of your Monero wallet (the folder where you extracted your wallet). For example mine is:
`D:\monero-gui-0.10.3.1`
Your path may be different depending on where you decided to download your wallet and what version of the Monero wallet you have.
### Step 3
Find the path of your downloaded Blockchain for example mine was:
`C:\Users\KeeJef\Downloads\blockchain.raw`
Yours might be different depending on where you downloaded the Blockchain to.
### Step 4
Open a Command Prompt window. You can do this by pressing the Windows key + R, and then typing in the popup box `CMD`
### Step 5
Now you need to navigate using the CMD window to the path of your Monero wallet. You can do this by typing:
`cd C:\YOUR\MONERO\WALLET\FILE\PATH\HERE`
It should look something like:
`cd D:\monero-gui-0.10.3.1`
If your Monero wallet is on another drive you can use `DriveLetter:` for example if your Monero wallet was on your D drive then before using the cd command you would do `D:`
This guide is two fold, ease of use for mining on Linux distributions and some extra security around mining as most of these miners have not had security auditing.
At the end of this guide you will be able to sleep a little easier knowing that if the miner gets exploited it will not migrate to your OS.
### Why Docker
[Docker](https://www.docker.com/) is being used as it is the most well known and has the biggest chance to be already installed.
The container I an using is [alpine-xmrig](https://hub.docker.com/r/bitnn/alpine-xmrig/) as per the name it is built on the [Alpine Linux](https://www.alpinelinux.org/) image.
If you are interested in getting started with Docker, here are some really good starting references.
* Arch Linux Wiki [Docker Page](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Docker)
* Digital Oceans [Dockerfile Howto](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/docker-explained-using-dockerfiles-to-automate-building-of-images).
For distribution specific installation please refer to the [Docker Docs](https://docs.docker.com/engine/installation/) website.
### Why XMRig
[XMRig](https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig) is just a really solid miner to me. Nice output and statistics, no flashy web-ui's or dependencies. The XMRig container is only ~4MB what makes it extremely portable.
