cgminer

Mine Bitcoin using a pool with username and password

$ cgminer -o [stratum+tcp://pool:port] -u [username] -p [password]

$ cgminer -o [http://localhost:8332] -u [rpcuser] -p [rpcpassword] --btc-address [your_address]

$ cgminer --benchmark

$ cgminer -o [stratum+tcp://pool:port] -u [username] -p [password] --api-listen --api-port [4028]

$ cgminer -c [path/to/config.json]

$ cgminer -o [pool1:port] -u [user1] -p [pass1] -o [pool2:port] -u [user2] -p [pass2] --load-balance

cgminer [-DdlmpPqUTouOchnV] [-o url] [-u user] [-p pass]

cgminer is a multi-threaded multi-pool miner for Bitcoin and other SHA256d cryptocurrencies. Originally supporting CPU, GPU, FPGA, and ASIC mining, modern versions focus exclusively on ASIC devices as GPU mining is no longer economically viable for Bitcoin.
The miner supports multiple pools with configurable failover, load-balancing, and rotation strategies. It connects using the stratum protocol or JSON-RPC and submits proof-of-work solutions. The built-in API allows remote monitoring and control of mining operations.
CGMiner supports various ASIC hardware including Avalon, AntMiner, BitFury, Cointerra, Drillbit, HashFast, Icarus, and Klondike devices. On Linux, direct USB support requires no additional drivers, though udev rules may be needed for non-root access.

-o, --url URL

URL for bitcoin JSON-RPC server (pool or local node)

Username for JSON-RPC server

Password for JSON-RPC server

Username:password pair for server

Load a JSON-formatted configuration file

Run in benchmark mode producing no actual shares

Quit after mining the specified number of shares

Do not submit shares if they are detected as stale

Bitcoin address for solo mining coinbase rewards

Change pool strategy to even share balance

Change pool strategy to quota based balance

Rotate between pools every N minutes

Do not leak work to backup pools when primary is active

Enable the miner API (disabled by default)

Port number for API (default: 4028)

Allow API access only to the given addresses

Enable debug output

Interval in seconds between log output (default: 5)

Disable logging output, display status and errors only

Disable ncurses formatted screen output

Temperature where devices will be disabled

USB device selection (e.g., 1:2,1:3 or BAS:1,BFL:1)

Print help message and exit

Display version and exit

GPU mining support has been removed in recent versions as it is no longer profitable for Bitcoin. On Linux, USB device permissions may require adding the user to the plugdev group or installing udev rules from the cgminer distribution. High hash rates generate significant heat and power consumption. Pool URLs must use the correct protocol prefix (http:// for solo mining, stratum+tcp:// for pool mining).

CGMiner was created by Con Kolivas (ckolivas) and first released in 2011. It began as a fork of the CPU miner cpuminer and was initially called poclbm-mod before being renamed to CGMiner. The name stands for Con's GPU Miner, though it later expanded to support FPGAs and ASICs. It became one of the most widely used Bitcoin mining programs during the GPU and early ASIC mining eras. BFGMiner was later forked from CGMiner in 2012 with a focus on FPGA/ASIC modularity.

bfgminer(1), minerd(1), xmrig(1)