Base Headless Pi Setup
This page describes how to get a Pi to a base level headless configuration (ie, SSH & networking enabled, all packages up to date)
- Minimum sd card size is 4GB
You can't just dd
the sd card image any more
Used to be that you could just write the image to a card, add the ssh
file in the /boot
partition, and ssh into the pi, but the normal pi/raspberry
user/password combo was removed. Instead, the Pi imager must be used.
Install the imaging software and write the SD card
install the imaging software. On arch:
`yay -S rpi-imager`
On other OS's, the package manager is different, but the package name should be roughly the same.
- Plug in the SD card that will go into the pi
- Open the "Raspberry Pi Imager" software and choose an image ("Choose OS" button --> Raspberry Pi OS (other) --> OS Lite)
- Hit the gear icon to change these settings:
- hostname
- enable ssh
- username/password
- wifi (if the pi has wifi)
- Locale (time zone/keyboard layout)
- Choose the SD card as the Storage device
- Click the "Write" button
Boot the Pi and login
- Insert the SD card into the Pi
- plug in ethernet to Pi if not using wifi (most USB ethernet adapters are supported)
- Apply power to the Pi
- wait for it to come online and log in via SSH (check DHCP server logs for Pi's IP)
Post-install steps (after logging in):
- run
sudo raspi-config
to finish SD card setup:- 6 Advanced Options --> A1 Expand File System
- reboot the Pi
- update packages with
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
The Pi can now be used for it's intended project.