Raspberry Pi Basics

A small crash course on setting up and using the Raspberry Pi (as a server, ftp storage, home-base, etc.)

What is a Raspberry Pi?

A Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized computer that can run Linux (and other OS) to do almost anything your computer can do. It can be simply connected to a monitor/TV, keyboard and mouse and be used as a regular computer. Because of its low power consumption, it is used as a web-server, file storage system, home automation system, etc. It can also be connected to an Arduino to aid in robotics such as the PiCar.

Setting up a Raspberry Pi with SSH

Materials Required

  • Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (older models will also work)
  • Pi compatible power adapter
  • Micro SD Card (with alteast 16GB of memory; you may need an SD card adapter to connect it to your computer)
  • USB keyboard and mouse
  • Access to a monitor + HDMI cable
  • Access to your router, or a new router
  • A laptop for remote access to the Pi

Procedure

Note

If you are a Washington University student working on the PiCar project, you can skip to step 10 and use the given IP address of the Pi to communicate with the Pi. However it is recommended to atleast glance through the steps to see what was done.

  1. Download the Raspbian Stretch with Desktop image.

  2. Download Etcher

  3. Install Raspbian OS to the Raspberry Pi:

    • Insert SD card into your computer.

    • Run Etcher.

    • In Etcher, choose the downloaded Raspbian zip or image file.

    • Choose the SD Card drive

      Warning

      Ensure to select the correct drive (SD Card) because it will be formatted.

    • Flash the Raspbian image.

    • Eject SD card and put it into the Raspberry Pi.

  4. Connect the mouse, keyboard and monitor to the Raspberry Pi. Finally connect the power cable to turn on the Raspberry Pi.

  5. The default login credentials for the Raspberry Pi are:

    • username: pi
    • password: raspberry

  6. Change the password to your liking by opening the terminal and typing:

sudo passwd pi
  1. Use the following command to enable SSH (Secure Shell) which will be used to communicate to your computer wirelessly.
sudo raspi-config
  • Navigate to Interfacing Options >> SSH >> Enable
  1. Connect the Pi to your router (which is connected to your company/university internet port) and reboot the Pi using:
sudo reboot now
  1. Get the local IP address of your Pi using:
hostname -I
  • You will find your Pi’s local IP (eg: 192.168.1.123)
  • Alternatively you can navigate to the router admin page to check the IP addresses of connected devices.

  1. On your laptop, connect to the router and use the following instructions based on your OS:

    Windows:
    • Download Putty
    • Run Putty
    • For the hostname, use the IP address you got for the Pi (eg: pi@192.168.123), and click Open
    Mac/Linux:
    • Open terminal and type (using the Pi’s IP address):
ssh pi@192.168.1.123
  1. Doing so will prompt you to enter the Pi’s new password. Enter it.

Note

The default port used by Pi for SSH is 22. As long as your router and Pi password are strong, the security risk is minimized. Currently, SSH will only allow you to access the Pi when your computer and the Pi are connected to the same router.

Desktop Interface

Sometimes an terminal only interface does not suffice. We can alternatively connect to the Raspberry Pi using a VNC (Virtual Network Computing) Viewer to see the ‘screen’ of the Pi.

Procedure

  1. Login to the Pi as usual using SSH
  2. Enable VNC by using the following command:
sudo raspi-config
  • Navigate to Interfacing Options >> VNC >> Enable
  1. Reboot the Pi
sudo reboot now
  1. Install VNC Viewer on your laptop.
  2. Open VNC viewer. Open a new connection: File >> New Connection
  • Use the local IP of the Pi and the SSH port (22 by default)
  • Use your credentials to login
  1. You should be able to see the same screen that you saw when you initially connected to the Pi using HDMI

Note

For SSH connection to work, your laptop needs to be connected to the same WiFi (router) that the Raspberry Pi is connected to.