The first step in your journey is to flash a microSD card with the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS Lite and boot the Pi. I’m assuming this isn’t your first Pi project and you’ve probably been through this procedure before. What might be new, however, is the idea of headless server operation (no monitor and keyboard.) Read on for more details.
By the end of this step you will have:
Short answer: no.
ssh pi@raspberrypiYou’ll need a Raspberry Pi 4, a micro-SD card, and a power supply. For connection to your network, you’ll need a cable and a port on your internet router you can plug into. You will also want an external storage device and a SATA-to-USB adapter to connect it.
This tutorial refernces the following configuration:
As with everything in this project, there’s plenty of room for you to customize. You can have a look at a couple of setups I’ve used if you’re interested.
I’m not going to tell you how to flash an SD card and stick it your Pi. I assume you can read the instructions on the raspberrypi.org website or simply use your favorite search engine to find one of many step-by-step instructional videos.
I will tell you that you’ll need to use the advanced option of the Raspberry Pi Imager to enable SSH logins from the beginning. Otherwise, you won’t be able to log into your Pi over the network. If you forget this step, you can always place an empty text file called ssh in the boot partition of the SD card before you stick it in the Pi and boot for the first time.
Other than the lack of keyboard and monitor, the installation of the Raspberry Pi components is just like any other system.
Plug the Pi in a wired network connection first, then plug in the power supply. Watch the flashing green storage activity light near the SD card and the network link lights on the RJ-45 jack to gauge the progress. Once the network link light is on and the storage activity indicator calms, you can try making a connection via SSH.
With no monitor and keyboard attached to the Pi, you’ll have to log in with a secure shell connection. You can use a classic like Putty or something like Windows Terminal. Whatever makes you happy. But first, you need to know what the IP address is.
The Pi is configured as a DHCP client, so you can your internet router’s management interface to determine the address assigned. If your router lacks that capability, Angry IP Scanner is a good tool for scanning network devices. However you choose to search, the hostname will most likely appear as ‘raspberrypi.local’.
Angry IP Scanner can be configured to diplay the MAC address vendor for devices it discovers, though it is not the default. (User Tools > Fetchers to add it.) The Pi MAC vendor will show up as ‘Raspberry Pi Trading’ or ‘Raspberry Pi Foundation’.
Once you have IP address, log in via SSH. The default user is ‘pi’ and the password is ‘raspberry’. The following is an example from Windows Terminal:
PS C:\> ssh pi@192.168.0.28
The authenticity of host '192.168.0.28 (192.168.0.28)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:qpUJOFqGwlpRoQsd/tXYgkXy+OsIGT/wfdHMG16Q9o.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Serial Console
A serial cable as an alternate way to log in can be helpful for troubleshooting. If you have the required cable, Adafruit has a good article on how to set up the connection. They’d be happy to sell you the cable as well.
Once the Pi is up and running, you’re ready to install Ansible and system updates.
Off with his head! —The Red Queen, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll