base-raspbian-setup.adoc

Base Raspbian Setup

Table of Contents

• Download
• Flash
• Initial Setup

This document covers the basic setup and tweaks I always do to every one of my RaspberryPi installations.

Download

If you do not have a preinstalled SDCard, download Raspbian from here. I recommend Raspbian Buster Lite.

Flash

Flash your SDCard using any of the methods that exist. I use either dd or balenaEtcher.

Before you remove the SDCard from the computer you flashed the card on, go to the BOOT partition, and create an empty file called SSH. This will enable the SSH-server from first boot, thus removing the need to an external monitor and keyboard.

Initial Setup

1. Log on to your RaspberryPi, using the default login credentials, username: pi, and password: raspberry.

2. Change your password, by executing this command:

   $ passwd

3. Update the system, by executing this command:

   $ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove -y && sudo apt autoclean -y
   $ sudo rpi-update

4. Configure your RaspberryPi, by executing this command:

   $ sudo raspi-config

   1. To set the device username

      1. Choose 2 Network Options

         1. Choose N1 Hostname, set the name you wish to use.

   2. To set your locale

      1. Choose 4 Localisation Options

         1. Choose I1 Change Locale, to set your locale

         2. Choose I2 Change Timezone, to set your timezone

   3. To set memory allocation

      1. Choose 7 Advanced Options

         1. Choose A3 Memory Split, set the value to 16, since you are not going to use the GPU

   4. Choose <Finish> to exit

   5. Reboot