The Raspberry Pi can be extremely useful for projects that do not require a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. The downside is that setting up the Pi to connect to the Internet, expand the filesystem, and run code generally requires these computer accessories.
This tutorial will show you three different ways you can configure your Raspberry Pi without the need for a monitor, keyboard, or mouse.
- Serial Terminal - This requires extra hardware in the form of a serial-to-USB adapter, but it is by far the most robust way to connect, as you are not relying on any network setup.
- Ethernet with Static IP Address - This method requires a Linux operating system to change some files on the Raspberry Pi image. You can give the Raspberry Pi a static IP address and then use an Ethernet cable (or WiFi) to log in.
- WiFi with DHCP - You will need to have access to your router to find your Raspberry Pi’s IP address in order to log in via SSH. As a result, this may not be the best option in school or office environments.
Certainly, there are more ways to connect to the Raspberry Pi. These show three common approaches to get you started interacting with a headless operating system on the Pi.