Chapter 5. Headless Operation

In this chapter I will explain how to connect to a Raspberry Pi running Linux over a network without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor attached to it (aka headless). The ability to operate and interact with a project remotely is important for any Maker, and opens up new possibilities that would not be available if you always needed a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to be directly attached to an SBC running Linux. This is perfect for projects that you want to be mobile or that are just meant to run quietly in the corner collecting or serving data.

Turning Off the Desktop

Most of the time, a Raspberry Pi running headless doesn’t need the desktop running. Turning off the desktop is a relatively easy process and is configured ...

Get Linux for Makers, 1st Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.