Headless setup
A new board, online in minutes
Unboxing a new board is exciting — right up until the part where you need a spare monitor, a keyboard, the right adapter and a guess at the network settings. awaBerry skips all of that. "Headless" simply means you never plug a screen or keyboard in. You tell the app which board you have and which Wi-Fi it should use, and it builds a personal memory-card image just for you. Write it to the card, slot it in, switch on — and a minute later the board appears in your device list, ready to open.
What you'll need
- Your board — a Raspberry Pi or a similar single-board computer.
- A memory card (usually a microSD card) and a way to write to it from your computer.
- A power supply for the board.
- Your home Wi-Fi name and password (or a network cable, if you'd rather plug it in).
You do not need a monitor, a keyboard, an HDMI adapter or any networking know-how. awaBerry sets the Wi-Fi up inside the image for you, so the board connects the very first time it boots — no IP hunting and no default passwords.
Set up your board step by step
- In Connect, choose the new-board option and give the board a name.
- Pick your board from the list — start typing its name and awaBerry finds it for you.
- Choose how it should get online: enter your Wi-Fi name and password, or choose a wired network cable.
- Let awaBerry build your personal image. This bakes in your account and network settings so the board knows how to come home.
- Download the image and write it to your memory card using your usual card writer.
- Insert the card into the board and connect the power.
- Wait a minute or two. The board starts up, joins your Wi-Fi and reports in on its own — then it appears in Remote, ready to open.
If the board doesn't appear after a few minutes, double-check the Wi-Fi name and password you entered and that the card was written correctly, then power it off and on again.
Return to the ways of adding a board.
Once your board is online, open it and start using it.