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Legacy • ~15 min read

Raspberry Pi Setup (Legacy)

Legacy guide for setting up a Raspberry Pi with Raspbian (Buster/Bullseye). For Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm and later, see the updated guide.

Outdated Guide

This guide covers setup for Raspbian / Raspberry Pi OS Buster and Bullseye using wpa_supplicant. For Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm and later, which uses NetworkManager, please see the updated Raspberry Pi Setup guide.

What You'll Need

  • Raspberry Pi (3B+, 4, or Zero W)
  • MicroSD card (16GB minimum, 32GB recommended)
  • USB power supply (5V, 2.5A minimum)
  • Computer with SD card reader for initial setup
  • WiFi network or Ethernet cable

Step 1: Download Raspbian

Download the Raspberry Pi Imager from raspberrypi.com/software. This tool will help you flash the operating system to your SD card.

Tip

For garden use, we recommend Raspbian OS Lite (headless). It uses fewer resources and is more stable for a dedicated MudPi controller.

Step 2: Flash the SD Card

Open the Raspberry Pi Imager, select Raspbian OS Lite, and write it to your SD card. This process usually takes 5–10 minutes.

Step 3: Enable SSH and WiFi

Before ejecting the SD card, create two files in the boot partition:

  1. An empty file named ssh (no extension) to enable SSH access
  2. A wpa_supplicant.conf file with your WiFi credentials

Create the SSH file:

Shell 
touch /Volumes/boot/ssh

Create the WiFi configuration file:

wpa_supplicant.conf 
country=US
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="YourNetworkName"
    psk="YourPassword"
}

Important

Replace YourNetworkName and YourPassword with your actual WiFi credentials. Set the correct country code for your region.

Step 4: Boot and Connect

Insert the SD card into your Pi, connect power, and wait about 60 seconds for it to boot. Then SSH in:

Shell 
ssh pi@raspberrypi.local

The default password is raspberry. Change it immediately:

Shell 
passwd

Step 5: Update Your System

Update the package list and upgrade all installed packages to the latest versions:

Shell 
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Note

This may take several minutes on a fresh install. Make sure your Pi is connected to a stable power source during this process.

Next Steps

Your Pi is ready! Continue to Installing MudPi to set up the core system.

Next Guide Installing MudPi (Legacy) →