The Raspberry Pi is — as we’ve seen in several previous articles — an extremely flexible piece of hardware. Once you’ve installed an operating system, mastered the small footprint, and found a fit for it, you can install the media center software and maybe even start programming the software (after all, that’s what it was designed for). !).
However, you may find that connecting your Raspberry Pi to a large-screen plasma TV—the only device in your home with an HDMI connection—is a little tedious while your family is watching their favorite show. Also, you may have more than enough HDMI displays but not enough keyboards.
Benefits of SSH
Luckily, the Raspberry Pi can accept SSH commands when connected to a local network (via Ethernet or Wi-Fi), making it easy to set up.
SSH Benefits Don’t Limit Daily Browsing «The Simpsons» or breaking news about celebrities — using a Raspberry Pi without a dedicated display (also known as «headless») can allow you to leave the device in a certain configuration without worrying about someone getting in the way.
Using Pi as a NAS interface? No problem! If your Raspberry Pi spends its life as a low volume web server or internet radio, then it doesn’t need a dedicated display.
That’s where SSH comes in!
Setting up Raspberry Pi for SSH
To prepare your Raspberry Pi for remote SSH connections, you must first install the Debian Raspbian distribution as described earlier. SSH is enabled by default, but if you have it disabled, you must enter the configuration screen to re-enable it.
After connecting the mini computer to the network and connecting the keyboard and Ethernet cable, boot and log into the device.
Once you have done this, enter sudo raspi-config, to open the configuration screen and use the arrow keys and Enter to select the Enable or Disable SSH option. On the next screen select «Enable», press «Enter» and again on the last screen «Enter» to select «OK».
Now that SSH is enabled, you should be able to remotely connect to your Raspberry Pi using an SSH client.
(Note that if SSH is not listed as a menu option, you are probably using an old build of the Raspbian distribution and should upgrade ASAP!)
Connecting to Raspberry Pi
Before connecting to Raspberry Pi, you need to check the IP address. There are several ways to do this.