Checklist for Raspberry Pi setup

Overview

There are lot of small changes one should do for pis that will be in use over some time. I covered a few in Keeping A Raspberry Pi Alive. This post will serve as more of a complete checklist for myself, so it may be updated over time.

Basic stuff

Update:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Get some necessary tools:

sudo apt-get install screen mosh

Set locale, password, a unique hostname, etc:

sudo raspi-config

Change autostart. You might want to comment out screensaver, and add your own stuff:

sudo nano /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

Completely disable screensaver. Under [SeatDefaults] add “xserver-command=X -s 0 dpms” in following file:

sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

If you’re using an SD card as main storage

Put /tmp on tmpfs: Edit /etc/default/tmpfs and set: RAMTMP=yes.

Put log on tmpfs: Install fs2ram, version 0.3.12 or better. Earlier versions are broken in Debian. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/main/fs2ram. Edit /etc/fs2ram.conf, activate /var/log and /var/tmp.

Consider locking /boot to read-only:

TODO!

If you’re using wifi

Set up wifi

Edit /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf:

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
network={
 ssid="network-name"
 psk="password"
 priority=1
 id_str="network-name"
}

If you’re using raspicam

Disable led on camera::
sudo echo ‘disable_camera_led=1’ >> /boot/config.txt

When you’re done

  • Set up backup and get to work! =)

Edits

  • Edit: 20140120 - added section on camera.
  • Edit: 20140131 - added more info on autostart, screensaver.
  • Edit: 20141118 - removed outdated wifi stuff.