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Tutorial Intro

Let's discover How to configure your Raspberry Pi as a home lab in 15 minutes..

Getting Started​

Let's get started with configuring your Raspberry Pi as a home lab!

What you'll need​

  • Raspberry Pi 3, 4, or 5

    • I have the Raspberry Pi 4b

  • Monitor

  • Mouse

  • Another computer (to remotely connect to the Raspberry Pi)

  • Raspberry Pi Imager installed:

    • This will allow you to image your microSD card properly.

Image Your RPi​

First, image your microSD card with the imager tool.

You should choose the Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) option.

Turn On Your RPi​

Input your newly imaged microSD card and turn on your RPi.

Once your RPi is on it will prompt you to fill in some basic information (timezone, keyboard layout, username & password, etc.).

Configure Config​

Once logged in as your newly created user on your RPi, open the terminal and run the following command.

sudo raspi-config

This will open a window in your terminal like this:

raspi-config

Enable SSH​

Now that you're in the raspi-config screen, enable SSH on your RPi.

To do this go to Interface Options >> SSH >> Yes

Set GPU Memory​

Unless you plan to use the GUI for your RPi frequently, you will want to lower the GPU memory allocation.

To do this: Performance Options >> GPU Memory >> 16

Enable VNC (Optional)​

If you want the ability to remote in with VNC Viewer you must enable VNC as well.

Interface Options >> VNC >> Yes

You will also need to set the VNC Resolution if your RPi won't be connected to a monitor at all times.

To do this: Display Options >> VNC Resolution >> Choose preferred resolution

Restart RPi​

After making changes to the raspi-config, you need to restart your RPi for changes to take effect.

While the RPi is rebooting, that's a good time to unplug the monitor, keyboard, and mouse as you no longer will need these to interact with your RPi 😊

sudo reboot

Connect Via SSH​

You can now connect to your RPi (home lab) via SSH from another machine on the same network.

In your other computer's terminal:

ssh {username}@raspberrypi.local

Conclusion​

Your RPi is now configured as a server that you can utilize as your personal home lab!