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Raspberry Pi basics

Raspberry Pi Debian Buster basics

  • update to bullseye 1.25.22——
  • update to bullseye 9.23.23---
  • update to bullseye 1.14.25—

What you will need:

  • computer of some sort with a terminal application
  • internet connection on the local area network
  • permission from the owners of the computers you are working on
  • permission from the system admin (Dr. Bill) to do this, at a specific time and place (so our intrusion detection system does not block you)

Module 1: first steps (see notes below)

  1. download a terminal app
  2. you may need to add sudo to the front of any command at this point
  3. test the app by using the ping command to 10.14.1.4 one of the elab routers
  4. record the ping time in your notes
  5. using either ifconfig or ip addr show in terminal find your IP address
  6. write this on the board
  7. ping the other units, record your results

Module 2: ssh

  1. secure shell is a means of securely accessing the command line (“terminal”) of a computer
  2. to enable ssh on your rPi, you will need to go to terminal and type sudo raspi-config
  3. find the interfacing options command
  4. select enable ssh
  5. use the command ssh 10.14.253.x or updated address to reach another rPi unit
  6. you should be “in” your pi unit now, look at the prompt
  7. from that prompt, try the ping command as you did before to the other pi units, record your results

Module 3: commands

  1. from your ssh terminal, type pwd, which shows the path you are now located at, record this
  2. try the ls command, this lists the files near you in the current directory
  3. try the cd .. command, which should take you up one directory, repeat pwd and notice the difference. 
  4. cd back to the directory you were first in, likely it is /home/pi

Module 4: nomachine (if no desktop access)

  1. install nomachine on your laptop
  2. connect to your pi unit
  3. right click to see the directory or file system
  4. find the folder “pi”
  5. go back to your ssh terminal and type ls in various directories, verify that they show up the same way in the folder window

Module 5: nano text editor

  1. from your ssh window, in the pi directory, type: sudo nano test
  2. type some stuff
  3. hold control while typing the o key and return
  4. hold control while typing the x key and return
  5. you have just created a document in the folder, find it on the nomachine window

Module 6: what’s going on? who?

  1. try these commands: top, ps, who, last, history, record your results
  2. try these commands: traceroute, ifconfig, record your results

Module 7: commands, modifiers

  1. from your ssh window, try using the secret version of ls: ls -la
  2. note that all commands can have modifiers, like ls -la, l means long, a means all files
  3. try creating a new file with nano, and name it something with a period in front
  4. see if it shows up in the file manager window
  5. see if it shows up using ls -la

Module 8: creating directories

  1. using your ssh window, enter the command mkdir followed by some name
  2. watch what happens in the file manager window
  3. create a text document in this new folder
  4. look up the cp, mv and rm commands using man cp and so on

Module 9: update your computer, install apps

  1. using the sudo apt-get update command, update your computer
  2. use the sudo apt-get upgrade to upgrade the computer
  3. use the sudo apt-get install hardinfo -y to install hardinfo
  4. type hardinfo and record your results
  5. compare with cat /proc/cpuinfo
  6. install the wavemon program the same way, test and record

Module 10: control x and control z

  1. control x means stop
  2. control z means halt, no nice manners
  3. try this with ifconfig to determine your IP addresses (wired and wireless)




Migrated from Apple Server Wiki. Original page ID: 81_5165