#730 Headless Raspberry Pi
How to configure Raspberry Pi OS for headless operation, including static IP and mDNS.
Notes
I’m using a pretty old Raspberry Pi Model B+ running the latest Raspberry Pi OS.
I used the Raspberry Pi Imager to put a copy of the Raspberry Pi OS on a 64Gb microSD card.
By default it boots to the GUI, but on the old B+, this is very sluggish and best avoided unless really needed.
I used Raspberry Pi Configuration GUI app to switch the config:
- System Boot: to CLI
- System Auto-login: enabled
- Interfaces: SSH enabled
After reboot, its automatically logs into the pi account. I used passwd to set a custom password.
Checking the IP address
The system is set for DHCP by default. Checking the address with ifconfig yields a local eth0 address of 192.168.10.97.
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.10.97 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.10.255
inet6 fe80::facf:3d40:fb1b:84af prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
inet6 2406:3003:2006:93ad:f46f:b146:8e91:9b72 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x0<global>
ether b8:27:eb:59:72:e6 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 293 bytes 28500 (27.8 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 53 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 126 bytes 18646 (18.2 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 22 bytes 2452 (2.3 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 22 bytes 2452 (2.3 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
Now I can SSH from my macOS desktop:
$ ssh pi@192.168.10.97
The authenticity of host '192.168.10.97 (192.168.10.97)' can't be established.
ED25519 key fingerprint is SHA256:Fo5g0FF0PagdxRLG010PX/mt+sg1M1FdMLi3hUVwgtE.
This key is not known by any other names.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.10.97' (ED25519) to the list of known hosts.
pi@192.168.10.97's password:
Linux raspberrypi 6.6.74+rpt-rpi-v6 #1 Raspbian 1:6.6.74-1+rpt1 (2025-01-27) armv6l
The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Tue Apr 29 15:55:16 2025
$
Reconfiguring from the command line
I now want to switch to CLI but without auto-login. Over SSH I can invoke config with sudo raspi-config and choose 1 System Options.
Reboot from the command line
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo reboot
Broadcast message from root@raspberrypi on pts/1 (Tue 2025-04-29 16:19:49 BST):
The system will reboot now!
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ Connection to 192.168.10.97 closed by remote host.
Connection to 192.168.10.97 closed.
Shutdown from the command line
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo shutdown now
Broadcast message from root@raspberrypi on pts/1 (Tue 2025-04-29 16:30:00 BST):
The system will power off now!
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ Connection to 192.168.10.97 closed by remote host.
Connection to 192.168.10.97 closed.
Network Management CLI
The nmcli
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ nmcli device show
GENERAL.DEVICE: eth0
GENERAL.TYPE: ethernet
GENERAL.HWADDR: B8:27:EB:59:72:E6
GENERAL.MTU: 1500
GENERAL.STATE: 100 (connected)
GENERAL.CONNECTION: Wired connection 1
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/2
WIRED-PROPERTIES.CARRIER: on
IP4.ADDRESS[1]: 192.168.10.97/24
IP4.GATEWAY: 192.168.10.1
IP4.ROUTE[1]: dst = 192.168.10.0/24, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 100
IP4.ROUTE[2]: dst = 0.0.0.0/0, nh = 192.168.10.1, mt = 100
IP4.DNS[1]: 192.168.10.1
IP6.ADDRESS[1]: 2406:3003:2006:93ad:f46f:b146:8e91:9b72/64
IP6.ADDRESS[2]: fe80::facf:3d40:fb1b:84af/64
IP6.GATEWAY: fe80::3223:3ff:fec1:1056
IP6.ROUTE[1]: dst = fe80::/64, nh = ::, mt = 1024
IP6.ROUTE[2]: dst = 2406:3003:2006:93ad::/64, nh = ::, mt = 100
IP6.ROUTE[3]: dst = 2406:3003:2006:93ad::/64, nh = fe80::3223:3ff:fec1:1056, mt = 105
IP6.ROUTE[4]: dst = ::/0, nh = fe80::3223:3ff:fec1:1056, mt = 100
IP6.DNS[1]: 2406:3003:2006:93ad:3223:3ff:fec1:1056
GENERAL.DEVICE: lo
GENERAL.TYPE: loopback
GENERAL.HWADDR: 00:00:00:00:00:00
GENERAL.MTU: 65536
GENERAL.STATE: 100 (connected (externally))
GENERAL.CONNECTION: lo
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/1
IP4.ADDRESS[1]: 127.0.0.1/8
IP4.GATEWAY: --
IP6.ADDRESS[1]: ::1/128
IP6.GATEWAY: --
Using mDNS
The hostname is set with /etc/hostname. Let’s change it to raspi1 (the default is raspberrypi).
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo nano /etc/hostname
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /etc/hostname
raspi1
Tehn need to change the local name respolution for 127.0.1.1 in /etc/hosts:
pi@raspi1:~ $ sudo nano /etc/hosts
pi@raspi1:~ $ cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
127.0.1.1 raspi1
After sudo reboot I can now find the respberry Pi on the network by its new name using mDNS:
$ ping raspi1.local
PING raspi1.local (192.168.10.97): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.10.97: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=8.000 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.97: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=3.886 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.97: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=6.827 ms
^C
--- raspi1.local ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 3.886/6.238/8.000/1.730 ms
$ ssh pi@raspi1.local
pi@raspi1.local's password:
Linux raspi1 6.6.74+rpt-rpi-v6 #1 Raspbian 1:6.6.74-1+rpt1 (2025-01-27) armv6l
The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Tue Apr 29 16:49:01 2025 from 192.168.10.87
pi@raspi1:~ $
Setting a Static IP
Since I’ll run headless, it will be useful to use a static IP for the wired ethernet connection.
I’ve reserved 192.168.10.36 on my local network for this device.
See https://www.abelectronics.co.uk/kb/article/31/set-a-static-ip-address-on-raspberry-pi-os-bookworm for more.
pi@raspi1:~ $ nmcli -p connection show
======================================
NetworkManager connection profiles
======================================
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wired connection 1 76b7ff9c-5b91-3260-b550-b5baf72c9b2b ethernet eth0
lo cab01dce-d6de-466a-bca8-5fe46ca03cac loopback lo
pi@raspi1:~ $ ifconfig eth0
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.10.97 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.10.255
inet6 2406:3003:2006:93ad:f46f:b146:8e91:9b72 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x0<global>
inet6 fe80::facf:3d40:fb1b:84af prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether b8:27:eb:59:72:e6 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 291 bytes 31326 (30.5 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 31 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 196 bytes 33556 (32.7 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
pi@raspi1:~ $ sudo nmcli c mod "Wired connection 1" ipv4.addresses 192.168.10.36/24 ipv4.method manual
pi@raspi1:~ $ sudo nmcli con mod "Wired connection 1" ipv4.gateway 192.168.10.1
pi@raspi1:~ $ sudo nmcli con mod "Wired connection 1" ipv4.dns 192.168.10.1
After a reboot … or interface up/down - not possible over ssh;-) the device comes up on the static IP:
$ ping raspi1.local
PING raspi1.local (192.168.10.36): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.10.36: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=9.211 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.36: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=3.940 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.36: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=3.194 ms
^C
--- raspi1.local ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 3.194/5.448/9.211/2.678 ms
To see the details of the interface:
pi@raspi1:~ $ nmcli -p connection show "Wired connection 1"
===============================================================================
Connection profile details (Wired connection 1)
===============================================================================
connection.id: Wired connection 1
connection.uuid: 76b7ff9c-5b91-3260-b550-b5baf72c9b2b
connection.stable-id: --
connection.type: 802-3-ethernet
connection.interface-name: eth0
connection.autoconnect: yes
connection.autoconnect-priority: -999
connection.autoconnect-retries: -1 (default)
connection.multi-connect: 0 (default)
connection.auth-retries: -1
connection.timestamp: 1745942520
connection.read-only: no
connection.permissions: --
connection.zone: --
connection.master: --
connection.slave-type: --
connection.autoconnect-slaves: -1 (default)
connection.secondaries: --
connection.gateway-ping-timeout: 0
connection.metered: unknown
connection.lldp: default
connection.mdns: -1 (default)
connection.llmnr: -1 (default)
connection.dns-over-tls: -1 (default)
connection.mptcp-flags: 0x0 (default)
connection.wait-device-timeout: -1
connection.wait-activation-delay: -1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
802-3-ethernet.port: --
802-3-ethernet.speed: 0
802-3-ethernet.duplex: --
802-3-ethernet.auto-negotiate: no
802-3-ethernet.mac-address: --
802-3-ethernet.cloned-mac-address: --
802-3-ethernet.generate-mac-address-mask:--
802-3-ethernet.mac-address-blacklist: --
802-3-ethernet.mtu: auto
802-3-ethernet.s390-subchannels: --
802-3-ethernet.s390-nettype: --
802-3-ethernet.s390-options: --
802-3-ethernet.wake-on-lan: default
802-3-ethernet.wake-on-lan-password: --
802-3-ethernet.accept-all-mac-addresses:-1 (default)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ipv4.method: manual
ipv4.dns: 192.168.10.1
ipv4.dns-search: --
ipv4.dns-options: --
ipv4.dns-priority: 0
ipv4.addresses: 192.168.10.36/24
ipv4.gateway: 192.168.10.1
ipv4.routes: --
ipv4.route-metric: -1
ipv4.route-table: 0 (unspec)
ipv4.routing-rules: --
ipv4.replace-local-rule: -1 (default)
ipv4.ignore-auto-routes: no
ipv4.ignore-auto-dns: no
ipv4.dhcp-client-id: --
ipv4.dhcp-iaid: --
ipv4.dhcp-timeout: 0 (default)
ipv4.dhcp-send-hostname: yes
ipv4.dhcp-hostname: --
ipv4.dhcp-fqdn: --
ipv4.dhcp-hostname-flags: 0x0 (none)
ipv4.never-default: no
ipv4.may-fail: yes
ipv4.required-timeout: -1 (default)
ipv4.dad-timeout: -1 (default)
ipv4.dhcp-vendor-class-identifier: --
ipv4.link-local: 0 (default)
ipv4.dhcp-reject-servers: --
ipv4.auto-route-ext-gw: -1 (default)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ipv6.method: auto
ipv6.dns: --
ipv6.dns-search: --
ipv6.dns-options: --
ipv6.dns-priority: 0
ipv6.addresses: --
ipv6.gateway: --
ipv6.routes: --
ipv6.route-metric: -1
ipv6.route-table: 0 (unspec)
ipv6.routing-rules: --
ipv6.replace-local-rule: -1 (default)
ipv6.ignore-auto-routes: no
ipv6.ignore-auto-dns: no
ipv6.never-default: no
ipv6.may-fail: yes
ipv6.required-timeout: -1 (default)
ipv6.ip6-privacy: -1 (unknown)
ipv6.addr-gen-mode: default
ipv6.ra-timeout: 0 (default)
ipv6.mtu: auto
ipv6.dhcp-duid: --
ipv6.dhcp-iaid: --
ipv6.dhcp-timeout: 0 (default)
ipv6.dhcp-send-hostname: yes
ipv6.dhcp-hostname: --
ipv6.dhcp-hostname-flags: 0x0 (none)
ipv6.auto-route-ext-gw: -1 (default)
ipv6.token: --
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
proxy.method: none
proxy.browser-only: no
proxy.pac-url: --
proxy.pac-script: --
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================================
Active connection details (76b7ff9c-5b91-3260-b550-b5baf72c9b2b)
===============================================================================
GENERAL.NAME: Wired connection 1
GENERAL.UUID: 76b7ff9c-5b91-3260-b550-b5baf72c9b2b
GENERAL.DEVICES: eth0
GENERAL.IP-IFACE: eth0
GENERAL.STATE: activated
GENERAL.DEFAULT: yes
GENERAL.DEFAULT6: yes
GENERAL.SPEC-OBJECT: --
GENERAL.VPN: no
GENERAL.DBUS-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/2
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Settings/1
GENERAL.ZONE: --
GENERAL.MASTER-PATH: --
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IP4.ADDRESS[1]: 192.168.10.36/24
IP4.GATEWAY: 192.168.10.1
IP4.ROUTE[1]: dst = 192.168.10.0/24, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 100
IP4.ROUTE[2]: dst = 0.0.0.0/0, nh = 192.168.10.1, mt = 100
IP4.DNS[1]: 192.168.10.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IP6.ADDRESS[1]: 2406:3003:2006:93ad:f46f:b146:8e91:9b72/64
IP6.ADDRESS[2]: fe80::facf:3d40:fb1b:84af/64
IP6.GATEWAY: fe80::3223:3ff:fec1:1056
IP6.ROUTE[1]: dst = fe80::/64, nh = ::, mt = 1024
IP6.ROUTE[2]: dst = 2406:3003:2006:93ad::/64, nh = ::, mt = 100
IP6.ROUTE[3]: dst = 2406:3003:2006:93ad::/64, nh = fe80::3223:3ff:fec1:1056, mt = 105
IP6.ROUTE[4]: dst = ::/0, nh = fe80::3223:3ff:fec1:1056, mt = 100
IP6.DNS[1]: 2406:3003:2006:93ad:3223:3ff:fec1:1056
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DHCP6.OPTION[1]: dhcp6_client_id = 00:04:c7:3f:44:aa:2f:02:4d:b0:ce:0b:60:c2:9a:b9:11:47
DHCP6.OPTION[2]: dhcp6_name_servers = 2406:3003:2006:93ad:3223:3ff:fec1:1056
DHCP6.OPTION[3]: iaid = 2b:50:67:35
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If possible the connection will be made using IPv6
$ ssh pi@raspi1.local
pi@raspi1.local's password:
Linux raspi1 6.6.74+rpt-rpi-v6 #1 Raspbian 1:6.6.74-1+rpt1 (2025-01-27) armv6l
The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.
Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Tue Apr 29 17:04:50 2025 from 2406:3003:2006:93ad:c47c:6404:a6ab:6ac4
pi@raspi1:~ $