Getting Started with Raspberry Pi 4B: Minimal Setup Guide

#raspberry pi #linux #terminal #configuration
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi 4B: Minimal Setup Guide
Raspberry Pi 4B with cables connected

Introduction

This guide gets a Raspberry Pi 4B ready for headless use fast: flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite, enable SSH, connect Wi‑Fi, secure the device, optimize the terminal, and validate hosting with a tiny Node.js service.

Hardware Requirements

  • a Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB+ RAM recommended)
  • microSD card (32GB+)
  • USB-C power supply (5V/3A)
  • Ethernet cable or WiFi
  • Optional HDMI/keyboard for first boot

Step 1: Flashing the OS

Download and Install Raspberry Pi Imager

Raspberry Pi Imager is the official tool to flash Raspberry Pi OS onto your SD card. It’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite

  1. Insert SD card into your computer
  2. Open Imager and select:
    • OS: Raspberry Pi OS (other) → Raspberry Pi OS Lite (32-bit)
    • Storage: Your SD card
  3. Click the gear icon ⚙️ and set:
    • Enable SSH with password authentication
    • Configure WiFi credentials
  4. Click “Write” and wait for completion.

Official Documentation: Installing the Operating System

https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/getting-started.html#installing-the-operating-system

Step 2: First Boot and Connect

  • Insert the SD card and power on the Pi.
  • Find the IP address
  • Connect via SSH:
ssh pi@192.168.1.xx 

# Replace with your Pi's IP address
# Default password: raspberry

On first login:

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

Step 3: Terminal Optimization (Console Font)

For better readability, especially on high-res monitors, increase the console font size.

# List available fonts
ls /usr/share/consolefonts/

# Edit console setup
sudo nano /etc/default/console-setup

Modify the following lines:

# Example changes in /etc/default/console-setup
FONTFACE="Uni2-Terminus32x16"
FONTSIZE="16x32"
# Apply changes
sudo setupcon

Step 4: Nice‑to‑Have Tools

Install Neofetch

Absolutely unnecessary but fun for system info at login.

sudo apt install -y neofetch
neofetch

Set a minimal neofetch config:

# Edit config file
nano ~/.config/neofetch/config.conf
# ~/.config/neofetch/config.conf
print_info() {
    info title
    info underline

    info "OS" distro
    info "Host" model
    info "Kernel" kernel
    info "Terminal" term
    info "CPU" cpu
    info "GPU" gpu
    info "Memory" memory
}

ascii_distro="raspbian_small"

Auto-run neofetch on terminal start:

echo "echo && neofetch" >> ~/.bashrc

Step 5: Validate Hosting Capabilities with a Test App

Install runtimes like Python or Node.js, then deploy a simple app to ensure the Pi can serve content.

# Install NodeJS runtimes  
sudo apt install -y nodejs npm  

# Python (optional)
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip

Create a sample Node app:

mkdir -p ~/projects/test-app && cd ~/projects/test-app
nano server.js

Node.js server code:

// ~/projects/test-app/server.js  
const http = require('http');  
const port = process.env.PORT || 8000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {  
   res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
  res.end(` Server OK | ${process.platform}\n`);  
});  

server.listen(port, () => {  
   console.log(`Server running at http://localhost:${port}/`);  
});

Run manually to test:

node server.js & curl http://localhost:8000
# Expected output: " Server OK | linux"
kill %1  # Stop the server

Keep it running with PM2 (simple) or systemd (robust):

PM2 method:

sudo npm i -g pm2 
pm2 start server.js --name test-app
pm2 save  
pm2 startup  # Auto-start on boot

The systemd method is more complex but recommended for production. I prefer PM2 for simplicity.

Conclusion

That’s it! Your Raspberry Pi 4B is now set up ready for headless projects. You can deploy web servers, IoT applications, or anything else you can imagine. Enjoy tinkering!

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