First Boot: Headless Setup with SSH & Wi-Fi

Boot the Pi for the first time and connect to it entirely from your own computer's terminal — no monitor, keyboard, or mouse plugged into the Pi at all.

You'll need: the SD card from Lesson rpi-03 (with SSH and Wi-Fi already configured through Imager), your Pi, its power supply, and a terminal app on your everyday computer.

Insert the SD card, connect power, and wait roughly 60–90 seconds for first boot — longer than later boots, since the OS is expanding itself to fill the card and applying your pre-configured settings. With nothing plugged in besides power, there's no visual sign this is happening; patience here is normal.

ssh pi@raspberrypi.local

SSH (secure shell) is a way to open a command-line session on another computer over the network, as if you were sitting in front of it. The command above connects using the Pi's default hostname; if that doesn't resolve on your network, use the Pi's IP address instead (visible in your router's connected-devices list). The first connection asks you to confirm the remote host's fingerprint — type yes — and then prompts for the password you set in Imager's Edit Settings.

Once connected, you have a full command-line session running directly on the Pi — everything from here forward in this course happens through this same kind of terminal connection, whether you're at your desk or your Pi is tucked inside a project enclosure across the room.