[Answered] How to install Debian on Raspi 4 2GB Headless - For email server

3 years ago by promitheas to c/selfhosted

Hey guys, I would like to install Debian on my raspberry pi 4 model B 2gb, but I dont have a micro HDMI. I would like to install it headless. I watched a video where the guy created some files in the boot partition on the SD card to enable SSH, and I was wondering if I can do something similar with a Debian SD so I dont need to go out and buy a cable.

I couldn't find too many tutorials for Debian on the pi, and none to install it headless.

Thanks in advance!

Edit 1: I ended up going with raspbian lite because of some other issues that came up.

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psyonity 4 points 3 years ago

In case of Raspbian, you can create a wpa_supplicant.conf in the boot partition with:

network={
    ssid="testing"
    psk="testingPassword"
}

and a empty ssh file.

For the user config, since bullseye you need to make an account on first boot, that can be done with a userconf file, but it's a bit more involved. You can see how to do it at the end of This blog post

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promitheas 2 points 3 years ago

Im planning on putting debian on it, so I think its slightly different because e.g. theres no raspberry pi user

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psyonity 3 points 3 years ago

If you're planning on using plain Debian and the challenges that come with it, you probably should start with one of the pre-built images from the Debian foundation. You can mount the root partition with either a running linux box or WSL2. Then you can chroot into it to setup the wpa_supplicant.conf in the /etc/ folder and ensble sshd.

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haych 2 points 3 years ago

Why not use Raspberry Pi OS? It's based off of Debian.

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